Gail Z. Martin, author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series, recently interviewed me for her ongoing series of podcasts with dark fantasy, paranormal and science fiction writers. Our chatty conversation about gore, humor, death and the attraction of horror stories is now available in a podcast on Gail’s site, which presently features an all-star roster of writers, including Jeffery Thomas, Tony Ruggiero, Justin Gustainis, Alethea Kontis, and Mark Chadbourn. Gail’s latest book is The Blood King, available now from amazon.com, and her new book, Dark Haven is due soon from Solaris Books.
Topics we discuss in our interview:
- fantasy vs. realism
- teaching horror in the post-Virginia Tech world
- literary vs. cinematic horror
- death and the draw of horror in a sanitized world
- the cautionary tale — then and now
- optimism, humor, laughter and impalement in horror fiction