My Path (Back) to Horror

Just how did I end up writing horror?

It was a circuitous path, let me tell you.  As a kid, I read a lot of different genres.  I wasn't really picky. Sports bios, scary stories, youth literature, and some science fiction.  And I read a lot of comic books. The Marvel-verse -- X-Men, Daredevil, the Avengers.

The first book that really grabbed and took hold of me was Stephen King's "Carrie."  I read it in two-days and was unable to put it down.  Now, my literary criticism skills weren't too honed, but there was something so obvious to me that told me that this guy knew how to write.  I couldn't wait for 'Salem's Lot.  And I couldn't wait to discover more horror novels.  I read some great stuff and some awful stuff.

I then diverted off into Science Fiction in a big way.  Frank Herbert's Dune series captivated my imagination. I read all the masters after that.  Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury.   Phillip K. Dick blew my mind.  Harlan Ellison showed what you could do with the short story.  I spent a lot of time with Sci-Fi.

In my late twenties, I wanted to make a short private detective film, but I knew little or nothing about the genre.  So, I went on jury for a week and had a lot of time on my hand.  So, I read a slew of PI novels that week.  John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee.  Ross McDonald's Lew Archer.  Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone.  And my personal favorite, Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder.  In fact, I read almost exclusively PI (and first person mystery) novels for the next 15 years.

When you read a genre as much as I did and have an inkling that you'd like to be a writer, well then, you'll have to try your hand at it.  I wrote (with my brother) an unpublishable PI novel.  But I didn't let that stop me.  I wrote some short stories.  One even took 2nd place in a short mystery competition.  Then I went on to start another PI novel which took me over 10 years to write.

Late in 2011, I started working on short mystery and crime fiction to hone my craft.  I tried to get some stories published, but I didn't get any picked up.  So, I pulled out a crime short story I had written in 1997 called Home Schooling.  It was a story that I knew was marketable, and I submitted it to A Twist of Noir. Lo and behold, they accepted it and the editor, Christopher Grant, gave me some great encouragement.

I went on a good run with crime short fiction, getting stories on Shotgun Honey and some other sites.  It was invigorating and encouraging.  I was starting yo understand my market.  I knew what they wanted.

But then I felt this urge to return to my roots.  There was a story inside me and I had to let it get out.  The story was The Dark Child and I submitted it to The Horror Zine.  The experience was so rewarding and the collaboration with the editor, Jeanie Rector, was such a great learning opportunity.  And my career writing horror got started.  It was good to be back.