Craig DiLouie's Apocalyptic Horror Fiction

Meet Eric Shapiro, author of STORIES FOR THE END OF THE WORLD, a collection of three apocalyptic novellas and and seven short stories, and director and producer of THE RULE OF THREE. You can learn more about Eric’s work here.

Craig: Eric, welcome! What have you contributed to the genre? What’s your best known work? Tell us about it.
Eric: Most of my genre fiction to date is collected in Permuted’s STORIES FOR THE END OF THE WORLD. I also produced and directed a feature film called RULE OF THREE, which is probably the best known thing I’ve done, since its Netflix presence gives it a wide daily audience.

Craig: What type of storytelling in the genre do you consider your niche?
Eric: I think my thing is putting psychologically believable characters into genre situations. Like the scenario can be insane or less than realistic — which is the case in both my film and my Permuted stories — but I work hard on making the characters documentary-like.

Craig: As writer, do you prefer fast or slow zombies? Building on these basic themes, what do you consider to be your own trademark or
unique innovation as an author?
Eric: Each of the three times I’ve written zombies — twice for Permuted and once for John Skipp’s ZOMBIES: ENCOUNTERS WITH THE HUNGRY DEAD — I’ve leaned toward slow ones, so I must have a subconscious preference. The most innovative thing I’ve done with the undead is presenting them as mutated, half-human, half-tortoise creatures in my story THE HILL (in STORIES FOR THE END OF THE WORLD).

Craig: What makes zombies so interesting to write about?
Eric: I recently wrote an essay about this for a new collection coming from Armand Rosamilia’s press. I think they’re a really strong mirror for our fascination with death. They represent our fate as corpses, but they’re standing up and walking around.

Craig: Which writers do you particularly admire, and what did each teach you about the craft or profession of writing?
Eric: The list is endless. Matheson’s “I Am Legend” had a significant influence on my apocalyptic novella “It’s Only Temporary,” along with the early work of Chuck Palahniuk. Denis Johnson and William T. Vollmann aren’t horror writers, but both have generated terrifying material, and they’re two of the best alive.

Craig: What’s the last book in the genre that you particularly enjoyed?
Eric: There’s a book by Guy Burt called THE HOLE that caught me off-guard. I don’t want to give anything away, but I was so scared when it was over that I felt like running out of the room. I’ve also been reading Ketchum’s PEACEABLE KINGDOM a lot lately, ’cause I adapted his story MAIL ORDER into a short film, which will be available soon.

Craig: What is your favorite zombie metaphor in fiction or film?
Eric: You can’t beat the mall in DAWN OF THE DEAD. I think for any thinking person, malls are generally just a little bit terrifying. All that plastic, soul-sucking conformity. The bad food, bad lighting. Putting zombies into that setting is a natural; malls are a hotbed of dehumanization.

Craig: What’s your favorite zombie movie?
Eric: I don’t have a favorite, but I think 28 WEEKS LATER gets overlooked as a truly great sequel. It’s a very simple, physical, unpredictable, and powerful film.

Craig: Which of the following appeals to you most about the genre—zombies, survival horror, apocalypse—and why?
Eric: The apocalypse never seems to lose its fascination for me. Particularly since it’s occurring in the form of climate change! It’s pretty hard to get away from as a concept, so if you’re a writer interested in urgent themes, that one’s always right in front you.

Craig: Which is your favorite type of story—apocalyptic (we’re seeing the collapse), or post-apocalyptic (the collapse has already happened)—and why?
Eric: I love it when we’re seeing the collapse. That’s harder in a way; you have to stay more active as an author when you’re doing that. Not only is the story progressing, but the world’s falling apart. Post-apocalyptic is satisfying because it’s more somber and quiet, but the insanity factor can be lower.

Craig: What is your approach to writing? How do you complete a novel?
Eric: I try to write from my solar plexus. I spend half the day getting wound up — reading, talking to people, running errands — then try to trick myself to a point where I’m ready to explode. When I hit that point, it’s time to sit down at the keyboard.

Craig: What is the best review you ever received on Amazon, and why did you like it?
Eric: Somebody said that STORIES FOR THE END OF THE WORLD gave them nightmares. For a horror writer, that’s as good as it gets. It’s like a comedian getting laughs; you can’t fake that stuff.

Craig: Without naming names or quoting, what is the worst review you ever received on Amazon, and if you could respond to it, what would you say?
Eric: Any review on Amazon — and this happens on Netflix, too — that suspects that any positive review must be planted is awful. Think about that: How stupid is a person who can’t conceive of somebody having a legitimate difference in opinion from their own?

Craig: What are the key elements to a great story, and how do you approach them?
Eric: It sounds obvious, but there has to actually be a “story,” meaning a narrative. People overlook that narrative reflects the way human beings think and reason all day long. We wake up, we have goals. Have to have breakfast, have to call this person, have to resolve this conflict. As we attempt these things, stuff stands in our way: the toast gets burnt, the person has no cell signal, the conflict deepens. That’s what life is like. And think of how we regard people who have no goals: we disrespect them; we put them in the attic. So a book with no narrative might be trying to be different, but often ends up being aimless and uninteresting.

Craig: What makes a great character?
Eric: I think there has to be a balance between familiarity and serious, surprising flaws. Great characters are people you could imagine coming across, but who have massive defects (not necessarily dangerous or evil ones, but serious ones) that sneak up on you and put you in touch with your own vulnerability. Mediocre or bad characters just have the first part.

Craig: What are you working on? What can we expect next from you?
Eric: I’m closing in on the end of a novella for John Skipp’s new Ravenous Shadows line of books. It’s called THE DEVOTED, and is about the last day in the life of a suicide cult. Skipp is an iron horse; he’s one of the only people I’ve ever met who pushes me harder than I push myself. It’s like having a lucid, colossal, super-talented roommate in your brain, affably yelling orders through a bullhorn. I’m loving the ride. Film-wise, keep an eye out for MAIL ORDER, and also my next feature with my wife/co-producer Rhoda Jordan, GIRL ZERO. It’s about something your readers might know a little bit about: the apocalypse.

Craig: Sounds great, Eric. Thanks for joining us today.
Eric: Thanks for doing this, Craig!

In THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS, a beautiful animated short by Peter Cotter based on the short story by Ray Bradbury, an automated house cheerfully goes about its daily chores, unaware that the family it cares for is no longer there.

There Will Come Soft Rains from Peter Cotter on Vimeo.

Why are images of derelict, post-apocalyptic cities so stirring and disturbing? Manchester Apocalypse is at the Incognito Gallery in Stevenson Square in the city’s North Quarter until January 4, 2012. Catch the preview here.

While you’re waiting for the return of The Walking Dead to AMC in February, check out this hilarious spoof, in which humanity faces a scourge of zombies who quote Christopher Walken films.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Tony Monchinski, a writer of both fiction and nonfiction, and author of the EDEN series from Permuted Press.

Craig: What have you contributed to the genre? What’s your best known work? Tell us about it.
Tony: I wrote and self-published an action-horror novel called EDEN. The joint Permuted/Gallery Books (Simon & Schuster) reissue was released in December 2011. Hopefully that will help it get into more readers’ hands. Permuted has published two sequels—CRUSADE and RESURRECTION—and I recently sent them the fourth book in the series (MORIAH) which I hope they publish.

Craig: What type of storytelling in the genre do you consider your niche?
Tony: I’m good at writing dialogue and action scenes and moving a story along. I know what I like to read and when I’m reading I am very aware of what an author is doing. This in turn, I like to think, helps me when I write.

Craig: As writer, do you prefer fast or slow zombies, and living or undead?
Tony: I like both fast and slow zombies, mixing it up. I’m definitely not into the “smart” zombies or zombies that can wield sophisticated weapons, channel two-thousand year old spirits, or talk and communicate with one another.

Craig: Building on these basic themes, what do you consider to be your own trademark or unique innovation as an author?
Tony: I like to think I make highly-readable, fast paced action-horror novels. When I see one of my books labeled “a zombie novel” I feel somewhat ambivalent about that. On the one hand, I get that it’s a signifier for a certain reader—someone on the lookout for books with zombies in them. On the other hand I worry that there is a whole segment of the reading population that will avoid a book with “a zombie novel” printed on the cover because of their own prejudices and presuppositions of what such a book would be like. I don’t think I just write ‘zombie novels’. Any novel worth its salt is going to make you stop and think and mull it over long after you’ve finished reading it. This is what I am going for with my books. Readers can decide if I’ve accomplished what I set out to achieve.

Craig: What makes zombies so interesting to write about?
Tony: I love zombies. I thought they were getting short-shrift six or seven years ago when I decided to write EDEN. Vampires were all the rage and really still are although zombies are getting a lot more love in our society nowadays, which is heartening to see.

Craig: Which writers do you particularly admire, and what did each teach you about the craft or profession of writing?
Tony: Three that come immediately to mind are Kurt Vonnegut, George Pelecanos and Andrew Vachss. Each taught me that you can say a lot with few words, much as Hemingway did. They also taught me that you can transcend a genre with the quality and import of your writing. For example, no one is going to say SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE is just a science fiction novel, or that George Pelecanos’ stuff is purely ‘crime’ fiction. Each, on top of being important contributions to literature, are also entertaining as hell. I admire Cormac McCarthy greatly as well, although I cannot write like him—arguably EDEN was trying to sound somewhat McCarthy-ish.

Craig: What’s the last book in the genre that you particularly enjoyed?
Tony: WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks.

Craig: What’s your favorite zombie movie?
Tony: There are so many. I will say I don’t think any affected me as much as the original DAWN OF THE DEAD. I was too young to see it in theaters—it was released here in New York without a rating, only “no one under 17 will be admitted to theaters.” I probably first saw it on video when I was 10 years old and I completely missed the humor and social commentary. It came across as bleak, a gore fest and frightening. I watch it now and I can see the weaknesses but I still love that film for what it meant to me then and what it has come to mean for me and millions of fan-boys like me. Romero was defining a genre and laying down the ground rules in that film and the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

Craig: Which is your favorite type of story—apocalyptic (we’re seeing the collapse), or post-apocalyptic (the collapse has already happened)—and why?
Tony: They both have a place in my heart. What I’d really like to write one day is a big, fat thousand- page novel that moves from apocalypse to post-apocalypse. I have an idea in mind and like everything else it’s a matter of sitting down, fleshing it out, and then committing to writing it.

Craig: What is your approach to writing? How do you complete a novel?
Tony: I put a lot of leg work and thought into a novel before I actually sit down to write it. I map our stories, characters and sometimes detail scenes before actually writing. I find the more depth and detail I can attend to in these early stages makes the novel flow that much faster. And that said, things develop as I write: I’ll see the need for a scene or I’ll build things here and there as I am writing. I tend to write scenes or sections and do not follow a beginning-middle-end convention. I do go back several times and make sure things flow and check to rule out and expunge inconsistencies. I like to write in the early mornings (say 4, 4:30) before everyone in my house is awake and before I have to go to work. Get up early, write for an hour, hour and a half; give me three months like that and I can complete an 80 or 90,000 word novel like the ones in the EDEN series.

Craig: What is the best review you ever received on Amazon, and why did you like it?
Tony: Any time I see 4- or 5-stars I’m feeling pretty pumped! Patrick D’Orazio has written some reviews of my books that were very detailed and showed that here is a guy—a writer himself—who understands the craft and can appreciate where we, as authors, go right, and where we need work.

Craig: Without naming names or quoting, what is the worst review you ever received on Amazon, and if you could respond to it, what would you say?
Tony: Early on a review of EDEN was a personal, vituperative attack on me and my family. I have a suspicion I knew who wrote it and chose not to respond. The review disappeared after a month or so on Amazon. All I’d say to the person who wrote it is it’s easy to be a big man behind your keyboard, isn’t it?

Craig: What are the key elements to a great story, and how do you approach them?
Tony: Character and plot figure first and foremost. Diction is extremely important. When I’m reading and a particular word stands out over and over again and not because it is supposed to, that bothers me. I try and be very careful about this when I write. I consult dictionary- and thesaurus.com a lot.

Craig: What makes a great character?
Tony: Someone we can feel strongly about-either for or against. Someone that resonates with the reader. I’ve found dialogue is often an effective way to convey character so I tend to stick to that and show the reader rather than flashbacks to tell the reader.

Craig: What are you working on? What can we expect next from you?
Tony: Taking notes on what will be I KILL MONSTERS 2 & 3 (THE REVENANTS and BAD MEN, respectively). I KILL MONSTERS is another series I self-publish (EDEN was originally self-published). It doesn’t involve zombies—yet (there will be Nazi zombies down the line)—but vampires, djinn, furies and mobsters. I’d like to write these two books and then start thinking about a novel I have long wanted to write, SCENES FROM THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: A LOVE STORY, which is best described as straddling the “literary fiction” and satire genres. And it has very little if anything to do with the actual French Revolution. Depending on how the new EDEN does and if there is interest from Permuted, I have ideas for an EDEN 5 in mind as well. If I had my druthers, what I’d really like to write would be a sequel in novel form to the 1980s cult horror flick HELL NIGHT. In the meantime I have a horror-science fiction novel I wrote called WARLORD: DERVISH that I wrote in spring of 2011, and I envision at least two sequels to that. I am trying to find a home for it and if I cannot I might self-publish again. Time will tell, as it always does.

Craig: Thanks for joining us today, Tony!
Tony: Thanks for this opportunity!

Wow. I just finished ZONE ONE by Colson Whitehead with some extremely mixed feelings. This is a book I had high hopes for after hearing it praised as a “thinking man’s zombie novel,” which as an author of zombie fiction (even if a bit of a hack), I found a little insulting (I don’t know any authors in the genre who write for idiots), but took to mean it has more of a literary approach than the usual thriller, which interested me as a reader always on the lookout for something fresh. Whitehead writes literary fiction, and seeing somebody like him take on zombies and the end of the world was definitely intriguing. The Amazon reviews were extremely mixed–from vicious take downs to soaring praise, with an almost equal distribution of one-, two-, three-, four- and five-star ratings in its 130+ reviews on Amazon–which actually only intrigued me more.

The book begins a bit awkwardly, as if the author is trying to push away any readers expecting a typical zombie novel. We are introduced to an average man nicknamed Mark Spitz, survivor of the zombie apocalypse, now working for a reconstituted government as a “sweeper” shooting down stragglers in a reclaimed southern Manhattan, officially named Zone One, after the marines clear it. The protagonist is intentionally introduced as a blank, which makes it difficult for the reader to emphasize with him, and he comes across as so emotionally distant from the apocalypse, reinforced by the author’s wry and witty writing style, that it’s hard to care what happens to him–if he doesn’t seem to care that much, why should we? Early in the book, he is attacked by some zombies locked for years in a room and during the resulting struggle, there are so many flashbacks and digressions, going for on for so many pages, I stopped caring whether he survived. This approach continues, with digressions within flashbacks going on for so long that when they finally looped back to the present I had no idea what was going on. Seriously, by about 100 pages into the book, almost nothing had actually happened.

At this point, however, something clicked for me and I think the author as well. Whitehead’s brushstrokes started to reveal the big picture, and the setting itself began to take over the story. Mark Spitz started to become sort of an archaeologist, visiting a desolate Manhattan and recalling it in bits and pieces as a once great civilization. The setting of a post-apocalyptic America started to become so rich and detailed I could not help but be impressed. This is a richly imagined, detailed and precise world, with its own rhythms, problems, obsessions, hopes, people, stories. I started to feel at one point that the apocalyptic world, specifically Zone One, was the main character, not Mark Spitz. Now I can understand how this would disappoint some readers. A good story requires sympathetic characters engaged in compelling and believable conflict, not just a strong setting. It’s like ZONE ONE was a 600-page book, and Whitehead was forced to remove most of the plot to compress it to 272 pages. By the end, all cylinders start firing, however, as Mark Spitz recalls his journey as a lone survivor and Zone One is attacked. Wry and witty take a backseat to Mark Spitz’s urgent desire to survive, and his surprising talent at it. The ending is so strong that I couldn’t help but think if Whitehead had made the rest of the book as exciting as that, he would have created what might honestly be considered a masterpiece, at least by the humble standards of our genre.

The result is an incredible vision–one of the most poignant I’ve seen in this genre, and trust me, I’ve read a lot of zombie books–but also sadly, in my honest opinion, a story that could have been much more compelling. ZONE ONE is like a jigsaw puzzle. When you finish it, you can see the whole, and it’s beautiful. But the journey to completion can be maddening at times. Would I recommend it to others? It depends to whom I was speaking. It is certainly not everybody’s cup of tea; it’s not your usual zombie novel. In some ways it’s not even your usual any-novel. If you’re looking for a unique and richly imagined vision of the zombie apocalypse, I would give it a shot, and if you do, stick with it. If you’re a fan of literary fiction, definitely check it out. If you are looking for a thriller with a strong linear narrative, dramatic conflict and lots of action, however, I would suggest passing on this one.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan Thomas, author of THE UNDEAD WORLD OF OZ and other books. You can learn more about Ryan and his work at www.ryancthomas.com.

Craig: What have you contributed to the genre? What’s your best known work? Tell us about it.
Ryan: My novels include THE SUMMER I DIED and its sequel BORN TO BLEED, RATINGS GAME, THE UNDEAD WORLD OF OZ and HISSERS. I was the editor of MONSTROUS: 20 TALES OF GIANT CREATURE TERROR. I’ve had three novellas published–WITH A FACE OF GOLDEN PLEASURE (in ELEMENTS OF THE APOCALYPSE, Permuted Press), ENEMY UNSEEN (in HEADSHOT QUARTET, Permuted Press), and CHOOSE (in MALCONTENTS, Grand Mal Press). My biggest seller has been THE UNDEAD WORLD OF OZ, which is a mashup that sees Dorothy and her friends not just fighting off the Wicked Witch, but also hordes of undead munchkins, zombie flying monkeys, and more. It was a fun project because my editor and I agreed we needed to copy Baum’s voice, which is written for young children. So it was like telling a horror bedtime story to your kids: “And then the big zombie ate Toto’s head, for Toto was too slow to outrun the undead Munchkin, and this made Dorothy sad as she sat splayed in her little pet’s entrails.” But perhaps my most praised book is THE SUMMER I DIED, which has often been described as HOSTEL with characters you actually care about.

Craig: What type of storytelling in the genre do you consider your niche?
Ryan: I got pegged as a splatterpunk guy early on due to THE SUMMER I DIED. So I tried to get away from it. But now I kind of miss it. I love a good story about blood, guts, and other bodily fluids.

Craig: As writer, do you prefer fast or slow zombies, and living or undead? Building on these basic themes, what do you consider to be your own trademark or unique innovation as an author?
Ryan: I prefer fast zombies. I feel like there’s no real fear when you can just speed walk your way to safety. My idea in HISSERS was to expand on running zombies by adding an element of mutation to them. I don’t want to reveal the secret, but by the end of the novel those running zombies have become something far more horrifying.

Craig: Which writers do you particularly admire, and what did each teach you about the craft or profession of writing?
Ryan: I tend to read a lot of non horror books for inspiration. Joe Lansdale, Joseph Kannon, Richard K. Morgan, Christopher Moore, and Andrew Vachss are some of my favorites. Each has a unique style that reminds me writing is like music, you have to develop your own sound. Lansdale is witty, Kanon’s dialogue is beautiful, Morgan’s chop chop chop narration is awesome, Moore is just funny and weird, and Vachss’ seedy underground world of LOST BOYS is a perfect example of creating your own universe to work in. All writers need to be reading stuff like this to get outside the box.

Craig: What’s the last book in the genre that you particularly enjoyed?
Ryan: In zombie fiction? I’d have to go with ZOMBIE BITCHES FROM HELL. But I’m currently reading SANDMAN SLIM: KILL THE DEAD and it has lots of zombies in it too and it’s amazing.

Craig: What’s your favorite zombie movie?
Ryan: DEAD ALIVE. hands down the funniest, goriest zombie story every put on celluloid.

Craig: Which is your favorite type of story—apocalyptic (we’re seeing the collapse), or post-apocalyptic (the collapse has already happened)—and why?
Ryan: I really enjoy post apocalyptic stories because I love the idea of creating a new world order. I love the politics of starting over, rewriting the rules. Especially when there is still a mass enemy out there trying to eat you. A lot of films have explored it to some extent, like 28 WEEKS LATER, LAND OF THE DEAD, etc. Those are more or less microcosms of what a govt would be struggling with–the egos, the backstabbing, the pychoses of men in power. The lack of fresh donuts.

Craig: What is your approach to writing? How do you complete a novel?
Ryan: By forcing myself to sit and write every day. Some days I’ll get a lot done, and some days I won’t. It’s all about discipline. Also, I never edit until I’m done. Just get the damned thing written and then go back and start smoothing out the jagged pieces. I need a semblance of something to work with. If that fails, I conjure a demon to do it for me.

Craig: Without naming names or quoting, what is the worst review you ever received on Amazon, and if you could respond to it, what would you say?
Ryan: I don’t read the negative reviews. I did a long time ago and I’d get bummed out, but now I just let it go. Not everyone is going to like what I write. But I did recently get a rather poor review of the audio book of HISSERS, and I was kind of annoyed because the narrator of the audio book never contacted me, which he was supposed to do, and while I think he did an amazing job, he read one key character completely wrong, and it changes the entire idea of who the character is. And the reviewer kind of harped on it like I was using lame tropes. But that character is the opposite of the trope. She’s based on someone I knew well and I wish I could tell the reviewer that “I really wrote it the other way! I promise! Let ME read it to you!” But reader reviews for it have been very good so at least it comes across the right way in people’s heads.

Craig: What are the key elements to a great story, and how do you approach them?
Ryan: Number one: Character. I create my characters out of bits and pieces of people I know because their traits need to be realistic. Character is key, because if i don’t care about the character, and if they don’t seem real to me, then I don’t care about the book. Number two: plausibility. You can write the impossible but you can’t write the implausible. I read way too much stuff where the reactions of the characters are just ridiculous. As humans we have a set way of thinking that comes into play during crises. A good author knows this and employs it. Number three: art. I hate to say there are too many writers out there today just telling a story, not showing, and not showing it in a voice that’s fresh. A good story flows properly. It has a voice. That’s why I love the aforementioned writers so much. I’m really trying to find my voice these days. And finallly: Dialogue. Make it real, make it sparkle, make it funny and emotional, but make it stand out. Again, those authors up there are key influences.

Craig: What makes a great character?
Ryan: Familiarity within something new. I need to know this person can really exist somehow. Even if it’s some wacky made up character, their traits need to be familiar. You know, stuff like ego, desire, flaws, a set way of thinking, a specific speech pattern, etc. Put all that into something I’ve never seen before.

Craig: What are you working on? What can we expect next from you?
Ryan: I am re-editing a novel I wrote a few years ago, THE BUGBOY, about an autistic boy accused of murder. He can control insects, and we come to find his place in the world is part of a larger plan. It’s a sort of horror/detective/mythos novel. But the next out from me is ORIGIN OF PAIN, from Thunderstorm Books. 100 signed, limited edition hardback copies of my first two novels in omnibus form. I can’t wait for it. And yes, I do have part of HISSERS part II written. I hope to have it done in a few months.

On a lighter note, check this out. It’s the zombie apocalypse, but this time humanity has a secret weapon: bastards who ride unicycles, and know how to kick zombie ass.

Unicycle Bastards Kick Zombie Ass webisode 1 from Burk Webb on Vimeo.

In LOVE HURTS, directed by Shariff Nasr, a woman experiences intense heartbreak, and goes to the washroom for a good cry, unaware that her loss has triggered the empathy of an angry spirit.

Short film: Love hurts from Shariff Nasr on Vimeo.

Writing is not for everybody. On the other hand, I think almost all novelists start here.