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I had the pleasure of interviewing Ty Schwamberger, author of Night School, his first published novel. We discuss his novel, the Horror market in general, and the best weapons to have when attending conventions.
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Horror
I had the pleasure of interviewing Ty Schwamberger, author of Night School, his first published novel. We discuss his novel, the Horror market in general, and the best weapons to have when attending conventions.
What's Night School all about?
My first novel, Night School, is part adventure story, part thriller and most of all a straight-up horror story—all rolled into one. I’ll give it to you straight, with the blurb from the back of the book.
Mr. Ben Sanders has gone missing and his infatuated student Brenda is determined to find him. She and Ben’s friend Tim are concerned his disappearance has something to do with the screams that came from a house on Denison Street and the mutilated bodies that are popping up all over town. Things are about to become more complex in Brenda’s life. She uses the “skills” she has learned from being the community Peeping Tom to play detective and piece together clues to hopefully create a map to Ben’s location. During the search for Ben, Brenda & Tim come face to face with seedy characters wandering the streets at night; drugs dealers, prostitutes and oh yes, all those dead bodies. Who is this maniac running loose on the streets at night? Why does he do it? What does he want? Brenda and Tim will find out soon enough.
What is it you enjoy most about the Horror genre?
Many authors will say this, but I have been a fan and writer of scary stuff ever since I can remember. Actually, I can remember—since 5th grade. My English teacher at the time, Mrs. Rudy, had us write stories each week in this wire-ring binder. Mine were always of the scary variety. In fact, I still have the notebook. I plan to use one of those short stories, adapt it to my writing style today, and include it in a short story collection I am currently working on. So…what do I enjoy the most about Horror? The simple answer—Everything.
I like how you can take a simple idea and make it scary or strange. I like how you can take everyday things, insert a little twist or odd event and then reality becomes someone’s nightmare. I like how writing in this genre, you can experiment and it can still come out as being scary. For example, if you’re a romance writer, you’re pretty limited to what you can write about—you can’t stray too far to the left or you won’t be considered a romance novelist any longer. But, with horror, this isn’t the case. You can come up with a love story, but the two lovers are different. One could be a vampire and the other a zombie or something like that. Basically, writing in the horror genre, you can use your imagination and just let it take you to wherever…
So, yes, I love everything about the horror genre. When it comes down to it, I’m just happy I can now contribute to something I have always enjoyed.
What directions do you see the Horror market going currently?
The horror market seems to dip and rise, just like the stock market. Back in the 80’s the horror market was hot, with scary books and Friday the 13th, leading the way. Then in the 90’s it took a bit of a nose dive. But, over the past five or six years, to me at least, it looks like horror is coming back and in a big way. You see more and more psychological thrillers/horror movies coming out today than ever before. You see the masters of the horror genre; Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, Brian Keene, Richard Laymon (RIP) coming out with new and/or re-released books with more frequency than ever before.
Horror isn’t going anywhere. Hell, we live in a world filled with horror. There will always be someone around that’s crazy enough to write about it.
What effect has music had on your writing?
Honestly, little to none. I mean, I enjoy listening to some heavy-metal when driving to a book signing just to get myself jacked up, but other than that, not much. For example, when I write I have to have it extremely quiet or I just can’t do it. In fact, right now I’m trying to do this interview while watching t.v. and it’s taking me a lot longer than it should..ha ha. But, seriously, some writers enjoy having something on in the background to keep their flow rolling. For example, Stephen King, listens to heavy metal while he writes. But, for me, I have to have it dead silent.
What's cooler: supernatural horror or splatterpunk? I know. Loaded question. ;)
That’s a good one, for sure. There are strengths to each sub-category of horror. Some stories even experiment with combining them. The first book that comes to mind in the ‘supernatural’ category is Darkness, Tell Us by Richard Laymon. It tells the story about a group of friends that have a little fun with a Ouija Board and are lead by a ‘spirit’ to venture into the wilderness in search of a treasure. A pretty damn good book if you ask me.
Though for me, I prefer ‘splatterpunk’ or slasher-type stories. Though, I have written a few that had a supernatural element to them.
Damn difficult question…thanks for asking it. ;-)
Where can readers find your short fiction and stuff?
I could list the various places that you can read or pick up a copy of a magazine where a short story of mine appeared. I could also list the various retailers that sell my novel, Night School. Though, I think the easiest way for someone to find out more about me and my writing or where to read my stuff is to check out my website, at: http://tyschwamberger.wordpress.com.
Going to any conventions this year?
I did plan on going to Marcon, a multiple alternative realities convention, on Memorial Day weekend this year. Though, as it turns out I won’t be able to attend.
I still plan to attend Context 22, August 28-30 in Columbus, Ohio. This is run by the same people that are putting on Marcon. I will be a panelist at this event.
I was also scheduled to attend as an Author Guest, Hypericon 5 in Nashville, TN, June 5th–7th of this year. Though, there was a mix-up with the Chair of the event and I won’t be on the ‘Author Guest’ list, though I’ll still be attending the event—as a fan—where it all started for me, anyway.
Say...I'm going to Context, too...you won't, like, be carrying a sledgehammer or machete around, will you...? *Gulp*
Nah. Not a sledgehammer or machete. It’ll be more like a bowie-style hunting knife with "Night School" engraved in it. In fact, a custom knife maker has crafted the knife for me. It will be a limited-edition, limited-run knife that anyone can buy. High quality stuff. Not one of your pappy’s nickel and dime pocket knives. This thing is so sharp it can slice a hair off a gnat’s…
But, seriously, JD Boren of JDB Knives (http://jdbknives.com) and I are partnering to bring out a knife/book set, that’s truly unique and to the best of my knowledge has never been done before to promote a horror novel (replicas of knives and swords used in movies have been manufactured after-the-fact, but never before). For people interested in knives and/or horror books, they can check out JD’s or my website for additional/ordering information.
Copyright 2009, Scott M. Sandridge. All rights reserved.
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