Horror Writers Association

Tag archive: Tom Joyce Archives - Horror Writers Association [ 7 ]

Nuts & Bolts: Interview With Indie Horror Director Chris LaMartina

By Tom Joyce

True to the throwback aesthetic of his 2013 indie film, WNUF Halloween Special, writer, director, and producer Chris LaMartina took a low-tech approach to promoting it. He used atypical tactics, such as leaving VHS copies lying around at conventions, in the hopes that curious attendees would take them home and pop them into their VCRs.

And the approach seemingly worked for his horror-comedy–a pitch-perfect reproduction of a bootlegged VHS recording from the ’80s, complete with commercials, which depicts a local news station’s disastrous Halloween broadcast from a haunted house. WNUF gained rave reviews and a cult …

NUTS & BOLTS: INTERVIEW WITH LINDA GOULD, CREATOR OF KAIDANKAI PODCAST

By Tom Joyce

Linda Gould’s Kaidankai podcast, which she started as a project during the pandemic, is still going strong with 60,000 downloads. In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, Linda talks about how she found an audience and the kinds of narratives that lend themselves to a storytelling format. 

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about Kaidankai and how it got started?

A: What a long story this could be! I’ll give you a short answer.

When I started the Kaidankai podcast, I lived in Japan where it has become a tradition to tell ghost

NUTS & BOLTS: INTERVIEW WITH “THE HORROR ZINE” JEANI RECTOR

By Tom Joyce

If you ever get despondent over the state of the publishing industry, think of Jeani Rector. Alarmed about all the publications closing after the economic collapse of 2008, she decided to start The Horror Zine—now in its 14th successful year. In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, Jeani talks about how she got started, what makes for a good author/editor relationship, and what she looks for in a submission.

 

Q: How did The Horror Zine get started?

A: Back “in the day”, I used to write fiction and submit it to various

Nuts & Bolts: Interview With Screenplay Writer John Penney

By Tom Joyce

Even literary legends can make a bad call sometimes. John Penney discovered that when he disregarded some early career advice from famous author Ray Bradbury, to the effect that he should give screenwriting a pass if he wanted to be a serious author. 

Fortunately, John proved Mr. Bradbury wrong, and has spent the past 30 years producing horror in one form or another as an award-winning screenwriter, director, novelist, and short-story writer. In this edition of “Nuts & Bolts,” John shares some of his insights on novel and screenplay writing.   

Q: What are the main differences between

Nuts & Bolts: Running a Small Press, with Publisher Robert Ottone

Nuts & Bolts: Running a Small Press, with Publisher Robert Ottone

Nuts & Bolts: Running a Small Press, with Publisher Robert Ottone

By Tom Joyce

In addition to being a publisher, Robert Ottone is a novelist, short-story writer, and Bram Stoker Award nominee. But when it comes to running Spooky House Press, he thinks of himself primarily as a fan—a designation that motivated him to start his small press in the first place and guides all of his business decisions.   

In this month’s edition of “Nuts & Bolts”, Robert gives some perspective into where small presses like his fit into the publishing landscape, and what that can mean for aspiring authors.

Nuts and Bolts: Writing Tips From Master of Horror Joe R. Lansdale

Nuts and Bolts: Writing Tips From Master of Horror Joe R. Lansdale

Nuts and Bolts: Writing Tips From Master of Horror Joe R. Lansdale

By Tom Joyce

Joe R. Lansdale is the author of nearly four dozen novels, including Rusty Puppy, the Edgar Award-winning The Bottoms, Sunset and Sawdust, and Leather Maiden. He has received nine Bram Stoker Awards, the American Mystery Award, the British Fantasy Award, and the Grinzane Cavour Prize for Literature. He lives with his family in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Whether it’s horror, a western, or a crime thriller, you’ll never get bored reading a Joe R. Lansdale story. In this month’s edition of “Nuts &

Nuts and Bolts: Interview with Aurora Gorealis


In the tradition of such sinister seductresses as Vampira and Elvira, Aurora Gorealis is a Baltimore-based horror host who weaves dark magic from a combination of campy movies, sassy attitude, and the occasional pun of dubious quality.

Since 2017, Aurora (aka: Melissa LaMartina) has been playing the character during “Shocktail Hour” at the Golden West Café in Baltimore, combining live comedy and screenings of off-the-wall classics such as “Phantom of the Paradise” and “House on Haunted Hill” (complete with William Castle-style gimmicks).

In the October issue of the Horror Writers Association newsletter, available to members only, she shares some personal …

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