HALLOWEEN'S AUTHOR: Mark Allan Gunnells
Last week, many horror websites swarmed Mark Allan Gunnells looking to get an interview. Why? Because his new Halloween anthology DARK TREATS has just been released, and people are dying their get their hands on it. Literally, although many interviews tried, none lived to tell the tale.
THIS IS THE TALE OF ONE OF THOSE INTERVIEWERS.
****
Horror Drive-In: All right, to start off, a little background info on you: you work as a security guard, correct?
Mark Allan Gunnells: That is correct.
HD-I: Got any action-packed chase-down-the-bad-guys tales to tell?
MAG: Actually no, it's quite a boring gig really. My duties mostly involve paperwork. It does, however, allow me time to write.
HD-I: For a boring gig, it sounds like it's influenced you: your security guard-influences are featured prominently on the cover of your Sideshow Press collection TALES FROM THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT, right?
MAG: That was Tom Moran's idea. He knows that I spent four years working security on third shift, and that is where I wrote most of the stories in the collection, which is why I wanted to call it TALES FROM THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT. What I like about Tom's cover is that while it doesn't depict a particular story in the collection, it draws from who I am and how the stories were written and I think perfectly captures the spirit of the book.
HD-I: So the "third shift" is generally the "midnight" shift?
MAG: At least in my case, my shift started at midnight and I worked through the night. I've moved up in the world since then and get to come out in the sun again.
HD-I: Do you think working in that sort of atmosphere made the stories in that collection darker? Edgier?
MAG: I do think that something about the experience--sort of isolated in my little guard booth, the quiet of the night, the blackness, the stars and the mood--had an effect on the stories.
HD-I: Going back to Sideshow Press, you got your first real attention in their chapbook series with A LAYMON KIND OF NIGHT--published in a set alongside established authors like Edward Lee! How did that feel?
MAG: It was the thrill of a lifetime. The opportunity literally just fell in my lap during a time when I was struggling to get anything published. And to be alongside writers like Lee and Brian Knight and Kurt Newton...I felt like the low man on the totem pole but was so ecstatic to be allowed into the company.
HD-I: It sounds like a very cool opportunity! How did [Sideshow Press showrunner] Tom Moran pick you to be the fourth author in that series?
MAG: Years before that, Tom Moran had published a story of mine in his magazine Black Ink Horror, and we ran into each other on a message board. He commented on how much he liked that story and suggested I sumbit something else for the magazine. I sent him a few stories to choose from, and next thing I know he's emailing and asking if I want to do a chapbook. Just like that.
HD-I: Nice and easy--not something most authors, especially new horror authors--get to feel! How did the "Laymon" aspect of the chapbook come along? Was that something that was planned by Tom, or did you simply look at the stories you had and see the influence?
MAG: Well, I had written the title story "A Laymon Kind of Night" a couple of years before, my loving homage to Laymon whose novels I think are such delicious fun. Tom really seemed to gravitate toward that story and decided to surround it with some other pieces that had a "Laymonesque" feel.
HD-I: A lot of your tales do have that feel to them, that simple yet effectively good feel. Other than the ones in A LAYMON KIND OF NIGHT, do you have a particular story readers looking for the same Laymonesque feeling can go to?
MAG: I think there are a few in TALES FROM THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT that have a bit of that feel. "God Doesn't Follow You into the Bathroom," "The Barter System," "The Gift Certificate"...they aren't carbon copies of Laymon tales (at least I hope not) but I think they do strive to capture a bit of the spirit of his works.
HD-I: So what's your favorite Laymon story (or novel) then?
MAG: Hmm, it's hard to pick one. Island was the one that made me a rabid fan, it was just so much fun. Quake is another that I think really showcases the zany enjoyment of a Laymon novel.
HD-I: As a sucker for creature-features, I personally love his shorts "Bad News" (the one with he creature in the newspaper) and the slasher "The Hunt" (the one with the laundromat, and the ridiculously awesome forest chase scenes). Actually, your short story "Treats" (in which a Halloween treat grows into a rabid monster) reminded me a lot of "Bad News"...
MAG: Thank you, I'm nowhere near the master, but I appreciate the comparison.
HD-I: ...I don't think you've ever done a true slasher like "The Hunt" though. Got any plans for one?
MAG: I wrote a short slasher novel several years ago called SEQUEL, a homage of sort to those slasher flicks I grew up on. It hasn't seen print yet, but I'm hoping some day...
HD-I: The words "slasher flicks" were in there, so it automatically was my attention! Can you elaborate on the novel?
MAG: It revolves around a low budget horror film that develops a cult following over a ten year period, and then a big-name director decides to film a sequel. Only someone doesn't want this sequel made...
HD-I: Sounds like SCREAM 3. (Actually, sorry about that...)
MAG: It was written BEFORE Scream 3, but trust me when that movie came out I thought, DAMN IT! (laughs)
HD-I: You've published many short story collections. Chapbooks, Trade Paperbacks, eBooks, Limited Hardcovers--your tales have seen the light of practically every format. What's your personal favorite way to have your work published?
MAG: Well, I am embracing the digital format, but I'm still a real book kind of guy. Something about the object itself, the feel and look and even smell of a book, really heightens the experience for me. Plus I never need to recharge the batteries in a paperback and if I drop a hardcover on the floor I don't need to buy a new one. (laughs)
HD-I: As someone who's dropped his iPod numerous times, I've gotta agree with you! Still, you've seen a lot of eBooks go out with your name attached, including the recent eBook-original collection GHOSTS IN THE ATTIC, published by Bad Moon Books and distributed by Crossroad Press. It was Bad Moon Books' first-ever original eBook--how did that come along?
MAG: I had recently fulfilled a lifelong dream by putting out my first full-fledged collection with Sideshow Press, but I couldn't seem to get any other publishers interested. I was constantly told collections don't sell, especially by unknowns. But I continued to solicit publishers, and Roy and Liz over at Bad Moon seemed enthusiastic and asked me to put something together, so I did. And much to my delight they seemed to love it. The problem was they are so backed up that it would have been possibly 2 years before I could get on the publication schedule. I knew that they were just entering the digital game, having put out some eBook reprints of previously published works. I suggested GHOSTS IN THE ATTIC could become their first original eBook. And they went for it.
HD-I: Last I heard, GHOSTS IN THE ATTIC is (sadly) underperforming. Do you think Bad Moon Books handled publicity well on their part? I know Crossroad Press publishes a TON of eBooks; it's easy for your release to get lost in the shuffle....
MAG: I can't fault Bad Moon Books on anything. There is a boom in digital books lately, and I think it's very easy for a book to get lost in the mix. Especially one that is a collection by a relative unknown like myself. I'm hoping to generate some positive word of mouth, which I think could be very helpful to a writer like myself.
HD-I: Folks, GHOSTS IN THE ATTIC should be every horror fans' digital library! Mark, do you have anything to say about “A Boy Named October”? What's its origin?
MAG: "A Boy Named October" is one of my non-horror pieces. I thought of the title when a friend of mine gave his son the middle name of October, and it just popped into my head: "A Boy Named October." I love stories of alienated youth and this was my attempt to put my stamp on it.
HD-I: Speaking of alienated youth, you are an openly homosexual horror writer. How do you think that affects your image? Your publicity?
MAG: You know, to be truthful I rarely think about it...and that is perhaps to my detriment, I'm not sure. I just believe very strongly in being true to who you are. Being gay isn't all that I am, but it is a major part of who I am, and therefore I am very open and honest about it. Does it possibly lose me readers? I would like to think not, but I'm realistic enough to know it's possible. Still, I don't know any other way to be but open and honest about all aspects of my life.
HD-I: That's pretty solid advice. Do you have any more advice for a gay author? A new author?
MAG: My advice to any writer is to just write what you love, write the stories you want to read, what you are passionate about. It isn't very business-minded, but I'm not a writer who thinks about marketability when creating a story. I feel thinking too much about that sort of thing leads to formulaic and lifeless fiction. If you are enjoying what you are writing, that becomes the main reward—and everything else is just gravy.
HD-I: While we are talking about marketability, have you ever run into publishers who won't publish your work simply because of homosexual content? (For example, your novella ASYLUM, a zombie tale set in a gay bar)
MAG: Never anything so overt. I did have trouble finding a publisher with ASYLUM, but I don't know if it was necessarily because of the heavily gay content, though I did wonder sometimes. I have had publishers caution me however that I didn't want to be known as a "gay horror author." I don't necessarily see why that would be so bad. It's better than being known as "just some other horror writer." (laughs)
HD-I: Yeah, I would rather be known as someone in a unique niche like that! (laughs)
Switching topics, you have a new collection that has been just released by Sideshow Press (featuring "Treats") the Halloween-themed DARK TREATS. First of all, why so many collections?
MAG: Well, I am a writer with an undying passion for short stories. I guess in my heart of hearts I have a dream of really bringing more attention and respectability to the short form. I love to read novels, but when I write, I am drawn to shorts. It actually thrills me to have so many collections under my belt, and I hope that people find my shorts satisfying and enjoyable. Not that I don't work on longer pieces, I've published a few novellas and just sold a novel to Evil Jester Press.
HD-I: Yes, I love the short form as well—but I'm sure by now that readers want something beefier. This novel is titled THE QUARRY, correct?
MAG: That's correct. It's a college campus horror, set on the campus of my alma mater Limestone College.
HD-I: Looking forward to it! Going back to DARK TREATS: like A LAYMON KIND OF NIGHT, it features a universal theme. Halloween has been featured in a countless number of horror collections; explain what makes your stories stand out.
MAG: Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, it is a childhood joy I've never outgrown. Over the past couple of years though, at least in my area, the holiday seems to be dying a slow death. It doesn't seem to be the joyous experience for children today that it was when I was coming up. With DARK TREATS, I wanted to bring the fun and darkness back, to remind people how exciting and titillating and wickedly fun Halloween is.
HD-I: Yeah, I understand—every year Halloween seems to stale more and more in my neighborhood. But with titles like "Halloween Returns To Bradbury" and “My Last Halloween”, I think readers will enjoy DARK TREATS! Any plans to make a Halloween collection an annual tradition? I think publishing one of these through Sideshow every October would be neat!
MAG: I would love to, and I don't lack for material. Every October it is a tradition with me to only read Halloween themed books and collections and to only write Halloween stories. I'm about to start a Halloween novella, which I'll call "October Roses”. It is an idea I'm excited about. There are no guarantees of publication, but I do have a publisher who has expressed interest in reading it when I'm done. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
HD-I: We will too--I'm sure it'll turn out great. Thank you so much, it's been great talking to you here at the Drive-In! Have a Happy Halloween!
MAG: Thanks a lot. I've enjoyed talking to you. [Stabs interviewer with large butcher knife; transmission ends here]...
****
Mark Allan Gunnells has been writing since he was 10 years old. His first book, A LAYMON KIND OF NIGHT, was published by Sideshow Press in 2009. Since then he has put out two more books with Sideshow: the two-novella WHISONANT/CREATURES OF THE LIGHT combo, and a short story collection entitled TALES FROM THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT VOL. I. He also has put out the novella ASYLUM with The Zombie Feed, and a digital collection entitled GHOSTS IN THE ATTIC with Bad Moon Books. He still lives in his hometown of Gaffney, SC, with his partner of 10 years.
BUY DARK TREATS [Trade Paperback][eBook]
BUY TALES FROM THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT [Limited Hardcover]
BUY GHOSTS IN THE ATTIC [eBook]
BUY A LAYMON KIND OF NIGHT [eBook]
2 Comments
Linear