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Friends,
Celebrating the release of my novel Hawk Mountain in paperback, I’ll be talking with creators of my favorite genre, HORROR. There are few genres that have inspired such a furor of regulation, stigma, and anger. Horror is regulated by governments, has been the topic of countless moralistic exams rations and moral panics, has been blamed for disintegrating societies, and more. Horror itself horrifies. And when horror does become accepted, at best it is said by critics to “transcend the genre.” Which means it’s really just transcending the stigma the critics have by re-asserting it. But who am I to talk about beleaguered horror? The fact is, it is also wildly popular. Even a terrible horror movie can be quite popular, and the most consistently bestselling author of all time is a horror writer. What does that mean? Across these episodes, I’ll be talking about horror in its many forms: cosmic horror, body horror, suburban horror, monster horror, possession horror, and more.
Previous episodes in the series were AEWCH 234 with John Langan and Sophie White, AEWCH 233 featured writers Nathan Ballingrud and Sara Gran, and the first was AEWCH 232, with cosmic horror writer and scholar Matt Cardin.
Partially inspired by the 1990 Horror Cafe on the BBC2 featuring Clive Barker, John Carpenter, Roger Corman, Lisa Tuttle, Ramsay Campbell, and Peter Atkins, we’ll be investigating deep questions about horror together, and seeing what unlit paths they lead us down. What is horror for? Why do we condemn it even as we flock to it? What is the horror-nature of being? What happens when the imagination explores the violence, the darkness, and the screaming in the inner landscape and when we conjure it into art?
Writing horror brings in all the elements that we might not want to deal with in everyday life – particularly evil and violence. And it also brings in that aspect of life we have an uneasy alliance and longing for: sex. It’s a lot of un-illuminated corridors to walk down, much less lead others down. As horror writers, we feel our ways through. It can bring nightmares, fear for your own stability, a sense of deep responsibility, and more.
So… of course I wanted to talk about it. That led to my great conversation with a seasoned master of horror and a new and powerful voice: PAUL TREMBLAY and CJ LEEDE!
Paul was last on the show on AEWCH 158 when we did a deep dive into his work. This was, of course, before his excellent horror novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted into the film A Knock at the Cabin directed by M. Night Shyamalan. His latest book is a collection of formally experimental, wild, and frighteningly heartbreaking stories, The Beast You Are. CJ is a newly published horror author, whose novel of compulsion and sadism Maeve Fly has been an instant hit, with its shocking blend of Los Angeles pacific vibes, brutal murder, the happiest theme park on Earth, and American psychosis.
This is such a lively and deep conversation, I’m so excited to share it with you.
SHOW NOTES
WHAT OTHER EPISODE SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO?
While it may not seem germane to the topic, AEWCH 130 with Oein DeBhairduin ties into this episode in a crucial way: we talk about the livingness of stories. How do they speak to us? How do they want us to announce them? I think about that in terms of stories of the horrific – what might it mean if horror has its own life?
WHAT BOOK SHOULD YOU READ?
You should probably go ahead and read Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille which is a massive influence on CJ Leede. Bataille was also a member of a secret sexual/occult/philosophy socity, and that’s detailed in The Sacred Conspiracy: The Internal Papers of the Secret Society of Acéphale and Lectures to the College of Sociology.
MORE ON CJ and PAUL
For more on Paul, go to his website. Here’s a good interview with Paul at Gridmark Magazine, and another one in legendary horror magazine Cemetery Dance. And my very favorite novel of Paul’s (one of my favorite horror novels!) is the sinister and tragic Disappearance at Devil’s Rock.
CJ is starting a new series of book reviews on her instagram account and on an account with her partner Kyle Kouri. And here’s CJ’s website.
Conner Habib 