Merry meet all,
Welcome everyone. Today we’re chatting with Shaun Avery as he shares his passion for horror with us.
Why horror? Do you have a favourite subgenre in horror?
Why horror? Because it’s my favourite genre, of course! Also because it’s the most versatile – you can tell a great horror story in 100 words and you can tell an equally great horror story in 1000 pages. Plus it’s the most malleable for mashing up genres – there’s sci-fi horror, fantasy horror, noir horror, just to name a few. My own favourite subgenre has to be body horror – blame seeing Hellraiser at an early impressionable age.
Which other horror authors influenced you the most and why?
The one that blew me away the most was definitely the late, great Richard Laymon – before him, the only horror I’d encountered was small town-set, Stephen King-inspired sort of stuff, and I was completely unprepared for the savage, unrepentant splatterpunk of that much-missed master. To this day, the best book I’ve ever read is one of his, Island. I’d encourage anyone with a strong stomach and a sick sense of humour to go check it out. Also Bentley Little, Ed Gorman, Jack Ketchum, Brian Keene, Edward Lee, Bryan Smith – all the extreme guys for always pushing it to the limits (and often beyond).
Plus, in comics, Garth Ennis. I’m such a massive fanboy of his.
Tell me about your writing/editing process.
The first draft is always just the bare bones of the story – he went here and this happened, she went there and thathappened, that sort of thing. This allows me to find the feel of the story, to get an idea of what it’s trying to say. Then the next draft is smoothing it up, fleshing it out. Next comes the really fun part, where you get to add all the extras, embellish the themes, make it sing . . .
That description makes it sound a whole lot simpler than it sometimes actually is!
What inspires you to write horror?
It’s kind of the same as why I said I like it – it’s so versatile. You can deal with any and all issues with horror and that’s why I keep going back to it both as a reader and writer – tales of terror can tell us so much about our lives and ourselves.
What do you love about indie publishing?
The friends I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned that have helped me become a better writer. Mainly the former, though – there are so many cool people I would never have encountered had I not picked up a pen (another part of the editing process – when I’m writing prose, I do everything in handwriting first and then type it up) and hit a ‘send’ button sometime later. That still kind of blows my mind sometimes.
Which is your favourite horror movie or book? Which movie or book impressed and inspired you the most?
Damn, I already spoilered my answer for the book above! As for movies, within the horror genre it’d have to be The Evil Dead and American Psycho, that latter one officially the most quotable film ever. My all-time favourite movies, though, are the Zack Snyder DC Comics trilogy, especially Batman VS Superman. I went to the midnight screening for that one. That was a fun time!
Is there any music that helps you to write?
I have such an eclectic taste in music, my YouTube algorithm must sometimes think I am several different people. It’s usually punk or metal when I’m writing, though, Green Day and The Offspring for the former, Metallica and Megadeth for the latter (amongst many, many others!) The heavier stuff tends to go best with the often gross-out things I write.
Do you have any special projects you want readers to know about?
Comics are the medium I love most, both as a writer and a reader, so this self-published, co-created work will always have a special place in my heart: http://www.comicsy.co.uk/dbroughton/store/products/spectre-show/
Where can readers find you on social media?
On Facebook, under shaun.avery.50 – I’m something of a luddite, so Facebook is as far down the social media rabbit hole as I wish to go.
Brian Smith who I interviewed on this blog recently has cause to celebrate. His short story collection is released into the wild today. Read more about it here:
Strange Discovery and Other Strange Discoveries
You can catch Brian Smith in an interview here at this link: https://www.youtube.com/live/k5-DrodEvN4?si=KiJ-grJInv9C20iP
Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(
#horror #horrorfiction #horrormovies #author #supernatural #paranormal
