What inspired you to start writing?
I read a lot growing up, becoming particularly obsessed with Encyclopedia Brown. As I grew older and moved on to King and others, I’d sometimes wonder if I had it in me to write a book. I eventually gave it a try and came to understand just how hard it really was! I gave up many times but my thoughts always returned to finishing the book, which eventually became The Ghost Tracks.
What inspired you to start writing?
I am often inspired by trippy things, the uncanny, and stories involving divergent perspectives. For my latest book, I was inspired by a lot of different things that came together in strange and fun ways. One big one was the history of the future of the Devil and its many cool manifestations in fiction. Another was storytelling in general and the way we talk about writing Craft. Another inspiration was the experience of being an immigrant writer and anti-immigrant narratives. Also Brazilian literature and 1980’s and 1990’s movies like The Fly and Gremlins 2. This and more was part of the brew that ended up becoming Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil.
What inspired you to start writing?
When I started my self-published comic book series, one of the many roles alongside drawing was the writing process. Being a visual person, writing out details to convey the image to the reader is important. Music certainly has its inspiration, especially the lyrics. My love for Siouxsie and The Banshees’ music inspires me because their songs read like stories, and always painted a vivid image for me to draw on.
While mental illness is conventionally seen as emanating from the mind—the brain malfunctioning— and expressed through the body—physical responses such as insomnia or nausea, Jaimie Flanagan’s short story “Moira” identifies the true locus of mental illness—the soul—and names this state “soul-sick,” emphasizing how mental illness affects the very core of our being, our identity and sense of self. Review written by E.S. Magill.
What inspired you to start writing?
I’ve been a longtime collector of magazines, zines, and journals about all kinds of art, music, folklore--you name it. The more obscure and the strange, the better. I had written a little about books and literature previously, but about six years ago I realized I could be a contributor to many of these magazines and journals. So, I was inspired by all the passionate authors out there writing essays and articles on topics such as folk horror, metal music, phenomenology, and weird studies. So, I put my pen to paper and soon found my work among the pages of the publications I collected! These include Vastarien, Hellebore, Myth & Lore, Dark Matter Magazine, anthologies by Anathema Publishing, and more.
What inspired you to start writing?
I could tell you that every time I write I start from scratch, it’s like a leap into the void. I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. I wish I could tell you about an epiphany or a moment of enlightenment, but that wasn’t the case. It’s something that’s always been with me.
What inspired you to start writing?
My fourth-grade teacher recognized my ADHD tendencies to constantly daydream and make up stories and encouraged me to write them down. While it took me a while to claim the professional title of author, I have been writing ever since then as storytelling seems to be what my brain is wired to do.
Welcome to Latin American horror! Latin American horror literature reflects human darkness. Beyond ghosts, what scares us the most is what we carry inside. It is not the monsters or the ghosts that add the disturbing component to our literature. It is the deep exploration of the human condition and its possibilities that leave readers with a dry throat. It is the ability of Latin writers with their stories that allow us to feel loneliness, hatred, abandonment, and resignation. The supernatural feels smaller than the narratives of what we Latin Americans can carry inside. Horror in contemporary Latin American literature is fueled by domestic and everyday events.
As a novelist, short-story writer, filmmaker, playwright, and theater director, John Patrick Higgins has explored the art of story-telling from many different perspectives. In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, he discusses the counterintuitive similarities between horror and humor, and gives advice for authors who’d like to try writing for the stage.
