The Peripatetic Life of the Freelance Editor: In the Lair with Mr Stephen Jones
Today we have kidnapped the much lauded, applauded and awarded Mr Stephen Jones, editor of such tomes as A Book of Horrors, Zombie Apocalypse!, Shadows Over Innsmouth, and the Mammoth Books of Best New Horror, Vampires, Wolf Men and Zombies, as well as recent collections by M.R. James, Karl Edward Wagner, Charles L. Grant and Basil Copper. He really needs no more introduction than that. We gave him a big tumbler of Jack Daniel’s, but he eschewed the comfy chair and insisted upon standing by the fire, elbow on the mantelpiece …
Welcome, Mr Jones.
Dr Angela: So, firstly, how did you get started as an editor? Was it a first love or a deep-seated desire to correct others?
Mr Jones: As much as I love correcting others (mainly because – in my mind at least – I’m nearly always right!), I never actually expected to become an editor. My family has no literary connections and so, except for a love of books and comics and monster magazines when I was younger, I never really saw myself being any way involved in the publishing industry.
I am, if nothing else, aware of my limitations, and I realised very early on that there were always going to be people out there who would be able to write fiction better than I ever could. Therefore, when I began contributing to fanzines in the early 1970s, I sent them non-fiction columns and articles rather than badly written fan fiction. These articles were invariably based around my love of movies.
From there I moved on to editing my own small press magazines and that, eventually, led to editing books. So, as a person of limited skills, that’s pretty much what I’ve done since.
I should stress now that was never The Plan. In fact, I’ve never really had a “Plan” of any kind. There are things that I’ve wanted to do in my life, and some I’ve been very lucky to achieve. Of course, there are numerous others that I’ve failed miserably at.
Dr Lisa: Are there any current trends in horror fiction you’re keen to see die?
Mr Jones: Where shall I start . . .?
When it comes to current trends in horror fiction, I’d like to see most of them go away – from such pointless sub-genres as “paranormal romance”, “urban fantasy” and the “new weird” to the kind of obscenely violent and misogynistic crap you can find online or in the micro-publications.
I’m not advocating a return to the past – god knows, of all genres, horror should be about what we fear now – but I do think that the field has lost its way somewhat over the past decade. And some of the blame for that has to be laid at the door of the low standards exemplified by various awards systems, low-rent publishers, and the current batch of dumb and derivative movie-makers. (more…)
An Introduction to Australian Horror
In honour of Australia Day, I was asked to write an article about Australian horror for This Is Horror in the UK — and it’s now up! The article surveys some of the standout horror published in the past two years by Australian independent presses: so much to talk about, so much incredible talent!
Australia is a land of extremes. One minute the country is ravaged by drought and bushfires, the next it’s drowning in devastating floods. The continent is a combination of enormous red deserts meeting sprawling metropolises meeting ancient tropical rainforests meeting endless coastlines. Some of the largest — and tiniest — deadly predators on the planet are hidden out in the wilds, but are also unearthed in suburban backyards. Over it all, the harsh Australian sun beats down. Casting the longest, darkest shadows.
And right there — right where the glaring light gives way to shade — a population of Australian horror writers thrives. It’s a great position to be in. Looking at stories published by independent presses in the past two years, we find that Australian horror can plunge wholly into the black, even more tragic and disturbing by contrast to the brightness left behind; it can be light-hearted but nuanced, love and joy limned in darkness; or it can tread both worlds, supernatural and terrifying and endearing all at once…
Read the rest here — and enjoy!
Clickety click!
Today has been a hodgepodge of crazy busy-ness, so it somehow seems fitting to post a hodgepodge of links in the hope that, in your own crazy busy days, you might find a moment to clickety click:
- Support ChiZine: “ChiZine.com has been free to readers since its inception in 1997. We want to keep paying our writers pro rates, and we want to keep ChiZine free and accessible to everyone who wants to read it. No donation too small! (Or too big.)” The uber-mega-huge-all-proceeds-go-to-ChiZine Volume 47 includes my story ‘Tiny Drops’, which was first published in Midnight Echo 4. Read, enjoy, donate!
- Shimmer‘s Issue 13 Reader’s Choice Poll is online! Whichever story gets the most votes will be published online so that everyone can read it. As the folks at Shimmer have put it: “Help your favorite author get his or her story the readership it deserves!” *Ahem* my Issue 13 story is called ‘Gutted’ *cough, cough* Shimmer will also randomly select one responder to get a free copy of the issue of their choice — just give them your email address in the last question so they can get in touch with you if you’re the lucky winner. Votes accepted until June 30. (So, that’s ‘Gutted’, by L.L. Hannett…)
- Electric Velocipede has a new website and it rocks! Check it out for yourselves.
- She Never Slept.com has posted a lovely review of Scary Kisses, in which Heather Royston waxes poetic about ‘The February Dragon’ (and also has some excellent things to say about Felicity Dowker’s ‘Bread and Circuses’ and Kyla Ward’s ‘Cursebreaker’). Huzzah!
- And last, but certainly not least, dear Brain (known ’round the traps as Angela Slatter) has some excellent news involving a monumental ToC in a monumental book of horror published by a monumental editor. Congratulations! Can’t wait to read this book!
