It’s been some time since I actually sat down and did a ‘what’s up’ type post!

Life has been strange, hectic, boring, surreal – so many things. But not having been at work for over a month now, the only time I truly sit down in front of the computer has been to write and to get the Pyper-May-Nia! posts formatted and scheduled!

So, this past Wednesday, May the 6th saw the arrival of ‘COMMUNION.’

Exciting right! It’s already getting some cool reviews and I even saw a physical copy someone had snagged over on Instagram! (Thank you, John!)

This is Book Two in the ‘Father of Lies Trilogy.’ Book Three is in the early stages and from what I’ve pulled forth from the depraved depths of my mind so far, prepare to be unnerved. I highly suggest you read ‘Ritual’ and ‘COMMUNION’ before part three arrives.

I also wanted to say, today is the last day to grab ‘COMMUNION’ for only $0.99. It will jump up to the astronomical price of $1.99 tomorrow! As always the ebook for ‘Ritual’ is and always will be $0.99.

Haven’t snagged ‘COMMUNION’ yet?

 

So, what else have I been up to?

Reading, writing and hanging with the family.

I haven’t even been listening to much music at all, so no songs to share, sorry!

I have however been hard at work getting this Pyper-May-Nia! stuff up and going.

So far, I’ve shared an interview;

https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2020/05/01/pyper-may-nia-2/

A retrospective on ‘The Demonologist’ ;

https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2020/05/04/the-book-that-opened-my-eyes-the-demonologist/

And a retrospective on both ‘The Damned’ and ‘Lost Girls’ ;

https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2020/05/06/next-taste-the-damned-and-lost-girls/

Next week will feature retrospectives and reviews of ‘The Wildfire Season’ and ‘The Only Child’ as well as an essay on how Andrew Pyper made me a better writer.

Lastly, before I leave, I wanted to share some really cool news that has kind of left me stunned.

I’ve been fortunate enough to appear in Kevin J. Kennedy Publishing releases a few times now. First was in ‘100 Word Horrors 3’ and then ‘100 Word Horrors 4.’ I was then humbled to have a story selected for ‘The Horror Collection: Silver Edition’ which featured me alongside Kevin, Lex Jones, Calvin Demmer and the legend Edward Lee.

Well, recently ‘The Horror Collection: Emerald Edition’ was released and I’m still in shock that a story from myself appears in a collection with the living Horror legend himself, Ramsey Campbell!

INSANE!

If you want to check out this amazing collection;

The ebook is out now, paperback to come!

 

Alright, so that’s all I got right now.

Hope you are all well and safe!

Until we meet again,

Steve

Title: The Keeper of Chernobyl

Author: Alessandro Manzetti

Release date: October 19, 2019

** 2019 Bram Stoker Award Nominee**

God, what a truly bleak story.

Alessandro Manzetti is a highly accomplished author, both in fiction and in poetry, and runs an esteemed publishing press. Yet, somehow, through all of that, the general horror community at large seems to have missed this one. I say that because, at the time of writing this review, this release has four Goodread ratings and one review.

The first thing that drew me into this book was the gorgeous cover. I know gorgeous isn’t maybe the phrase you’d most commonly associate with this picture of a man caressing a flower while wearing a mask and radiation suit, while in the background an emaciated, pale, woman wearing no protective gear looks on, but it is.

The second was the synopsis.

Set in the 60’s and 70’s, as Russia went full blown, top-secret mission crazy, a scientist tells his story of working in a bunker deep under ground.

A) Everything about Chernobyl has always fascinated me. I’m not sure why, honestly, as the entire event and fall out is and was horrific. Maybe it’s because of the stark photos I saw growing up of the abandoned amusement park?

B) The secret bunker, secret experiment angle will always get me, every single time.

What I liked: While I typically don’t enjoy the journal style/epistolary style of books, this one worked perfectly. Told through the pages of the main scientist’s secret journal he kept, we get the details of ‘Project Prometheus.’ A group of intelligent individuals are gathered in the Kremlin to facilitate a program to ‘create’ new beings.

Manzetti does a great job of creating a claustrophobic feeling throughout this book, but as things go off the tracks and the government begins to eliminate scientists one by one as their projects fail, the level of tension raises much like a Geiger counter would in the exclusion zone.

The book’s third act, after they move to Chernobyl’s site, is really a thing of beauty. We start to see the main scientist’s love for his subjects grow, even as things get worse and everything hits the fan.

What I didn’t like: While the journal style did work, I think I would have loved this book even more if it had been a straight forward story. I wanted more details, more information on the events that happened.

Why you should buy this: Just a stunning, stunning book. Think ‘Frankenstein’ meets ‘Splice’ meets the horror movie ‘Chernobyl Diaries.’ Manzetti truly created a masterful story of suspense, tension and while the ‘Prometheus Project’ on its own would keep me riveted, the added unseen force of the Russian government always willing to rear up its ugly head was a bonus.

I do want to add that there is a note at the start that this was translated from Italian, which is Manzetti’s native language. I found no issues what-so-ever with the phrasing or writing, so if that is one of the reasons holding you back – don’t let it be.

This one’s going to stay with me for some time and I really, really hope more people begin to find it.

5/5

(Lost Girls released by Dell in 2000, The Damned released by Simon & Schuster in 2015)

Welcome back for the third post in my PYPERMAYNIA celebration.

Let’s jump into the next chapter shall we?

I’d discovered Pyper and loved ‘The Demonologist,’ and lucky for me, he had a number of releases out already. This is always such a fantastic moment, when you realize you can read more of an author you’ve just discovered!

I made a return trip to the Coles at Seven Oaks and was pleased to find two of Pyper’s releases in stock – ‘The Damned’ and ‘Lost Girls.’ I bought them both without even reading the synopsis and I vividly remember the goth clerk who worked at both Coles and HMV in the mall saying she loved ‘Lost Girls’ and it made her bawl her eyes out.

After reading the synopsis’ of both, I decided to start with ‘The Damned.’

‘The Damned’ follows Danny Orchard, bestselling author of a memoir detailing his near-death experience that claimed the life of his twin sister. Pyper doesn’t let you feel comfortable once within this book, creating a claustrophobic world. One aspect I loved was just how familiar the house where the fire happened was. It could’ve been any house, on any street, near any of us. As the book went on, it grows darker and bolder and the ending will stay with you for long after you are done reading it.

I haven’t re-read this, purely because it’s a book that has stayed so solidly in my brain since I first read it that there’s no point yet in reading it! I’d end up skimming!

If you’ve not read it, jump on this! Click the link, then head below for ‘Lost Girls.’

 

‘Lost Girls’ was a book I put off from reading. Partly it was the synopsis, partly it was the reaction the goth chick from HMV/Coles had. I’d had some great discussions with her over the few years HMV was open and I knew she was a pretty tough woman. Hell, we spent time chatting about all the crazy stuff we’d seen on Liveleak at one point.

If this book had messed her up, then I was wondering just what it would do to me.

‘Lost Girls’ is a sorrow filled, creep fest.

To know go back and examine this as Pyper’s debut is really quite stunning.

We are introduced to Attorney Crane, summoned to a small town in Ontario to piece together just what’s happened as he looks to defend a high-school teacher accused of killing two students. The town stays quiet, and Crane realizes nobody cares whether he’s there nor if the teacher is innocent or guilty.

Oddly, I loved the small tie-in’s between ‘Lost Girls’ and ‘The Guardians’ when I read it recently. The saying ‘small towns know how to forget’ is wholly accurate, and as someone who grew up in the smallest of small towns, you see it happen time and again.

This town has a secret and Pyper decides to tell us in slow-burn fashion, drawing us in chapter after chapter.

I remember being unnerved completely, every time the phone rang in the eerie hotel, how Pyper described the shadows seen in the dark streets and when we finally arrive at the ending – goth chick was right.

I was distraught.

It works so well, but left this reader regretting having binged read the book and felt the enormity crash down on my soul.

You see, Pyper writes with horror in his veins, but Canadiana in his fingertips. He crafts these characters that work at the corner stores, that bag our groceries and show up at our barbecues or tail-gate parties at the beach.

This is why I adore Pyper’s writing, it speaks to that sense of where I came from, but also what I imagine.

So, once again – have you read ‘Lost Girls.’ ?

If not, I highly suggest you check it out, but be warned – you’ll be crushed.

The Demonologist, published by Simon & Schuster in 2013.

Before I discovered Goodreads and the Book Horror Community on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, I was an impulse buyer. A new Stephen King book – yup. A book with a cool sounding synopsis and a striking cover – yuppers. I used to spend a fair amount of time in the Coles at the Seven Oaks Mall in Abbotsford, BC looking over their painfully small horror and science fiction section, hoping to find a new to me book to snag. We’d also check out the Walmart book section, they had a fairly well stocked 2/$15 paperback section, where I grabbed books like The Martian.

I’d grown up being a devoted King fan, having borrowed every single copy that my neighbor, Patti Moody owned and voraciously read them. To me, back then, there was only one name in the horror world that I knew would bring me joy.

I’ve told this story a bajillion and one times, but one day, me and my wife were checking out the 2/$15 section and I spotted a book with the cover I’ve shared here at the top. A very simple, yet striking cover of a darkened forest and a young child. The title grabbed me immediately – how could it not, and the synopsis read like something any horror lover would gobble up. I didn’t buy it, though. I took a picture of it and the book beside it and then nagged and whined to Amanda the rest of our shopping trip about how awesome the two books looked. The other book, for reference, was The Troop by Nick Cutter.

I ended up buying both, and while my memory has faded and I no longer remember if it was during that shopping trip or a return over the next two days, but I dove into both. And while both were absolutely stunning, I was drawn to Pyper’s release more.

‘The Demonologist’ is, to me at least, at its heart, a journey of a scarred man. A man who doesn’t believe what he studies completely, but once his family becomes directly involved, he’s forced to face the truth that maybe there are other things out there, things we can’t see when our internal blinds are closed.

I remember, to this day, vivid scenes. Scenes that scared me to my core and had me question whether I’d be able to continue.

While I read this book far before my time reading and reviewing, posting to sites like Goodreads and Bookbub, I still consider this to be a 5 star read and one that I’ll need to revisit again soon.

At the time of its release, ‘The Demonologist’ was in production to become a movie, and while that seems to have been put on pause, I know I’d love to see an adaptation.

Something, specifically, that I’ll always treasure and cherish from reading and discovering this book, was that it was from A CANADIAN. I know it’s a weird thing, but yes, in Canada, we really do have a sense of commonality about fellow Canucks. When we see a new NHL player and find out he’s from our hometown, he immediately becomes a player we root for. Same goes for actors/actresses, authors, comedians, you name it. So, to have discovered a Canadian who was writing THIS type of book, blew my mind and opened a lot of doors.

Maybe a part of me was closed off and scared to allow another author to invade the space I’d created and curated for my horror reads, but Pyper was the one. His book and his writing spoke to me and opened up a new voice that I haven’t been able to put down since.

Oddly enough, with a large portion of the back story of Professor David Ullman being a man who studies ‘Paradise Lost’ it is interesting to read Andrew’s thoughts on that epic poem. I don’t know if it is still available, but I was lucky enough to snag a Kindle copy of ‘Paradise Lost’ with an essay from Andrew about the poem as well as some questions directed towards ‘The Demonologist.’ I’d highly recommend you snag it if its still out there.

So, in closing, that is why ‘The Demonologist’ means so much to me. It was almost a repeat of when you first discover a horror movie on TV late at night and you can’t believe what you’ve stumbled on. When I started reading it, I had no idea that the book would expand the possibilities for me of all that I could read, that was out there, but also that other Canadians were doing this as well.

While ‘The Demonologist’ isn’t my all-time favorite book from Andrew, it will always hold a very special place in my heart.

In fact, I was lucky enough to find an ARC of the book at a used book store last year and snagged it immediately. I still can’t believe it and I can’t believe that Andrew has been kind enough to sign both versions for me.

As I write this, I have a photo beside my laptop. You may have seen it already, but if not, here it is;

For those who don’t know, this is a photo of Andrew’s ‘demon research books’ that he used when writing ‘The Demonologist.’ My friend, Jen (who is contributing a review of ‘The Only Child’ as well) gave it to me as a gift and it makes me smile at least a dozen times a day.

So, there. ‘The Demonologist.’

Outstanding book, but a book that will forever be my first Pyper love.

Haven’t read it?

What are you waiting for?

 

Welcome back, friends!

I’m really, really excited to officially kick off the exciting month of May with my celebration of all things Andrew Pyper! There’s some exciting stuff to look forward to this time around. I attempted a grand celebration last year and honestly, I failed me, Andrew and his fans. A part of it was my internal voice saying – it’s too much, you’re annoying him with this!

Kindly, Andrew has assured me that this is not an annoyance and so this time around – bigger and better!

So, what should you expect? Here’s what’s on tap!

May 1st – today’s post is featuring an all new interview with Andrew, so keep scrolling below. I’ve re-asked him some questions from last year, as well as new one’s!

May 4th – A retrospective on his book ‘The Demonologist.’

May 6th – Retrospectives on ‘The Damned’ and ‘Lost Girls.’

May 11th – Retrospective and Review of ‘The Wildfire Season.’

May 13th – Retrospective, Guest Review and Review of ‘The Only Child.’

May 15th – Article revisit on how Andrew helped in making me a better writer.

May 20th – Retrospective and Review of ‘The Homecoming.’

May 21st – Retrospective and Review of ‘The Trade Mission.’

May 22nd – Andrew answers some questions specifically to each of his books.

May 25th – Retrospective and Review of ‘Kiss Me.’

May 26th – Retrospective and Review of ‘The Residence.’

May 27th – Retrospective and Review of ‘The Guardians.’

May 28th – Retrospective and Review of ‘The Killing Circle.’

May 29th – Wrap up!

Wowsa. See what I mean about diving into the deep end, this time around!

Alright, so I’ll shut up and here’s the interview!

Andrew Pyper Interview 2020!

Once again, Andrew, thank you so much for putting up with my shenanigans and being such a great sport with this whole thing. I’ve said it before, but truthfully – I’m very honored and humbled that you’ve ever interacted or even replied to anything that I’ve sent your way. To have you agree to do this interview (and with this second go around – even more questions with the specific book focuses) is just outstanding!

So, without further ado, welcome back for PYPER-MAY-NIA 2!

Let’s dive right into the questions!

I asked this last year, but for those that missed it, what initially drew you to writing dark fiction/horror/psychological thrillers? Did you have a favorite horror book growing up?

It must be some form of hard-wiring because even my earliest short stories from childhood came out that way: not necessarily horror tales, but people on the run, dreams that invade reality, doors that open into different dimensions. Where did that come from? Certainly, the books I was drawn to. Stephen King, of course, but also Peter Straub, paperback monster horror (The Rats, The Swarm, Jaws) – along with much quieter literary fiction that I loved and didn’t see as incongruent with the scary stuff all that much, notably Alice Munro. Also, the movies that stayed with me the most tended to combine the domestic, the gritty, the smaller scale, with the fantastical or horrific. I loved then – and continue to love – stories that cross over from one set of “rules” to another.

Did you have a literary mentor when you started?

No. I’m jealous of colleagues who had mentors they corresponded with or were taught by. That would have been a comfort to have someone around to say “Yes, by all means, you can do it that way,” early on, but I didn’t.

Have you found any barriers to writing your style of fiction being Canadian?

More in the earlier days of my publishing career than now. But absolutely, I’ve encountered dismissiveness among certain critics, or resistance from cultural gatekeepers who see “quality” in Canadian fiction exclusively occurring on a narrow field. I even once had an editor who recommended that I write my novels under a pseudonym to avoid not being taken seriously when I returned one day to writing “proper fiction.” Today, I’m happy to report that while the publishing business remains difficult in all the ways it’s always been difficult, writing within and through genre in Canada is less of a disqualification than it used to be.

How much input do you typically have regarding your book covers? Do you suggest something once done writing and it’s been handed in, or do you typically let that be handled and then you approve the options?

I try to limit my involvement on covers to speaking up when I think a terrible mistake might about to be made. Fortunately, that’s hardly ever happened! My test is: Can you live with it? Can you look at it on a shelf and not feel a gag reflex? If you do feel those things, then jump into the mix. If not, then keep your powder dry.

Of your own books – do you have a personal favourite cover?

I love The Demonologist trade paperback in the US and Canada. Also, the US trade paperback for The Wildfire Season and the US/Canada hardcover for The Damned.

‘The Homecoming’ is your most recent release and has been greatly received.  Have you begun your next book already or do you take some time post-release for promotion, reflection etc?

I’ve completed a new novel, The Residence, that’s coming out in September. But you mention the space between one novel and the next – that’s always a weird time for me. I tend to get antsy, or pursue stupid diversions, or (in my younger, wilder years) get into trouble of one kind or another during these periods between projects. Part of it, I think, is catching up from the person you were when you started the previous book to the person you are now. I feel like I grow up in a sometimes painful, hyper-accelerated way between novels, because in the time I’m writing them I’m frozen in the world I’m creating. It can be a disorienting, if necessary, experience.

Since we spoke last year for PYPER-MAY-NIA 1, ‘The Homecoming’ has continued to be prominently featured on bookstagram, Twitter and the Amazon charts, and you’ve announced your next book as well – ‘The Residence’ – which arrives in September. Has ‘The Residence’ been something whittling away for some time or was this the project you jumped into once ‘The Homecoming’ was out of your hands?

The Residence has an interesting origin story for me, as most of the time my underlying ideas for novels have been percolating away for some time – subconsciously probably for years – before I start on them. In this case, I was well along on an outline for a completely different project to follow The Homecoming when I was tooling around on the internet, just for fun, looking up true ghost stories. You know the ones: accounts by real people who buy the perfect little house in the country, move in, hear scratching in the walls, voices in the night, then catch a glimpse of a spectral grandma in the kitchen? I love those stories. Anyway, I was just wasting some time on that one day when my searches brought me to ghostly stories of the White House. Most of it was narratives I’d heard before. Not really my thing. But then I bumped into the Pierces and…hoo boy. President Franklin Pierce. I’d never heard of him. But I was immediately struck by his story of tremendous loss prior to becoming president, his odd marriage to his grief-stricken wife, Jane, the many unsettling facts that were attached to his single term of office. I was hooked. And within the space of a day or two, I set aside that outline for a different novel knowing The Residence was up next.

Was writing ‘The Residence’ daunting at all? Historical fiction can be challenging, but tackling one set in The White House must have presented some unique and different barriers. Had you considered writing historical fiction in the past?

I’d never really thought of writing historical fiction before encountering the Pierces. All the big, famous, dramatic episodes of the past seemed to have already been exploited in one way or another, and I’m not much of an amateur historian in the first place. I thought it was an area meant for others. But when I decided to write a ghost story in the White House based on real people and real events, I figured I had to come up with an approach that would suit my material along with my creative inclinations. So I devised a few guidelines right from the start: I would depart from the historical record freely on the ghost story side, but stick to the facts in most other respects; I would keep the book as crisply written as possible to avoid any excess historical exposition; I would make Jane an equal if not greater focus of the novel than Franklin (as it was Jane whom I fell for in the first place).

I asked you this last year, but what independent/self-published/small press releases have stood out for you lately?

There’s so much out there! I try to keep up with work that I hear others being excited about, but the TBR stack is going to topple over and smother me to death in the night. But off the top of my head, I’ve loved The Fisherman by John Langan, North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingsrud, Experimental Film by Gemma Files.

Similar question to last year, what advice would you give to any new authors out there that you wish someone would’ve given you?

I wish someone had told me early on to hold on to work longer before submitting it. The impulse to get stuff out there is strong, but despite what some might say along the lines of “I know it’s just a first draft, I’ll keep that in mind as I read” it’s not true. First drafts are judged the same as finished drafts, and it can jeopardize the viability of a project to have it burn out before it’s ready. Hang on to your drafts. Read them aloud to yourself. Pursue beta readers (with great love and lots of gifts for their labour). Ask yourself “Is this really, honestly, the best I can do?” If there’s a shade of doubt at all…go back to it again.

In most of your books, you’ve featured a small northern Canadian town or location. Even to the extent of having ‘The Wildfire Season’ set in the Yukon. Is there something you’ve found that continues to draw you to the far north?

I suppose there’s personal and aesthetic answers to that one. On the personal side, I love the north, both the down here and ‘Up There’ versions: the woods, the water, the quiet, the being away from things. It makes me feel at once small and empowered, if that makes any sense. On the aesthetic side, the north provides many narrative assets, especially in the stories I write: isolation, physicality, places to hide, places to be found, and lots of places to bury the bodies.

I recently messaged you asking if you’d heard of the mythical Nick Cutter aka Craig Davidson unreleased book. A book Craig has deemed so extreme that it will never see the light of day. Is there a mythical book in the Pyper vault? Is there much unreleased work sitting around collecting dust that us fans would love to see?

There are some things I’ve written that will never see the light of day but it’s not because they’re too extreme, just…not what I wanted them to be. Having said that, on the screenwriting side, I’ve got a few movie and TV scripts that failed to get off the ground that, who knows, might find another life down the line. Wouldn’t that be nice?

I’ve often referred to you as my ‘Stephen King’ and being able to have any sort of interaction through social media is mind blowing and frequently leaves me speechless. You’re pretty active on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Do you enjoy the interaction and accessibility the platforms give or is it more of a necessity with the changing face of promotion?

That’s very kind of you to say! And in answer to your question, meeting readers like yourself is a great joy to me, an interaction I learn a lot from. It reminds me of something so fundamental you’d think you’d never forget it, but sometimes you do all the same: you write because there are people out there you hope to connect with, to create something that plays in their heads. It’s such a privilege when that connection is made, and social media is now the primary means by which one learns of it.

I asked a similar question to this last year.  You have two kids.  How old will they have to be until they are allowed to read any of your works?

My eldest is thirteen and loves horror, but it frightens her terribly and gives her bad dreams (she would deny this, but trust me, it’s true). My younger is more honest about it: he likes action, but not “the freaky stuff.” All to say that I’m not rushing any Read Dad! campaigns around here. My dream is that they find the books on their own time, on their own terms, when their curiosity gets the better of them.

Lastly – when you kindly participated in last year’s PYPER-MAY-NIA celebration, you’d indicated that you didn’t take a break after finishing a book and that (at that time) you’d already begun your next book. I’m going to assume that was referring to ‘The Residence.’ Should us die hard Pyper fans, aka your “scare hounds” (stick tap to Randall Perry for that!) circle 2021 to be a year to expect another Pyper release?

I wish! No, I’ve been working on a few different projects that came after The Residence, none of them novels. I can’t really say more than that, but I hope to be able to soon. But I do have an outline for a book I want to get back to – remember that book I mentioned that was up next before I met the Pierces? Maybe this fall I can dive in.

Bonus question! 

When I was finishing this up, my 3-year-old son, Auryn, came over and said I had to ask you what your favorite color is and do you like spiders?

Auryn, great questions! Blue. And yes!

 

Thank you again for doing this Andrew! It is incredibly gracious of you and I’m very humbled that you would take the time to answer these!

Where to follow Andrew:

Website: http://www.andrewpyper.com/

Twitter: @andrewpyper

Instagram: @apyper29

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.pyper.16