Selene – Welcome to the Horror Tree, and thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with you telling us a bit about yourself.

Edward – Thanks for the interview. My life’s been wonderfully haphazard: naval officer/diver/bomb disarmer, reporter, intelligence operative/handler, sales/marketing executive, writer, couple advanced degrees, proficiency in three languages. I’ve tried to remain immature as I aged, avoiding the ossified judgements that constrict so many adults. And I give myself permission to change my mind about issues and individuals when warranted.

Selene – From your bio, it appears you started creative writing after retirement. What’s it like, starting a new journey later in life?

Edward – I wrote corporate marketing plans for years, which prepared me for tinkering with the truth in fiction. Lots of drawbacks to starting to write late in life, but one advantage is that I’m not worried about making it a career and can try and craft each story and poem to ring true.

Selene – I notice you write mainly short fiction and poetry. What appeals to you about the shorter form, rather than writing novels?

Edward – Time horizon. At seventy-five I don’t make bold predictions about length of life or lucidity. I do have a published novella, “The Witches’ Bane,” and a novel 40k words in progress, but I’m frequently seduced by a new story or poem idea and amble off to write them.

Selene – Let’s talk about poetry. Poetry is rarer in the speculative fiction community, although there are some great spec-fic poets out there. How does your approach to poetry differ from prose?

Edward – The bulk of my poetry is ‘general’ or perhaps (shudder) ‘literary,’ but I do have a fair number of speculative poems that have gotten published. It’s harder for me to write a good horror poem than to anguish about my wounded psyche. I try and capture the delicious fear contained in Little Orphan Annie- “and the goblins’ll git you if you don’t watch out.” Good horror poetry I think is sensory. I try and make the reader physically uncomfortable and yet enjoy the process.

Selene – You’ve also got a strong background in journalism and have published a few essays. How does writing non-fiction differ from fiction, and which do you like better?

Edward – I really enjoyed my time as a newspaper reporter, and if they’d paid me more I might still be doing it. The two best brought-alongs from my reporting days are a respect for accuracy- which translates well into plot integrity- and the ability to sit down and write regardless of mood or digestion.

Selene – Because this is The Horror Tree, what about the horror genre draws you, as a writer?

Edward – I love scary stories, both reading and writing, but am not impressed by prose sloppy with gore, although I’ve written some of it. There is latent evil under every good, and good horror writing shows me how precarious my hold is on that good. Probably a third of my speculative fiction is horror, another third fairy tale and fable, and the balance fantasy and science fiction.

Selene – What I’ve read of your stories is very character-driven. Why and how do you choose the people you write about, and how do you draw your characters?

Edward – I think a story that resonates with readers lets them into the mind and emotions of characters. I try for troubled, imperfect narrators who reach behind readers’ veneers to touch the sore spots. I try for people who are heroic without being heroes.

Selene – As a horror/speculative writer, there’s one character that always seems to be lurking around the corners of your writing: Death. This may seem like a strange question, but I’ve noticed that a lot of horror seems to be “How Not to Die.” By contrast, your characters seem to be dealing with the inevitability of death in various ways. Do you notice this, as you write? 

Edward – That’s a very good question. A fair amount of what I did in the military and in intelligence work involved physical risk, and my recreations of hunting and fishing are premised on something dying. I’ve come relatively close a few times and accept calculated risks. Running away from one fate sometimes just means you’ve let another one in.

Selene – I’d like to talk about fairy tales, now. At least two of your stories are inspired by Russian folk tales. Is there a particular culture or country’s fairy tales you like or that influence you, or do you like stories from many places?

Edward –  It’s a smorgasbord. The published stories from other cultures are all folk rather than fairy tales- two Russian, one Norwegian, one Turkish, two Inuit, one Japanese and four Native American. Around thirty years ago the main Bridgeport, CT library had an extensive collection of folk tales and I read through most of the books, photocopied forty or so of the tales, rewrote them, and submitted them for publication. I received two nice rejection letters and put the stories in a box for the next quarter century. I finally wiped off the dust, re-rewrote these eleven pieces and individually submitted them, all accepted. Sadly, over the years the Bridgeport library got rid of the books of folk tales, so I saved a little bit of something now gone.

Selene – You’ve published a book of your own fairy tales, written for your children and grandchildren. How did that come about?

Edward – Our children didn’t breed enough to populate an entire book with protagonists. Only five of the stories in the book feature a grandchild as the hero, the rest are retold folk tales and modern fairy tales. I wanted to give our grandchildren something they could have read to them, and something they could read to their children, which is why I wrote and assembled the stories in The Witch Made Me Do It.

Selene – The Witch Made Me Do It is described as a book of “modern” fairy tales. How would you say a “modern” tale is different from a “classic” tale, and what’s your approach to writing one?

Edward – Unless it’s satiric, I avoid the classic fairy tale settings, and set the stories and characters in the present, modernizing the evil doers and monsters. There’s some bleed into stories that got published as fantasy but could arguably be called fairy tales. A “modern” fairy tale can address real time issues for children. I’m not sure we do our children a favor by always insisting on the tales we were told when young

Selene – In addition to fairy tales, what are some of your writing influences, and what do you like to read?

Edward – I hate clichés but will use one here. My reading habit is a dog’s breakfast. I love and am infuriated by David Foster Wallace, leisure-read a fair amount of place-focused non-fiction, read about 20k words/week of fiction and poetry for the review board at Bewildering Stories, critique two stories and a few poems a week for writing groups I participate in, and often purpose-read fiction authors whose techniques I’m studying.

Selene – Before you retired, you had a long career in business, and military training before that. Do you ever use your experiences in these fields as writing fodder?

Edward –

All the time. It’s a lot easier to write absorbingly about experiences I’ve had rather than experiences I’m conjecturing. Sensory detail of course, but even more the emotions and conflicts that accompany the events. A story based on my spooky days, “Alten Kameraden” is as viscerally close as I’ll ever get to describing what it was like to be an operative.

Selene – What advice would you give a newer writer, especially one starting writing later in life?

Edward – The first draft sucks. Always. Frequent rejections are a given and can be accepted in stride. Writing isn’t a zero-sum game, we don’t win or lose, we just get better at playing. As both a writer and an editor I can confidently say that acceptance is a matter of editorial taste, especially in poetry. However, if more than five editors turn a piece down, revise it. An older writer, I think, has an easier time finding her voice. Doesn’t make her writing any better, just means it’s consistent.

Selene – What writing projects are you working on now, and what’s next for you?

Edward – The novel in progress is temporarily called The Rule of Chaos. It’s a paranormal thriller set in the U.S. and Iraq. I was 40k words into it and realized that I didn’t like what I was doing. After a year on the shelf I figured out how it should be written and will spend much of the next year rewriting and expanding it to 80k or so words. I write two or three poems and a short story or two a month. I’ve assembled a poetry collection that I’m shopping around now. Hopefully someone will have the bad taste to publish it.

Selene – Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Do you have anything else you’d like to talk about here?

Edward – Horror, like humor, doesn’t get the respect it deserves. It seems peculiar that the most intensely emotional writing- horror, humor, romance- gets talked down, as if reluctant to admit to feelings unattached to literary layering.

Horror stories have been around ever since early man learned how to communicate with his own kind. The genre of horror has been linked to ancient folklore, religious practices, and common superstitions, with a heavy focus on evil, death, the afterlife, demons, witches, ghosts, werewolves, and vampires. Horror fiction became firmly established in early Europe through a myriad of mythological tales that were created by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Ever so popular, the horror genre continued to persist throughout the Medieval Era, finally emerging as Gothic horror in the 18th century. Though there have been many famous horror writers throughout history, Edgar Allan Poe was the first American writer to popularize horror and the macabre. Poe is not only recognized as the “Father of the Detective Story,” with his publication of The Murders In The Rue Morgue in 1841, but he is also credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.

Good horror stories tend to have one thing in common—fear—especially fear of the unknown. As H.P. Lovecraft, the master of the horror tale in the twentieth century once said, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Horror is defined as an intense feeling of fear, great shock, disgust, and/or worry caused by something extremely unpleasant. A unique genre of fiction, horror has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle its readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.

The components of a good horror story usually include fear, surprise, suspense, mystery, foreshadowing, and imagination. A good horror author will know how to interconnect these important elements together in a way that will make for an intriguing tale of the macabre.

Fear is paramount to any horror story. Scaring the reader with fears they may or may not have (fear of the unknown) is key to writing a spooky tale. A strong emotion of fear sets horror apart from the other genres, and expanding on that fear can contribute to surprise. If the author can’t elicit fear in the reader, then the story shouldn’t fall into the horror genre.

Surprise is important in order to connect with the reader. If the writer can make the fear(s) a surprise, then the story will be even more exciting. Many horror movies rely on the element of surprise to terrify its audience. By tying a surprise to the end of a long suspense, the reader will stay hooked on the storyline.

Suspense can be used to keep the reader’s adrenaline flowing, especially if it plays off of fear. If the story is written well, then the reader will be afraid if the character is afraid. Well-placed suspense holds the reader’s interest in the story and puts them on the edge of their seat. If suspense is intertwined with fear, then it will keep the reader on a roller coaster ride. A suspenseful story is more often than not dependent on a good mystery.

Mystery is a strong element in any horror tale. Generally speaking, the more unknowns the author has in a story, the better the read. A mystery that’s not solved until the end of the book can definitely make for a suspenseful tale. Mystery and suspense can also be used together as a hook to keep the reader’s attention. In order to surprise its reader, a story needs to have a convincing mystery.

What’s the difference between mystery and suspense? Mystery contains one or more elements that remain unexplained or unknown until a story’s ending. A good mystery story showcases a given character’s struggle with different psychological and/or physical obstacles in an effort to achieve a particular goal or goals. Suspense is elicited when the reader isn’t aware of what’s coming next or what the outcome of an event or conflict in a story will be. A savvy author will create suspense by keeping the reader guessing as to what will happen next. As the great Alfred Hitchcock once said, “Suspense is the state of waiting for something to happen.” A mystery story reveals the major crime or event, followed by the protagonist solving the mystery of the who, why, and how of it. A suspense story delivers twists and turns before showing the crime or event later, thus eliciting a feeling of suspense in the reader. The enemy of suspense is predictability, which should be avoided when constructing the plot. Many authors are able to create a blend of suspense and mystery in their stories, thus providing a reliable way to keep their reader’s interest.

Foreshadowing is a way of preparing the reader for the climax of the story. By leaving well-placed clues in the plot and not giving away any answers, the author can make the mystery in his book even more enticing. Foreshadowing can be used as a tie-in to a mystery as it builds anticipation in the reader. An indication for the occurrence of future events, foreshadowing is a valuable tool for any writer.

Imagination can be a horror author’s best friend when used to construct the events, characters, situations, and storyline of a book. The reader can also draw upon their imagination as they conjure up images and visions of what they’ve read.  When used synergistically, fear, mystery, and imagination are crucial to any good horror story. If the reader can imagine himself as a character in a story, then the author has succeeded in his endeavors. “Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.” – Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.

Given that the human imagination knows no limits, a cornucopia of scary characters have been created throughout time, including monsters, demons, and ghosts, just to mention a few. The genres of horror, science fiction, and fantasy are usually based on fear and imagination, which is why they often overlap each other. A well-written horror novel can uncover a reader’s hidden anxiety or deepest nightmare—the more mysterious the antagonist, the more effective the horror. Adding mystery to horror not only makes for a more interesting story, but it also heightens the fear. Horror authors know that keeping the narrative terrifying is a must for any tale of horror.

Block Head: Getting Past Writer’s Block

By Kevin Holton

Almost every writer has faced the horror of attempting to continue (or start) a story, only to realize the words aren’t flowing. It’s a nightmare, even for those who write the most disturbing, tormented content, and the stress of not being able to do what you love can really eat away at even the most stoic ego. This goes double if you’ve got deadlines coming up.

I’ve been writing for nearly ten years now, amassing just shy of 100 short story publications, with one novel out and three more, plus a collection, on the way. Needless to say, I know a thing or two about overcoming those blocks. Hopefully these tips help you in your quest toward immortality and infinite riches. Or, falling short of this, enough income from writing to offset the cost of seeing Infinity War in Imax.

Get to know your story

Overwhelmingly, the number one time I’ve hit a mental obstruction is because what I’m writing isn’t making sense. Maybe the scene involves someone acting out-of-character, like a helicopter parent forgetting a child at the supermarket without any causative distraction. This could be from a plot point missing the story’s arc, like the introduction of somebody’s sibling to save the day when that sibling hasn’t been mentioned at all.

Writing is an immensely subconscious activity, so your brain knows when you’re trying to consciously drive the tale in the wrong direction. When that happens, that subtle, suggestive part might hit the brakes to make you reflect on what you’ve done. Human brains are built to reflect on, understand, and eliminate flawed or nonsensical behavior, so if what you’ve written isn’t logical for the plot/place/person, take a look at what you’ve already written for a hint on how to continue.

Challenge yourself

There’s a chance you can’t write because you’re bored. Seriously. Change genres, write about a character in a situation you have no knowledge of, like being orphaned, or addicted to drugs, or as a sex worker, or whatever. Take an established character and write a quick, for-your-eyes-only ditty about that person in that situation. Doctor Frankenstein as a young black woman, for instance. Dracula, the Gigolo. Tracer, from Overwatch, if she used superspeed for evil. A sociopath in a Saw game outsmarting the traps because many of them had clear flaws that would’ve made them easy to survive, if people paid attention and stopped freaking out.

Keep in mind, you can’t publish fan fiction. That’s copyright violation. This is just a ‘break out of the box’ exercise.

Take it easy on yourself

Lots of people freak out and shut down if they have too much on their plate. That’s fine. You’re allowed to be human, you’re allowed to be stressed, and you’re allowed to take a day off if that R+R gets your head on straight. I recommend making a list of things you want/need to do, and keeping yourself to three tasks a day, whatever it takes. “Write 2,000 words, go to work, cook dinner” might be one day, followed by, “Write 2,000 words, go to work, do chores (vacuum, laundry, dust fans),” and so on. Also, don’t think of activities as ‘must do,’ and they’ll be easier. If you love writing, you can take it off the to-do list, because you’ll want to do it anyway. Love working out? Don’t include the gym in your ‘obligations.’ Then your day might look like, “Pay bills, go to work, run errands on the way home,” even though you’re writing before you pay the bills, and hitting the gym before the errands. Life’s all about perception.

Exercise

Joyce Carol Oates is a huge fan of daily walks, as is Stephen King. Getting your blood flowing is a proven way to increase thinking speed, information processing, creativity, and even intelligence. Wrath James White still runs and hits the gym to lift weights, though that’s not surprising, since he spent years as a professional fighter in several disciplines. I’m personally a fan of yoga, as contrarian as that may seem for a horror writer, because the inverted positions like Down Dog send blood right to your head.

Cut down on the coffee

Go ahead. Burn me at the stake right now for saying it, but you can’t think your ideas through it you’re jittery and bouncing off the walls. That extra cup of joe isn’t going to get anything flowing but your bladder, so just keep on with your regular intake. Cutting caffeine might impair your writing too, though, so keep that in mind. Try a nice herbal tea if you’re in need of a warm drink to keep you seated. Mint tea is, empirically, the best tea, because its name is also describing its flavor. (Mint tea is mint-y.)

And lastly…

Write every swear word you know

I can’t explain why, but if I lose my train of thought midsentence, or can’t figure out what to say next, an all-caps F***! does the trick. Just remember to delete it afterwards. You do not want to see what happened to my seminar paper last year…

There are, of course, more ways to beat writer’s block, but those are my favorites. In a few words, they boil down to this: be mindful of what’s important to you, and make sure you view pursuing your passions/taking care of yourself as opportunities, or blessings, or rewards for good time management, i.e. “I get to write today because I remembered to do the errands yesterday.” Whatever wording gets you going. When all else fails, shake it up. Get the blood flowing, literally or metaphorically, with a change of pace (pun obviously intended).

One last piece of advice, actually: get a bookshelf with everything you’ve written on it. It’s very easy to inspire yourself to keep going when you can look at how far you’ve already come.