F. Paul Wilson Interviews Repairman Jack, Part Three

Horror Drive-In is proud to present part three of F. Paul Wilson's interview with Repairman Jack. Previous installments are available at Literally Jen and at Fade Into Fantasy.



Back again in post-Nightworld left pretty much trashed by the Otherness. I'm continuing my talk with Repairman Jack on a wide variety of topics, plus throwing in some questions asked by readers. He's reluctant to do this, so bear with me if he's not all that cooperative.

He's adamant about no more stories after Nightworld, so I've gone back and written a trilogy based on his first years, before he became That Guy. Cold City is the first.

We're still in Julio's, which is still functioning, though barely. The Free Beer Tomorrow sign is still up. (Today the beer's free for me since Jack sprang for a couple of Yuenglings) His looks haven't changed since the last two installments, so check those if you want a description. Suffice it to say that he looks like everybody and nobody.

FPW: Okay, we've talked a little about life, let's talk some about death. You've piled up quite a body count over the years.

RP: Whoa! You make me sound like some kind of hit man. A lot of those corpses were the result of someone else pulling the trigger.

FPW: Right, but you arrange the situations so that someone else will want to pull that trigger - and they often do.

RJ: Sometimes they use a knife. Or a club. But that's my m-o: Let's you and him fight. I don't like to get involved in the messy stuff.

FPW: But sometimes you do.

RJ: Too often, as far as I'm concerned. But only when there is no other choice. I much prefer to simply step back and let others go at it.

FPW: You split that infinitive.

RJ: How about I split your lip?

FPW: Easy, easy. Back on topic, rather than simply letting it happen, isn't it more accurate to say you make it happen?

RJ: (a half smile) I can be accused of manipulated certain events and circumstances - you know, helping things along in a certain direction-but I don't make anybody do anything. They make up their minds and act on their own.

FPW: Do any of the dead ever come back to haunt you?


RJ: You mean like going bump in the night? Doing a Jacob Marley number on me? You're kidding, right?

FPW: I meant in a more existential way.

RJ: Existential? I think you want another word there.

FPW: (I withhold a familiar hand gesture) OK, how about in a more emotional way?

RJ: (shrugs) I'm not much into guilt. Looking back doesn't change anything. What's done is done. You learn from the past (or so you hope) and move on. But I think I can safely say-with maybe the exception of Kusem - that the passing of people we're discussing tended to improve the gene pool.

FPW: Kusem? Why him?

RJ: I guess because, beneath it all, he was a stand up guy, doing what he felt was right, what he had to do. He made a vow and he was sticking to it. Even when it required him to commit acts he found repulsive. Okay, yeah, he was bug-fucks nuts, but there was something about him...

FPW: What?

RJ: I don't know.

FPW: Yeah, you do. You just don't want to admit it.

RJ: Oh, you're going to psychoanalyst me now?

FPW: Face it, you two are flip sides of the same coin. Under different circumstances you might even have been friends-

RJ: Oh, right. I can see us hanging out here with Lou and Barney and tying one on. Get real, Wilson.

FPW: Okay, let me amend that. You might have found yourselves allies against the Otherness. But his code demanded that he do something that your code compelled you to prevent, so-

RJ: It came down to him or Vicky. I don't consider that a choice.


The interview will continue at Horror Talk.