Q&A with Author Paul Loh

I had the luxury of taking a bit of time and talking with the talented author,actor, and man of many talets; Paul Loh. He is the editor for the "Possessions" anthology, "The Greater Number", and "The Nocent Part 2: Advent of Scathing".

Interview with Horror Author Wesley Thomas and a Unleash The Dead giveaway! @WesJThomas @SamieSands

I had the pleasure of taking a moment to talk to horror author Wesley Thomas. He's a great rising author among the horror genre and an awesome person in general so I hope you enjoy the interview and the author's past and present works.

Also The Geekdom Of Gore is hosting a giveaway via Rafflecopter. The winner will receive a digital copy of the zombie anthology "Unleash The Dead" featuring awesome shorts from a multitude of authors including myself. Feel free to enter the contest via the Rafflecopter app below and continue reading for the interview.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tell the readers a bit about yourself.

WT:  I am a British horror author, currently living in America. I also review movies and books for a horror website, I have my own business where I promote for authors, and I work for a small UK based business where I am the head of marketing. I love all things horror (movies, TV, books) love to blog, enjoy keeping fit, I love travelling, and enjoy quality time with my family and friends.

You've been busy as of late, with your promotion service, writing great books and other things. With your busy schedule how do make time to write?

WT: Well, I am very organised, that helps. I dedicate time every day to a little promotion (for me and my clients), communication, writing articles for my blog and reviews for a horror website I work for, and keep reserved a few hours to write my horror fiction. I think it's all about time management and being very self-disciplined. Which can be difficult, but the trick is to stay motivated! And drink coffee!

For me the best horror is rooted in reality. Do you get your story ideas from real events and/or life experiences?

WT: Absolutely. I can sit in a coffee shop and just people watch. I would act as a director, and try and cast these people in a horror movie. Which then helps me come up with believable characters in my own books. In terms of the antagonist/s in my fiction, I simply soak up as much horror culture as possible, and ideas always seem to come easy to me, fortunately. It is my perfectionist side that gets in the way by yelling at me. 'Has this been done before? Is it really your greatest idea for a book? Is it bringing something new to horror readers? Does it have multiple appeals?' and so on.

Out of your work which do you feel is your best?

WT: That is a hard one as I feel each of my books have a different appeal to a slightly different audience. For example my most recent horror collection 'What Goes Bump In The Night?' is great for the horror addicts who love short stories and has done very well on the bestseller chart. But for the horror/thriller readers who prefer slightly longer books, with more of a backstory, I would say 'Rose's Thorn'. In my opinion, I think the best of my work so far is 'Rose's Thorn'. As it is not just mindless horror, it has serious themes and issues, as well as a complicated backstory, and even emotional scenes.

If you had to choose your best mainstream horror author and self published horror author, who would you pick and Which work of theirs would you recommend?

WT: My favourite mainstream horror author would have to be Richard Laymon, even though he is no longer around. And I would recommend 'Island' from him. And the best self-published horror author, in my opinion, is Cindy Hernandez. She is incredibly talented and has produced some diverse horror collections, as well as full-length novels, each terrific, creepy and haunting. The book I would most recommend of Cindy's is 'A Jar Of Fingers', the first in her new series, which raises the bar for all horror authors, including myself.

As a fellow horror fiend, what do you think is missing from horror that was present in the genre in the past?

WT: That is a very good question. And there are many possible answers. But I am going to have to say the issue with modern horror, whether in books or movies, is originality. There are thousands of horror books and films, so many ideas have already been tried out. It takes a great deal of effort for authors and script writers to produce original, fresh content. Because as you well know, the horror fanbase is a very hard one to please. I think remakes are becoming silly now, especially when they literally just remake the original movie take for take, rather than bringing something new to the table. Both writers and directors need to spend more time and energy on coming up with revolutionary and never-been-done-before material, rather than wasting finances and resources on hundreds of remakes. I'll admit that some movies do benefit from remaking, to appeal to a wider audience, to keep horror movies strong, and remake the film using the modern technology that wasn't around decades ago. However, for the most part, it is all about making money.

What was the last horror movie you watched and what did you think of it?

WT: The Poltergeist remake. It was an okay movie, the effects were better than the original. But it felt rushed and lacked the magic of a horror movie. It was remade scene for scene and brought nothing new to the series. It is watchable, but don't expect anything unique and ground-breaking. But that is just my opinion.

Are you a gore-hound or do you prefer more atmospheric horror?

WT: I kind of like a bit of both. I love all sub-genres within horror. I love gory, graphic, gruesome, but equally adore chilling, haunting and mentally disturbing.

Fans and fellow authors can guest post on your blog. Do you mind talking about that a bit?

WT: Sure! Basically, I want to help new authors promote their writing and work. Without the help I had in my early self-publishing days, I wouldn't be an author today. So I want to give something back to the horror/publishing community. I will feature their short horror stories, horror articles, reviews of their work, anything horror-related or that gets their work out there to my readers/website viewers.

What projects are you working on at the moment and future projects that your fans should know about?

WT: I have four upcoming books that I have been working very hard on, with my talented proofreaders/editors. I have a mystery/horror novel that will be sent to traditional publishers very soon, I have the next two books in the Frightful Tales series, one is almost ready, the other will be a later release in 2015, possibly early 2016. But the next book I will be releasing will be another horror collection due out in July 2015!

Would like to thank Author Wesley Thomas for taking time out of his busy schedule to allow me the interview and I'd like to thank Samie Sands for providing the giveaway prize!

Author Wesley Thomas Bio: Published 2 novellas, 1 novel, 2 short horror story collections, Amazon bestseller in five categories, 1 short story published in a horror anthology, 1 short story featured in Horror Zine's latest magazine (print and digital) several radio interviews and national/local paper interviews, Twitter interview live from NYC, Novel featured in Scream (British horror magazine), contributor for horror website horrornovelreviews.com, and several published blogs.
WEBSITE TWITTER  BLOG  FACEBOOK AUTHOR PROMO SERVICE

Interview with Author D.S. Ullery @dsullery

And we're back! HorrorNerd here and it's been a drought here in form of content but I'm back. I recently had the opportunity to get to know Author D.S. Ullery. Hope you enjoy the interview and be sure to check out the author's work.

From 2002-2003, D.S. repeatedly contributed material to the independent horror magazine Hacker's Source, during which time his short story "I Knew the Witch" was published in the magazine.

Following his tenure at Hacker, D.S. worked as a full time writer at The Lake Worth Herald, the community newspaper of his hometown Lake Worth, Florida. After that, the cinema bug bit him and he enrolled in the Palm Beach Film School, completing the program in early 2008 and going on to write, direct, edit and -in two instances- appear in four independent short films, all of which are available for viewing on Youtube and at least one of which is straight supernatural horror.
In May of 2013, after an almost five year absence from writing fiction, D.S. returned to the craft he loves so much.

The author can be found online at: Facebook Twitter

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• Your story "Gruff123" dealt with school bullying. Growing up did you experience bullying and did those experiences inspire you to write "Gruff123"?

Good question. Yes, I was frequently bullied in school – I had a stalker at one point- and yes that was something which informed the narrative. I'm also a survivor of years of childhood abuse, so the idea of people who terrorize both psychologically and physically those who are vulnerable is a theme in my work.  My short story “Afloat” is another one that touches on the consequences of abuse/bullying.

• You have been a part of some awesome collections; "When Red Snow Melts", a Christmas themed anthology from horrornovelreviews.com and "Journals of Horror" to name a few. What does it feel like as an author to participate in these collections and have your work along with other great authors?

I actually prefer to be included in a larger anthology/collection, to be honest. Not to say that I'm not thrilled with every magazine, E-zine or website one of my stories has appeared in/on – believe me, I am - but there's something about being included in a book with other authors of horror fiction that makes me feel as if I really am connected to a larger community of writers.  It doesn't hurt that my work has shared space with such talented wordsmiths as  Todd Keisling, Robin Dover, Lori Lopez and Terry M.West.

• In "A Strange Taste In Ornamentation" part of your 'Double Shot of Horror' you turned a typical lawn decoration seen all around into a source of pure terror. I've always found those little things creepy. What inspired that story?

That was part of a flash fiction contest that was happening on a Facebook page this guy had thrown together. Each of us were issued a photo at random and had to conjure up a tale of a thousand words or less. Mine was a picture of this decayed, evil looming zombie garden gnome and I almost immediately thought to myself  (because this is how my mind works) 'What if someone had a swarm of those things crawling allover them, trying to eat them?' 

I built the rest of the story on that foundation. I'm particularly fond of that piece, by the way. I like the old school Tales from the Crypt vibe I managed with that. For the record, that same contest was how I met fellow author Rich Young. The earliest version of his excellent horror story “The Scraping” was his entry.

• Who are some of your biggest inspirations in the world of horror fiction?

Stephen King, Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson and William Gaines, who created EC Comics and therefore Tales from the Crypt. Rod Serling is one of my all time heroes. What I love about Serling is that he used science fiction and horror to expose truths about human nature in a way that wasn't heavy handed. The same can be said for Ray Bradbury, who is the master of the short story.

• For aspiring writers, would you mind telling us how you find time to write with a full time job, family and etc?

You make the time.  If you want to write, then write. Even if you're tired, drag yourself to the keyboard and get something down. I know it can be rough, but the only way to do it is to do it. I half jokingly refer to my writing efforts as my second full time job, because when I'm not actually writing new material, I'm working on marketing/selling the stuff that's ready to go. You gotta put the time in.  I'm working on my first novella right now and a lot of it as been written in snatches during lunch hours at work. That's how it gets done. 

• If you had to be buried with one piece of horror fiction and one horror movie what would you choose?

For the book, I have to go back to where my love of horror literature truly began: The Shining by Stephen King. I read that when I was ten and I've never looked back. Horror movie? John Carpenter's Halloween, which is still my all time favorite horror film. 

• Do you prefer cgi or practical effects in horror movies and why?

Practical. They have more tangibility. Plus, I was a teenager in the 1980's. It was all about practical effects back then

• Tell us about your current or upcoming projects?

Well, you mentioned “Journals of Horror: Found Fiction”, which is still making the rounds on Amazon. My story “Truant” is in that one. As I understand it, a print version is due at some point. My short story “Transient” is currently available in Issue #10 of The Literary Hatchet. I have a short story titled “The New Meat” - which offers a unique spin on zombies- coming out in an upcoming issue of Disturbed Digest. 

I'm also going to be a part of two different anthologies due to be released by March 2015. One is called Creature Stew- a collection of stories about creepy crawlies. I have a nasty little shocker called “The Basement” in that one. Then my story “Afloat” will appear in the Paying the Ferryman collection from Charon Coin Press. In addition, I'm hard at work on my first novella/short novella, a bizarre tale titled “Drake”. So 2015 is starting with a bang!