Interview with David Kempf by Jon Donnis

 

I caught up with one of my favourite authors, David Kempf, for a chat about his new book Dystopia.

1. Why do you think people want to read dystopia stories in this day and age?

I think that people are full of anxiety today. They can’t make ends meet, technology keeps getting more advanced, and now AI can almost perfectly imitate human beings. I think this should appeal to both the young and old. My older readers closer to my age still remember great works of fiction like George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm. Me, personally, I am a huge fan of Huxley’s Brave New World  and William F. Nolan’s Logan’s Run. Only the more hardcore fans probably remember that Nolan wrote that with George Clayton Johnson. Since not everyone reads, movie fans probably remember the movie version of Logan’s Run with Michael York. 

2. Are these original characters or are you borrowing from classic literature again?

Well, we both know that good artist borrow and great artist steal. Pause to laugh But seriously these are all new and original characters for this short story collection. 

3. But I'll bet there are pop culture references. Am I right?

Well, you know me very well. Guilty as charged. There are a few nods to George Orwell and other dystopian stories. And of course, my Michael Caine reference. There is a sort of AI robot probation officer and the protagonist uses a voice that sounds like Michael Caine. Of course I make references to DeathTrap and The Dark Knight. Lately I have been obsessed with another Michael Caine movie Sleuth. It’s so great and I just now discovered it. So there you have it. I wish I would have referenced that in the story. I am using imagery of the past to convey that in the near future the machines are taking over. One more thing about Sleuth, I could not believe it had the line “a jumped up pantry boy who does not know his place.” That line was made famous ten years later by The Smiths. 

4. What inspires your stories?

Observations from daily life, and of course, the books I read, the radio shows I listen to, and the movies I see. I always want to see if I can come up with something original which is really tough. The best most of us can aspire to is to be clever. Maybe to come up with two unrelated things put together to try and create something new. With this story collection I try really hard to utilize real life horrors in the world but to put the brakes on it a bit. I still want to entertain the audience more than I wish to horrify them. 

5. So you would classify this new book Dystopia as more science fiction than horror?

Yes, I would say so. There are some horrific elements for sure. The horror in this particular collection is more psychological than anything. Freedoms and freedom of thought being slowly and insidiously taken away from us when we are supposed to have that right. Other factors, too like technology becoming more advanced than we can keep up with. It is technology that takes away our freedom or at least helps to do just that. It’s also technology slowly building a police state. That is the nature of the horror of my new tales. There is also one story about a serial killer, and one about someone who hires a hit man, a professional killer. I don’t need monsters in this new book, because all of the monsters in it are human. 

6. How does this book compare to your other short story collections?

I would say it’s different but there are some similarities. Tales of Monster Madness, and Ghost Stories borrowed heavily from classic stories and myths. For this one I had to rely on my own imagination and observations. I still make references to some famous figures like H.G. Wells, but no werewolves or vampires, or ghosts. It’s not the fear of supernatural monsters in this case, it is the fear of a bleak unknown future controlled by people who are either malicious or indifferent to the struggling masses. 

7. How do readers get your new book DYSTOPIA?

It’s available on Amazon. You can either get the entire book at once, or download any of the following short stories. I actually sell each short story of the collection separately. The sthort stories of Dystopia-

1. The Pawn Lottery.

2. Bill.

3. Alfred.

4. The Evictors.

5. Talbot. 

6. The Comedians. 

7. The Department of Complaint.  

8. Trains

9. The Pearl Cloud

10. The Last Lottery 

11. A Dark World 

The Pearl Cloud was co-written with my son Andrew. All of the covers were done by my cousin Heather Slawecki from her publishing company Graylyn Press. 

8. Have you recorded an audio-book?

No. Not yet. But I am working with friends Wesley Critchfield and Matt Porter to do more and more audio dramas for The Cambridge Geek and I eventually would love to start my own podcast and YouTube channel.  Matt is someone I went to film school with and for our last production Goths, he found a musician to do original music for us. That young man’s name is Ian Meranus and I am very happy with the music he provided.

 

Eventually I am going to take stories from Tales of Monster Madness, and Ghost Stories and Dystopia for original audio drama productions.  Ironic I am working with someone I used to make short films with because my current obsession with Orson Welles had me doing some serious research. I found out that although he made Citizen Kane, considered the greatest movie ever made, he preferred radio (audio dramas) to film. The last audio production I did PUZZLE was taken from my first novel Dark Fiction. Basically, all my books have stories in them that are up for grabs to turn into audio dramas. I am very excited about that. What did you think of the narrator of PUZZLE? Yes, that was a joke. It was you Jon Donnis who read my story PUZZLE. And you did a marvelous job playing Scrooge in A Christmas Warning, one of my favorite audio dramas I produced. 

(Thank you, it was a pleasure playing Scrooge) 

Available to listen to at https://audiofiction.co.uk/tafa.php

9. What are your current projects?

Well, there are all those potential short stories to be made into audio dramas. This will be much fun, and will probably take years, but that is okay. We still got time. I am also working on a novel exploring the contradictions in the journeys of alcohol recovery groups. I do not want to talk about it too much now, and this could also be a project that takes me years to complete. And I am sure I will come back here to MastersOfHorror.co.uk. to do another interview when I finish it and publish it. 

You can count on that!

Thank you David once again, and everyone please check out the new book at the following links.

Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/4qMTlJ0

Amazon US - https://amzn.to/4kIrCaL