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Interview with Director Paul China

Australian brothers Paul China (left) and Benjamin, received rave reviews for their debut feature film, CRAWL, for which they have been compared to the Cohen Brothers.

On the eve of the film receiving its much deserved UK TV premiere on the Horror Channel, Paul China gives us some insight into the making of the film.

CRAWL is broadcast on Saturday October 5, 11pm.

Have you always been a fan of horror movies?

I am equally frightened and fascinated with them – ever since I saw John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ as a child. Despite the fact that the horror genre is so popular and lucrative with cinemagoers, it is still sadly overlooked by some, and considered a low form of entertainment. A shocking notion, really, given some of the greatest films ever created can be labelled as horror – be it ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, ‘Jaws’, ‘Alien’, ‘The Shining’, ‘Psycho’ or ‘Rosemary’s Baby’.

Where did the inspiration for Crawl come from?

It was based on another script my brother, Benjamin, and I had written, a dark noir thriller titled ‘Howl’, which was set in East Texas . The finance for that project sadly fell through at the last minute, as is often the case in independent filmmaking, so we decided to make a different film, a suspense thriller, on a lower budget in Australia (where we were living at the time) – one that was influenced by Roman Polanski’s earlier films (particularly ‘Repulsion’ and ‘The Tenant’). Thus, ‘Crawl’ was born.

Did you have actors in mind when you were writing it?

We had one actor in mind: George Shevtsov. We had seen him audition for another film we were trying to get off the ground, some years earlier, and he had left such a unique impression. When it came to casting the role of the ominous, mysterious Stranger in ‘Crawl’, he was our first and only choice. He truly is a remarkable actor, one of Australia ’s best. His facial features alone are incredible, as is his striking screen presence. I could quite easily watch him read a phone book, truth be told.

Was it a difficult film to pitch and did you have much budget?

Fortunately, we did not have too much difficulty, in spite of our limited budget. We were making a suspense-thriller that was both entertaining and intelligent, a film that at numerous times features no dialogue or score. It was drenched in tension and rich atmosphere. That was key. We had planned the film very carefully – from the costume to the soundtrack to the camera work. Our cast, crew and financiers had the upmost faith in what Benjamin and I were aiming to create, despite the fact it was our first feature film.

What was your first day on set like?

Exciting, mostly. There were some nerves, obviously, but more than anything I simply wanted to roll up my sleeves and get to work. It took many hard years to get to the point of making my own film, and I consider myself fortunate to be able to do something that I absolutely love. We had unexpected troubles on that first day – heavy rain, equipment failure, etc – but I relished the challenge. The bat was in my hand, so to speak, and I was eager to swing.

Crawl is your first feature, was there a point that you’d thought you’d taken on too much or were out of your depth?

Never. Even during the sleepless nights and unexpected grey hairs. As a film director, especially one who writes, you have to be certain of what you are doing. If you do not believe in yourself, and the story you aim to tell, your crew and cast certainly won’t. For us, my brother and I, story-telling is our one true passion. Our first love. Everything else is secondary.

It gained huge critical appreciation, has that added pressure to deliver even more for your next feature?

Fortunately, Benjamin and I have written numerous other scripts, set in different genres, so we are only keen to keep telling our stories. Our next feature is already in development and is progressing well, so we have zero complaints.

You must be pleased it’s getting shown on the Horror Channel?

Extremely. We are admirers of the channel, and are aware of its loyal viewers, so to have our TV debut play here is simply fantastic. We couldn’t be more thrilled, frankly.

So what are you working on at the moment?

A dramatic-thriller set in the U.S. titled ‘Sweet Virginia ’.

Paul china, thank you very much.

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138
www.horrorchannel.co.uk | www.twitter.com/horror_channel

Interview with Neil Davies

Interview with Neil Davies
  
By David Kempf


Born in 1959 and getting older by the hour, Neil Davies writes Horror and Science Fiction. His favourite authors are Richard Laymon, Steve Gerlach, Arthur C Clarke, Frank Herbert, Brian Keene, Guy N Smith, H G Wells, Bram Stoker, Dennis Wheatley, Connie Willis, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Graham Masterton, John Wyndham, H Rider Haggard, James Blish... with more being added all the time. He's still writing and refuses to stop however much people ask him to. Expect more published works soon.

Tell us how you became involved in writing fiction.

I have honestly been writing fiction for as long as I can remember. Somewhere in the attic I still have an early piece of fan fiction from when I was about 10, based on the old TV series, Garrison's Gorillas. Lots of other scraps of stories up there too (including a Star Trek spoof). Hardly any were ever finished. When my parents bought me my very own Petite typewriter, I used to sit down at the bottom of the garden in the shed, typing away. I did have friends too, honest I did!


How many books have you written? 

So far five novels, two horror, two science fiction and one that blurs the lines and mixes in dystopian and dark fantasy. I also have two short story collections with a mixture of horror and science fiction tales - mostly horror.


Tell us how you came up with ideas for books like A World Of Assassins and Raised In Evil. 

The boring genesis of A World Of Assassins is that I wanted to write a story that said something about racism. The original story ideas were worked out back when we had apartheid in South Africa. What I didn't want to do was preach about it. The story had to be entertaining. In A World Of Assassins the whole Human Race is looked down on as an inferior species and as immigrants we are isolated in our own "sectors" within alien cities. I never said it was subtle! The rest? I love Science Fiction and Thrillers and wanted to write a mixture of the two.

I have also always loved horror (both films and fiction) and Raised In Evil (under its original uninspiring title of Black) was written by a very young me as an attempt to out-gross the books I'd read at the time (mostly Dennis Wheatley and Pan Books Of Horror). Put it this way, there are things in that early attempt that, when I came to rewrite it as Raised In Evil, I left out as too extreme. Even so, I think Raised In Evil is one of my most graphic books in terms of horror and it is intended to be so. It is all the things I love about horror set in a landscape I know well - it's where I live.

Other origins are even simpler. Welcome Home started because I wanted to write a haunted house story for my wife (she likes haunted houses) but somehow a serial killer got in there and took it over so the haunted house is now only a relatively minor part of the story. The Szuiltan Alliance is my very simplistic version of a Dune type saga, because I love Dune (the books - not so much the film and TV versions). Hard Winter started life because I wanted to write something set in an extreme environment, and I chose cold. Everything else that finds its way into those books is somehow drifting around in my head - I don't quite know where it comes from.


Do you enjoy creating horror fiction in particular? 

I must admit that I do. Even in my science fiction I don't seem to be able to avoid elements of horror. One of the earliest rejection letters I got, which was for a very early version of the science fiction story that would later become The Szuiltan Alliance, was a standard printed rejection but the editor had hand-written on it that it was "extremely well written" and had I considered "writing horror as your style would suite that genre well". I love the way that horror allows you to mix the everyday and familiar with the sudden descent into the outrageous, horrific and extreme, whether it be supernatural or purely human. I like to set stories in areas I know but push my imagination, and horror allows me to do that even more than science fiction I think.


What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment as a writer so far?

I think it would have to be the "making of" Hard Winter: The Novel. Just the fact that I wrote a short story (Hard Winter, published by the Canadian publisher Eternal Press) that enough people reviewed or contacted me about, wanting to know what happened next, I actually sat down and wrote the novel in reply. Also the fact that I had a US publisher, Omnium Gatherum, who had asked for first refusal on that novel, should it ever be written. It was the first time I had written something by "popular" demand, and the first time I had a publisher actually waiting for it to be delivered. To a large extent I felt this validated me as a writer of (hopefully) popular fiction.


If your books were movies they would be rated NC-17. There are warnings of Adult Content on Smashwords. Did you feel like the violence was a necessary part of the story or could you have curtailed it a bit? 

If I had curtailed the violence they wouldn't have been my books. By that I mean that I write the books I want to write. Nothing is in those books because someone else said it had to be and nothing is left out because someone else might be offended. They are my books. If I am lucky enough that other people like them too then I am extremely happy, but they are, at their simplest, my books. I feel everything in them is justified, either in terms of a character or the plot, and its there because I think it should be there. I am a great believer in certification, because people should be aware of what type of thing they are about to watch or read, but I am vehemently against censorship. Once something is classified as being suitable for adults only then that is enough, you shouldn't go cutting bits out after you've already said only adults can watch or read it. As adults, we are responsible for what we watch or read, not some government or private body of people. Equally as parents we have to take a large responsibility for what our children watch and read. Certification can only ever be a guide. Final responsibility lies with us. But I think we're getting onto another subject here (and one I habitually come back to… at length!)


Name some of your favorite horror books.

Dracula by Bram Stoker, Quake, Funland, Stake, Among The Missing, Come Out Tonight, Night InThe Lonesome October by Richard Laymon, The Attraction by Douglas Clegg, Lake Mountain by Steve Gerlach, The Devil Rides Out, The Satanist by Dennis Wheatley, Locusts by Guy N Smith, The Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene, The Sleepless, The House That Jack Built, Ghost Music by Graham Masterton… I could go on, I know I've missed out a lot. A simpler questions might have been favourite horror authors (Richard Laymon, Bram Stoker, Douglas Clegg, Steve Gerlach, Dennis Wheatley, Guy N Smith, Brian Keene, Graham Masterton, Charles L Grant, Richard Matheson, Bentley Little and so on).



Name some of your favorite horror films. 

The Fog (the original), Dracula (Hammer films), Exorcist III, The Blood On Satan's Claw, The Vampire Lovers, The Devil Rides Out, Phantasm, Creature From The Black Lagoon, Them, The Thing (the original), Demons, Freaks, The Haunting (the original), City Of The Living Dead, The Plague Of Zombies, Saw, A Nightmare On Elm Street (the original) 


Why do you think horror fiction remains popular?

I think we all (or most of us) like to be frightened while still being safe in our own homes. Sometimes we like to be a little grossed out too - there's fun in that. Horror fiction is fairy tales for grown ups. It means we can still enjoy stories about monsters and ghosts and goblins without people thinking we're reading kids books.


What are your latest projects?

In the self publishing world, I'm busy getting one of those "long" short stories ready to put out on kindle. It's called The Ant Man and is heavily influenced by the old black and white 'B' Movies I still love to watch (thanks to cheap dvd box sets!).

In the world of other publishers, I have a novella with a publisher at the moment and I'm just waiting for final approval on that. Can't tell you much more at this stage but I can say it's my first foray into the world of zombies - my take on them anyway.

I've also spent some time lately editing and revising some old stories written by my Dad. They range in date from 1949 to 1955, so I mean old! It's been fun because they're mostly outside of my usual genres. There's a couple of murder mysteries, an adventure story and a hard-boiled detective tale. Oh, and there is one horror story too - runs in the blood! They're all short so I will be putting them together into one book.

Short stories - a few out there doing the rounds at the moment, and one has been accepted for an anthology being produced by Third Flatiron Publishing sometime in September. More details nearer the time.

Works In Progress: several on the go, there's the second book in The Szuiltan Trilogy called Liberation Of Worlds, and a horror novel called (at the moment) The Village Witch, another science fiction one called (for now anyway) The Wizards Of Yradion and various other ideas floating around. Always plenty to be working on.


Please in your own words write a paragraph about yourself & your work.

I was born in 1959 and it's all been downhill since then. I write horror and science fiction and try to write stories that I, as a reader, would want to read. I have no desire to be remembered as a great literary figure, but I would like to be remembered as a good story teller. The bad news is that, however much you might beg, I'm not going to stop writing. It's what I do. It's who I am.


email: neil@nwdavies.co.uk
website http://www.nwdavies.co.uk
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nwdavies
twitter: @nwdavies
amazon.com http://amzn.com/e/B0034ORVZ6
amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/Neil-Davies/e/B0034ORVZ6

TV News ( UK ): Horror Channel to give Aussie cult movie CRAWL its UK TV premiere

Horror Channel’s UK TV premieres for October is the multi-award winning Aussie cult hit CRAWL, which has screened in twenty countries world-wide and earned director Paul China the Best Director award at Screamfest. It will be broadcast on Saturday Oct 5, 11.00pm.

The China Brothers said today: "As filmmakers, we couldn't be more excited to see our debut feature, Crawl, premiere on the prestigious Horror Channel UK . This is our first television preview, and it makes it extra special knowing it will take place in our home country -- the very region where Crawl started to generate buzz and find its audience at the Frightfest Film Festival in 2012. We hope the loyal viewers of Horror Channel UK enjoy our dark suspense-thriller as much as we enjoyed making it.

Claustrophobic heat and brooding tension seep from the screen in this character-driven hi-tone chiller set in an unknown rural town. Seedy bar owner Slim Walding hires a mysterious Croatian hit man to murder a local garage owner over a shady business deal gone bad. The crime is indeed carried out by the stone-faced stranger but a planned double-crossing backfires when an innocent waitress (Georgina Haig) becomes involved.

Much of what makes this study in slow-burning terror so nail-bitingly effective is the silence that director China employs for long periods, coupled with the deep, shadowy corners of the picture frame – and minds of the captivating lead characters.


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October also features the Horror Channel network premieres of two very contrasting films.

From Bernard Rose, the director of ‘Candyman’ comes PAPERHOUSE (1988), where fantasy and reality collide when a bed ridden 13 year old discovers whatever she draws in her sketchbook comes to life in her dreams. However, the young girls mind gives rise to powerful manifestations that aren’t always quite the innocent visions she had in mind. PAPERHOUSE broadcasts on Sat Oct 12, 10.55pm.

One studio that stands for independent film-making more than any other is Troma -  boasting 40 years of ‘reel’’ independence. One of their most famous movies is CLASS OF NUKE EM HIGH (1986). Troma have always hinted at political undercurrents in their films – in this case the evils of nuclear power - which conveniently fuels Troma’s Lloyd Kauffman’s obsession with slime and mutant monsters. Expect plenty of bad boys on big bikes. Broadcasts on Friday Oct 25, 11pm.

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138
www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel

Horror Channel UK prems two FrightFest discoveries

Horror Channel’s UK TV premieres for September are two films that scored high on the terror-scale when they screened at FrightFest 2012. Dubbed ‘the Wicker Man for the Harry Brown generation’, COMMUNITY is a fine example of the growing trend in home-grown urban horror and THE INSIDE marks the impressive directorial debut of Irish actor Eoin Macken, who played Sir Gawaine in the hit BBC TV series ‘Merlin’.

Plus…Cabin Fever hits Horror Channel with the Network premieres of Eli Roth’s directorial debut CABIN FEVER and Ti West’s follow-up CABIN FEVER 2: SPRING FEVER...

Also, there is a double slice of Retro horror, courtesy of Hammer Horror: FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL, starring Peter Cushing, and cult classic CAPTAIN KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER

22:50 Sat Sept 7 – COMMUNITY (2012) * UK TV PREMIERE
Two student filmmakers visit the notorious Draymen estate in the hope their proposed documentary will land them a lucrative career. But they quickly discover that the estate is a breeding ground for the darker side of society - which will present the students with material of unimaginable horror. Directed by Jason Ford and starring Elliott Jordan, Terry Bird, Ian Ralph & Oliver Stark.

22:45 Sat Sept 14 – THE INSIDE (2010) * UK TV PREMIERE
A group of girls celebrate one of their mates’ birthdays in an abandoned Dublin warehouse but things quickly go wrong when, first, they are terrorized by a group of violent vagrants and then have to cope with a far worse threat when they come under attack by a supernatural horror. Directed by Eoin Macken and starring Emmett Scanlan, Tereza Srbova, Karl Argue, Kellie Blaise and Siobhan Cullen.

22:55  Sat Sept 21 – CABIN FEVER (2002) NETWORK PREMIERE
Recoil in disgust, laugh out loud and be scared rigid by director Eli Roth's hardcore feature debut – a splatter-filled and expertly crafted bloodbath about the gut-wrenching devastation inflicted by a flesh-eating virus on a group of holidaying graduates. A love-letter to 70’s American horror, Roth’s entry into the genre’s premiere division stars Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong and James DeBello

22:50 Sat Sept 28 – CABIN FEVER 2: SPRING FEVER (2009) NETWORK PREMIERE
The flesh-eating virus that consumed a group of hapless college vacationers back in 2003 returns to crash a high school prom in director Ti West's gore-drenched sequel to the Eli Roth original. The Lost star Marc Senter joins a cast featuring Larry Fessenden, Giuseppe Andrews, Mark Borchart, and Rider Strong - who seems to have successfully sweated out his original case of Cabin Fever.

23:10  Fri Sept 6 – FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1973)  NETWORK PREMIERE
In the last of the Hammer Frankenstein films, the original mad doctor is back and plying God once more, this time hiding out in an insane asylum, so that he can continue his experiments with reanimating the dead. Directed by Hammer veteran  Terence Fisher, it stars Peter Cushing, in the title role, with Shane Briant, David Prowse, Madeline Smith and Caroline Munro. it was  director Fisher's last film.

22:55 Fri Sept 13 – CAPTAIN KRONOS - VAMPIRE HUNTER (1974) NETWORK TV PREMIERE
Considered one of the last great Hammer films, this swash-buckling vampire yarn, features a master swordsman, a former soldier and his hunchbacked assistant who hunt vampires, became a cult classic. Written and directed by Brian Clemens, it stars Horst Janson in the title role, along with John Carson, Shane Briant and Caroline Munro. It was originally the pilot for a planned television series.


TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138
www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel

Interview with Darren R. Scothern

INTERVIEW WITH DARREN SCOTHERN
By David Kempf

Darren R. Scothern is an English author and poet. He was born in Sheffield in 1965, and had an average working class education before graduating from The Open University with a first-class honours degree in literature.

He describes himself variously as an author, poet, atheist, rationalist, sceptic and armchair revolutionary.

After finding some success in the small presses, Darren made a breakthrough into the American paperback market, when his award-winning science fiction story 'The Key to Heaven's Gate' was included in The Best Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction of 2009, published by the Absent Willow Review.

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Tell us how you became interested in writing

Oh, this is a sad story of regret and wasted opportunities! As a child, I was very 'forward' with reading and writing.  I was doing both fluently long before starting school, long before other kids my age.  The first story I ever wrote, I was probably five or six years old.  It was my retelling of 'Androcles and the Lion', and finished with the lion giving a big happy roar!  Stories just fascinated me.  I think it was the fact that I could escape into fantasy from what was a very unhappy childhood.

I soon got hooked on Marvel and DC comics.  Marvel in particular fired my imagination.  I was fortunate that a friend of our family had been collecting Marvel comics for years, and he had all the collectors items, the first appearances of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and so on.  I was blown away, and all I ever wanted as a career from that point was to write and draw Marvel comics. Somehow, I got it into my head that the way in would be as an artist, and that I could progress to writing later.  I had zero natural talent for drawing, but I worked and worked at it, and by the time I was eighteen, I could draw superheroes really well.  I couldn't draw anything else, mind.  And somehow, by that time, writing had been completely forgotten about.  Then at age eighteen, I became a father.  For the next eighteen years of my life, my sole focus was on being the best dad I could be.  That meant getting a 'sensible' job, and being able to pay the bills.  Any ambitions of writing or drawing for a career were put on hold.  As I got older, my interest in superheroes gradually waned, but the desire to write re-emerged, and was always bubbling away in the background.  Unfortunately, I was surround by a lot of naysayers at that time in my life, and I fell for their negative image of me, completely lost confidence in myself, and gave up on my ambitions.

It was when I hit my mid-thirties, with my son grown into a fine young man, that I started to think, 'Hey, if I don't have a go at this writing thing, I'll never be happy.'  So I started work on some short stories...


Why horror fiction?

I always loved horror movies.  As a kid, I used to stay up late and watch the old Hammer movies on 'Appointment With Fear'.  Back in those days, any attempts to portray superheroes on TV, whether live action or animated, were pretty awful.  But horror movies could more often hit the mark.  I used to read some ghost stories as well, but mainly, horror for me was on the screen.  Until someone lent me a copy of Stephen King's 'Firestarter'.  That changed everything for me.  It was probably the first time I understood horror as a metaphor, and the first time I came across a horror in which the characters were more important than the central 'evil'.  From that point, I read a lot of horror, but perhaps not that widely.  I had no time for James Herbert or Shaun Hutson, and so on.  But Stephen King, Peter Straub, Brian Lumley, etc, they just thrilled me.

I also read other stuff - some SF, fantasy, general fiction and so on.  But I just seemed to have an affinity for horror.


Has writing for mastersofhorror.co.uk helped you improve your craft?

I think that what most writers crave, at heart, is validation.  You write for your readers, and you want a reaction.  You want your readers to love what you write, but if not, then you'll settle for them hating it.  What you don't want is a lukewarm reaction.  You don't want to be ignored; you want to know that you have pushed someone's buttons.  When you're starting out as a writer, this can be difficult.  As an unknown, how do you reach people?   Masters of Horror was a huge help.  It was an outlet for my writing, it allowed me to gauge the reaction of readers, and gave me an actual web presence at which I could point new readers.

Suddenly, I had a new element on my CV.  I have only warm and positive feelings for MOH.


After achieving a certain amount of mainstream success, why would you choose the Amazon self publishing route?

Let me tell you about some of the submissions I made to various publishers.  I once wrote a short SF story called 'The Key to Heaven's Gate.'  I thought I had a pretty good story.  Now, when you submit a piece to publishers, you always steel yourself for rejection; that's just the way of life for a writer.  Usually, when you get a rejection, it's just a standard slip, and I had many of those for this particular story.  Then one day, I got a very personalised rejection.  The editor in question sent me a two page email, absolutely trashing my story.  He hated it.  After so many rejections topped by this outburst, I decided I obviously wasn't being objective about this particular story, so I filed it away and forgot about it.  Until a couple of years later, when I spotted a publisher that I thought might accept it.  I submitted it, and got a letter from the editor who said he loved it!  He positively gushed over it.  They published, and 'The Key to Heaven's Gate' won the editor's choice award, and went on to be included in a 'best of' paperback anthology.  That was just the first time I realised what a lottery the submissions game is.

Then there was the thing with my novel 'Blood Brothers'.  This novel got past various junior editors and got to the final committee to decide which novels were going to be published that year by one particular publisher.  I was copied in on an email that explained why the novel was rejected.  The senior editor had said, 'this guy can really write,' and 'this is a brilliant story that will sell' ...but... They couldn't get on with all the bad language.  The central characters in Blood Brothers are of a similar background to myself; lower working class from the North of England.  I know I have got the dialogue bang on the money, so I just had to laugh this rejection off.

I think what really tipped me over the edge into self-publishing, though, was some publishers' submission guidelines.  I had become used to publishers demanding certain word counts, and certain content.  I was mildly frustrated with guidelines that demanded certain paragraph lengths.  But then one set of guidelines I read demanded that there should only be one space after a full stop, not two, and any submissions that used the two space format would be deleted without being read.  The next publisher I looked at demanded the two space format.  What is wrong with these people?  We are talking about STORIES here.  It was at that point I decided to self-publish.

The point is that, as a writer, as well as being strongly self-critical, you have to have a certain amount of confidence in what you do, and not be bullied into watering it down.  You cannot write by committee.  Digital self-publishing has opened up a cost-free avenue for writers who want to stand on their own two feet.  It has given creative power back to the authors, who now have to live and die purely on their own personal standard of creativity and professionalism.


Do you see self-published e books as the future of published mass market fiction?

I think it's a no brainer.  Kindle has done for books what iTunes has done for music.  The future is here.


How many books have you written (novels or novellas)?

I've got eleven e books available on Amazon at present - a mix of novellas, short story collections, a poetry collection, and one humongous novel, Blood Brothers.


How many short stories have you written?

Oh, blimey.  Countless.  I still have a sizeable back catalogue of unpublished works.  I love the short story format, and I kind of look to people like Raymond Carver as true masters of the craft, an ideal of quality to aspire to.  I like to write short stories between the first and second drafts of longer projects.  It helps me get some distance and objectivity on a long project that might have been years in the making.


Tell us about The Darkness at Fishersbridge. How much did H.P. Lovecraft’s work inspire you with this story?

I kind of have a love-hate relationship with H. P. Lovecraft.  I think the Cthulhu Mythos is one of the greatest and most enduring concepts in the horror genre.  Despite August Derleth's well intended but plain wrong attempts to sweeten the Mythos, it remains an utterly chilling concept - one that speaks straight to the fears about who and what we are.  It seems like a lot of writers want to add their bit to it, and even the ones that deny certain stories are part of the Mythos... Well you read the stories, and you just know, don't you?  However, as much as I am awed by the power and scope of Lovecraft's vision, I sometimes find his prose verges on the unreadable.  That's such a shame, because it will put some people off.  But, yes, The Darkness at Fishersbridge was my way of saying thank you to H. P. Lovecraft for his wonderful ideas.  This story was also one of my first attempts at taking the idea of an 'unreliable narrator' to the ultimate degree.  I think that, by the end of the story, that method actually increases the horror factor exponentially, which is kind of counter intuitive, but there you are.


Do you see any significant differences between British horror fiction and American horror fiction?

I think the two are converging, to an extent.  Mass media and globalisation is making most new Western literature kind of transatlantic in style.  We've seen this trend in TV and movies for a while now, and it was inevitable that literature would start to go that way.  What will remain different is the unique cultural signposts that still differentiate the two nations.  I remember someone telling my that my Chapelbank trilogy was quintessentially English, which I thought was nice.  The kids in those stories say things like 'terrar' and they sneak around the back of the working men's club, and so on.  They wouldn't even know what Baseball was.  These kinds of things are the touchpoints of national identity for characters.  But in terms of structure and so on, I think there is less difference than ever between the two in literature.  The difference in structure is also narrowing on the screen, but not quickly enough for my liking.  I'm not a fan of old school British theatricality.


Have your political or philosophical views shaped your writing in some way?

I actually think the greater effect has been the other way around! Back in the nineties, when I started to have a go at writing, I was a lapsed Christian, and full of guilt and hang ups.  These days, as I'm sure many people are aware, I am a highly vocal atheist, anti-theist and rationalist.  That has been one heck of a journey, and would never have happened were it not for my writing.

The thing about writing is that it's all about the characters, and that forces you to examine yourself, the people around you, and human nature itself.  When I first started writing, I realised very quickly that I wasn't good enough at it.  This was going to take work.  I hadn't made the best of my education as a youth, and I was painfully aware of my shortcomings intellectually.  I went back to college, and took an A level in English language, and from there I really got the taste for learning.  It was all about getting that thinking muscle working again.  I remember feeling quite intimidated by the intellectual punch some of my friends carried, and I was very self-conscious.  I took a few writing courses, but found them to be too lightweight.  They didn't give me the depth of  understanding I required.  Reading Robert Mckee's Story helped, but that just fired me up to learn more.  All the while, my critical thinking skills were developing, and that led me to put writing on the back burner a little for three years, while I took a degree in Literature with The Open University.  As part of the degree, I took a module in philosophy, and that opened my eyes to rational atheism.  All the doubts I'd had about religion crystallised through that learning process, and I was finally able to shrug off years of guilt-tripping.  I'd already been gradually moving toward atheism, but now I had the tools to intellectually justify my thought process.  It was an incredibly liberating time.  And it was no surprise of course to find themes of religious conflict informing my writing.

I came out of university with a 'distinction' first class honours degree in Literature.  Studying lit gives a very different perspective to studying creative writing.  Both have informed my writing, and I now feel more in control of what I'm doing than ever before.  Studying lit also ignited my interest in poetry, which was a totally unexpected, but welcome, bonus.


Which writers have inspired you the most?

Well, I've already mentioned King and Lovecraft.  But for the most part, I tend to like certain books rather than follow certain writers, and it's not always horror.  I've enjoyed most (not all) of Ian McEwan's work.  I think 'On Chesil Beach' is a masterpiece of slow-burning suspense, and I would have to say his writing has probably been a more recent influence on me.  I would have to point to two other novels that have left a very lasting impression on me: Heinlein's 'Stranger in a Strange Land' and Irwin Shaw's 'Rich Man, Poor Man'.  But I've also been influenced by the early lyric writing of David Bowie, and I am a great admirer of the work of David Lynch, who has definitely been a big influence.


Name some of your favorite horror books.

Okay, here goes.  'Firestarter', 'Christine', 'The Dead Zone' and 'Hearts in Atlantis' from King.  'The Call of Cthulhu' and 'At the Mountains of Madness' from Lovecraft.  Brian Lumley's 'Necroscope' series is sensational, despite some of Lumley's quirky dialogue.  This is how vampires should be written.  I also enjoyed his 'Psychomech' series.


Name some of your favorite horror movies.

Well, this might be controversial, but I love the American remake of 'The Ring'.  Absolutely love it, way better than the original.  'The Mothman Prophecies' is another with a similar vibe that I really enjoyed.  Hitchcock's 'Psycho' will always be there, and I would class 'Silence of the Lambs' as a horror, which I also love.  And at the risk of contradicting what I've said about theatricality, I can't help it, I just love Branagh's 'Frankenstein'! Stuff like David Lynch's movies, and maybe 'Donnie Darko' veer into the type of psychological horror I enjoy.


What are your current projects?

I'm currently working a a major novel, titled 'Abominations'.  This is a pretty ambitious project, and will end up a similar length to 'Blood Brothers' - about 160k words.  'Abominations' starts off as a mystery with supernatural connotations, before suddenly screaming off down the route of pure horror. It's been a real challenge so far, because it's such a huge, complex story that will just have people gripped right from the off.  I'm enjoying writing this immensely.  I expect if to be published late 2014 or early 2015.  I will have some more short works released before then, though.


Please in your own words write a paragraph about yourself & your work.

Writing is just absolutely central to my life.  I put my readers at the heart of everything I do, I want to wow them.  I've given myself this mission statement:  I want to write stories that people will want to read at least three times.  The first reading, hopefully, they will enjoy a good story.  Afterwards, I want that story to linger at the back of their minds.  I want them to be thinking, after a while, 'Hang on a minute, I thought I understood that bit in chapter three, but now I've finished the book, I think it might mean something else...'  I want my readers to be drawn back for a second reading, where they pick up the hidden story; the submerged part.  If they crack that, I would expect they would want to read it a third time, with all the pieces laid out, as it were.

Check out some of Darren's books at Amazon

EMILY BOOTH TO PRODUCE AND STAR IN “SELKIE”

Horror Channel presenter and actress Emily Booth steps behind the lens to make her first short film – SELKIE, a dark revenge fairytale, in which she also stars in the title role - as a beautiful and vengeful sea creature.

The plot, based on an ancient Celtic myth, sees Selkie enslaved to a drunken fisherman when he finds her shedded skin on the beach. Refusing to return her skin to her, the Selkie law of nature means she is now bound to him as his 'land wife' unable to return to her true form, and to the sea. Until one day, many years later, when she exacts her revenge and finally is able to transform back into her true form.

Emily assembled her own team for the project including concept artist Danny McMahon (who came up with the original drawings of the Selkie creature) and SFX artist Robbie Drake (Nightbreed, The Seasoning House)

Emily said today: “My aim is to create something truly unique and memorable, a dark and haunting adult fairytale, with a spectacular creature transformation sequence, all shot in Medieval locations. Yes it’s a challenge and will not be cheap which is why I’m using the innovative crowd funding site Kickstarter.”
….
To find out more and invest go to:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/569693974/selkie-a-haunting-adult-fairytale-inspired-by-celt

FrightFest and Horror Channel announce nine world premieres for short film programme

FrightFest in association with Horror Channel, will be screening nine specially selected short films, all World Premieres, at this year’s August event at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Sq. From James Moran’s sickly slick serial killer tale and Dominic Brunt’s ghastly vision of war time Hell, to Will Gilbey’s hard-boiled noir cop thriller and Mike Mort’s even harder puppet cop hero Chuck Steel, the line-up represents a rich tapestry of talent, with casts that include Hannah Tointon, Neil Maskell, Ed Speleers, Alfie Allen & Jack Gordon.

Paul McEvoy, Co-director of FrightFest & Horror Channel programme co-ordinater said today: “This year’s brilliant and insane mix of shorts includes outstanding World Premieres from some FrightFest favourites and some exciting new cinematic blood. Behold and enjoy!”

PROGRAMME
MAIN SCREEN
FRIDAY AUG 23

16:15 CRAZY FOR YOU (World Premiere)

Director: James Moran. Cast: Arthur Darvill, Hannah Tointon. UK . 2013. 10 mins

It's difficult to find love when you're a serial killer - when Charlie meets the girl of his dreams, he has to keep that slight flaw a secret from her. Will true love win the day? Or will she become another of his unwitting victims?

SATURDAY AUG 24

13:15 TURNCOAT (World Premiere)

Director: Will Gilbey. Cast: Neil Maskell, Stephen McCole, Ed Speleers. UK . 2013. 14min

Two cops break into a criminal's home, drag him out of bed and start conducting an illegal search of the premises. Cuffed to a chair, and seemingly helpless, the criminal's only chance is to play the two cops off against each other.

20:55 CHUCK STEEL: RAGING BALLS OF STEEL JUSTICE (World Premiere)

Written, directed and voiced by Mike Mort. UK 2013 13min

It’s 1986, and maverick cop Chuck Steel has his work cut out when the city’s most influential banker is kidnapped by a group of escaped convicts. With the aid of his sex obsessed robot partner, Chuck must fight a desperate battle against overwhelming odds to save the hostage.

MONDAY AUG 26

15.35 THE BODY (World Premiere)

Director: Paul Davis. Cast:  Alfie Allen, Hannah Tointon, Christian Brassington, Jack Gordon. UK. 2013. 18min

The tale of a murderer who uses the cover of Halloween night to causally transport his latest victim from the scene of the crime to his final resting place.


DISCOVERY SCREEN 1
FRIDAY AUG 23

18:00  IF I HAD A HEART (World Premiere)

Director’s The Halsall Brothers. Cast: Min-Joong Kim UK . 2013. 12 min

A neon-noir set in the underbelly of Seoul . Sam IL is a street fighter who was abandoned at birth by his Mother in a coin locker. His life has been one of extreme violence and isolation.

SATURDAY AUG 24

15:15  SHELL SHOCKED (World Premiere)

Director: Dominic Brunt. Cast:  Geoffrey Newland, Anthony Streeter  UK . 2013. 12 min

Two soldiers from opposing sides seek temporary salvation from the battle field. A tense, life or death stand off at gun point ensues with a growing realisation...they were safer where they were...

18:15 SAMUEL AND EMILY VS. THE WORLD (World Premiere)

Director: Nick Gillespie  Cast: Steve Garry, Phoebe Jones & Alex Rose March.  UK . 2013. 9 min

An eerie and gruesome tale about a couple who have found a new way to survive the zombie apocalypse.

SUNDAY AUG 25

12:50 THE GUEST (World Premiere)

Director:  Jovanka Vuckovic Cast: Tara Elliot, Jordan Gray & Isabella Vuckovic Canada 2013. 4 min

A man must face his personal demons as a consequence of a mysterious bargain he has made.

15:15  BREATHE (World Premiere)

Directed by Toby Meakins  Cast: Jack North, Josef Altin & Orion Ben. UK . 2013. 5 min

A ghost story about a girl who only appears when you hold your breath.

HORROR CHANNEL CELEBRATES THE ITALIAN GODFATHER OF GORE

Horror Channel is giving Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci a much deserved season – comprising of four of his most memorable films – genre classics that were either banned or heavily censored in the UK during the late seventies, early eighties.

Fulci, the forerunner of Italian splatter, once said that violence IS Italian art, and who would disagree with him when you look at the line-up, which comprises such ground-breaking master-pieces as the 1979 iconic ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS (TX: Sat Aug 3, 22:55) and the 1981 zombie shocker THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (TX: Sat Aug 24, 22:55). Both are network premieres. The other two titles are Channel favourites CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (TX: Sat Aug 10, 22:55) and THE BEYOND (TX: Sat Aug 17, 22:55)

The season will be exclusively hosted and introduced by Fulci’s music maestro Fabio Frizzi and Spencer Hickman from Death Waltz Records.

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138
www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel

Frankenstein's Army Movie Trailer

Toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary Frankenstein's work to assemble an army of super-soldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades -- a desperate Hitler's last ghastly ploy to escape defeat.