Horror Aficionados discussion
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Midnight From Beyond the Stars
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
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October 2021 Group Read with the Guest Authors from the MIDNIGHT FROM BEYOND THE STARS anthology
Holy shit! lolWelcome, everyone!
Mod
You said it first and best! :D
Hey everyone, honoured to be here as part of this amazing TOC.
Hi everyone! Happy to be here!
Mod
Hello, everyone!So psyched to be a part of this.
Oh wow. This is incredibly exciting! A privilege! Thank you for this!
WOW! This is amazing and perfect for the month of October, I'm excited and well, thanks to everyone involved. You are all rockstars in my book :-)
Mod
Thrilled to be here. Hope everyone enjoys this beast of a book.
if anyone has questions, feel free to ask!
Hi everyone, delighted to be here amongst wonderful company!
Hello all! So happy to be here and honoured to ba amongst such a great line up of authors!
Hello, everybody! Happy October:)As a massive fan of the previous MIDNIGHT... anthologies, I just want to say it's a dream come true to be included in this latest one with some of my favorite authors. I've been reading through each story, and they've all been fantastic (I love aliens!). I can't wait to join in the upcoming discussions.
Do I have time to read this? No. Am I going to attempt it anyway? HELL YES.
I'm in. Just purchased my Kindle copy. Seems like a good collection to escape into for a while.
This is otherworldly!!
Mod
Wow, impressive list. Just ordered my copy!
Hi everyone! I'm stoked to be part of such a killer lineup of stories!! So thrilled to be here.
Wow! All of these stories for just $5.99? I’m sold!Zain 👍🏽😎🥳
I still can’t believe that I lot of my favorite authors are in this book! Zain ☺️😱👏🏽👍🏽😎
Hello, to the authors. Thanks for stopping by. Now, I’m off to start reading.Zain 😎
Hello everybody. I'm so honored to be a part of this anthology with so many talented writers. As a lifelong fan of all things U.F.O./star travelers, just to be part of this is blows my mind. Looking forward to the discussions.
Bob!!! I can't wait to read your story man!
Lucas wrote: "Bob!!! I can't wait to read your story man!"I'm going to start digging in to the book soon. It's next on my TBR pile, just need to finish reading this Stephen Graham Jones novel first!
Howdy y'all! Sorry I'm so late to the party, but been busy with the paperback kick-off of Mister Glow-Bones and other stuff. I'm so honored to be a part of this roster of wonderful writers! Looks like enough reading for a long journey to Alpha Centauri and back, doesn't it?
Mod
I'll be starting after I finish Mister Glow Bones! LOL!
Mod
Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?" Personally, I really enjoy the Alien movies, and some of the licensed books that Titan books have been doing lately have been worth a read. Phalanx, Prototype, and Infiltrator are some recent ones that I enjoyed. I've got to be honest, as much as I love space horror, I haven't read much of it. I'm currently reading dead silence, by S.A. Barnes and enjoying it. That one is coming from Tor Nightfire next year. Boom Town, by Glenn Rolfe was another good one.
Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"For the particular short story included in this anthology, my writing influences included a lot of Greenlandic myths. It was really cool to dig into the mythology of a culture I hadn't read a lot about before. My favorite alien horror movies are Signs and Arrival. Both balance on the edge of horror because the intent of the aliens involved isn't known. In both movies, we can't tell if we're dealing with something malevolent or not until well into the story. I love that mysterious aspect. We're always frightened of the unfamiliar and unknown.
Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"Great question, Ken! I've always loved aliens, but I mostly followed them in movies and not books. I did read Whitley Strieber's Communion when I was a teenager. It scared me half to death but only made me more curious about aliens.
For my story, "A Cat Named Sue," I was definitely inspired by two of my favorite alien movies - The Thing and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. The Thing's aliens always creeped me out because you never really knew when they'd pop up, waving their nasty little antennae around. They were definitely dangerous and a clear threat to the world, but what was worse, you never knew who they'd get next. The aliens in Close Encounters are quite different. They were scary in the beginning because they were clearly super powerful, non-human entities with a mysterious agenda. Later, they appear benevolent, almost angelic, as the characters learn to communicate with them using lights and music.
I wanted to somehow combine elements of those aliens to make my aliens, though I hesitate to say more in case I give any spoilers away. Are my aliens villains or saviors? I'll leave that for the readers to decide:)
Mod
@Antonia Rachel Ward - Is it safe to say you're a fan of 50s Sci-Fi B-movies?
@Ronald Kelly - Your story started out in the vein of "Fire in the Sky" and them WHAM - I feel like you sucker punched me. Did not expect most of what happened the latter half.
@Tim Curran - Are you a fan of/were you inspired at all by "Event Horizon"? The paranoia and grotesque imagery reminded me a lot of the film.
Alan wrote: @Antonia Rachel Ward - Is it safe to say you're a fan of 50s Sci-Fi B-movies?Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"
To answer both questions at once: the idea for my story came out of watching the trailer for The Blob (1958). I'd never seen the movie, or any similar ones, at the time, but I nevertheless thought it would be fun to write a story in that style, so I challenged myself to think of the most fun setting and characters I could, and the daftest adversary. When I actually did watch the whole of The Blob, I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. So yeah, this story is meant to be an homage to 50s B-movies and American culture in general (I'm British, so I guess I take a bit of an outside viewpoint).
As to writing influences, I suppose there was a bit of Grady Hendrix in this one - I'd recently read Horrorstor and I liked the idea of mixing horror with a dash of humour and a quirky, fun concept.
I'm so excited to be part of this amazing anthology with such a talented collection of authors. A big THANK YOU to the Horror Aficionados group for giving us a read this month! Thrilled to be back here!
Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"Growing up, I read a lot of Douglas Adams, Stephen King, and Anne Rice in high school. I'd say that trio really influenced a lot of how I write - the humor and pacing from Adams, the darkness and grit from King, and the complicated relationships and sense of history from Rice.
When it comes to alien horror, wow, so many! The Blob. Aliens. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The Thing. They Live. These are all among my favorites.
Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"I love space horror. Alien (of course.) Event Horizon. The Thing? (it's not in space, but it comes from space!) I love science fiction, in general. Like many others here, King was a huge influence on me writing horror when I started out.
My story, Whatever You Want Most, was not inspired by any horror story or movie at all. I was inspired by a childhood favorite, E.T. One of my faves to this day! But the story took a dark twist. :)
Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"In my story "I Will Meet You There", I took a lot of inspiration from Alien and tried to create the sense of isolation you'd find trapped on a ship 250 miles up in the air with no way to reach out the world you know. Not alien-related, but I wanted it to have a little bit of a locked room mystery feel as well.
Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"Close Encounters of the Third Kind left a strong impression on me after seeing it in theaters when it first came out. Project Blue Book, an early tv series about UFO's, further fueled my imagination, but it was a book called Strange Happenings by Paul Bannister that really kicked it into overdrive with its horrifying case studies of the 'men in black', much more sinister than the Will Smith movies.
Fire in the Sky scorched my brain. Of course Alien and The Thing, there's really too many to name. And The Mothman Prophecies. My favorite of all of the alien invasion stories is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The paranoia, not knowing who is human and who is not, is portrayed there in ways many can only imitate today. A recent film that gets into some strange stuff is The Vast of Night ... highly recommend this small cast film. Not much action, but the implications and dialogue ooze with dread and paranoia.
I've not read many fictional books on the subject, but the nonfiction works, such as Strieber's Communion, are horrifying and essential reading. The Tommyknockers gets a bad rap, and yeah ... it's a bloated mess, but still, there's something there that's really scary, need to revisit it one day.
Shelly wrote: "Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"For the particular short story included in this anthology..."
I haven't tended to read too much in terms of aliens - though I would highly recommend Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky which I picked up a couple of years back and loved it despite the spiders. I am also a fan of John Wyndhams's books - The Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos, etc. Yes, I watched Alien and The Thing when they first came out but I will admit here to loving silly alien films, ie Mars Attacks! and Little Shop of Horrors. And Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the Worlds is outstanding.
My own particular story, Unravelling, owes more to the Jurassic Park franchise and their efforts to bring those monsters back. What if alien DNA could be used in a similar fashion and from some small speck of space dust we could create an alien and see for ourselves what they were really like. What would be the consequences of such conceit?
Mod
Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"Is it all right if I say Men in Black? :)
I can't say my influences are specifically *horror* alien stories -- frankly, I find most movies about aliens terrifying.
Movies like Arrival, Contact -- even Independence Day & Live, Die, Repeat -- are equal parts thrilling and frightening.
And all kidding aside, one of the things I love about MIB is the idea of hiding in plain sight. I love a story -- whether I'm reading, watching, or writing it -- where everything looks/feels/seems all right, until it's not.
Meghan wrote: "Kenneth wrote: "Authors: Can you tell us who your writing influences were and what alien horror stories and/or movies were your favorite?"Is it all right if I say Men in Black? :)
I can't say my ..."
Rob wrote: "I'm so excited to be part of this amazing anthology with such a talented collection of authors. A big THANK YOU to the Horror Aficionados group for giving us a read this month! Thrilled to be back ..."
Ooh - I forgot Men In Black, love those - and the Douglas Adams books. I've got all the hitchhiker's books somewhere. Can still remember reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the bus home from school when I was 12 and laughing aloud at a book, in public, for the first time ever - 'ode to a lump of green putty' has a lot to answer for!
It's so much fun to see you all here! This thread has all the same posters as on my Twitter feed. :)
Horror Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
Communion: A True Story (other topics)Communion: A True Story (other topics)
Communion: A True Story (other topics)
Communion: A True Story (other topics)
Communion: A True Story (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Kristopher Triana (other topics)Richard Chizmar (other topics)
Megan Hart (other topics)
Shelly Campbell (other topics)
Chad Lutzke (other topics)
More...
Gabino Iglesias
Lee Murray
James Newman
Meghan Arcuri
Ronald Kelly
Stephanie Ellis
Tim Curran
Samantha Kolesnik
Owl Goingback
Jennifer Soucy
Tim Meyer
Shelly Campbell
Kristopher Triana
Megan Hart
Chad Lutzke
Red Lagoe
Jason Parent
Chelsea Quinn Yarbo
Jeremy Hepler
Janine Pipe
Simon Clark
Antonia Rachel Ward
Brian Moreland
Amanda Headlee
Patrick Lacey
Rob Boley
Tyler Jones
Brennan LaFaro
Lucas Milliron
John Lynch
Kay Hanifen
And a foreword by Richard Chizmar
So grab yourself a copy of this monster at the link below and please help me welcome all of these wonderful authors to Horror Aficionados!
https://geni.us/twVb