Today there is a treat for you, or a trick depending how you look at it! Joanna Koch, author in the first volume of In Darkness, Delight: Masters of Midnightanthology from Corpus Press has interviewed Gregor Xane, author in the second volume of In Darkness, Delight: Creatures of the Nightanthology. Madness ensures. Read on…. at your own risk.
Joanna: Hello Gregor. Thank you for agreeing to submit to the rigors of interrogation. In case you need me to stop at any point, it seems best we agree on a safe word. What is it?
Gregor: Mephistopheles (but pronounced with a lisp).
Joanna: Perfect! You’re one of my current favorite creatures combining words into sets of things to tickle my neurons. How do you do it?
Gregor: I’m quite flattered to hear you enjoy the things I put together with words. As to how I do it? Well, I believe, going on feedback from my readers, that how I do it is ‘much too slowly.’
Joanna: I realize you may be bound by arcane forces to maintain silence, but what are you at liberty to tell us about “The Ugly Tree?”
Gregor: I’d rather folks go into the story with zero expectations.
Joanna: Sometimes you write the creature, and sometimes the creature writes you. Which is it?
Gregor: I think it depends on the creature. But I’d say that thebestcreatures are those that write you, the ones that come to you in dreams or from the ether, those that you spent no conscious time attempting to construct in your mind.
Joanna: Do you engage any aliens as beta readers?
Gregor: Yes, I do. I try to get at least three different aliens (from different alien species even) to beta read my stories. The more alien the better. Aliens don’t care about me or my feelings. The more they can evaluate and probe with inhuman detachment, the more I love (and secretly hate) them.
Joanna: What kind of cleaning products have you found to be most successful in removing the slime from your manuscript?
Gregor: After reading the feedback from beta readers, I go through a grief cycle, anger, denial, bargaining, and, eventually, I accept that I really do have to deal with it and move on. By that time, the slime has long since dried, and I can scrape it off with a butter knife.
Joanna: (Taking notes) Wow, that is super helpful! Thanks!
Based on your namesake, if you woke up as a non-human entity tomorrow, what kind of creature would you be: hymenoptera, arthropod, reptile, politician, or something else?
Gregor: I’m going with cephalopod. I think my typing speed and lovemaking skills would be much improved.
Joanna: Your book Six Dead Spotsis my personal favorite. To quote Nick Cave, “I thought of Sebastian and his arrows.” How far off the mark is this impression?
Gregor: Reading Six Dead Spotsas an elaborate, inverted take on Saint Sebastian is an interesting way of approaching the book, for sure. But you give me too much credit. I did not have him in mind when writing it.
Joanna: Coming in at a close second is The Hanover Block. Rumor has it you’re working on a sequel. Sometime back in the early Paleolithic Era, fans were treated and teased by a cover reveal. When can we expect Brides of Hanover Block?
Gregor:Brides of Hanover Blockis slated for a November 2019 release.
Joanna: I’m looking forward to seeing you write more characters who are women. Recently you released a poem on Horror Sleaze Trash that pointed in this direction. I loved it. Can we expect more of that sloppy goodness from Brides?
Gregor: Yes. The Hanover Blockfocused on a particular problem experienced by men in a specific suburban locale. Brides of Hanover Blockfocuses on a related problem experienced by women in the very same suburban neighborhood and at the very same period of time. All of the POV characters are women. The POV character in “The Ugly Tree” is also a woman.
Joanna: Although you’re a creature of the night, most of your fiction takes place in broad daylight. Even if the setting is after dark or in outer space, there is a feeling of things happening out in the open. There is very little ambiguity, and yet I am left with so many questions. This doesn’t seem to be one of them. Do you have a response?
Gregor: God, no.
Joanna: Do you experience an “ecstasy of communication” as some French guy said, or are you more calculated when you write? In other words, plots or pants? How much and when?
Gregor: I fall onto the ‘pantser’ end of the spectrum. I typically know how a story ends (or at least what is REALLYgoing on) before I sit down to write it. I don’t outline, but I will jot down ideas for forthcoming scenes as they come to me.
Joanna: Do you write what you want to read?
Gregor: Yes. For the most part. But there are genres I like to read that I don’t think I have what it takes to write. I like some hard science fiction, some westerns, historical fiction, true crime, and other non-fiction, but I don’t think I could write those.
Joanna: What do you want to read that hasn’t been written yet?
Gregor: Now, some of these things may have already been written, but they’ve not yet been published. All of the various books Clive Barker has been promising for decades. The third book of The Art, the sequel to Galilee. The rest of the Abaratbooks. Whatever else he’s got stuffed away in his study.
Joanna: Fans hungry for Halloween stories from you and the guys at Corpus Press may be feeling a bit deprived this year. Evans Light’s “One Thousand Hits” in volume one of In Darkness Delightaddressed this need like gangbusters with hilariously offensive gore. Will “The Ugly Tree” satiate similar desires?
Gregor: “The Ugly Tree” is not a Halloween story, alas, but it is gory. However, I can say that Evans and I spent a good deal of time together this past weekend, and we discussed our respective plans for Halloweens to come.
Joanna: Other than Brides, what can we expect from you in the future?
Gregor: Brides of Hanover Blockis book number two in a four-book series. All the books have been written and are in various stages of editing. I have several other projects in the works, too. Some horror, some closer to science fiction and fantasy, and one for middle-grade readers.
Joanna: Is the future what you thought it would be?
Gregor: Yes, when trying to foretell what will happen to me personally one minute into the future, my predictions have remained consistently accurate.
Joanna: Gregor, thank you so much for your compliance, and for not soiling the carpet. You’re a charming creature and surprisingly well-behaved. I wish you the best in all your creative endeavors. I can’t wait to see whatever strange internal or external landscape you take us to next!
In Darkness, Delight is an original anthology series created by Corpus Press. These books reveal the many facets of modern horror— shocking and quiet, pulp and literary, cold-hearted and heart-felt, weird tales of spiraling madness alongside full-throttle thrillers. Open its pages and unleash all-new terrors that consume from without and within.
The concept for the new horror anthology line was co-developed by executive editor Evans Light and managing editor Andrew Lennon, with assistance from Corpus Press editors (and Bad Apples series alumni) Adam Light, Jason Parent, and Gregor Xane. The eye-catching cover was created by artist Mikio Murakami, and the attractive interior layout for all editions was designed by Lori Michelle of The Author’s Alley. Publicity is being handled by Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi of Hook of a Book.
Volume one of In Darkness, Delightwas sub-titled Masters of Midnightand released earlier this year. But now… the creatures are here. Join us in exploring volume two’s Creatures of the Night. It’s time to find . . . In Darkness, Delight.
AboutIn Darkness, Delight Volume 2: Creatures of the Night –
Predatory eyes flicker in darkness, a legion of abominations seeking human destruction. Slashing claws and gnashing teeth, hungry for flesh, eager to kill.
Clutch onto hope and pray for dawn. Creatures rule the night.
Purchase Information for Vol 2 Creatures of the Night –
Purchase Information for Vol 1 Masters of Midnight –
In Darkness, Delight: Masters of Midnight
Midnight strikes like an invocation,
clock hands joining in prayer to the darkness.
After the twelfth chime, there’s no escaping the nightmare.
Fear reigns supreme.
About Corpus Press –
Corpus Press is a publisher of horror and weird fiction, specializing in modern pulp that emphasizes plot over gore. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, the press has garnered praise from SCREAM Magazine, Cemetery Dance, Horror Novel Reviews, Hellnotes and others for its Bad Apples:Slices of Halloween Horror series, the anthology Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love, and for its short story collections and novellas.
Follow Corpus Press for news on the In Darkness, Delightanthology seriesand much more:
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Horror anthologies and collections from Corpus Press –
- Screamscapes: Tales of Terror
- Toes Up: Horror to Die For
- Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love
Halloween horror books from Corpus Press –
- Doorbells at Dusk: Halloween Stories
- Bad Apples: Five Slices of Halloween Horror
- Bad Apples 2: Six Slices of Halloween Horror
- Bad Apples 3: Seven Slices of Halloween Horror
About the Authors of In Darkness, Delight: Masters of Midnight
MICHAEL BRAY is a bestselling author and screenwriter. Influenced from an early age by the suspense horror of authors such as Stephen King, Richard Laymon, Shaun Hutson, James Herbert & Brian Lumley, along with TV shows like Tales from the Crypt and The Twilight Zone, his work touches on the psychological side of horror, teasing the reader’s nerves and willing them to keep turning the pages.
BILLY CHIZMAR’s short stories have been published in various anthologies including Fearful Fathoms and Dead Harvest. His essay, “The Role of God in Stephen King’s Desperation” was published in the non-fiction collection, Reading Stephen King. In 2017, he directed/co-wrote/starred in a short horror film, Gone, which has been screened at numerous film festivals around the country.
ISRAEL FINN is the author of Dreaming At the Top of My Lungs, and a winner of the 80th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition. He writes dark stories about everyday people in extraordinary circumstances. He lives in southern California.
Author JOANNA KOCH writes literary horror and surrealist trash. Her short stories have been published in journals and anthologies including Doorbells at Dusk. Joanna is a Contemplative Psychotherapy graduate of Naropa University who lives and works near Detroit.
ESPI KVLT is a nonbinary writer who specializes in speculative fiction. They are also an editor in the investigation industry by day and a sex worker by night. They obtained their B.A. in English-Writing from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2016. They have previously been published in Gender Terror, as well as the now tragically ended The Fem. They live with their significant other, three cats, and a snake in California. When not writing, they enjoy playing video games, watching horror movies, and covering themselves in blood for photo shoots. They are also a Mercy main.
PATRICK LACEY was born and raised in a haunted house. He currently spends his nights and weekends writing about things that make the general public uncomfortable. He lives in Massachusetts with his Pomeranian, his over-sized cat, his fiancée, and his muse, who is likely trying to kill him.
ANDREW LENNON is the author of Every Twisted Thought and other books in the horror and thriller genres. He has been featured in various bestselling anthologies, and is becoming a recognized name in the horror and thriller writing community. Andrew is a happily married man living in the North West of England with his wife Hazel & their children.
LISA LEPOVETSKY has published fiction and poetry widely in the small press, professional publications and anthologies. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Cemetery Dance and many other magazines, and such anthologies as Dark Destiny, Blood Muse, and HORRORS!, among others. She earned her MFA from Penn State, and her most recent book is Voices from Empty Rooms, a collection of dark poetry.
EVANS LIGHT is a writer of horror and suspense, and is the author of Screamscapes: Tales of Terror, Arboreatum, Don’t Need No Water and more. He was editor of the well-received anthology Doorbells at Dusk, and is a co-creator of the Bad Apples Halloween anthology series and Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, surrounded by thousands of vintage horror paperbacks, and is the proud father of fine sons and the lucky husband of a beautiful wife.
JOHN MCNEE is the writer of numerous strange and disturbing horror stories, published in a variety of strange and disturbing anthologies as well as the novel Prince of Nightmares. He is also the creator of Grudgehaven and the author of Grudge Punk, a collection of short stories detailing the lives and deaths of its gruesome inhabitants, plus the sequel, Petroleum Precinct. He lives on the west coast of Scotland, where he is employed as a journalist. He can easily be sought out on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter and YouTube, where he hosts the horror-themed cooking show A Recipe for Nightmares.
JOSH MALERMAN is an American author and also one of two singer/songwriters for the rock band The High Strung, whose song “The Luck You Got” can be heard as the theme song to the Showtime show “Shameless.” His book Bird Box is also currently being filmed as a feature film starring Sandra Bullock, John Malkovich, and Sarah Paulson. Bird Box was also nominated for the Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the James Herbert Award. His books Black Mad Wheel and Goblin have also been nominated for Stoker Awards.
MARK MATTHEWS is a graduate of the University of Michigan and a licensed professional counselor who has worked in behavioral health for over twenty years. He is the author of On the Lips of Children, All Smoke Rises, and Milk-Blood, as well as the editor of Garden of Fiends: Tales of Addiction Horror. He lives near Detroit with his wife and two daughters. His story in this book was inspired by the Pearl Jam song, “Black”.
WILLIAM MEIKLE is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with over thirty novels published in the genre press and more than three hundred short story credits in thirteen countries. He has books available from a variety of publishers including Dark Regions Press and Severed Press and his work has appeared in a large number of professional anthologies and magazines. He lives in Newfoundland with whales, bald eagles and icebergs for company. When he’s not writing he drinks beer, plays guitar, and dreams of fortune and glory.
PAUL MICHAELS is the pseudonym for horror writer Paul M. Feeney. Under his real name (Feeney) he has published numerous short stories in a variety of anthologies, and has had two novellas released, The Last Bus (limited edition paperback now out of print) and Kids. His intention with the Paul Michaels name is to write and publish work on the quiet, literary end of horror, less genre-infused than his other writing. As of this bio, “Angel Wings” (included in this collection) will be the first published story using the Paul Michaels name. Paul currently lives in the north east of England, where he is busy working away on stories under both names. He also contributes an occasional review to THIS IS HORROR, one of the internet’s premier horror resource sites.
In his head, JASON PARENT lives in many places, but in the real world, he calls New England his home. The region offers an abundance of settings for his writing and many wonderful places in which to write them. He currently resides in Rhode Island.
In a prior life, Jason spent most of his time in front of a judge . . . as a civil litigator. When he wanted a change, he traded in his cheap suits for flip flops and designer stubble. The flops got repossessed the next day, and he’s back in the legal field . . . sorta. But that’s another story. When he’s not working, Jason likes to kayak, catch a movie, and travel any place that will let him enter. And read and write, of course–he does that too sometimes.
RYAN C. THOMAS is an award-winning journalist and editor living in San Diego, California. He is the author of thirteen novels (including the cult classic, The Summer I Died), numerous novellas and short stories, and can often be found in the bars around Southern California playing rockabilly guitar. When he is not writing or rocking out, he is at home with his wife, son, daughter, two dogs and cat watching really bad B-movies.
MONIQUE YOUZWA grew up in a small town in Manitoba, Canada. Though she has worked at various jobs, from restaurants to bars to pharmacies, writing has always been a part of her life. A couple years ago she made it her full-time career and has since written hundreds of articles and blogs for a variety of websites. Fiction has always been her passion, though, and recently she has begun submitting her short stories for publication. She is also at work on a novel, which she hopes to complete in the near future.
About the Authors of In Darkness, Delight: Creatures of the Night–
MARK CASSELL lives on the south coast of England with his wife and a number of animals, and is the author of the bestselling supernatural novel The Shadow Fabric. Primarily a horror writer, his steampunk, dark fantasy, and sci-fi stories have featured in many reputable anthologies. His jobs have included baker, laboratory technician, driving instructor, and actor. As a familiar face on the UK convention scene, Mark sells his books as well as his photographic art. For more about his work, please visit http://www.markcassell.co.uk.
RICHARD CHIZMAR is the author of Gwendy’s Button Box(with Stephen King) and A Long December,which was nominated for numerous awards. His fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine,and multiple editions of The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award. His third short story collection, A Long December, was recently published to starred reviews in both Kirkus and Booklist, and was featured in Entertainment Weekly. Chizmar has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor. Please visit the author’s website at RichardChizmar.com.
TIM CURRAN is the author of the novels Skin Medicine, Hive, Dead Sea, Resurrection, Hag Night, Skull Moon, The Devil Next Door, Clownflesh, and Biohazard. His short stories have been collected in Bone Marrow Stew and Zombie Pulp. His novellas include The Underdwelling, The Corpse King, Puppet Graveyard, Worm, and Terror Cell. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as, Splatterpunks, Book of Dark Wisdom, and Inhuman, as well as anthologies such as Ride the Star Wind, Eulogies III, and October Dreams II. His fiction has been translated into German, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, and Italian. You can find him on Facebook.
RAY GARTON is the author of the classic vampire bestseller Live Girls, as well as Scissors, Sex and Violence in Hollywood, Ravenous, and dozens of other novels, novellas, tie-ins, and story collections. He has been writing in the horror and suspense genres for more than 30 years and was the recipient of the Grand Master of Horror Award in 2006. He lives in northern California with his wife Dawn where he is at work on a new novel.
EDDIE GENEROUSis the author of several books, including Radio Run,Great Big Teeth, Camp Summit, Trouble at Camp Still Waters, and more. He is the founder/editor/publisher/artist behind Unnerving and Unnerving Magazine, and the host of the Unnerving Podcast. He lives on the Pacific Coast of Canada with his wife and their cat overlords.
KEV HARRISON is a British author of horror and dark fiction living in Lisbon, Portugal. His folk horror novelette, Cinders of a Blind Man Who Could See is available now from Demain Publishing, while his work has also appeared in the acclaimed Lost Films anthology from Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing among others. His debut novella, The Balance, will be released in 2019 by Lycan Valley Press. You can find out more at www.KevHarrisonFiction.com.
CURTIS M. LAWSON is an author of unapologetically weird and transgressive fiction, dark poetry, and graphic novels. His work ranges from technicolor pulp adventures to bleak cosmic horror and includes Those Who Go Forth into the Empty Place of Gods, Black Pantheons, and It’s a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World. Curtis lives in Salem, MA where he hosts the Wyrd Live Horror reading series.
ANDREW LENNON is the author of Every Twisted Thought and other books in the horror and thriller genres. He has been featured in various bestselling anthologies, and is becoming a recognized name in the horror and thriller writing community. Andrew is a happily married man living in the North West of England with his wife Hazel & their children.
ADAM LIGHT resides in northeast Florida with his beautiful wife and daughter, and their two dogs, Walker and Aspen. He haunts a cubicle by day, writes horror stories at night, and rarely sleeps. Toes Up: Horror to Die Foris his debut collection of short horror and weird fiction, and his work has been featured in Doorbells at Dusk,Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Loveand the popular Bad ApplesHalloween anthology series.
EVANS LIGHT is a writer of horror and suspense, and is the author of Screamscapes: Tales of Terror, Arboreatum, Don’t Need No Waterand more. He is editor of the well-received Doorbells at Dusk anthology, and is co-creator of the Bad ApplesHalloween anthology series and Dead Roses: Five Dark Tales of Twisted Love. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, surrounded by thousands of vintage horror paperbacks, and is the proud father of fine sons and the lucky husband of a beautiful wife.
CHAD LUTZKE has written for Famous Monsters of Filmland,Rue Morgue, Cemetery Dance, and Screammagazine. He’s had a few dozen stories published, and some of his books include: Of Foster Homes & Flies,Wallflower, Stirring the Sheets, Skullface Boy, The Same Deep Water as You, The Neon Owland Out Behind the Barn(co-written with John Boden). Lutzke’s work has been praised by authors Jack Ketchum, Stephen Graham Jones, James Newman, Cemetery Dance, and his own mother. He can be found lurking the internet at www.chadlutzke.com.
JOSH MALERMAN is the New York Times Best Selling author of Bird Box, Unbury Carol, Inspection, and A House at the Bottom of a Lake. He’s also one of two singer/songwriters for the Detroit band The High Strung, whose song “The Luck You Got” can be heard as the theme song for the Showtime show “Shameless.”
MASON MORGAN was born and will die in Texas. Currently, he is an active member of the Horror Writer’s Association and is at work on his debut collection. Previously, he has been published in Deadlights Magazine, Two Hawks Quarterly, and served as the opinion editor for his alma mater, Texas A&M University. He, too, once feared the toilet.
CHRISTOPHER MOTZwas born in 1980 and lives in small-town Pennsylvania with his wife and step-daughter. He’s an avid music fan, collector of classic vinyl, and musician. Since 2016, he has released six novels and two novellas as well as having several of his short stories appear in horror anthologies.
FRANK ORETO is an editor and writer of weird fiction living in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. When not writing new stories, he spends his time cooking up elaborate meals for his wife and perpetually hungry children. You can follow his exploits both literary and culinary on Twitter @FrankOreto.
GLENN ROLFE is an author from the haunted woods of New England. He studied Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University, and continues his education in the world of horror by devouring the novels of Stephen King, Brian Keene, Ronald Malfi, and many others. He and his wife, Meghan, have three children, Ruby, Ramona, and Axl. He is grateful to be loved despite his weirdness. He is the author of The Window, Becoming, Blood and Rain, The Haunted Halls, Chasing Ghosts, Boom Town, Abram’s Bridge, Things We Fear, and the forthcoming works, Follow Me Down and Until Summer Comes Around.
KRISTOPHER RUFTY lives in North Carolina with his three children and pets. He’s written numerous books, including Anathema, The Vampire of Plainfield, Jagger, The Lurkers, The Skin Show, Pillowface, and more. He can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
MARY SANGIOVANNI is an award-winning American horror and thriller writer of over a dozen novels, including The Hollower trilogy, Thrall, Chaos, The Kathy Ryan series and others, as well as numerous novellas, short stories and non-fiction. She has a Masters degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, Pittsburgh, and is currently a member of The Authors Guild, The International Thriller Writers and Penn Writers. She is a co-host on the popular podcast The Horror Show with Brian Keene, and hosts her own podcast, Cosmic Shenanigans. She offers talks and workshops on writing around the country. Born and raised in New Jersey, she currently resides in Pennsylvania.
JEFF STRAND is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of over 40 books, including Pressure, Dweller, My Pretties, and Sick House. He’s primarily known for mixing horror with humor, though he also writes non-humorous horror and non-horrific humor. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia, and you can visit his website at www.JeffStrand.com.
MIKAL TRIMMhas sold over 50 short stories and 100 poems to numerous venues including Postscripts, Strange Horizons, Realms of Fantasy, and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Admittedly, it took a lot of blackmail.
GREGOR XANEis the author of Six Dead Spots,Taboogasm, The Hanover Block, and the forthcoming Brides of Hanover Block. His work has been featured in Stupefying Stories, Dead Roses, Doorbells at Dusk, and the popular Halloween anthology series, Bad Apples. He lives inside a suburban home in southwestern Ohio, and he’s never seen his neighbors.
How do I get a review copy or request interview or guest article?
Review copies are currently available upon request, as well as scheduling is open for interviews and guest articles with select contributing authors and the editors, by contacting Erin Al-Mehairi, publicist, at hookofabook@hotmail.com.
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