Dark Delicacies III: Haunted

Interview by: Elaine Lamkin Back in 1999, a crime novel with a supernatural element to it was published to great fanfare. The book, Every Dead Thing by Irish-born author John Connolly, won several awards and introduced mystery/horror genre readers to former NYC cop Charlie "Bird" Parker, who recently lost his wife and daughter to a brutal murder. On the hunt for revenge, Parker goes on a pilgrimage that will take him to the swamps of Louisiana to meet a woman who can speak with the dead and, ultimately, to a serial killer unlike any Parker has ever seen. Every Dead Thing was the first of eight, so far, Charlie Parker novels, and if you have not read Connolly's work, you are REALLY missing out. He also published a collection of short stories and novellas entitled Nocturnes, in which are quite a few stories that you cannot help but classify as horror. With Connolly's latest short story, "A Haunting", set to be published in the newest Dark Delicacies III – Haunted, Dread Central had a chat with this prolific and incredibly talented writer about his opinion regarding what genre he considers to be the one he primarily writes in as well as what's next for Charlie Parker. DC: Hello, John, and thank you for participating in this Dark Delicacies interview-a-thon. How did you come to be included in this latest anthology? Many readers don't immediately associate you with horror. JC: It was simply a matter of an email being sent asking me if I was interested in contributing. I get asked to do a lot of short story anthologies but very rarely say yes, simply because I don't write a lot of short stories. Generally, what happens is that I'll have an idea for a story in my head, and it will stay there until someone comes along and says, "I'm putting together a book on hauntings/zombies/the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. What do you think?" Those just happen to have been the recent requests that kind of fitted stories that were either in my head or had actually been written. But I've only written four short stories since the Nocturnes collection, and that was published in 2004. Like I said, I don't tend to write very many. I'm a slow worker, to be honest, and I usually find it difficult enough to concentrate on whatever novel I'm writing at the time. DC: Your story, "A Haunting", is a very poignant tale and, of the stories I have read so far, the most fitting for the subtitle of Dark Delicacies III: Haunted. I'm sure you are asked this all of the time, but being from Ireland, do you think the Irish literary tradition plays a strong role in your work? I haven't felt it as much in your Charlie "Bird" Parker novels although Charlie IS quite the tortured character. JC: I'm a product of my society so in that sense I can't escape it, but my books have always represented a reaction against that pervasive and, I felt, quite stifling Irish literary tradition. My influences are largely American and, when it comes to supernatural stories, British, although I kind of lose interest after M.R. James. I'm very old fashioned in my tastes when it comes to the supernatural. I generally read, and re-read, older ghost stories. Nevertheless, the fantasy tradition had, until the last century, played a large role in Irish literature, particularly when one looks at the great gothic novels: Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer, Le Fanu's Uncle Silas, Stoker's Dracula, and Wilde's The Picture Of Dorian Gray. In that sense, I'm happy to be influenced by my Irish forebears. DC: How did your story come into being? Was it influenced by a true event? JC: Actually, "A Haunting" had an odd gestation. It was originally due to be part of an anthology called Turndown Tales. The idea was that a book of short stories would be left in the rooms of a leading hotel chain, alongside Gideon bibles, I suppose. Unfortunately, the project ground to a halt when it was felt that most of the stories, including mine, were unsuitable due to their immoral content as they included, or implied, sex. I was simultaneously baffled, bemused, and, curiously, a little angry. I couldn't speak for the other writers, because I hadn't read their stories, but "A Haunting" is about love and bereavement. Very odd. I don't think I've stayed in the chain's hotels since … I wouldn't want to corrupt them. After that, I just set the story aside. I was very fond of it, and I wanted it to have the right home. When Del [Howison] and Jeff [Gelb] (the book's editors) approached me, it seemed like Haunted was the right place for this little story to be. It's not influenced by any event as such, but I suppose like most people I've experienced a degree of loss, and I'm curious about my responses to it. I've also fallen in and out of love, but I'm very fortunate to be with the person I am with now. That can lead, in darker moments, to wondering what life might be like without her. DC: Have you read any of the contributions of your fellow authors? Do any of them resonate with you? JC: I haven't actually seen the finished anthology yet, and I haven't even seen proofs of the other writers' stories. I've read some of their work in novel form, though, and I'm in good company, I feel. DC: There has been a debate amongst the "horror literati" about whether you should be classified as a horror writer or not. And as evidence, your short story collection Nocturnes was mentioned. Just reading the synopsis on the back, I would consider this horror. How do you classify yourself as a writer? JC: Oh, a friend of mine sent me a link to the Dark Delicacies forum, and I read some of the posts. They made me smile. I think what got some people's backs up was the fact that I said I "wasn't really a horror writer", and I don't think that I am. I'm really curious about the genre, and Nocturnes was an attempt to engage with it, as was, to a degree, Bad Men, but I suppose I think of myself as a mystery writer, and I use that term in the broadest possible sense. I'm probably best known, if I'm known for anything, for the Parker books, and they're very much mystery novels, although they take a Catholic view of what that might entail. I am interested in creating hybrids, of taking what I feel are the similar roots of a certain type of mystery fiction and a certain type of supernatural fiction and combining them in a new form, but the emphasis is on the crime side, I think. I actually get very defensive about this because I get it in the neck from the conservatives in mystery fiction, who believe metaphysics and any element of the supernatural have no place in the genre and would very much like to see me excluded from it. They want to keep mystery fiction set in aspic somewhere between the birth of Sherlock Holmes and the death of Poirot, and I suspect they'd like nothing better than for me to put my hands up and say, "Okay, I am a horror writer. I've been lying to myself all this time, and I'm sorry." But if I do that, they win, and I don't believe that what I write is NOT mystery fiction. Similarly, there comes a pressure from elements of the horror community to set aside the crime elements of the novels and come out of some imagined closet. Then, when I write a book like The Book of Lost Things, or The Gates, I get asked if I'm a literary writer, or a fantasy writer, or a children's writer. This urge to categorize is depressing. I mean, I can understand it when it comes to organizing bookstores, but not when it comes from one's fellow writers. I'm a genre writer, but all writers, ultimately, are genre writers. I didn't realize that I had to pick a team! DC: How would you define "haunted" as it pertains to this anthology? JC: A lingering memory, but then I can only define it according to my own story. DC: What is your opinion on the state of horror today - both literary and cinematic? JC: Heck, I don't want to show my ignorance too much, but like I said, I'm very old fashioned, and I don't read as much modern horror as perhaps I should. In literary terms, I like Joe Hill's work, just as I like his dad's. Perhaps my involvement in this anthology will open my eyes. As for cinema, oddly I love horror movies, but I'm not a fan of "torture porn", so Hostel, Saw, and their ilk leave me cold. Guillermo del Toro is wonderful, and most of the really interesting horror stuff seems to me to be coming from Europe, not America. I did rather like The Burrowers, though, which went straight to DVD here. That was a clever little low budget horror movie. DC: What are some of your favorite horror books? And films? JC: In film, I love John Carpenter's The Thing, which I'd classify as horror rather than sci-fi, although it covers both bases. Pan's Labyrinth is wonderful, but I know there are those who would classify it as fantasy, which I think is probably incorrect, or limiting, given its backdrop of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, and del Toro's previous form in that area with The Devil's Backbone. Actually, it would be a very long list of horror films, but quite a short list of horror novels, as I think that the short story is the form that is perhaps better suited to the genre. DC: I know fans like myself eagerly await the next Charlie Parker book (The Lovers: A Thriller was the latest). Will we be seeing more and more of Charlie in the coming years? JC: I'm currently working on a book called The Whisperers, which will be the next Parker novel, but there will be a break after that. I still have the urge to experiment with other forms; Nocturnes, The Book of Lost Things, and The Gates have all been written out of contract, as I think it's unfair to ask a publisher to pay in advance for something that might not conform to their expectations. Actually, some of the Parker novels have been written out of contract as well, I seem to recall. That gives me a certain amount of freedom to play around with ideas, although with an element of risk - financial or otherwise - if they don't work out. DC: Is there anything you would like to add that I have not covered? JC: Not really, apart from the fact that I'm not a genre snob! Seriously. DC: Thank you so much for your time, John. And keep those books and stories coming. Order your copy of Dark Delicacies III: Haunted from EvilShop below, and stay tuned for more interviews with the other authors who contributed including Mick Garris, Victor Salva, and more! - Elaine Lamkin VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Discuss your experiences with hauntings in the Dread Central forums!

Interview by: Elaine Lamkin Back in 2001, a creature was unleashed upon unprepared horror movie fans to considerable success. This creature, known to all as The Creeper, was the star of writer/director Victor Salva’s low-budget horror film Jeepers Creepers. Now, almost 10 years later, Salva has not only contributed a horrific story to the latest Dark Delicacies anthology but a third movie about The Creeper is in early pre-production (affectionately known as Jeepers Threepers). Dread Central recently interviewed the writer/director about his horrific short story "The Wandering Unholy" in the new Dark Delicacies anthology and got some early “scoop” on the upcoming return of The Creeper as well. DC: First, thank you so much for taking time to do this interview, Victor. Second, "The Wandering Unholy"!!! WHOA!! EC comics meet WWII and Nazis. Where did this story have its beginnings? And would you give a brief synopsis for those folks unaware of the plot? VS: When Hitler sends a small group of SS to an abbey of nuns to retrieve a woman who can speak to the dead, the ruthless Nazis get more than they bargained for from the mysterious Sisters of St. Ignatius. This story is a throwback to all those great Rod Serling Night Gallery and Twilight Zone episodes from my youth. One in particular I recall had the wonderful actor Francis Lederer as Count Dracula who had Nazis storming his castle during World War II. DC: Backing up a little, how did you get involved in the Dark Delicacies III project? I hear it is by invitation only – how does it feel to be among equally illustrious horror writers? VS: I have no delusions about my status among the writers who contributed to the book. I am a novice and tried my hand at something (prose) that I hadn’t attempted since high school. It was an honor to be included among many of the talented scribes whose stories make up Dark Delicacies III. I think I was invited as a result of a long association with editor Del Howison. Del and I have been actively trying to get the magic of Dark Delicacies, the anthologies, onto TV screens for the last year or so, and in the process I wrote a good number of half-hour and hour episodes of what we hope to become our own Twilight Zone/Night Gallery sort of TV offering. "The Wandering Unholy" was one such episode that seemed to lend itself to an adaptation into a short story. Though there were other stories I considered before choosing "The Wandering Unholy" for the anthology. A lot of it had to do with the fact that this would be my first ever (and possibly last) published short story, so I wanted to go with something Gothic and atmospheric and something that was a nod to the great old school storytellers (Rod Serling, Richard Matheson) who might have attempted at story like this. DC: While reading your story, aside from the sheer ... creepiness and horror of it, I was struck by the era you chose as well as the characters. Nazi films seem to be a big “thing” right now, with the new films Inglourious Basterds and Dead Snow as well as older films like The Bunker and Robert McCammon’s novel Night Boat. What was behind your decision to set the story during WWII and have the characters all be Nazis, except, of course, the nuns? VS: It’s funny because I am not a zombie fan. Movies about zombies, stories about zombies, even stories about Nazis, they are really outside the realm of my interest, so I think I would have to hearken back to the nuns that are at the center of my story to really tell you what interested me about the idea. I attended Catholic School in Martinez, California, where I grew up. First through eighth grades. We had a faculty made up of mostly nuns, and I was exposed to every kind of sister during those eight years. From the wonderful to the nightmarish. I think in some ways "The Wandering Unholy" is my nostalgic memory and, to some degree, my revenge on them. At the heart of the story are two belief systems: one, Hitler’s, that Christianity was a blight on mankind, and of course, the Catholics', who had their own grisly history of persecuting and murdering anyone who didn’t embrace their faith. I did enjoy creating a murderous creature out of a nun, whom the nuns then worshipped. The Nazis were worshipping their monster (Hitler) and the nuns were worshipping theirs. I enjoyed the irony of it all. DC: Has anyone had any problem with the story being completely about the Nazis with the only “good” characters being the nuns, who have their own agenda. VS: I don’t read reviews so I wouldn’t know. But again, I feel the nuns are not the heroes with white hats of the story. The sympathy scales get tipped to the side of the nuns because they are essentially a group of old women. And the Nazis come on strong with their arrogance and violence but find the women are in no way helpless. DC: This is a pretty gruesome story – as I mentioned earlier, it reminded me of something you might read in an EC comic. It is so gruesomely over-the-top – how much fun was that to write, and did you initially plan the story to be so gory? VS: I don’t enjoy gore. Though you might not know it, because of the end of the story. Sometimes I dip down into the cauldron of blood - I call it - out of a need for punctuation and that childish curiosity about blood and guts that dates back to boyhood and stepping on bugs or watching dad gut and clean the fish you caught. The older I get, the less interested I am in how many different ways we can eviscerate each other, and the fans tell me this is one of the things they like about the Jeepers films. The horror is often suggested more than it is shown. Upping the creep factor. But in the case of "The Wandering Unholy" I wanted to go there, to that horrible place. It was, after all, war, the most brutal act anyone can inflict on another. I needed to go there for the integrity of my story, if just for a moment. And find a balance between the poetry of the horrible and the senseless of it all. "The Wandering Unholy" might be the most graphic story I’ve written. But I don’t see it as out of balance or over-the-top with the tone of the story or the venue. Then again, I might have been trying to show off to the other writers, that I could blood it up with the best of them, being the maker of the Jeepers films, where we deliberately avoid buckets of blood and gore and look for ways to be graphic and memorable without bathing in the blood or resorting to torture porn. DC: And as bad as the Nazis are, the nuns don’t come off lily-white themselves although they are as close to being the “good guys” as anyone. Why did you choose to have the Nazis find this convent and what was the whole “granite cross” thing about? Field Marshall Stenecker specifically tells Major Grunwald that they are searching for a cross. VS: There is nothing particularly significant about the cross marking the abbey. But I am interested in what you think it may have meant. This was a Catholic abbey, and the cross above its gates was meant to signify it was. DC: The quote on the convent’s banner, Abyssus abyssum invocat (translation: Hell calls Hell), is both chilling and a puzzling thing to hang in a convent. Is there some historical basis for this that you learned while writing this story? And how much research DID you do for "The Wandering Unholy"? VS: Not much research really. I had done work on a script for New Line Pictures called THE WATCH, which dealt with Hitler’s obsession with the occult, and it was set in World War II so I had lived in that world for a year while I worked on it. I didn’t want to get caught up in historical details for my short story and deliberately left some points vague or undetailed. Both in the interest of time and my basic fear that I have, as both a writer and a filmmaker: I don’t want to bore people or take them out of the story. I knew where I wanted to go with the story because it was originally intended to be a twenty-two-minute short film for television. I just basically wanted to have these two forces, nuns and Nazis, face off in an atmospheric, snowbound abbey in the mountains. And to eventually have the horrible and unstoppable forces of the Nazi party become helpless in the face of a greater darkness. That darkness being whatever it is, powering the Mother Foundress with her ability to raise the dead, move objects and God knows (pun intended) what else. The Latin saying is, I think, perfect for this abbey, where the nuns might also be questioning their mission. To care for this horrible woman, who is half-mad and grows more and more powerful over the years. Her power may be absolute darkness, and not the holiness the order is predicated on, so Hell calls Hell is maybe a tiny bit of conscience on the part of the nuns, or maybe their way of justifying or making peace with what they keep in their basement. I also think this Latin statement is a perfect caution for our own times. Two wrongs will never make a right. Never. DC: The Mother Foundress was quite a shocking addition to the story as the Nazis had already informed Mother Superior O’Cyrus that they were in search of a “necromancer”. It was rather confusing, historically, that Hitler did not recognize Catholicism, yet he sent troops out to gather relics and other items which could only be found in Catholic churches, convents, monasteries, etc. In doing your research for this story, what did you discover about this dichotomy of Hitler’s? VS: Hitler felt that if he stumbled across the right relics, and the right spells and ceremonies, his power to win the war would become undeniable. His statements about Christianity might have been intended to be inflammatory, or they might have revealed an inner hypocrisy, or even a deeper understanding of the negative effects the religion has had on people and society. We have to remember that Christianity has a lot of blood on its hands and even today encourages hatred and destroys lives. Not as overtly as the Nazis did, but they are still similar historically, in their destructive powers, if you look at their history and present day dogma. In the case of Hitler speaking out against it: You can either agree with him or take it as another attempt to polarize people, or even take his comments as another indication of his gradual flight from sanity. Of course today public figures, some with a great amount of popularity, have crushing hypocrisies in their hate speak, so it seems logical to me that Hitler might make these statements and secretly be obsessed with the powers that might exist in the beliefs they are a part of. And we can’t forget that one of the reasons we have had such horrible wars throughout history is because each faction moves ahead with the moral certainty that God is on their side. DC: I have to ask about Jeepers Creepers III: Cathedral. How far along are you with that project, and will we be seeing the return of Gina Phillips, Justin Long, Ray Wise, and Jonathan Breck as the Creeper? Also, will you return to northern Florida to shoot this final chapter – the landscape was MUCH creepier in the first film, which really added to the film (nothing spells “creepy” like Spanish moss). VS: We thought about having our Spanish moss shipped in from Florida for JC2, but we couldn’t find any great trees to hang it on. We would never venture back into the brutal climate that almost killed Breck and many of us on our first Jeepers adventure, though the people there were wonderful, and I agree, there was more atmosphere in the first Jeepers. How far along are we? The script has been ready for about two years now. We have scouted locations and found where we would like to shoot the third and final chapter in the Jeepers trilogy. The financing is just coming together, so perhaps we will be in pre-production shortly. We have been saying this for a year now, but that’s really about all I can with any certainty. Breck will of course don his wings once again as our favorite flying man-eater, though we have decided, after much fan feedback, to give him his truck back for the new film. Gina Phillips will be back in Jeepers Threepers (as we like to call it) playing Trisha Jenner, 23 years later, a successful business woman who has her own teenage son, Darry, named after her long lost brother. We have decided that the third film should, like one and two, be different from each other in look and locale. After all, the highway in question “runs the length of the state.” So you may be missing your Spanish moss again and much of the story takes place in the desert part of our ficticious Jeepers state that includes Poho, Pertwilla, and Kissell County. DC: What is your theory on why The Creeper is so popular with horror fans? VS: I try not to overthink things. And since I don’t read reviews, the only feedback I get is from fans who write me on my blog, or who I meet at conventions or book signings. The one idea they clearly express to me about why the Creeper is a new favorite is that it flies in the face of all the conventional creatures of the last two decades. He doesn’t talk, he still has a strange sense of humor, we don’t know much about who he is or why he is here, he is steeped in mystery and keeps surprising us. These are not my words, but the words of others. I just keep to the rules I have for myself in making any kind of film, horror or otherwise: What would be interesting to me? When it comes to creating suspense and horror, the questions for me are: How much information is too much? And when it comes to doing the Jeepers films: What would really scare me? DC: I have been asking everyone I have interviewed for Dark Delicacies III for their opinion of the state of horror these days – both cinematic and literary. What is your opinion? Have we had enough PG-13/CGI overload/pretty 20-something “actors”/nauseating teen vampire films/etc.? VS: I am as opinionated as the next guy when it comes to horror, but I have found rushing to judgment about other films or my brother and sister filmmakers has no upside. I may find some horror today simply without thought or merit, I may find fantasy and horror looking so digital I call them “over painted”, I may dismiss the trend of hot looking teens having vampire angst, but then I remember that every film is not made for me. Some films are made for other audiences and other tastes and other age groups. I keep my personal feelings about other people’s specific films to myself and my close circle of friends. Your question asked if I was tired of CGI, or teen vampires, but the state of horror right now has another troubling trend that I think is single-handedly forcing it into “the horror ghetto” John Carpenter rightly identified. What really comes to mind when you ask what I think about the state of horror today is this: It is hard to get any film made. Call it a miracle when it happens. But the miracle continues: The pictures we put up on that big screen go right into the hearts and minds of people - young and old – so I am more careful now, as I decide what to put up there and how to present it. I’m not censoring myself; you really can’t or you are lost as a storyteller as you try and please some invisible audience you don’t know or trust. But I am careful how I use my darkness in my films. Because it isn’t real darkness. It is darkness of my own invention. The Creeper is mine. I created that darkness; it doesn’t exist in the real world. It is fantasy. But we tend to take our cues from films and TV as what is really happening in the real world. And that is dangerous. Suicidal really. Many horror films today skip over what, for me, makes horror movies timeless and memorable and worthy of a spot on my video shelf: characters, plot, and moral dilemma presented by a storyteller with a strong visual language as he lets us observe the characters and creatures in hopefully a scary as hell story. Some horror today is remarkable and really terrific. But again, I keep my specific likes and dislikes to myself. When a brother filmmaker lists favorite films or filmmakers, there is always another brother or sister who gets left out. Whether unintentionally or not, I like to spare the brotherhood this pain of omission whenever I can. DC: What does Victor Salva have planned for the future? More stories, more films, and/or both? And which do you prefer: writing or directing? VS: I have a couple of scripts that I have recently finished that I am out shopping. In this biz, you have to keep four or five balls in the air at a time, knowing that most, or even none of them, might ever see the light of a movie screen. But I have a JAWS-like thriller I am excited about (no sharks in my tale but the tone is the same), a ghost story about Alcatraz, and if Jeepers Threepers hits big enough when it finally comes to theaters, even a series based on the Creeper. All of these and the hope and faith that Del Howison and I will find a way to get the anthology idea of Dark Delicacies onto a movie or TV screen near you, are pretty much everything cooking in my pot of stew right now. Which do I prefer more, writing or directing? Each have their pains and pleasures. Since I have been lucky enough, in the fifteen years I have been doing this, to have written most of the films I have made (CLOWNHOUSE, NATURE OF THE BEAST, POWDER, RITES OF PASSAGE, JEEPERS I and II) and have done a lot of rewrite work on others projects and on my latest film PEACEFUL WARRIOR (based on a best selling book), I really find it hard to separate my writing from my directing. I will always be a filmmaker. I often think of that picture of John Huston directing from a wheelchair, with his oxygen mask on and his oxygen tank at his side, and think: That’s the way I want to go, when I go. Doing what I have loved to do since I was thirteen. Telling stories on film. DC: What are some of your favorite horror films? And horror novels? VS: People often ask me this, but it changes so frequently, and sometimes simply because of the way I am feeling at the moment, that I usually avoid specifics. There are a lot of talented souls and brilliant minds out there in the genre, but it takes real ingenuity to be able to create fear and suspense and terror on film, and the people who do it well, both past and present, are few and far between. DC: Is there anything else you would like to add about your story that I have not covered? VS: I think that about covers it, Elaine. Thank you SO much for your time, Victor, and I know I speak for a lot of horror fans when I say we cannot wait to see The Creeper one more time. Be sure to visit Victor at his Official Blog. - By Elaine Lamkin VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Creep your way through the Dread Central forums!

Interview by: Elaine Lamkin Anyone in the horror industry who HASN'T heard of Mick Garris, the Nicest Guy in Hollywood, needs a good smack! A prolific producer/director of many of the TV adaptations of Stephen King's works including The Stand and The Shining as well as being the father of the Masters of Horror series, Garris is also a published author. His two books to date, Development Hell and A Life in the Cinema are hilariously scathing looks at the "real" Hollywood (if Hollywood has any elements that could be called "real"). And now, he has contributed another "roast" of La-La Land for Dark Delicacies III: Haunted, "Tyler's Third Act". Dread Central managed to catch the never-stopping-for-a-breather Garris for a brief interview before he hits the editing room for his latest film. And as always, he is THE nicest guy! DC: Hello for the, I believe, third time now, Mick. One of my favorite interviewees! And thank you for taking time out of your production schedule to participate in this Dark Delicacies" "project". How did you find yourself becoming a part of Del and Jeff's latest anthology? MG: Jeff and I have been friends since the Seventies, when he was a DJ on a local rock radio station, and I was the singer in a band in San Diego. We were both genre hounds at the time. Del and I have been friends for a long time as well, but not nearly so long as Jeff and I. They'd asked me to be a part of the first one, but I just didn't have the time then. I've been writing fiction since I was 12 years old, and been getting it published with some regularity since the Eighties, so with my visibility in the horror film and TV world, as well as a track record with fiction, and the not-so-coincidental friendships, it was just a matter of when I'd be able to do it. The time was right: I had a story idea and the time to write it. DC: Your story, "Tyler's Third Act", reminded me of something Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black all said in the behind-the-scenes for the Hollywood-skewing Tropic Thunder, which is that none of them would ever get work again after the movie opened. Obviously they were kidding and Downey even got an Oscar nomination, but this story really exposes the nasty underside of Hollywood and the film industry. I assume you fear no man or woman in the industry taking umbrage at your story? MG: Well, hell, I've made a bit of a sideline writing the kind of fiction that nobody will make into movies. My novel, Development Hell, was even more of a feeding-hand biter than "Tyler". I always enjoy reading an insider's view of what he's satirizing. And the world of movies and television is easily satirized. But I wanted to take it down to the level of the troops, not the usual movie-star, People Magazine celebrity, but the real-world, get-up-before-dawn work in the trenches types and the inevitable career hills and valleys the guys without marquee names go through. And, of course, exaggerate it just enough to not lose credibility. And I find that the darker you go, the funnier it gets. To a point. DC: How did this story come into being? Some true-life event or just your observation of the film industry and how it eats its young? MG: No one event. But seeing the worlds I've worked in evolving as everything does, particularly in these times of financial woes. I love to look at the egos of those involved in this business and puncture them a bit. It's like any other business, just with a spotlight shining on it. As movies for television and miniseries have sort of disappeared, as independent film production is fading away, as unique and interesting stand-alone films are increasingly replaced by sequels and remakes for and about teenagers, I wanted "Tyler" to have a primal scream, so I can keep a smile on my face. DC: What is Mick Garris' definition of "haunted", as it applies to this collection? MG: I haven't gotten a copy of the book yet, so I couldn't tell you. But as far as "Tyler" goes, in this story he's being haunted by the dreams of what he could have been (a contender?), crushed in the ashtray of his life. Only in his ultimate failure could he have achieved the fame and fortune of his dreams. It sure isn't his talent that would rescue him. DC: Being in the thick of the film industry, it may be hard to show "favoritism", but what are some of your current favorite horror films? MG: I love the stuff by Guillermo del Toro, who seems to be doing some of the most original works of horrific fantasy of recent years. I thought Midnight Meat Train was terrific, a lot of the work the guys did on Masters of Horror, without having the burden of being mall-tested and focused-grouped to death, allowed some of the best filmmakers in horror history to do some of their best work without interference. I can't say I'm much enamored of teen horror, or horror comedy, or franchises. DC: And some of your favorite horror writers/novels? MG: Well, King, of course. We're working on getting Bag of Bones off the ground, and it's one of my very favorite of his. I love Matheson, Bradbury, Barker. There's a lot of good stuff out there, but I'd love to find the best of the new breed. There's so much going on in publishing that it's becoming harder to find fresh new work in horror fiction, just like in Hollywood. I'm a big fan of Charlie Huston, though he's not exactly a horror writer. And the noir authors of the Thirties and Forties—Cain, Chandler, Woolrich, and a bunch of the pulp guys that Hard Case has been publishing—have some of the richest, most compelling work on the printed (or Kindled) page. DC: The question everyone seems to be asking in one way or another is, "Where are the current trends in horror films taking viewers?" What are your feelings about the current batch of CGI-driven/PG-13/pretty 20-something "actors"/torture porn in horror films? MG: I just don't have much interest. Give me a story I haven't heard before, people it with characters I recognize and can empathize and sympathize with, and I'm hooked. Take me somewhere unexpected, and I'm yours. But franchises and remakes and bland teen-appeal, frightless fright films don't really interest me. CGI is just a tool, and you can use it well or badly. If it's your raison d'etre, well, wake me when it's over. But if it's used because it's the best way to tell the story, then hurray. I mean, Jurassic Park was the first movie that relied on CG effects, and I thought it was wonderfully successful. It's the only way to tell that tale. DC: Many people may be unaware that you ARE a published author yourself as well as an amazing director, Development Hell and My Life in the Cinema being two of your books. Which outlet do you enjoy more: writing or directing? MG: I love them both. Screenwriting is a bit more limiting than fiction writing, as there are a lot more rules: you have to consider budget, schedule, actors, studio notes, all of that. But in fiction, it's much freer. But directing is a wonderful explosion of creativity that you're sharing with a massive crew and cast. It's a train that takes a long, slow ride climbing the hill of pre-production, but once you're shooting, it's a runaway train that you can't jump off of or run out of the way. DC: According to the ever (un)reliable IMDb, you are currently in production directing Stephen King's Bag of Bones as well as producing King's From a Buick 8. Do you ever SLEEP, Mick?? MG: Well, we're not in production on either one yet, but getting closer. There are several other things in the works, but ultimately, only a small percentage of the stuff on the table ever sees the light of day. I used to only work on one thing at a time (and literally, I still do), but having several projects on the burners is the only way to keep going. And ultimately, the next production comes up unexpectedly, and you'll find yourself shooting in Toronto on something you'd never heard of three weeks before you're on the plane. DC: May I make the assumption that as long as Stephen King continues to write, you and Frank Darabont will have major films to direct/produce/etc.? MG: Well, Frank's will surely be more major. But I love Steve and his work. We just seem to connect, as friends as well as collaborators. There are plenty of people making "Stephen King Movies", but nothing would make me happier than to continue being among them. DC: What advice would you give people who want to break into the horror fiction genre? There is a LOT of crapola out there right now (no titles, please). MG: Just write something that can stand out from the pack, develop a voice and use it. And keep writing. It's something you can get better and better at as time goes by, just by living. But practicing keeps you getting better. The more you read, the more you experience, the more you see, the better writer you can become. But you have to tell a story that feels new and fresh. Not that you can't be successful as a hack, in publishing as well as screenwriting, by regurgitating what's already out there. You might even find greater success by following trends and focus groups and box office charts. If so, more power to you. But if you can give voice in a unique and compelling and entertaining way, I think your success can last longer. DC: Are there more novels in your future, Mick? MG: Yes. I hope. Depends on time and all, but I actually wrote a script that I meant to be an expanded outline for a new novel called The Director's Cut, but it looks like we might actually be turning it into a film. But that would be my next novel, if I get the time to write it. DC: Would you like to add anything I haven't covered? MG: No, it's fun to talk about fiction rather than the filmed material for a change. Thanks for the opportunity. DC: Finally, do you ever get tired of being (honestly) described as The Nicest Guy in Hollywood? MG: Well, I blush. I haven't heard it that much, but the name of my corporation is Nice Guy Productions. I used it as a joke on my first short film. I had recently been divorced, and when I was going out again, I started getting "you're such a nice guy" from women I was dating, and it really wasn't the response I was hoping for. But it's important to me that you don't have to be an asshole to live a decent life in this business. So it's a joke and a philosophy. A big thanks to Mick for taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with us. - By Elaine Lamkin VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON! Got news? Click here to submit it! Share your philosophy in the Dread Central forums! BizRate