Monday, October 31, 2016

JACK KETCHUM: Interview

https://www.facebook.com/events/1707136679540777/

On behalf of Halloweenpalooza, thanks so much for agreeing to participate. Before the tops of our heads blow off from excitement, let’s start with some quickies:
Favorite color:   Black. If you don't count that as a color, blue.
Favorite fictional stalker:  Ray Pye from THE LOST. Hell, I created him.
Dogs or cats:  Cats.
Male or female friends:  A few of each.
Guilty pleasure:  Coffee ice cream.
Favorite Halloween candy:  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Have you ever carved a pumpkin:  Dozens.
Halloween costume your alter ego would choose:  Elvis. Not the dead one.
1.        With so many types of horror out there, what does Jack Ketchum bring to the horror picnic table? What makes your potato salad so unique?
It's seasoned with the blood of sociopaths -- murderers, politicians, con men, honor-killers, bankers, big-game hunters and the like.
2.        Youve described writing a book as a marriage and writing a screenplay as having an affair. Since there are so many lousy adaptations of great horror novels out there, whats the biggest key in turning the respectable woman you married into a wanton slut of movie to ensure it keeps its authenticity and flavor?
It's all about being true to the characters and themes of the original.
3.       Okay, so I have this friend who insists that the seeds for becoming a horror writer are planted as a child. Think its true? The Jack Daniels talking?  Are there any vivid memories you recall that might have warped you enough into becoming a master of horror?
It may have been the Jack Daniels talking but sometimes in vino veritas. Sure, it all begins in childhood. When you first become aware that the world's a scary place and that in large part your business on earth is to avoid, defeat and brave all those things that make it that way. My parents warped me. By indulging me and loving me...and one another, not so much.
4.       The paranormal. Tarot cards, Ouija boards, haunted houses … ever had an encounter of the supernatural kind? We’d like to hear because this is a night for ghost stories.  
My encounters with the supernatural are mostly pretty much catalogued in SHE WAKES. Greece to me was scary-big, haunted as hell. But in a good way. Huge with spirits and timelessness. But then so is the deep Maine woods.  Wander them some night without a flashlight. Find a clearing and lie down and watch the stars.
5.        Greek mythology raises its contradictory heads in SHE WAKES. Do you regularly indulge in reading esoteric material? Occasionally bathe in it? Are there any non-fiction books that rocked your world that you could share?
I read all over the place, all kinds of stuff. Just recently finished James L. Swanson's MANHUNT, about the search for John Wilkes Booth. The guy's a hell of a writer and if you think you knew a lot about Lincoln's assassination, you didn't. Fascinating read...pounce!
6.       Word has it that you’re the male equivalent of a crazy cat lady. True? Not true? An internet rumor started by you? Spill. How many kitties presently claim ownership of you and why the love for the furry sociopaths who probably sleep on your head?
Guilty as charged. [Editorial Note: Ha! I knew it!]  I have five now, George and Gracie, Lily and Samantha (sisters), and Emma. Didn't plan on five, believe me, it just sorta happened. Emma, for instance. When she was a six-week-old kitten we found her hiding terrified in the median between the north and southbound lanes on Broadway, of all places. How the hell she got there is anybody's guess. Mine is that somebody just tossed into the bushes. And yeah, there's occasionally one on my head at night. But more often they prefer the extremities and interstices created therein -- crotch, armpit.... 

7.       Since cats are among the worlds best stalkers, and since stalking is this years theme, are there any insights you’ve gleaned that would help us understand a stalker’s psychological profile? Who is this “perfect” stalker that we should all fear and what does that bastard really, really want? (Besides a nice baseball bat across his knees.)
Who the hell knows what these wackos really want. It probably varies, from a desire to be loved, noticed, right down to some unconscious compulsion. The perfect stalker, it would seem to me, is the one you never hear about, who never gets caught, whose victim doesn't even know he's there. A shadow crossing your path. And nobody the wiser for it.
8.        Okay, so youve heard my friends theory, now one of mine. While the perception for horror is that a dead body and lots of blood will satisfy readers, Ive always maintained that readers of horror are some of the pickiest fans out there. Its HARD to please them and a difficult genre to succeed in. What does your magic eight ball say about that?
I've found that most of my readers are, first and foremost, good readers, period. Which is very gratifying. You can sit down and talk with them and the talk will range way, way out of the bounds of "genre." Gore for gore's sake gets pretty boring, don't you think? You can put up with it in a movie that runs an hour and a half, but you live with a book for days, and those writers who have those licks but not much else get as dull as dishwater.  And most of them fall by the wayside pretty quickly. You really need to dig into the human experience to stick around as a writer.
9.       Whats your take on Halloween? Do you get your werewolf on by shapeshifting? Perform rituals? Or sleep through it? Is there one best memory you have of this momentous holiday?  
Here in New York there are streets blocked off for Halloween so no cars can get through for two or three blocks, and they're always packed with trick or treaters of all ages. So it's a lot of fun to hit your neighborhood bar for a drink or two and then go mingle.I like to wear my tux and a black half-mask, slick back my hair and carry a very large, very lifelike rubber insect – a cockroach or a black ant -- behind my back. I pull it out and scare the hell out of folks. Kids love it. The ones who really get scared are their mothers. My favorite Halloween, though, was when I was in my late twenties and staying in Laguna Beach. Three of us went out masked and costumed and handed out treats door to door. People were very puzzled and often quite delighted by the reversal.
10.      Since its Halloween, and since you own this day, the platform is yours. Any upcoming projects youd care to tell us about? How about an All Hallows Eve thought thatll scare the crap out of us and ruin our sleep for the rest of our lives?
Come November Lucky McKee and I will have a new novel out called THE SECRET LIFE OF SOULS. I've also got a new collection of stories due from Cemetery Dance called GORILLA IN MY ROOM, which should also be out in early wintertime. A Halloween thought that will scare the crap out of you? Sure. Donald Trump is the U.S. President and...well, fill in the blanks.
GIVEAWAY
Today’s giveaway is TAILS OF WONDER AND IMAGINATION, the second autographed book that Mr. Ketchum has kindly donated to the noble cause of Halloween! This is the last chance to snag an autographed copy for your very own!!! Because this is a print copy, WINNERS ARE LIMITED TO THE U.S. and CANADA.
To win: go to the Official FB Event Page; find the post announcing  today’s giveaway; and comment, “I WANT TO WIN” in that post and you just might!!! 

We’ll also be drawing the rafflecopter winner of THE SECRET LIFE OF SOULS later tonight!!! All I can say is good luck to you all!!!! 

TAILS OF WONDER AND IMAGINATION
https://www.amazon.com/Tails-Wonder-Imagination-Theodora-Goss-ebook/dp/B0070YYN5M/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474754654&sr=1-1&keywords=tails+of+wonder+and+imagination
From legendary editor Ellen Datlow, Tails of Wonder collects the best of the last thirty years of science fiction and fantasy stories about cats. The stories include:
Through the Looking Glass (excerpt) - Lewis Carroll
No Heaven Will Not Ever Heaven Be... - A. R. Morlan
The Price - Neil Gaiman
Dark Eyes, Faith, and Devotion - Charles de Lint
Not Waving - Michael Marshall Smith
Catch - Ray Vukcevich
The Manticore Spell - Jeffrey Ford
Catskin - Kelly Link
Mieze Corrects an Incomplete Representation of Reality - Michaela Roessner
Guardians - George R. R. Martin
Life Regarded as a Jigsaw Puzzle of Highly Lustrous Cats - Michael Bishop
Gordon, the Self-Made Cat - Peter S. Beagle
The Jaguar Hunter - Lucius Shepard
Arthur's Lion - Tanith Lee
Pride - Mary A. Turzillo
The Burglar Takes a Cat - Lawrence Block
The White Cat - Joyce Carol Oates
Returns - Jack Ketchum
Puss-Cat - Reggie Oliver
Cat in Glass - Nancy Etchemendy
Coyote Peyote - Carole Nelson Douglas
The Poet and the Inkmaker's Daughter - Elizabeth Hand
The Night of the Tiger - Stephen King
Every Angel is Terrifying - John Kessel
Candia - Graham Joyce
Mbo - Nicholas Royle
Bean Bag Cats(R) - Edward Bryant
Antiquities - John Crowley
The Manticore's Tale - Catherynne M. Valente
In Carnation - Nancy Springer
Old Foss is the Name of His Cat - David Sandner
A Safe Place to Be - Carol Emshwiller
Nine Lives to Live - Sharyn McCrumb
Tiger Kill - Kaaron Warren
Something Better than Death - Lucy Sussex
Dominion - Christine Lucas
Tiger in the Snow - Daniel Wynn Barber
The Dweller in High Places - Susanna Clarke
Healing - Benjamin Dennis Danvers
The Puma - Theodora Goss   

AUTHOR BIO
(EDITORIAL NOTE: WTH? DO I REALLY HAVE TO TELL YOU WHO JACK KETCHUM IS?!!!!)
Jack Ketchum has published twelve novels and several short story collections. He has won numerous Bram Stoker Awards, and four of his books were recently filmed as movies: The Lost (2001), The Girl Next Door (2005), Red (2008) and Offspring (2009). He lives in New York City.

Link to Amazon Author Page 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1707136679540777/

No comments:

Post a Comment