Wednesday 26 January 2022

Interview with R. W. K. Clark - By David Kempf


When did you first become interested in writing?


I have been interested in writing since I was a teen. I remember being so excited on my first day of creative writing class. So many ideas just popped into my head, from a love story that I hoped would be a reality one day to the darkest thoughts within me. I sat down to write my first project, and the words just poured out of me. Looking back now, I realize I should have taken more time editing it before turning it in. When I got my story back from the teacher, it was covered in red marks. She even added little notes like, “this makes no sense,” and “where are you going with this?” There were also a few not-so-nice things noted. Well, not nice to a teen with fresh hopes of becoming a writer. Some could consider it traumatizing in a way. I remember feeling so defeated that day that I honestly thought I’d never pick up another pen. Fortunately, due to my tenacity, I picked up another. I learned to take criticism, whether constructive or not, and try to understand the reasoning.


How did you get involved in so many genres?

I’ve always had an interest in the darkest thoughts people hide away. What makes a serial killer tick? Why would a sweet person suddenly turn dark? I know how that may seem, but it intrigues me. Most of my bestsellers are psychological thrillers. However, I do like to dabble in fantasy and sci-fi on occasion. The things we all want to believe in, but know deep down are all make-believe, like a Zombie apocalypse, are also appealing to me. No matter how many reiterations, it’s still entertaining and thought provoking. Writing sci-fi gives my mind a much-needed break from some of my deranged characters, like Melvin from Mindless or Elliot Keller in Passing Through.


How would you classify the genre you write?

Fiction thrillers, psychological, science fiction, supernatural,




Why do you think horror and Fantasy/Sci-Fi books remain so popular?

For the simple thrills they give you. While fantasy and horror are two very different genres, they certainly give you the same sensations. Anticipation of what is to come next, the goosebumps, the chills from the scenes you never saw coming, or your heart racing waiting to figure out how it will all end. It’s all so liberating. It allows us to feed our minds with things that scare us and thrill us at the same time.


What inspires your stories?

A variety of things inspire my stories—movies, books, and newspaper headlines. On occasion, even a YouTube video has inspired a story. I recall watching a video about contaminated water, drugs, and meds lurking in your drinking water. It was a terrifying reality that inspired my book Living Legacy.




What are your favorite horror books?

One of my favorites is Misery, although it’s more of a psychological thriller. I can certainly relate to Paul… well, except for the crazed fan and the hobbling. I’m not ritualistic with my writing, but I certainly like my solitude when I sit down to write—what better place to do that than in a small mountain town, where no one knows you.


What are some of your favorite horror and Fantasy/Sci-fi movies?

I have such an extensive favorite collection that I love. It’s impossible for me to choose only one out of the vast number of genre categories. So, if I pick one… let’s say zombies… my favorite zombie movie is World War Z. I recently watched a psycho thriller that I found fascinating, Unhinged with Russel Crowe.


What do you consider your greatest accomplishment as an author?

My greatest accomplishment is the number of stories I’ve published over the years. It’s astounding, even to me, that I have more than 1.2 million words currently published. That doesn’t include the books I have yet to complete. Can you imagine the vast number of words for someone like Stephen King? I'm sure he must be in the hundreds of millions of words.


Do you have any advice for new writers?

When you think you have edited your work to satisfaction, edit it again. Then hire someone to edit for you. Once they’ve finished editing it, edit it yourself again. Trust me. You’ll read an error a hundred times and still miss it. Also, NEVER GIVE UP! Learn to take criticism and use it to your advantage, whether constructive or not, and try to understand the rationale. Is the statement truthful or factual? Or just a negative or subjective comment. You’ll know the difference.

Also, the very nature of writing as an artform has always been controversial at times. But now it’s even worse because people are offended by everything. It’s impossible to please everyone, so my advice is: Do and say what makes you happy. If you believe in yourself and you believe in your story, publish it. Some will love it, and some will hate it. The people who enjoy and appreciate your creativity will support you, and that’s what really matters.


What is your opinion of the new self-publishing trend?

I’m thankful for it. There are bestselling indie authors who have mastered how to leverage all the advantages, like being able to indefinitely promote, retain 100% control of your royalties, even reinvent plots without dealing with red tape. It’s the control that I prefer.


Please, in your own words, write a paragraph about yourself & your work.

I believe that writers and novelists, as in any profession, change and grow over the timespan that they work and produce. Any of my readers and fans who are familiar with my books, and the ‘genres’ they are ‘classified’ under, are able to recognize the point I’m making. Authors’ characters get more detailed and personal. Descriptions get a bit more intense, as do emotional scenes of any kind. I’ve also found, for myself, that with each and every fiction book I put out, I’m getting into the 'guts' about what I am willing to put down on paper. For instance, I'll admit it, in the beginning, writing a detailed love scene was something I dreaded, but getting more comfortable with it now. This, of course, is just one example. I look forward to growing more as an Author and seeing it come through in my stories. 

Thursday 13 January 2022

Horror Channel announces raft of premieres for February

 



February on Horror Channel keeps genre fans alive with the UK TV premiere of WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE - another suspenseful knife to the throat of 21st Century genre cinema from the deliciously warped mind of Colin Minihan, director of It Stains The Sand Red.

And expect more total shock and abject terror in the UK TV premiere of Paul Hyett’s sinister sci-fi horror fantasy PERIPHERAL. This twisted cross between Ex Machina and Videodrome boasts an astonishing performance from Hannah Arterton.

Plus, there are channel premieres for the gore-filled, stomach-churning zombie chiller DEATH TRENCH, Producer M. Night Shyamalan’s claustrophobic supernatural thriller DEVIL, the fast, funny and smart B-movie horror parody ZOMBEAVERS and THE MIDNIGHT MAN, which stars Horror legends Robert Englund and Lin Shaye in a terrifying, supernatural game of cat and mouse.

Full film details in transmission order:


Saturday 5 Feb @ 21:00 – THE MIDNIGHT MAN (2016) *Channel Premiere
It was supposed to be just an urban legend. On a snowy night in her grandmother’s sprawling mansion, teenage Alex and her best friend Miles discover a mysterious box hidden away in the attic. Inside are instructions for The Midnight Game, an ancient Pagan ritual said to summon the players’ greatest fears. It all seems like harmless fun—until they unleash the terrifying spirit of The Midnight Man, an unholy force who pits them against their darkest demons and dares them to survive.


Saturday 12 Feb @ 22:45 – DEATH TRENCH (2017) *Channel Premiere
In the final days of WWI a shell-shocked tunneller leads an Allied team into a hidden German base...one hundred feet below the trenches. The Germans have lost control of a highly contagious biological weapon that turns its victims into deranged killers. The Allies find themselves trapped underground with hordes of the infected, a rapidly spreading disease and a team of German Stormtroopers dispatched to clean up the mess. The only thing more terrifying, is what lies beneath it.


Sunday 13 Feb @ 21:00 – WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE (2018) *UK TV Premiere
On the eve of their one-year wedding anniversary, Jules and Jackie become embroiled in a merciless fight for their lives when they find themselves pitted against the most unexpected of adversaries. As violence reigns down upon their idyllic forest getaway, the two women engage in a frenzied psychological and vicious battle that will test the very limits of their instinct to survive.


Saturday 19 Feb @ 21:00 – DEVIL (2010) *Channel Premiere
Five strangers' day begins with an elevator ride in a Philadelphia office tower. But, what happens next is anything but ordinary. The elevator gets stuck, and the trapped passengers, who expected to be together just a few minutes, now face the revelation of their secrets and transgressions. Frightening events turn annoyance into terror, as they begin to realise that one of them is Lucifer himself. This supernatural thriller is based on a story by M. Night Shyamalan, who also produced the film.


Friday 25 Feb @ 23:05 – PERIPHERAL (2018) *UK TV Premiere
Bobbi Johnson (Hannah Arterton) is a young literary sensation facing her difficult second novel. Already dealing with a crazed stalker and her junkie ex-boyfriend, Bobbi is convinced by her publisher to use new smart editing software and finds herself going head-to-head with an artificial intelligence determined to write her book for her. Bobbi must keep writing, fighting her own addictions and hallucinations as she rushes to beat her deadline without selling her soul in the process. This dark sci-fi horror also stars Jenny Seagrove, Tom Conti and Rosie Day.


Saturday 26 Feb @ 21:00 – ZOMBEAVERS (2014) * Channel Premiere
A group of college kids are staying at a riverside cabin in the woods for a weekend of fun. Little do they know they are right next door to a lodge of beavers mutated by toxic waste into rabid zombie critters? The ferocious fur flies and the blood flows as the terrified friends planned romantic liaisons get hampered by the rampaging rodents on a flesh-eating frenzy.

TV: Sky 317 / Virgin 149 / Freeview 70 / Freesat 138

Monday 10 January 2022

COMPETITION: Win Séance on Blu-ray



Séance - Released from 17th January

And to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 1 copy on Blu-ray to give away.

Synopsis: 
From the creators of You’re Next and Orphan comes Séance, a twisted tale of dark and dangerous dabbling with the dead, from director Simon Barrett (co-writer of You’re Next and The Guest) in his feature film debut. Chilling audiences on its Shudder Exclusive premiere, this hair-raising horror arrives on UK Blu-ray, DVD and digital on 17 January 2022 courtesy of Acorn Media International.

Suki Waterhouse (Assassination Nation, Insurgent) plays Camille Meadows, the new girl at the prestigious Edelvine Academy for Girls. Desperate to fit in and make new friends, when a group of girls  invite her to join them in a late-night ritual, she feels obliged to join in.

They set up a séance to try and summon the spirit of a dead former student who is said to haunt the school halls, but little do they know the devastation they’re about to unleash.  Before dawn, one of the girls is dead, and the rest of them are left others wondering what they have awakened.

Also starring Madisen Beaty, Ella-Rae Smith, Inanna Sarkis and Seamus Patterson.

 
Pre-Order from Amazon at https://amzn.to/3HQOSPq

For your chance to win just answer the question below.

COMPETITION CLOSED

Quick Terms and conditions - For full T&C click here
1. Closing date 24-01-22
2. No alternative prize is available
3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.
4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.
5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.

COMPETITION: Win Jakob's Wife on Bluray


Jakob's Wife  - Released from 10th January

And to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 1 copy on Blu-ray to give away.

Synopsis: 
Legendary Horror star Barbara Crampton takes the lead in Travis Stevens’ (Girl on the Third Floor) bloody brilliant vampire feature Jakob’s Wife a Shudder Exclusive that’s set for its UK Blu-ray debut from Acorn Media International on 10 January 2022. It will also be available on DVD and digital.

Anne (Crampton – Re-Animator, From Beyond) lives in a small town and is married to minister Jakob (Larry Fessenden The House of the Devil) but, after 30 years, life is rather dull and she yearns for something more.

Following a chance encounter with ‘The Master’ she discovers bite marks on her neck and suddenly an overwhelming sense of power and an appetite to live bigger and bolder than before consume her.  But Anne soon discovers these changes come with a heavy burden… An ever-increasing body count and a serious toll on her marriage.

For a vampire feature with real bite take a pew and view Jakob’s Wife, a marriage made in hell.

Pre-Order from Amazon at https://amzn.to/3tbxBfC

COMPETITION CLOSED

Send your name, address and of course the answer to competition365@outlook.com

Quick Terms and conditions - For full T&C click here
1. Closing date 24-01-22
2. No alternative prize is available
3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.
4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.
5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.