Whether a novelist or screenwriter, this is a horror...

Whether a novelist or screenwriter, this is a horror writer’s time of year. Halloween is a little more than a week away and every day I wallow in horror films around the clock. I’m often asked about the inspiration of my work, and there’s no doubt my books are fueled much more by the great horror films I’ve enjoyed more than the scary novels I’ve read. I’m a child of the 60’s, and I believe the seventies comprised the greatest decade of horror movies and thrillers. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, Jaws, The Last House on the Left, Straw Dogs, Deliverance, Assault on Precinct 13, The Omen, The Hills Have Eyes, Rabid, Alien, Dawn of the Dead, Demon Seed, I Spit on Your Grave, It’s Alive, and, of course, the granddaddy of them all, John Carpenter’s classic, Halloween. Having been joyfully infected with the spirit of these, and many other minor masterpieces, my goal is to convey the same vicious, unrelenting, no-holds-barred dark fiction as many of the 1970’s films I lovingly endured.

But my earliest memories of celluloid fear had their roots deep in the black and white thrillers made famous by Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Films like Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte, I Saw What You Did, I Know Who You Are, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, and Night Walker. It was amazing how scary a movie could be based on its musical score and deep, dark shadows. There was very little on-screen blood, no naked co-eds, but oodles of dreadful, scary moments galore. There’s a part of me that wants to take on that challenge someday, and the world will find out if I’m able to write the scariest PG black and white movie EVER. And as black and white horror goes, Psycho and Night of the Living Dead inflicted plenty of (excuse the pun) psychological damage on me.

I’ve been very fortunate to  have two books published this year. The first, an erotic thriller called Hyde, and my latest, an end of the world road trip called Goodnight, My Sweet, both have tones that have direct subconscious feeds from old school films. Most people have heard of The Story of O, based on the classic novel, which has a direct link to Hyde’s twisted journey of self discovery, but I’m not sure a lot of people remember the quiet and thought provoking black and white end of the world film, The World, The Flesh, & The Devil from 1959. The story is centered around emotion and relationships much more than the doom of humanity.

I celebrate horror most every day, but when October and Halloween roll around, the creative pump is primed for some of my best work. So, after watching Squirm this morning, I’m back to creating bookshelf nightmares.

I’ll see you soon.