Halloween and Christmas mingle in a satisfying blend of horror and hearth.
There is hope mingled with horror, and thats the authors secret power.
His storytelling always beats with a huge, passionate heart.
Its just that sometimes that heart has been extracted by a madman.
[He] writes terrific stories served with a very large slice of Disquiet Pie.
Your book isnotfull of holiday stories, but why wasA Long Decemberthe right title?
Its funny because I just had a discussion with my wife yesterday about Christmas songs on the radio.
And she said, Yeah, some of them.
So I started listing to them, and shes like, Okay, maybe more than some.
Thats where I come from when I sit down to write it.
For me, it always starts with the people.
I wanted to ask you specifically about the story Midnight Promises in the collection.
Its about a man whos in the hospital, dying from cancer.
I dont want to give too much away…
Its actually a love story.
But its arealisticstory too.
Another one that has tremendous soul and then takes an icy turn.
I was surprised to learn that this had a personal connection to you.
It was in my lymph nodes, both lungs, liver, my stomach.
Fortunately, I was young and strong, so I underwent 12 weeks of chemo.
So I wrote that story shortly after I was finished with chemo.
Its also about the dark cloud that surrounds someone who has to care for a dying patient.
So how did the people in your life feel about this story?
She hasnt read that story since.
And I did not get a good response to that.
Probably a story called Heroes, which I wrote about my father when he was still alive.
Today is my fathers birthday actually, so its kind of fitting to talk about it.
Theres a twisted element to it, but it all comes from love and [my] history.
Theres a novella in the book, which gives the collection its overall title.
Tell me about the inspiration for A Long December.
Clearly you took some inspiration from that, even though the story is very different from the film.
I think that was written for an anthology of alien stories.
But hes seeing visions of creatures disguised as people.
And we arent sure whether hes the only sane one or simply barking mad.
Hes different, and we just dont know it.
Because based on what happens at the end, it could go either way.
And again… its almost like an oldTwilight Zonestory.
I had a lot of fun writing that.
Youre also the publisher Cemetery Dance magazine, one of the real pillars of the contemporary horror scene.
Your latest double-volume edition is a Joe Hill special issue.
Tell me about putting this one together.
This one was a beast.
Weve always done special author issues from time to time.
Weve doneJoe Lansdalespecial issues and some others.
Its different from the book?
I believe so, yeah.
Significantly, or just the tinkering that all writers like to do with their work?
Again, Joe carries his own weight.
You give the stories room to breathe, too.
This is a massive issue.
Can we expect to see more like this?
We knew the issue would be jumbo sized and wed have to do something different.
Its almost like a book itself.
Thats the interesting thing with the magazine.
I like whatever will keep us around.
Its never been about making a buck.
I started publishing Cemetery Dance when I was in college, 28 years ago last week.
So its been part of my life for almost three decades.
Stephen King has always been a major presence in Cemetery Dance, both as a contributor and a subject.
Did you know Joe through him?
That Joe submitted a story to Cemetery Dance many years ago.
I read the story, I really liked it, I looked at that name, Joe Hill.
It just kept striking…
Right, he was trying to make his own name, avoid his dads shadow.
So what happened next?
But I have to ask you, Is Steve your dad?
So thats what I always say, is, Son of a bitch!
Years later, the rest is history.
The whole family is full of great writers.
Owen King, I really love his work, the graphic novelIntro to Alien Invasionand the novelDouble Feature.
And Owens wife, Kelly Braffett wroteSave YourselfandJosie and Jack.
The whole family is this amazing group of storytellers.
And [Kings wife] Tabitha is a great writer.
Their family dinners must be fascinating.
Tell me a little bit about where that started and where you are now.
Where are you now?
I think Im through almost 20 books.
Im up toThe Talismanby Steve and Peter Straub.
But it has been fun, and one day they will all be collected into a mammoth book.
Its just been a neat experience.
I send each one to Steve when Im finished.
For more film and book news, follow@Breznican.
