November 2018 Group Read #2 with Guest Author, John Everson

[John]

That one's hard to help with! I have lots of demonic/occult horror titles, but also spider horror, pumpkin-carving killer horror and a seductive Siren! And four books of short stories.

[Kimberly]

Teresa wrote: "John wrote:

Teresa - I'm so glad you liked it! Any questions, or things you'd want to discuss about the way it all went?"

The only question I have is which one of your books should I read next!?! :)"
LOL!!

[Dustin]

Teresa wrote: "John wrote:

Teresa - I'm so glad you liked it! Any questions, or things you'd want to discuss about the way it all went?"

The only question I have is which one of your books should I read next!?! :)"

Haha!:))

[Char]

Were you as gleeful writing the finale, John, as I was reading it?
I had a total blast and gleefully laughed out loud a couple of times as Halloween night came to an end. My husband is pretty sure I'm partly insane. :)

[Dustin]

My husband is pretty sure I'm partly insane. :)

ROFL

You're a kick in the pants, Char!

[~Teresa]

Guess I'll move on then.

[John]

Hi Teresa - did you see my reply above? Are you more interested in demonic/supernatural horror... or "monster" horror (ie, Spiders and Sirens)?

[John]

Hey Char - the finale wrote itself! It's always fun as a writer to set something up like that (my novel THE 13TH was similar in this sense), because once the final chapters are in motion, it's like dominoes... everything just goes faster and faster and you don't even need to "think" so much about what happens next. It just goes....

[Kenneth]

John wrote: "Ken wrote: "What Argento flicks?"

I watched the SUSPIRIA 4K remaster from Synapse for the 3rd time this year on Friday night and was once again blown away but how amazing it is. That film gets bet..."

I actually watched Phenomena the other night. It had probably been 20 years since I've seen it last. I still think it's held up pretty well and I love the old school practical effects.

[Kenneth]

Through Chapter 6 -

I've been on the road a lot lately and it's cut into my reading time. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that HOUSE is on Audible. So, I whipped through the first 6 chapters tonight. The guy who is reading it is doing a great job. I'm completely drawn into the story and I'm having no problem visualizing Mike as he's rehabbing the house. That's been one of the problems I've had with audiobooks in the past - My mind likes to drift elsewhere. Not the case here.

John, who is the guy that's reading the audiobook and how do you pick who reads your work for those?

Also (view spoiler)[ I normally have a hard time buying into the whole concept of taking a supposed haunted house, making it an attraction, and then bad things happen to the customers. I don't know if that's where this is headed, but I'm liking the character Mike. I feel like he's realistic and the description of rehabbing the house feels like you've done your homework. The description of what he's doing and the language/carpentry vocabular is pretty spot on. The one part that struck as authentic is how Mike was looking for the trap door that he could see in the basement by going off how far away from the plumbing to the sink it was really sealed it for me. As someone who owns an HVAC firm, I can tell you that this is exactly how you do it. So kudos to you, John. It's the little authentic touches like that that fuel the suspension of disbelief. (hide spoiler)]

[John]

Hey Ken -

Phenomena stood as my favorite Argento for a long time. I think only the 4k Suspiria restoration vaulted that film ahead for me. I have three or four different editions of each of those films!

As for HOUSE... Glad to hear the audiobook edition has a good reader! In all honesty - I have nothing to do with that, and haven't even heard it myself. That's all handled by the publisher. I should probably request a copy LOL.

Really glad the carpentry touches ring true to you (I don't think what you said there is really a spoiler!) and are helping give the character of Mike some authenticity. I've seen a few reviews that ripped the book for including those details, complaining that they didn't sign up for a carpentry course. I personally didn't think there was that much of it in there, but the first quarter of the novel IS following a carpenter during the rehab of a house... It kind of demanded some actual mention of 2x4s in my mind!

[Kenneth]

John wrote: "Hey Ken -

Phenomena stood as my favorite Argento for a long time. I think only the 4k Suspiria restoration vaulted that film ahead for me. I have three or four different editions of each of those..."

I'm old school about my horror. I like depth and you get that by breathing life into scenes and characters with layer after layer of realistic descriptions. For me, this builds the story vividly in my head. I feel that it also helps with suspension of disbelief and the creation of more likeable, 3D characters. You're taking a page out of McCammon, Farris, Herbert and Straub. That building of layers is what made them so great. They didn't strip their stories down to the barest of bones. They put meat and flesh on the bones. Please keep it up. So far, this is shaping up to be my favorite story of yours because of all the things that I've mentioned.

[Char]

"You're taking a page out of McCammon, Farris, Herbert and Straub."

In my book, that's about one of the highest compliments that can be paid to an author. :)

[John]

That absolutely is an amazing compliment! Thanks for saying it, Ken! Hoping you'll enjoy the rest of the book as much as you have the first few chapters! :-)

[Kenneth]

A third of the way in and it's definitely got me hooked. Mike, while a bit naive and maybe not asking enough questions, is a very likeable character.

Also, I've always loved the idea of hidden passages in a house. There's something very Scooby Doo about it and I would love to incorporate something like that in my next house!

[John]

I know - I always wanted to have a library room with a hidden room behind the bookcase! Nope, I didn't watch gothic horror movies as a kid much at all... :-)

[Dustin]

Ken, have you read House of Leaves? Because your comment about hidden passages immediately brought to mind that novel.

[Kenneth]

Dustin wrote: "Ken, have you read House of Leaves? Because your comment about hidden passages immediately brought to mind that novel."

No, I haven't. It's on my TBR pile and I've heard nothing but great stuff about it. I really need to get into that one this winter.

[John]

Been very quiet in here this past week with the holiday! Anyone have questions or want to share thoughts about House by the Cemetery in this final week of the month?

[Kenneth]

Finished HOUSE last night. Great stuff, John. It had the feel of all the B-movie horror that I love, yet you didn't short us on the character development.

A couple of questions for you:

Emery's character was a curious one for me. (view spoiler)[ She felt like a Renfield, holding the torch until her master was able to come back. What was it that initially got Emery in the fold to begin with? Was she a witch, like Katie? Was she a victim that was under Katie's spell?

Also, Mike's character was one that I could identify with easily. My only stumbling point was his not asking himself or Katie more questions when he was working on the house. He didn't feel like the type that would fall head over heels for someone's without knowing much about them, where she would disappear to, why she didn't have a car, where she lived, etc. Did you struggle with this portion of the story or did you leave it vague for reasons that I didn't catch? What was the thought process on that part? (hide spoiler)]

[Dustin]

Ken wrote: "Dustin wrote: "Ken, have you read House of Leaves? Because your comment about hidden passages immediately brought to mind that novel."

No, I haven't. It's on my TBR pile and I've hear..."

Winter seems like a good time for it.:))

[Kenneth]

Here's my review:

http://intothemacabre.com/2018/11/26/...

[Dustin]

Whoa, fantastic review! Simply mesmerizing.

[John]

Wow, Ken - thanks so much for the awesome review!!! I am so glad the book worked for you so well, because what you wrote in the beginning is totally true -- I really wrote this novel for old school cult horror movie fans. I wanted to do a story that a) could have been the basis for one of those kinds of movies and b) referenced and paid homage to them enough so fans of my favorite films would catch a smile when they read certain things. But I also wanted to make sure the book was accessible if you WEREN'T that hardcore film fan as well. My editor was most worried about that -- that I'd make the book too "in crowd." But when he read it, he thought it walked the line pretty well, so he didn't have me change any of that stuff.

I think I can answer your questions behind the "spoiler" wall above without actually invoking Spoiler! In terms of Mike not asking enough questions... my thought with him was basically -- the guy is hard up, horny and buzzed virtually every night. He's basically just getting by and definitely not at his sharpest or yes, he should pick up on things faster and earlier. But life has beaten him down and he's tried to forget about it all through PBR. A constant guzzle of that makes it easy to ignore the obvious...

As far as Emery -- I tried to explain your question in Chapter 22. If you skim about 2/3 of the way through that chapter you'll find a few paragraphs that begin: "Katie smiled. “Emery did it,” she said. “She’s my anchor. If it wasn’t for her..."

I could have probably spent more time developing that backstory, but I tried to thumbnail it there...

[Kimberly]

John wrote: "Wow, Ken - thanks so much for the awesome review!!! I am so glad the book worked for you so well, because what you wrote in the beginning is totally true -- I really wrote this novel for old school..."

Great question about Emery!

[Char]

Thanks so much for your participation here this month, John. It has been a real pleasure. :)

[John]

Thanks Char! Would love to field any final questions on the book today, if anyone has any! I've enjoyed hanging out again!

[Char]

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season, sir!

[Kimberly]

Thank you, John!

[Dustin]

Merry Christmas, John! Thank you for your time here. It really has been a pleasure!