Author: Horror Tree

Articles / Interviews

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REMAINS TO BE TOLD – An interview with Kiwi author Gina Cole

REMAINS TO BE TOLD – An interview with Kiwi author Gina Cole 

 

In this unique interview series, we chat with the contributors of Kiwi horror anthology Remains to Be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, edited by five-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Lee Murray (Clan Destine Press, 1 October). 

 

Today, we welcome award-winning author Gina Cole, whose murderous short story “Blind Date” appears in the anthology. 

 

Tell us about your story in the anthology.  

 

My story “Blind Date” began as a very creepy short film script about murder and assassination. In the process of editing and turning it into fiction I ramped up the horror aspect and it morphed into a completely different and terrifying story.  

 

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Articles / Interviews

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REMAINS TO BE TOLD: An interview with Kiwi author Denver Grenell

REMAINS TO BE TOLD: An interview with Kiwi author Denver Grenell
 

In this unique interview series, we chat with the contributors of Kiwi horror anthology Remains to Be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, edited by five-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Lee Murray (Clan Destine Press, 1 October). 

 

Today, we welcome Denver Grenell, whose action horror short story “Ngahere Gold” [Bush Gold] appears in the anthology. 

 

What, in your view, are the core elements of Aotearoa horror? What makes Kiwi horror unique? 

 

Our landscape, our history, and our voice—all of which are intertwined like a complex raranga / flax weaving. There is a darkness to the history of Aotearoa, which hangs over us like a long (white) cloud and often seeps into our art—from the cinema of unease to certain musical stylings and, of course, our written word. 

 

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Articles / Interviews

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REMAINS TO BE TOLD: An interview with Kiwi author Debbie Cowens

REMAINS TO BE TOLD: An interview with Kiwi author Debbie Cowens 

 

In this unique interview series, we chat with the contributors of Kiwi horror anthology Remains to Be Told: Dark Tales of Aotearoa, edited by five-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Lee Murray (Clan Destine Press, 1 October). 

 

Today, we welcome award-winning author Debbie Cowens, whose Lovecraftian short story “The Reaper Beetle” appears in the anthology. 

 

Please tell us about your story, Debbie.  

 

My story “The Reaper’s Beetle” was a hybrid of two separate story ideas. One was the horror version of an incident from my youth when a friend disappeared during the night on a school camp, and we found her out in the bush after she’d apparently sleep-walked of the cabin. The other was more focused on tensions that can arise when old school friends reunite, especially when the relationships haven’t matured, and people’s lives have gone in very different directions. The story also in some way reflects my aversion and discomfort with funerals. Ever since my father’s funeral when I was younger, I’ve found them an anxiety-inducing blend of overwhelming, personal grief and a polite, formal ceremony.  

 

The story is also inspired by Lovecraft, his tradition of dangerous consequences befalling those who delve too deeply into the study of dark, ancient mythos, and the reaper beetle itself owes part of its creation to his story ‘Winged Death’ amongst others.   

 

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Articles

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Your First Book: What Can Be The Perfect Topic for Success

Your First Book: What Can Be The Perfect Topic for Success

Photo by RF._.studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-writing-on-her-notebook-3059747/

Writing a book from scratch can be pretty tense and requires ambition, persistence, and a creative mindset. There are several reasons why it’s a good idea to finally have your own book, given the fact that after the rise of ebooks, readers tend to prefer digital versions of reading more and more. Basically, the digitization of books made it more accessible and once you succeeded in writing your best piece, fame may follow you.

 

The beginning is always difficult since you might find yourself blank and assume your creativity has run dry. Or, you might be bursting with tons of ideas and can’t decide which one to pick. Sometimes you have a perfect idea but struggle with the second novel syndrome – a pressure to satisfy your reader’s expectations. 

 

You’re not alone in this boat. Even the best-selling authors struggle with choosing the perfect topic.

 

Below, we have listed a few rhetorical questions to help you narrow down the topic to write on:

 

  • What are you most passionate about?
  • What is the trendy topic that others are reading?
  • Are there any personal life experiences you might want to incorporate?

 

This article will list three trendy topics that are sure to draw attention. Make sure to grab your notepads. By the end, we guarantee you’ll be bursting with a million ideas!

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Articles

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How game developers make you feel fear in games

How game developers make you feel fear in games

 

Horror games are some of the hardest projects to develop when it comes to being really scared, not being jerked off by real movements and sounds.

 

To scare the player so that the blood really runs cold in the veins is a real art.

 

You can make the gamer just twitch during the crown of sorrow raid carries in Destiny 2 when the boss just jumps out of the ceiling and takes a lot of health, but then you get up and all the horror magic disappears.

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Dreadful Dialogues: Crafting Convincing Conversations in Horror Stories

Dreadful Dialogues: Crafting Convincing Conversations in Horror Stories

 

From ancient campfire tales to contemporary horror novels, the chilling power of the spoken word has never lost its grip on our collective fear. In horror stories, dialogues play a pivotal role in shaping the narrative, building suspense, and unmasking the true nature of the characters. They are the undercurrents of dread that sweep readers into the depth of the story, infusing every word with an ominous chill.

In this post, we aim to provide a comprehensive exploration into crafting dialogues that evoke unease, provoke fear, and pull readers deeper into your haunted world. We will dive into the purpose of dialogues in horror writing, discuss techniques to create chilling and meaningful conversations, explore how these conversations can flesh out characters, and underscore the vital role of dialogues in advancing the plot.

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Articles / Guest Post

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The Best Books With Unreliable Narrators

Unreliable narrators can seem strange to some. However, one could argue that every person is an unreliable narrator for their own life story. They tend to believe their version of events. Truth is subjective and varies depending on the individual’s perspective. Authors must follow one rule when allowing characters to tell their stories: the characters must present their version to the reader.

Although a narrator can be deceitful to a degree, the reader must have enough information to see the truth. Even in fiction, no reader likes to be deliberately misled. They do.

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Is Silence of the Lambs the Perfect Horror-Crime Book Crossover?

One of the best debates you can have with a book buff is to take a novel that’s difficult to categorize and parse out which genre it belongs in. No, we are not talking about the eternal debate of whether Die Hard is a Christmas Movie (it is), but more subtle examples. For instance, you can make a solid argument that ‘The Shining Girls’ by Lauren Beukes is a horror novel more so than it is a sci-fi or crime novel. Laird Barron’s Man with No Name? While there are horrifying elements, it’s most definitely an action novel. Of course, you can always exit the debate by saying they are hybrids or crossovers, but where’s the fun in that? 

Still, when it comes to hybrid genres, one of the most common crossovers is between crime and horror. Books like William Hjortsberg’s ‘Fallen Angel‘ are good examples, and you might make a case for American Psycho, although that one is a bit tonally off the mark as a horror as it doesn’t build suspense. If you’re looking for the biggest bang for your buck, the Ellen Datlow edited anthology ‘Supernatural Noir’ is full of shining examples. But the best example? It must be The Silence of the Lambs. 
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