Halloween Haunts 2013: Why I Write Horror by Carl Alves

Halloween Haunts 2013: Why I Write Horror by Carl Alves

I read pretty much every genre with the exception of Romance and Westerns. Nothing against them, just not my cup of tea. Although there are many things I find enjoyable about other genres, especially fantasy and science fiction, which are more or less cousins to the horror genre, when it is done right there is nothing better than horror. Horror has the ability to hit a nerve than penetrates the psyche unlike anything else in the world of entertainment. That is the reason why horror movies do well at the box office no matter how ridiculous the plot, or how…
An Interview with Amber Benson (Part 2)

An Interview with Amber Benson (Part 2)

By JG Faherty Read Part 1 Last month, actress and author Amber Benson talked to us about YA horror, literacy, her love of gory books and movies, and her writing process. This month we hit on those topics some more, plus some new ones as well. JG: Why do you think horror/dark fiction strikes such a chord with teen readers? AB: I think human beings like to be scared - and doing it within the framework of a book is the safest way to work up the adrenaline. JG: How do you keep in touch with the YA audience? While…
An Interview with Richard Christy (Part 2)

An Interview with Richard Christy (Part 2)

by JG Faherty, for the Horror Writers Association Newsletter Read Part 1 Last month metal drummer extraordinaire and horror fanatic Richard Christy and I spoke about his love of horror movies and novels, his metal band Charred Walls of the Damned, and writing songs vs. writing screenplays or novels. This month, the interview continues, with an emphasis on Halloween, naturally! JG: Let's talk about Halloween. I know it's your favorite holiday, and it's a safe bet that most people reading this interview feel the same way. What is it about Halloween that you like the best? RC: I think it…
Halloween Haunts 2013: Halloween Hootenanny! By Greg McWhorter

Halloween Haunts 2013: Halloween Hootenanny! By Greg McWhorter

Enter the Crypt of Forgotten Screamers! WwwwAAaaaRRrrrrGGgghhHHHh!!!!! It’s Halloween time again and that means you must have something appropriate spinning on the turntable, ‘natch. I don’t know about you, but I like to get my holiday discs out for aural pleasure to match the feeling of the season. Halloween is the best time to do this with all the great rock’n’roll themed spooks and howls. For this article, I decided to dig deep and unearth some forgotten Halloween oriented discs that you might want to give another spin. I’ve left out all the big names and well-known records like “Monster…
Halloween Haunts 2013: Stoker Spotlight on Gene O’Neill

Halloween Haunts 2013: Stoker Spotlight on Gene O’Neill

Gene O’Neill is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction for his book The Blue Heron. 1. How would you describe The Blue Heron? The Blue Heron is a dark thriller, with perhaps a slight hint of fantasy. 2. Tell us about what inspired you to write The Blue Heron? I'd just finished writing Rusting Chickens. And I remembered an old Marine Corps incident. Also, a couple of writer friends suggested, I should write more about my military background. 3. What most attracts you to writing dark fiction? I studied psychology in college and have…
Halloween Haunts 2013: Halloween in the Hudson Valley by JG Faherty

Halloween Haunts 2013: Halloween in the Hudson Valley by JG Faherty

Halloween has always held a special place in my heart, even before I ever thought about becoming a horror and science fiction writer. While there is never one single reason a person can trace to a love of all things spooky, without doubt one of the factors in my own personal horror-mania has to be that I grew up in one of the most haunted places in the country, a region where Halloween isn't just a holiday, but a part of life. I'm talking about the lower Hudson Valley of New York. Stretching from Manhattan to Albany County, there are…
Halloween Haunts 2013: Candy Corn Memories by Amy Grech

Halloween Haunts 2013: Candy Corn Memories by Amy Grech

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. Growing up, I relished Halloween’s approach even more than Christmas. Santa had nothing on Halloween with Jack o'Lanterns, costumes and candy… Every year the crisp October air prompted my father to take my twin brother, mother and me to the local farm on Long Island to choose the biggest pumpkin we could find for the momentous occasion. That same night, after the dinner dishes had been cleared, Dad would put some old newspaper on the kitchen table, and hand my brother and me black magic markers and together we would draw a scary…
Halloween Haunts 2013: More Than Just Candy by David B. Riley

Halloween Haunts 2013: More Than Just Candy by David B. Riley

One of my most vivid childhood memories was of a haunted house in the neighborhood when I was young. It was the artificial variety. The guys who ran it where most likely high school students—certainly way older than me and my friends. These guys went all out. They had grave stones in the yard. Some dead guy hanging from a tree (and he was active, meaning he moved), lightning, and spooky music. It worked. It was really scary, at least to a little kid. Oh, did I mention the monster that reached out from the bushes and grabbed your feet?…
Halloween Haunts 2013: Why Do You Write That Stuff? by Thomas Smith

Halloween Haunts 2013: Why Do You Write That Stuff? by Thomas Smith

Why do we do it? Why do folks like Mike Dellosso, Brian Keene, Elizabeth Massie, Kevin Lucia, me, and any number of other writers look at the dark side of the literature spectrum? Why write horror novels when there are so many other kinds of things to write? Maybe the first line from this Associated Press story will give you a better idea. “A Louisiana man is accused of decapitating and dismembering his disabled 7-year-old son and leaving the boy’s head near the street so the child’s mother would see it – a killing that brought seasoned police officers to…
Halloween Haunts 2013: Anti-Christ Devil Children by J. Thorn

Halloween Haunts 2013: Anti-Christ Devil Children by J. Thorn

Fans of horror and dark fantasy love Halloween. There’s a reason people watch frightening films or walk through “haunted houses” to be terrorized by college students dressed as zombies: There is something incredibly exciting and entertaining about being scared. Not “being chased by a crazy man with a knife” type of scared, but rather, the kind of fear that you know is artificial but COULD be real. Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft are often cited influences of many authors and that is true for me as well. However, the biggest name in the history of horror is not lost…
Halloween Haunts 2013: That’s My Boy by Matthew Warner

Halloween Haunts 2013: That’s My Boy by Matthew Warner

Every day when he comes home from preschool, my four-year-old son, Owen, proceeds to creep us out with his artistic creations. Here are some of my favorites (with appropriate captions):                   “Follow me,” the cat said as it led me through the house of mirrors. After a while, I looked down and realized my legs were attached directly to my head. Worse, I was bald.                   Despite the warnings, I gazed directly into the creature’s eyes. Its forbidden name appeared on the wall and…
Halloween Haunts 2013: The Ghosts in My House by Cat Winters

Halloween Haunts 2013: The Ghosts in My House by Cat Winters

As with most authors of horror stories and ghost tales, one of my favorite times of the year is the Halloween season. My fondness for the spooky holiday stems back to early childhood, when my fellow elementary school students and I sang eerie tunes like “The Ghost of John,” and neighborhood kids spread rumors about a stuffed witch down the street coming to life at midnight on Halloween night. I grew up in a shiny, brand-new suburb in Orange County, California. Despite the nearness of the atmospheric Mission San Juan Capistrano and Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride, nothing about the area…

The Lurkers in the Abyss and other Tales of Terror by HWA Member David A. Riley

Author: David A. Riley David A. Riley began writing horror stories while still at school and had his first professional sale to Pan Books 1969, which was The Lurkers in the Abyss, published in the The Eleventh Pan Book of Horror Stories. This story was chosen by John Pelan for inclusion in The Century's Best Horror Fiction, published by Cemetery Dance in 2012. Over the years he has had numerous stories published in Britain and the United States, plus translations into German, Spanish, Italian and Russian. Publishers include Pan, Sphere, Doubleday, Corgi, ROC, Cemetery Dance, DAW, Robinson, Vintage, Skyhorse, and…
Halloween Haunts 2013: Stoker Spotlight on L.L. Soares

Halloween Haunts 2013: Stoker Spotlight on L.L. Soares

L.L. Soares is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a First Novel for Life Rage. 1. How would you describe Life Rage? Life Rage is, at its core, the story of psychologist who specializes in anger management, who learns that he himself is a rage demon that feeds on anger.  But it is also about so much more than that. There are several main characters, whose lives eventually interconnect, some human, some possibly demonic. 2. Tell us about what inspired you to write Life Rage. I remember I came up with the title first. At the…
Halloween Haunts 2013: Personal Experience in Halloween Fiction; Or, Why I Wrote a Halloween Novella Featuring a Protagonist Named Lisa Morton by Lisa Morton

Halloween Haunts 2013: Personal Experience in Halloween Fiction; Or, Why I Wrote a Halloween Novella Featuring a Protagonist Named Lisa Morton by Lisa Morton

There are a lot of wonderful reasons to use Halloween in fiction. It’s an extraordinarily rich holiday, offering a variety of experiences. For some, it’s about the autumn season, with the sights and smells and sensations that accompany longer nights and turning leaves; for others, it’s about candy and the empowerment derived from costuming; and for many of us, it’s a chance to test our fears in safe, playful environments (movie theaters or haunted attractions). It’s also experienced by virtually everyone in North America at this point (and is rapidly spreading all around the globe). In horror fiction, many of…
Halloween Haunts 2013: The Old Stories Return by James Chambers

Halloween Haunts 2013: The Old Stories Return by James Chambers

October raises dark dreams of chill breezes and the aroma of dead leaves. Dreams of streets and houses, dead black in silhouette against sunset’s orange and indigo skies. Twilight dreams. Memories of things that never existed. Things we obsessed over in childhood when the ritual of donning a Halloween costume and trick-or-treating meant more than simply harvesting candy because it still seemed possible when we were young that on Halloween the supernatural might reveal itself. Ghosts might drift through the air and shadows come alive. Lights might appear in abandoned houses. Black, driverless cars might cruise down the road beside…

DARK ROADS: SELECTED LONG POEMS 1971-2012 by HWA Member Bruce Boston

Author: Bruce Boston DARK ROADS: SELECTED LONG POEMS 1971-2012 Long_Synopsis: Considered one of the leading genre/speculative poets for more than a quarter century, Bruce Boston has received the Bram Stoker Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Asimovâ s Readers Award, the Rhysling Award, and the first Grandmaster Award of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Dark Roads collects the best of his long dark poems from more than forty years of publishing. Strikingly illustrated by acclaimed artist M. Wayne Miller, these poems range from direct narratives to surreal explorations of time, memory, obsession and transformation. Includes two Rhysling Winners and three Rhysling…

Three Chords of Chaos by HWA Member James Chambers

Author: James Chambers No greater musician than Gorge ever lived in the realm of the sidhe. No faerie musician ever delved so deeply into the taboo songs and the forbidden music&emdash;the Way of the Bone. Yet, Gorge refused to deny himself their temptations. In reward his true love betrayed him, and the faerie kings and queens who once praised him stripped him of his magic and exiled him to the mortal world. Left to go mad and die, Gorge discovered new life in the arms of a mortal woman, Delilah, and new magic in the music that sings in the…

The Power of Nothing by HWA Member Richard Farren Barber

Author: Richard Farren Barber Steve Granger immediately realizes there is something wrong about the gray man. When he starts to follow him Steve knows he is right. When Steve cannot get rid of the gray man he erupts. Walking across the park one night he turns on the gray man and kills him. The next morning as Steve leaves his flat to get rid of his blood-splattered clothes he walks out to discover the gray man standing on his doorstep. Steve learns that killing the man a second time is easier. And still the man comes back. Publisher: Damnation Books…

GRAVE DANCER’S CLUB by HWA Member James Gurley

Author: James Gurley GRAVE DANCER'S CLUB Sleepy little Corinth, Mississippi has its share of ghosts. The bloody battle of Shiloh and the Battle of Corinth during the Civil War left thousands in their graves. Cemeteries and battlefields dot the surrounding area like drops of blood on the map. When fourteen-year old Jeff Mason and his fellow Grave Dancer Club members decided to forgo their usual ghost story and spy on a reported real ghost, they do not foresee becoming mice in a deadly cat-and-mouse game between them and a two-hundred year old Strigoi vampire named Albert Whitney. Whitney, buried one…