“Magick dictates Destiny”: An Interview with author Paula Cappa

Draakensky, the new novel by author Paula Cappa, is a Gothic dark fantasy with a twist; the twist being magick. While most Gothic novels draw on the supernatural as a source of chills and thrills, Cappa rather explores the supernatural as something tangible, a product of the elemental forces which surround us. 

There’s also plenty of chills and thrills throughout the novel. At once a ghost story, a murder mystery, and a romance, Draakensky draws readers into a rich world of magic and sorcery. 

I spoke to Paula about the novel via Zoom in November.

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I have always had a soft spot for folk horror. I love the modern age still keeping with the Old Ways. So when I got the opportunity to interview David Barnett about his novel Withered Hill, I jumped at it. It turns out the author is as interesting as his novel!

About ‘Withered Hill’:

Inside

A year ago Sophie Wickham stumbled into the isolated Lancashire village of Withered Hill, naked, alone and with no memory of who she is.

Surrounded by a thick ring of woodland, its inhabitants seem to be of another world, drenched in pagan, folklorish traditions.

As Sophie struggles to regain the memories of her life from before, she quickly realises she is a prisoner after multiple failed escape attempts. But is it the locals who keep her trapped, with smiles on their faces, or something else, lurking in the woods?

Outside

In London, Sophie leads a chaotic life, with too many drunken nights, inappropriate men and boring temp jobs. But things take a turn as she starts to be targeted by strange messages warning her that someone, or something, is coming for her.

With no idea who to trust, or where to turn for help, the messages become more insistent and more intimidating, urging Sophie to make her way to a place called Withered Hill…

An utterly bewitching, dual timeline folk horror novel, with a truly devastating twist you have to read to believe.

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Before I invited David Watkins into my parlour, I had to (temporarily) relocate all of my spider friends. But don’t worry, no spiders were harmed in the making of this interview (probably to David Watkins’ great chagrin!); in fact, I’ve promised them a fine feast of flies upon their return. Pull up a chair, grab a slice of pizza, and enjoy the interview!

And, mark your reading calendars, because Watkins’ Book Three in the Original series drops November 15, 2024: https://www.amazon.com/Originals-Rage-werewolf-thriller-Book-ebook/dp/B0DJMSTS87. Perfect if you like your horror with a dash of werewolf lore!

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Winter in the City

An interview with R. B. Wood

By Sarah Elliott

It feels like winter is coming. Long nights herald the chills: physical, psychological and perhaps emotional. For some, it may already be here. That time of hibernation. Time to retreat to the safety of the sofa and lose yourself in a book, choosing total immersion in the words of others. Winter in the City is the first anthology to be published by Ruadán books, run by R.B. Wood. Want to know more? Read on.

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An Interview with With Mia Dalia On ‘Haven’ and writing dark fiction!

Mia Dalia is a lifelong reader and reviewer turned writer. She has published two novels, Estate Sale and Haven, as well as several novellas and many, many short stories. I came to Dalia’s work through her debut novel, Estate Sale, and her pirate story in Call of the Sea from Black Ink Fiction. Her work can be found in an impressive number of anthologies from a wide variety of publishers. While a lot of her fiction is dark, Dalia also writes in a variety of other genres and is on her way to becoming quite prolific. I was pleased to get the chance to interview and get to know Mia Dalia better.

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Jason Palmatier- Life After Winning Writers of the Future

By Angelique Fawns

Jason Palmatier won Writer’s of the Future and appeared in volume 39 with his story “Under My Cypresses.”  I met him at World Fantasy Con this October in Niagara Falls and thought I’d ask him where his career has gone after his dream accomplishment. Learn more at his website! https://jasonpalmatier.com/about-me/

If his last name is familiar, his brother Joshua Palmatier runs the Zombies Needs Brain, LLC. (Rumor has it they will probably be opening for subs in the spring!)

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I can only hope that Dan Fields can appreciate a New Mexican spin on enchiladas, as that’s my go-to culinary influence at the present time (red, green, or Christmas chile, Dan?). Enjoy “feasting” on this interview, HT readers!

Dan Fields hails from Houston, Texas, where he lives with his wife and two children. He absconded with a film degree from Northwestern University in 2006, and has worked in a variety of media disciplines including music, photography, video, animation, fiction, criticism and even the odd (very odd) sculpture. In the late 2000s he was frontman of the Chicago chaos-and-blues act Howlin’ Tumbleweeds, and he is a founding member, songwriter and performer for the Lone Star blues, country and rock band Polecat Rodeo (established 2010).

Since 2015, Dan has published over two dozen stories of horror and the weird with Pseudopod, Nocturnal Transmissions, The NoSleep Podcast, Sanitarium Magazine, Grotesque Quarterly, Hellbound Books, Novel Noctule, Cowboy Jamboree Press, Frontier Tales, Improbable Press, Weird Christmas and more. His fiction has been broadcast (or rather podcast) in multiple accents across the English-speaking world, and has also been translated into Russian by the poet Katarina Vorontsova for Darker Magazine.

In July 2020, his story “And Every Living Thing After Its Kind” was anthologized in the 10th edition of the Kendall Hunt college textbook Analyzing Short Stories.

In 2021, he released an original story collection entitled Under Worlds, After Lives, which a reviewer for HorrorNews.net called “an immensely compelling anthology that preys upon your subconscious long after the final pages.”

Dan’s latest work of short fiction, entitled “The Fair Child,” will appear in a future anthology from Fabula Press.

Dan and fellow Harvest Time writer Chris Robinson have also published several collaborative stories, under the joint pseudonym “Lyman Graves,” with the likes of Swamp Ape Review, Grotesque Quarterly, Nocturnal Transmissions, and The Great Void. Red Room Press included Lyman’s story “When The Owls Call” in their anthology Year’s Best Hardcore Horror, Volume 4. A new Lyman tale entitled “So, I Hear You Eat Houses” is scheduled to appear in a forthcoming anthology from Three Ravens Publishing.

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