A Point of Pride: Interview with Damian Serbu

Damian Serbu is an author of gay horror/speculative fiction. After over twenty years of teaching history at the collegiate level, he now writes full time. He lives in the Chicagoland area with his husband and two dogs. You can find him at www.DamianSerbu.com, or keep up with his latest ramblings at https://twitter.com/DamianSerbu and https://www.facebook.com/damian.serbu. What inspired you to start writing? I was inspired to write because of the stories running around in my head! For as long as I can remember, I created fictional narratives and characters in my mind. I found the process exciting and a release from everyday…

“Cheap Plastic Costumes and My Imagination” By Damian Serbu

As a professionally trained historian come horror writer, I recently reflected on my childhood and what created the writer inside of me. I concluded that some of the imagination that inspired that writer stemmed from my Halloween experiences as a child. So many horror fans loved Halloween growing up, and I was no exception. I thrilled at finding my costume, putting it on that night, and transforming myself into another being, thrusting myself into another reality, with the trick-or-treating as almost an afterthought. Except, instead of having the time and means to create a fantastical costume and generate a look…

Halloween Haunts: Estes Park Hauntings by Damian Serbu

The tradition – whether real or imagined – of ghosts more prominently appearing or visiting the living during Halloween inspires all sorts of stories in my mind. Nothing tantalizes me more, however, than real hauntings. And actual hauntings that touch my family especially fuel my passion for writing about the mysterious world of the afterlife. My parents live in Estes Park, Colorado, and so on a recent visit we went to the Stanley Hotel for a drink and to partake of the ghost tour. Of course, most people know that setting, and particularly room 217, inspired Stephen King to write…