Each year during the blog-a-thon I choose one of my trusted indie publishers for libraries [listed here] and invite the press and their authors to introduce themselves to all of you in the library world.
This year I chose Grindhouse Press, a female owned press putting out high quality, high interest titles, celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. After reading and enjoying both True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik [featured in my Readers' Shelf column and giveaway a few days ago] and The Perfectly Fine House by Kozeniewski and Young [for my Library Journal June Horror Review Column], I reached out to CV Hunt, owner and publisher, and asked her to gather 6 authors of her recent and upcoming titles to share "Why I Love Horror" with all of you.
Before we get to today's authors, a quick reminder-- Grindhouse Press is sponsoring this week's #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway. Click here for details and rules.
Today is the final day of the Grindhouse Press spotlight and I am highlighting Matt Kurtz and Scott Cole . Click on their names to learn more about each author.
Why I Love Horror
by Matt Kurtz
I’ve had a love of horror all my life. As a child, it was gifted to me by my mom, when on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon, she called me into the TV room to join her in watching The Horror of Dracula. Christopher Lee’s portrayal of The Count, with his bloodshot eyes and rivulets of blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, was always her favorite Dracula, a far cry from the tamer version Bela Lugosi played. Her excitement for the film—where her emotions constantly flip-flopped between giddiness and dread—was contagious. Realizing how a scary movie could affect someone to such extremes (especially Mom!), horror soon became my drug of choice when it came to films, television, literature, art, memorabilia, and even holidays. (Yes, Halloween is my absolute favorite.)
Since the horror genre provided me decades of entertainment, it was only natural I’d want to give a little back. My small “offering” includes dozens of short stories in numerous anthologies, as well as a second novel being published later this year. Whenever I tell someone I write horror, they usually give me “that look” as if I’m some weirdo (which, of course, I am). Unfortunately, most people seem to limit the horror genre to slasher films, full of nothing but blood and guts. Yes, that stuff is included, but horror has a ton of other subgenres, and depending on what you have a hankering for, you can choose from a wide variety of tales, such as ones involving haunted houses, creature features, demonic possession, witchcraft, cults, cannibalistic hillbillies, aliens, serial killers, cosmic horror, psychological horror, extreme horror, body horror, erotic horror, and… well, you get the picture.
From a creative standpoint, writing horror is a lot like visiting a huge buffet, where we pile a little of everything on our plate to help tell the best story possible. In the tales we create, there can be:
- Drama (a main character fighting addiction, having a mental breakdown, or dealing with the loss of a loved one)
- Comedy (a well-timed moment of comic relief to ease tension... or a witty observation, pointing out the ridiculousness of some fantastic situation)
- Action (a chase or fight scene involving a rampaging monster or the main villain who has escaped from his imprisonment)
- Romance (a handsome stranger arrives in town and seduces the locals into carrying out his evil bidding... or the budding relationship between a high school outcast and the popular girl as something horrible pulls them together)
- Mystery (who or what is killing the explorers on a wilderness expedition... or what is causing people to go insane and slaughter others?).
- Science Fiction (a mutated experiment is stolen from a government lab and unleashed upon the world... or an alien ship crashes on Earth and its passengers quickly acquire a taste for human flesh)
While other genres might be able to combine two or three of these, horror can use them all.
And the best part of being a horror writer? You’re given carte blanche to terrify your audience. In fact, it’s what they're expecting. No one goes to a horror film or picks up a horror novel hoping it isn’t scary. They want chills and thrills. They want to get their money’s worth, and a little escapism from whatever is happening in their lives. So, as writers, we better deliver that.
In the end, I only hope some kid out there is lucky enough to have their own Horror of Dracula experience, where it extends that love of horror for another generation… so it continues to remain undead (much like the dear old Count himself).
**********Author Bio***********
Matt Kurtz has a three-volume collection of short stories entitled MONKEY'S BOX OF HORRORS, MONKEY'S BUCKET OF HORRORS, and (the even more ridiculously titled) MONKEY'S BUTCHER BLOCK OF HORRORS.
His first novel KINFOLK, a horror/action-thriller, was released by Grindhouse Press in December 2018. His next novel, THE ROTTING WITHIN, will also be released by Grindhouse Press in 2021.
To read more about him and his work, visit www.MattKurtzWrites.com
Why I Love Horror
by Scott Cole
I know, that seems like a non-answer. But it’s also the truth. Horror runs in my veins, and the reasons I love it are actually somewhat difficult for me to articulate, because horror in entertainment has always been a huge part of my life, and who I am.
Like a lot of Horror People, I’ve been asked a million times what my First Thing was. “What was your first horror movie?” “What was your first horror book?” “What led you down this path of horrible-terrible-spooky-bloody-violent-ness?”
Or, as my grandfather used to ask: “Why do you like all that ghooooulish stuff?” He would smirk every time he posed the question, drawing out the word “ghoulish”. He didn’t have a problem with it, but he clearly didn’t understand it either. And I get that. Horror isn’t for everybody. But for the people who love it, it’s everything. It’s comfort food. It’s an old friend. It’s a warm mug on a cold night.
So what was my First Horror Thing? I honestly can’t remember. Horror - in books, in movies, in culture - has always been with me, grabbing hold of my interest and attention like nothing else. I watched horror movies and read horror stories from a very young age, and don’t remember ever being truly traumatized or kept awake at night by any of it.
When I turned eight, I had a sleepover birthday party where my friends and I ate pizza and watched Poltergeist on VHS. I was riveted, but by the end of it, one of my friends had vomited and everyone else was too scared to stay the night. Even so, I was considering doing it all again the following year, but stepping up to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Until then, I had the Creature Double Feature to look forward to every weekend. I watched TV shows about special effects and behind-the-scenes movie magic. I read Fangoria and The Twilight Zone Magazine. I went on camping trips and listened to spooky stories told by the fire after dark. There were haunted houses to go through every October, and equally scary funhouses at carnivals in the summer.
And of course there were those regular trips to the video store with my parents, where I spent countless hours staring at all that glorious box art, and the photos and descriptions on the backs, before bringing one or two titles home.
Halloween was, and remains, my favorite holiday. I got a thrill out of seeing my elementary school classrooms decorated with Beistle cutouts. When a teacher would have us read Poe, I got a charge, as if the curriculum was finally coming around and seeing things my way.
I spent time in my school and local libraries too, picking through the shelves, as titles jumped out at me and cover art drew me in. I thumbed through the orange and black Crestwood monster books. I wrote book reports on Dracula and Carrie and other titles I’ve long since forgotten.
And while none of this stuff seemed to bother me to the point that I lost sleep, that's not to say I never had a good scare. I had plenty - especially in my younger days. But I always knew these stories were just that - stories. I was always able to recognize that. They weren’t real. And I could instantly see the fun in them.
Horror stories, at their best, have so many elements baked into them - things like mystery and suspense, fear and dread, on top of all the other things that make stories worth watching or reading - that, in the same way some can’t understand why people would like such things, I can’t understand why someone wouldn’t.
But the thing I may love most about horror is that you never really know what you’re in for. That’s something I discovered early on. More than most other genres, it’s unpredictable. Sure, going in you know there will be some sort of threat, but you never really know what’s going to happen or who’s going to survive the great evil, be it something hungry from beyond the grave, mutant monsters from beyond the stars, or some cosmic terror beyond all frame of reference.
In horror, there often aren’t rules - or if there are, they can easily be broken - and that keeps things interesting. It’s simply not a given that everything’s going to work out and be okay in the end. In terms of story, when you don’t know what a monster is capable of, or the ways in which it can tear down the walls of logic, that’s pretty exciting.
And that’s the most interesting thing about horror for me. The surprises.
I love diving into a story and not knowing who or what will greet me within. Will there be an axe-wielding maniac? A possessed doll? An angry god? A house with a mind of its own? A monster made primarily of teeth?
Real life isn’t exactly boring, but how often do we visit these kinds of heights - not to mention doing so safely from the other side of a page or screen?
And that’s why I love horror. I love the wonder of it all. The excitement of the unknown. The puzzlement of the uncanny. The challenge of the incomprehensible.
I guess, really, I’m just in love with imagination, and new ideas, and possibilities. I suppose that’s what makes me a Horror Person.
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