With this installment, Scarred draws to a close, and who better to show us out than one of the most respected horror and thriller writers of the past forty years. Ramsey Campbell is the critically acclaimed author of The Face That Must Die, The One Safe Place and numerous other novels and short stories. His latest novels include The Grin of the Dark and Thieving Fear, and a new short story collection, Just Behind You, which is forthcoming from PS Publishing. He’s currently working on a novel, Creatures of the Pool, as well as contributing a regular column in Video Watchdog.

What scares you, Mr. Campbell?

Very few films terrify me these days. I’d be happy if they did, and I always watch in hope. The Blair Witch Project, with its combination of documentary realism and Lovecraftian allusiveness, works rather well, and some of the Asian spectres that have haunted our screens recently are closer to M. R. James’ inhuman revenants than almost any of those in films of his stories. However, the one director whose work has conveyed unutterable dread to me several times is David Lynch. I’m not exaggerating: Eraserhead feels to me like being trapped in someone else’s bad dream. The old couple in Mulholland Dr. dismay me as soon as they start grinning, long before they shrink, and they’re by no means the only alarming element in the film. There are several passages of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me that I would find insupportably disturbing if they lasted any longer (the breakfast-table scene, for instance). However, Lost Highway outdoes them all for me. I’ve seen no other film that communicates such a sense of nightmare horror. The entire first section in particular does, no matter how many times I’ve seen it, and I was interested to learn that Lynch chose as his favourite scene from the film the one that terrifies me most - surely the most terrifying consensual sex scene in all fiction - where Fred’s impotence causes him to imagine that Renée’s comforting hand on his back belongs to someone else.

I discuss the film at length in Mark Morris’s anthology Cinema Macabre.

“I’ve literally been waiting 50 years to do this. I’m excited.”

David Cronenberg’s early flirtation with literature was bookended by the two obsessions which have marked his career; science and film. Although he received a B.A. in literature from the University of Toronto, a major he took after abandoning his initial foray into science, Cronenberg soon found cinema to be more to his liking and he hasn’t looked back. Until now.

The Globe and Mail reports that Cronenberg has been offered a book deal by Penguin Canada to be publish a novel for 2010. Details on the novel are understandably scant, but the deal was finalized based on a few sample pages, and rumour has it that it will be “Cronenberg-esque”, with at least a few scenes set in Toronto.

Author Simon Clark has been terrorizing Britain and the world at large for nearly 2 decades. His visceral, doom-laden prose is so relentless that it’s almost a miracle he manages to cram a little hope in there. I especially recommend Mr. Clark’s evolutionary takes on the zombie archetype, Stranger and Blood Crazy, both of which freaked me out. His latest includes The Rage of Echoes, a twist on the vampire mythos which just hit North America in paperback form last month, and if you’re lucky enough to live in the U.K. you can grab Lucifer’s Ark, a tale of psychosis on the high seas, on sale this month.

GHOSTWATCH. A MASTER CLASS IN HORROR.

You know something? I now own GHOSTWATCH on DVD. And it is still frightening.

Author F. Paul Wilson has crafted any number of terrifying tales, but his most famous contribution to modern fiction is the introduction of Repairman Jack, one of the great genre characters of the past 25 years. I recommend any of his novels, though I have a soft spot for Hosts, which takes the alien bodysnatching plot to new and disturbing conclusions. What could possibly scare F. Paul Wilson?

THE EXORCIST

As long as man is inhuman to his fellow man, as long as God remains hidden, as long as intelligent men of faith question their faith, this timeless novel will have a place on the bookshelves of the world.

To many, there’s nothing quite as primal and terrifying as the depths of the ocean floor. Novelist Steve Alten knows this all too well, having our world and underwater terror collide repeatedly in his work, particularly in his popular Meg series. In this installment of Scarred, Alten offers up his fright-filled reminiscence as well as a peek at how it’s influenced his upcoming work.

From a film standpoint, “Silence of the Lambs” contained the most disturbing scenes I’ve watched on the big screen, things that I would think about long after the movie. I also remember watching the ABC TV movie “Night Stalker” when I was younger and that one really got to me. Any movie that you imagine yourself going through the scariest scenes makes an impact, and these two did on me. The more grounded in reality, the scarier the effect.

As I have said, to me, the more grounded in reality, the scarier the story.

Why introduce today’s guest when he’s more than willing to do it himself? And with 300% more haiku, to boot. Ladies, gentlemen, and regular readers of The Horror Blog, I present Stu Charno, known in some circles as Ted, the prank playing misfit from Friday the 13th Part 2.

After 40 year playing jazz piano, twenty-five as an working actor, twenty teaching internal martial arts, and fifteen building one-of-a-kind furninture, I’m now mostly writing. My life has led up to this — a just published book of haiku, called “High Koo — Wisdumb from our time…”. It’s available on Amazon. (A Haiku is a Japanese verse form, with 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively)

Such doozies as;

Being can tickle
Certainty gets in the way
Enjoy not knowing…

Anyone asked why
will tell you all kinds of things
Words can’t hold the truth…

It only looks like
other people are thinking
We’re on the same bus….

www.StuCharno.com is where to find further invitations…

Smiles n’ vertical head shakes,

utS

Like a magician’s assistant, who knows the tricks, I’m no longer ordinarily scared or as entertained by films, as others may be. But, before I became an actor, the film, “The Haunting”, scared me senseless.

I think that madness is much scarier than gore, and that movie pointed in that direction beautifully, and scares me to this day. Bellowing walls and doors, squeaking their horror-filled resistance, are the stuff of my nightmares…

One of the most influential names in modern horror fiction, Anne Rice reinvented Gothic fiction for the latter half of the 20th Century and beyond. While she’s best known for her Vampire Chronicles, it’s another horror icon that instilled in her a fascination with the macabre, as you’ll see below.

What first frightened me and frightened me terrible was a cheap B movie about “the Mummy.” It showed the bandaged figure of the mummy staggering relentlessly towards his victims, with one hand out, dragging one foot as he bore down on them; and it terrified me so badly that I never quite recovered; it was an image of death, of mortality — in action. In other words, I saw death coming for us in this moving image. — The last scene in the film, where the mummy staggers into the swamp carrying his beloved, who slowly changes from a vital woman into a twisted dried up corpse herself put me over the edge. I had nightmares and as I said never recovered. This was an iconic lesson in mortality delivered with a power that written words did not have. I have spent my life responding to the images in that film.

I couldn’t let this one go without wishing Ms. Rice a very happy birthday!

Our first guest is David Wellington, author of the acclaimed zombie trilogy Monster Island, Monster Nation and Monster Planet. David got his start online and continues to move effortlessly between print, such as his latest, the vampire action novel 13 Bullets, and the internet, with the post-apocalyptic zombie saga Plague Zone and the frozen werewolf terror of Frostbite. All of his horror tales are still available for free online at the links above, and if you like what you see please consider purchasing the print editions.

David’s encounter with terror is near and dear to my heart, as I had an almost identical experience. I don’t doubt a few of you will feel the same.

A lot of things scared me when I was a kid. The first I can remember was a special news report in 1981 by Walter Cronkite called “The Defense of the United States”, a documentary about what we could expect following a global thermonuclear war. I was nine years old at the time, and in love with special effects movies and had heard there were going to be some state of the art “recreations” included in the show. I begged and pleaded to be allowed to watch, sitting through endless talking head interviews I couldn’t understand, wondering if this dud was ever going to pay off. Boy, did it. About halfway through the program Cronkite warned that what we were about to see was a simulation based on the best available data, and that sensitive viewers might want to look away. You got to see what would happen to downtown Omaha Nebraska when the bomb hit. Exploding buildings, people with melting faces… for years afterward I ran and hid under my bed every time an airplane passed over the house, convinced it could be a Russian bomber.

Then there was the time my parents stayed out till two in the morning, and at midnight they started playing The Shining on HBO. I don’t think I need to go into details. When the front door opened and my Dad stepped inside, a little drunk and pissed that I was still awake… well. We’ve all been there, I suppose.

Is the return of the cherished monster rally a healthy indicator of creature features to come, or is have we just reached the bottom of the barrel and are mixing things up just to appear fresh? In all likelihood it was Underworld that started the trend with its war between Werewolves and Vampires, but a few years later another project is hoping to combine vampires with the current fan favourite, zombies. From CHUD.

In Huston’s novel, vampires are, of course, afflicted with a virus, causing them to give up Diet Coke and forcing them to drink blood to survive. They’re keeping a low profile in Manhattan, but have their own sub-societal culture, complete with cliques varying from corporate suits to biker gangs. The protagonist is private eye Joe Pitt, hired to track down a high-profile daughter in the middle of a subculture at war against zombies, wraiths and the infighting vampire factions.

Alright, so they’re probably pre-Romero zombies as opposed to the modern type. But it’s just a matter of time before we once again see werewolves, vampires, the undead and mad scientists rubbing shoulders once again.

Do you think you have what it takes to whip out an exploitation masterpiece? If so, The Groovy Age of Horror wants to see what you’ve got. In conjunction with his recent foray into Naziploitation, Curt is asking his readers to write their own sleazy Nazi epics, in 100 words or less. And all manner of fiction is eligible.

Although it must be fictional, it needn’t necessarily be prose. If you can write an awesome Nazisploitation haiku, more power to you!

In the time it took you to read this you could have already won. So sharpen your pencils, crack out the thesaurus and get writing, schwinehund!

It’s 1984 and best friends Timmy, Doug and Barry spend their summer reading comics, fighting bullies, and making the best damn fort in town. Their vacation gets cut short as an ancient evil awakens, prompting all three boys to face not only the nightmare under the cemetary but also the monsters already living in their own homes.

I’ll admit to a bit of bias. I’m well within the age range necessary to share many of the same experiences of a young boy in 1984. References to such pop culture detritus as Dio, Thundarr, Doctor Who and The Defenders are scattered thoughout, and while I certainly got a kick out of having a mirror held up to my own childhood, I wonder if the same could be said for readers outside of that age range. Regardless, this is obviously a love letter to Brian Keene’s own childhood and probably couldn’t be written any other way. While I’m sure the specific nostagia will be lost on many, those near universal aspects of summer vacation will no doubt resonate with anyone with lots of time on their hands and a forest or park nearby to waste the days exploring.

One of the most intriguing things about Ghoul is it’s scale. Everything takes place within one corner of a small community, essentially everything that can be found on the way to and from the houses of the three protagonists. In its way this is in keeping with the point of view of someone just entering their teens, before the world opens up and where their little corner still contains everything they need. Also of a smaller scale, and even more daring, is the threat itself. The ghoul of the title is presented as being a pathetic creature, damned to eat the flesh of the dead exclusively. Even the creature admits its deficiencies, comparing itself unfavourably to vampires and other more powerful monsters.

This isn’t to say the book doesn’t have its faults. The pacing is erratic at times, particularly since there doesn’t seem to be much driving the characters on in the beginning. Ghoul is a real slow burn, with the protagonists taking nearly two-thirds of the book’s length before they even realize that there’s something unnatural going on. And the description of the locale is a little overdone, in one case repeated almost verbatim from an earlier passage.

It’s to Keene’s credit that the characters and their everyday nightmares are engrossing enough to make up for a general lack of overt horror. In so many ways he’s able to find just the right tone to portray the teenage boy, such as placing the emotional worth of a comic book collection on the same level as a friend’s personal safety. In at least one regard Keene excels, and that’s in pulling no punches. Cruelty both great and small creeps through Ghoul, and no one is safe either physically or emotionally. And just when you think you’ve had enough heartbreak and pain, along comes a coda to knock you back on your ass, grateful that you made it through the entire thing. Time has a way of making a monster out of us all.

Admit it, the news about Faulkner’s vampires has you pumped for even more terror from the pens of history’s most esteemed authors. Who wouldn’t want to see William Shakespeare’s Invaders from Mars or John Milton’s Chucky? Well, you’re in luck, as Carlos Maycotte of the Cornell Daily Sun has made the astonishing discovery of a plethora of horror titles by those authors and more, including Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Jason Vorhees.

Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. Jason himself was especially full of mirth. As he put Becky and Jim on a raft, they asked him whether they would be playing the part of the pirates or the commodores. With a grunt, Jason pushed the raft out on the river and set it on fire. And smiled a smile nobody could see.

It’s a natural progression from the current trend of “torture porn” to vivid interpretations of modern movie monsters by the world’s greatest writers. You’re looking at the next big thing in the genre, kids.

People who manage the estates of deceased literary figures always seem to be dredging up some long-lost manuscript or other piece of ephemera, the better to keep the money flowing. I hope that no one decides to go through my reject pile after I’m gone, though I’m guessing my best work wouldn’t compare to a Pulitzer and Nobel-prize winning author’s worst. That’s right, the estate of William Faulkner has dug up an unproduced script for a movie. The kicker? One of the most esteemed authors of the 20th-century was hiding a vampire movie in the attic.

In the midst of all this, Faulkner apparently spun out a vampire saga set in an anonymous Eastern European location. Caplin plans to relocate the story to the Deep South and has a high-end computer-graphics firm on the hook to dress it up with modern effects.

I can understand the desire to take discarded or forgotten works and squeeze the last bit of life out of the estate, and in some ways I appreciate the look at an author’s rough drafts and neglected tales. But to take a critically-acclaimed author’s rediscovered work and spin it into another Venom is just beyond belief.

I was lucky enough to snag a copy of Ascension of the Blind Dead when it was first released. Written by Tomb It May Concern’s David Z., Ascension is a continuation of the Blind Dead saga, with the undead Templars coming into conflict with a particularly nasty werewolf, and is a great little taste of irredeemable Euorsleaze goodness. Unfortunately, the chapbook the tale was originally presented in is nearly out-of-print. Happily, to celebrate Friday the 13th David has made a new version of the story, with introduction, available on his new blog, The Story Hole. So if you have a desire to press your luck on this doom-laden day, curl up with some cocoa, dig in and let David know what you think. But don’t get too scared. Remember, they can hear your heart beating.

Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, Or the Evening Redness in the West is one of the most brutal things I have ever read. The lyricism of the prose is offset by wholesale slaughter and unrepentant murder. It’s so soaked in blood that I’m not surprised that McCarthy has decided to pen a post-apocalyptic novel. The following is an excerpt from the just-released The Road.

“The mummied dead everywhere. The flesh cloven along the bones, the ligaments dried to tug and taut as wires. Shriveled and drawn like latterday bogfolk, their faces of boiled sheeting, the yellowed palings of their teeth. They were discarded to a man like pilgrims of some common order for all their shoes were long stolen.”

What’s with all the apocalyptic fiction all of a sudden? Is a brand-new doomsday zeitgeist upon us?