Below, Kachuba shares how he became interested in horror and how he has turned it into a career. Kachuba is also a highly sought after presenter, especially in libraries. So reach out to him [contact info at end] if you are interested.
But before I send you off to hear from this master of the ghosts and ghouls among us, I wanted to give a shout out to his new book because it is slightly different.
Shapeshifters: A History is an extremely well researched and thorough look at the myths. legends, and stories of shapeshifters across time and cultures. Kachuba not only looks at history though, he also examines media from TV to movies and even video games. No stone is left unturned.The bibliography is also a wonderful tool for readers who want to delve into this topic more. And trust me, there are a lot of patrons who want to dive into this topic more [and, as many of us know, they also want to talk to us about it and all of their other theories about the world...all the time].
It is academic AND fun to read. I highly suggest you add this title to your library collections. It will be enjoyed by wide variety of readers, especially teens looking for an interesting topic for their high school assignments.
Now here is Kachuba to tell you a little bit more about himself, his works, and his love of horror in general.
☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠☠
Why I Love Horror
John B. Kachuba
I grew up in New England, Connecticut to be exact, where moldy old cemeteries were never more than a stone’s throw away and every street seemed to have at least one abandoned, falling-down house that we kids were certain housed ghosts and spooks of every sort. And on those crisp October nights when leaves scuttled across the street like skeletal fingers and the moon stared down through bony, gnarled limbs of barren trees, I knew, I just knew ghosts and witches and all manner of grotesque monsters crept behind me if only I had the courage to turn and look.
So, maybe I love horror because it was all around me as I grew up, if not in the real, waking world, at least in my imagination, inspired by place, an environment of sad, melancholic locations, and ancient, horrid stories. Place has much to do with horror—I find it difficult to summon a shiver of fear as I lay on a tropical beach, lathered in Coppertone, gazing at sapphire water and crystal blue skies, a cold piña colada in hand. The Cancún Hilton is not Hill House.
Place may inspire my sense of horror but why I love horror has more to do with the emotional and psychological rush horror brings. Despite the sadness and violence in the world, for the most part we are in control of our lives as comfortable and mundane as they may be. But a part of us wants to take a gamble, wants to step away from our safety nets and experience a world we cannot control, a weird, creepy, perhaps insanely dangerous world—at least for a little while.
In my most recent book, Shapeshifters: A History, I write about the Jekyll-and-Hyde syndrome in which the good, morally upright Dr. Jekyll yearns to indulge the dark, animal side of his nature, a side we all have but keep under control for the wellbeing of society. That horrible, malevolent side, in the persona of Mr. Hyde proves addictive and too strong for the doctor who—spoiler alert—kills himself in order to kill the evil Hyde.
Only serial killers and axe murderers would embrace a Hyde-like walk on the wild side. It’s enough for the rest of us to acknowledge the dual nature of being human, living as much as we can a Dr. Jekyll life while keeping Mr. Hyde at bay.
I love horror stories and movies because they allow us to vicariously enter a world where everything we know and cherish is at stake, where our lives, perhaps our souls could be forfeit at any moment. Yet, we know we’ll be fine. We’ll survive simply by closing the book or tuning off the television.
I’m not a psychologist but I think these vicarious thrills and chills may be therapeutic. They may let us safely blow off some of the pressures of our daily lives and may help us cope with the very real horrors we read about in the news or witness on TV and the Internet daily. That’s why I love horror; it keeps us sane. And, as a horror writer, I’m proud to be keeping you all sane. You’re welcome.
I spend a lot of time “keeping people sane” through my books and my public speaking on radio, podcasts, television and especially at conferences, universities, and libraries. I’ve given well over 100 talks about ghosts, hauntings, and shapeshifters at libraries in my home state of Ohio and scores more in other states, as well as abroad. These talks are based on Ghosthunting Ohio, Ghosthunting Illinois, Ghosthunters, Shapeshifters and some of my other books. I love the interplay that emerges in these presentations. I tell my ghostly stories of horror and am continually amazed when audience members share their stories with me, their macabre encounters with the paranormal, with horror. For a few minutes we are a brotherhood united in fear, none of us daring to be the first to walk out into the night alone. But then, we nervously laugh it off and brave the darkness.
See? There’s nothing out here . . . right?
As an ambassador of horror, I’m always trying to reach a larger audience, to indoctrinate people into the pleasures of reading, and maybe even writing, horror. As much as I enjoy live presentations, unlike some of the monsters I write about, I can’t physically be everywhere at once, so I’ve been encouraging libraries to consider hosting virtual presentations with me about my books. Skype and other virtual communication platforms make it easy for me to connect with book clubs or readers’ groups at libraries. Virtual horror can be as chillingly satisfying as the real thing.
I remember the jolt of fear that sizzled my nerves like lightning when I saw an eighteen-inch cast-iron rod leap up, somersault in mid-air, and slam down on an old wood-burning stove in a Florida haunted house.
That was the real thing. A scary thing.
So was the ghostly whisper that called my name on a voice recorder in the dark basement of a 19th century Ohio farmhouse.
But equally terrifying to me was the scene in William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist in which the possessed Regan crabwalks upside-down past a doorway.
That was one writer’s visualization of horror and it scared the bejeezus out of me. Terrifying words on a page.
I also love horror for the curiosity, the wonderment it evokes in us. In a world where medical science is progressing at warp-speed, might it someday be possible for scientists to reanimate the dead? As geneticists manipulate DNA and probe the mysteries of creation, might they create some shapeshifting life-form? When space travel becomes commonplace, will some menacing alien monster smuggle itself aboard an earth-bound spacecraft? And what lies deep beneath our oceans? Was H. P. Lovecraft right; is there an ancient civilization biding its time to rise and conquer our planet? Our inquisitive natures draw us to such wondrous speculation just as, in years past, we were drawn to carnival sideshow freaks and geeks. Repulsed, horrified, we can’t look away.
As a horror writer I will amaze you with wonder but it’s my job too, to horrify you, terrorize you, trouble your sleep with nightmares, make you scream in fear, if only for a little while. Does that sound like fun to you? Then we’re on the same scary page. If you’d like to engage me for a presentation, look for me on a moonless night in your local cemetery, or turn quickly to see if I’m not already standing right behind you.
Or you can simply contact me at www.johnkachuba.com
No comments:
Post a Comment