Archive for Greg F. Gifune
Bad Moon Books Announces A View From The Lake
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Bad Moon Books is now accepting pre-orders for the Eclipse signed limited hardcover edition of Greg F. Gifune’s A View From The Lake.
Description: Hell freezes over…
The modest lakeside resort in the small town of Blissful Point, Massachusetts once offered an alternative to the crowded beaches of Cape Cod. Tourists rented cabins, swam, relaxed, and enjoyed the miles of surrounding forest in a peaceful and safe environment. Katherine lived there for years with her husband James, a poet, and their cat Barney. They ran the small resort during the hectic spring and summer months, then hunkered down and endured the often brutal and desolate winters in relative isolation. Their lives were uncomplicated, happy and quiet – or so Katherine thought – until one summer morning when the dead body of a young boy is found floating in the lake. From the moment the child accidentally drowns, Katherine watches as her husband slowly begins to lose his grip on reality, spiraling down helplessly into insanity. And then he’s gone, vanished from their home without a trace. The authorities drag the lake and search parties comb the woods, but to no avail. James is gone.
Months later, as a blizzard descends over Blissful Point, Katherine, alone at the resort, faces her final winter on the lake. But things are no longer what they seem. Perhaps they never were. Are there others out there, in the woods, in the snow, in the lake, waiting and watching and luring her toward the same madness that claimed James? Is there a lingering and primordial evil haunting the lake, bringing with it the truth behind its existence, the answer to the mystery surrounding her husband’s disappearance, and the life she thought she knew, or is her own grip on reality beginning to loosen?
The Introduction is by T.M. Wright.
You can pre-order through Horror Mall here: A View From The Lake
An Interview With Greg F. Gifune
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Greg F. Gifune is the author of numerous novels, including Gardens Of Night, Catching Hell, Long After Dark, The Living And The Dead, Judas Goat and Saying Uncle. His work has been consistently praised by critics and readers alike and has been translated into several languages and published all over the world.
Robert Dunbar: How weird is this? As writers, we’ve both been interviewed many times. Since launching Uninvited Books a few months ago, I’ve been doing a whole new series of interviews about that process. How’s this for a twist? Now I get to interview YOU. (Just when you think there are no new experiences!) For our purposes here at Hellnotes, we should probably try to behave as though we’re not old friends and colleagues (and long used to finishing each other’s sentences). What do you think? Ready? Here goes.
With your talent, you could be writing anything. Why horror?
Greg F. Gifune: Thank you. I never set out to be a horror writer specifically, and really just consider myself a writer. While the horror genre was the first to recognize my work and accept it (and it’s where I’ve had the majority of my success), I’ve always been on the fringe of the genre in many ways, both professionally and personally. But that’s nothing new for me. I tend to live my life that way to a certain degree as well. I’ve always marched to my own beat and rarely belong to groups or would be described as a follower. Establishment I’m not. Still, I love the genre, have a great deal of respect for it and I’m grateful to be a part of it.
That said, while a lot of my work is considered horror, it’s also often considered fiction that just happens to be dark. I think that’s why my novels tend to appeal to readers outside the genre as well. A lot of my fans are horror readers, but many are readers with virtually no interest in ‘horror’ per se, but they like dark existential fiction and find that in my novels. Hopefully that brings some new readers to the genre, but also helps to let people outside the genre realize that horror is actually a very diverse genre that can appeal to a wide range of tastes.
At the end of the day I just write what I feel I need or want to write and whatever category that falls into or whoever it appeals to, great. Rather than labels, I focus on producing the best work I can and let the rest fall where it may.
Rob: Yet there’s an undeniable stigma attached to the genre. What do you think that stems from?
Greg: Frankly, I think the genre (as a whole) often gets a bad rap. There are certain types in the literary world who love to look down on horror and consider it the ghetto of literature. While unfortunately their ghetto references aren’t always entirely inaccurate, what you’ll find is that very few of those types have even read any horror (classic or otherwise) because, you know, it’s so beneath them. But I find those types impossible to take seriously. How can one have an opinion on something of any value if one has virtually no knowledge of the topic?
The problem is that segments of the horror community ask for this kind of treatment from outside the genre because of the way they often behave. The horror community can be a very insular crowd, and there are a lot of cons to that. The absurd politics of the genre don’t help either, and the fact that standards sometimes seem to be nonexistent just makes it worse and gives fuel to those types who claim it shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Then you’ve got organizations and a hierarchy that tend to be more about ego and self-serving foolishness than anything truly helpful to the genre, its writers or even its readers. I mean, there are actually people working in the genre (and some of them quite accomplished at least in terms of publishing credits) who object to and demonize the word “literary” for example. But, you know, don’t rock the boat because if you do you might not get to be part of the gang.
I guess for me, I never really cared about being part of the gang (in horror or anywhere else). For many people those circles and what they have to offer are the be-all and end-all. Cool, knock yourself out. But it’s not my thing. And the whole “well if you want to change it then get involved yourself and do something about it” stuff doesn’t fly with me either. I’m a writer, not a politician. I have no desire to be part of the prom committee. Call me crazy, but I think writers should, you know, write, and strive for change through their art. So I simply try to produce the best work I can.
Like any genre, there are many great writers and amazing pieces of work being produced in horror, but (again, like any genre) there’s also an enormous amount of questionable material from people who can’t even write at a professional level and have no business being propped up and presented to those outside (and/or inside) the genre as if they can. These challenges exist for all genres, of course, but the problem in horror specifically is that there’s rarely any distinction between the two, and that’s what hurts us outside the genre with readers who have no horse in the race and don’t care about the politics. They just want to read quality work, it’s really that simple.
Personally, I think horror is a wide and wonderful genre, with a great history and some of the most creative, exciting and brilliant minds in the business producing work that runs the gamut from great literary masterpieces to pure balls-to-the-wall entertainment and everything in between. And (in varying degrees, of course) I love (nearly) all of it and believe there’s room (and should be room) for all of it. As for the stigma, if the genre truly wants more respect, earn it. My philosophy has always been to never take myself too seriously but always take the work very seriously.
Rob: So … does it bother you when people call you a horror writer?
Greg: Not at all. I do prefer simply being called a writer because I don’t believe my work is solely genre based, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong or shameful or low-rent about writing horror at all (or at least there shouldn’t be). Some of the great classics are horror-based, and many great literary minds have worked (and continue to work) in the genre.
Rob: Will you ever abandon the genre, do you think?
Greg: No, I love the genre, don’t see that happening. Besides, because my work allows me to exist within and outside the genre at the same time, there’s no reason to. Long as I can continue to grow as an artist, write what I want and need to write (whatever category that may or may not fall into, I’ll let other people decide) and reach as many people as possible, I’m happy.
Rob: What on the horror scene makes you furious?
Greg: The political hypocrisy and insular nature of the genre that often (not always but often) permeates things. People who are in the business (or want to be) only for attention or to feel important or relevant and play celebrity and trade votes for awards they think might somehow legitimize them (and sadly, in some cases, at least within the genre, do). People who haven’t paid their dues and taken the time to hone their craft and really learn how to write (which is an ongoing process by the way, regardless of resume), yet feel they should be treated as if they have.
And I’d also have to go with the whole Mash-Up thing. I cannot express the degree to which I detest this stuff. Far as I’m concerned it’s nothing but vandalism. The fact that certain publishers would publish it isn’t surprising (this is a business after all, they publish what they think will sell), but how any writer could so disrespect and desecrate the work of another writer, particularly someone dead and unable to defend their work, is beyond me. And then of course there’s the fact that many of the works being desecrated are classics makes the entire thing even more repellent. It is one thing to re-imagine a theme (I did that with my novel Children of Chaos, which in many ways is a re-imagining of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness) and another to simply take someone’s literal work and turn it into something the original author never intended it to be. Come on.
Rob: What do you see as a ray of hope?
Greg: Long as they keep making vodka, there’s hope. That, and I believe the genre (particularly on the independent publishing scene) still leads the way in getting a lot of cutting edge work out there by new and exciting and different writers who might otherwise never get that shot. That’s what keeps things alive and vibrant and evolving. Many independent publishers (particularly those in the horror genre) understand that and support it, like what you’re doing with Uninvited Books, for instance, in trying to offer more literary horror and bringing new readers to the genre and beyond. I think that’s very important and I’m thrilled to have my novel Gardens Of Night be part of such an exciting new company.
Many other indi publishers in the genre have been striving to bring quality as well. Shane Staley at Delirium has been doing that for years. Rich Chizmar at Cemetery Dance is another. And there are several others publishing quality material as well. That gives me a great deal of hope. The genre has some amazing independent publishers out there right now, and a lot of great writers working for them, both established and new.
Rob: Who do you write for?
Greg: You mean besides the mortgage company? If I’m honest, I write for myself first, and then for readers. The readers are of course vitally important, but it begins internally, as something I need to purge or explore.
Rob: You’ve been so prolific, and many readers and reviewers have found your books to be profound and significant, as well as terrifying. Obviously, I’m a huge admirer of your latest work – Gardens Of Night. Could you share some insight about what that novel means to you and why you chose to address these very dark themes this way?
Greg: Gardens means a great deal to me, as all my novels do, and like most of my novels it’s also a very personal piece. While it examines several themes I’ve examined before in other novels, this time it’s from an entirely different perspective and in a very different way.
Like most people, I suppose, I’ve had some wonderful times in my life and also some hideously dark times. When it comes to such things in my life they always seem to be rather operatic in scale (maybe because I’m Italian, who knows?), so for me, Gardens was a way to explore and purge a particularly difficult time I’d had at one point in my life where I felt as if everything was literally imploding.
The novel began with the idea of a man’s life falling to pieces, and it seemed to me that these things rarely happen in a void. While what happened in my life was not by any means literally what happens in the novel, when I was going through this dark time it still seemed like an attack to me – because, in essence, that’s what it was – my life was literally being stolen from me, torn from me and destroyed right before my eyes by some force which was, at least from my perspective, evil. It was an act of aggression, of wholly unprovoked violence, really, and so my reaction at that time (right or wrong) was to defend myself and my life with a fight-fire-with-fire approach.
The concept of this led me to Gardens. I needed a metaphor that would convey that sense of despair and pain but also the horribly frightening concept of having absolutely no control over your own life or the things that happen in it. Enter the Three Fates, all of whom play a part in the novel. The horrible event that happens to the lead characters Marc and Brooke represents the destruction of their lives, but of course the attack they undergo is (like the mythology in the novel), a metaphor for larger themes of life, death, sanity, love, hate, pain, suffering, forgiveness and ultimately, survival and self-sacrifice.
Taking the concept to the next logical step, I wondered how such horrible events would change one’s view of the world and their place in it, the very ways in which one experienced self and existence (which I used in the novel as Marc experiencing communications from nature and the universe). That became the real theme of the novel, the result of this violence, of this life in shambles, and what it meant for everyone when those experiencing it came out the other side. Because, clearly, some would survive these things and some would not.
When I wrote Gardens I left certain aspects open to interpretation in some ways, because for it to be really effective I felt each reader had to bring some of his or her own conclusions to the table when all was said and done, thereby making it more personal and powerful for the reader. Gardens Of Night has been described as a cerebral, thought-provoking, very disturbing novel, and I think that’s accurate, but I also tried to write it as a solid (existential) horror thriller as well, so it could (hopefully) be enjoyed on that level too. And I think in the end there’s hope, redemption, and ultimately, transcendence.
Rob: One last question I have to ask. Do you have a specific artistic direction for the future?
Greg: Up and to the left. No, just continuing to do what I do to the best of my ability. I don’t force myself in any direction or even purposely head in one. Instead I try to let my process happen naturally and see where it takes me. There’s a lot more I want to explore with my writing, a lot more I want to purge, plenty of demons left to slay. I have numerous projects coming up and that I’m working on now, so my plate is quite full (thankfully). Hopefully whatever directions I go in, my fan base will continue to grow all over the world and readers will continue to want to listen to the stories I have to tell them.
Learn more about Gifune’s work here: Greg F. Gifune
Robert Dunbar is the author of several books, including Martyrs & Monsters and Willy. He is also the publisher of Uninvited Books, a new independent press dedicated to restoring the mantle of literary distinction to dark fiction. Find out more at Uninvited Books
We Interrupt This Author – Greg F. Gifune
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The following interview with Greg F. Gifune is courtesy of Cemetery Dance Publications and Joe Howe.
We’re back with another short author interview. Our requirement is that the author has a current or forthcoming book from Cemetery Dance and no currently enforceable restraining order against me. It’s embarrassing to say which one is the more restrictive, but in my defense, Cemetery Dance publishes a lot of writers.
The author we’re pulling away from work this time is Greg F. Gifune. A Massachusetts native, Greg is the highly-regarded author of such works as The Bleeding Season and Children of Chaos. His current release from Cemetery Dance is Catching Hell.
Joe Howe: Your new release from Cemetery Dance is Catching Hell. Tell us a little about it.
Greg F. Gifune: It’s set in 1983, and is about three young actors and a stagehand from a summer stock theater who take off from Cape Cod to visit a resort in Maine as a kind of last hooray before they either go on to college or move to New York City to chase their dreams. On the way, they encounter a bizarre storm and wind up in a peculiar town that seems to be stuck in the 1940s. But the town is anything but the quaint and harmless little hamlet it appears to be at first glance, and once they become trapped there they realize the locals are harboring some horrible secrets and that they’ll have to fight their way out to survive the night, or risk falling prey to a cycle of depravity and violence at the hands of a demonic creature so horrifying few will even speak its name.
JH: Compared to many of your peers, you are quite prolific (Your website shows 14 books written by you). How do you manage to be as productive as you are without sacrificing quality?
GG: Do nothing but work and have virtually no life? No, seriously, it may appear that I’m a bit more prolific than I really am, as I’ve been writing professionally now for more than a decade full-time, so when you spread my list of published novels out over a 10 or 11 year timeframe it’s probably not quite as impressive. And also, usually (not always but usually) my novels sit in my head literally for years before I write them, so by the time I’m putting them to paper I have a solid grasp of what I’m doing with it and what I want. Still, I have managed to produce a good amount of work, you’re right. Much of that has been because I’ve been in demand from the publishers I’ve worked with so I’m very grateful to them and the fans for that. I’ve learned how to juggle projects and to do the things required of a professional novelist these days, and to do them in a manner where quality is not sacrificed. I also work very hard at what I do and strive for that quality. The harder I work, the more it pays off.
JH: Now that you’ve been writing for a while, how has your style changed over time? Does the process come easier to you now?
GG: Although it took time to find my voice and develop my style, because I wrote for years before I ever wrote a novel, I was able to have both established by the time I did. Since then I think my style has remained the same, more or less, but it has evolved, and continues to (hopefully for the better). The only thing is that I’ve had to speed my process up a bit, which is not entirely natural for me, but it’s a shift I’ve learned to live with because it’s necessary.
JH: Everyone wonders what the chef eats when he’s away from his restaurant, so what do you read for entertainment? Who are some of the writers who have had an influence on your work?
GG: Unfortunately I don’t have the time to read for pleasure like I used to, but when I do have the time I tend to mix it up between fiction and nonfiction. I have very eclectic tastes when it comes to just about everything, so it’s a wide range in both. I read The New Yorker too, have for years, and I enjoy that. As for writers who have influenced me, there have been many, but I rarely list them because I always forget some. Here’s a few: Virginia Woolf, Jim Thompson, Tennessee Williams.
JH: Writing can be lonely work, and sometimes it takes a while to receive positive reinforcement for what you do. What made you decide on writing as a career?
GG: Very true, writing is very isolating at times and can be very lonely, and it’s also (at times) a very brutal business. I never really decided on it though, it decided for me. I’ve always known what I wanted to do, always wanted to be a writer and an actor, and from the time I was a little kid, I mean, I don’t ever remember not knowing what I wanted to do. I studied, worked in and pursued both for years. Sounds corny but it’s true, it’s who I am. The literal decision came in my early 30s, when I decided if I didn’t commit and really go after a career as a writer, I never would. So I did and fortunately it paid off.
JH: What should we be looking for in the near future from Greg Gifune?
GG: More novels coming later this year and next, and recently I’ve had quite a bit of interest from Hollywood (and some indi filmmakers as well) regarding several novels of mine, so we’ll see what happens there. My website is probably the best way to stay on top of things: Greg Gifune.
Editor’s Note: Joe Howe was born, raised and lives in Alabama and has been a horror fan since he read his first book — Dracula. When not wasting your tax money as a government employee, he reviews good books and (mostly) bad movies on his website Dead In The South as his web alter ego Kent Allard. He previously worked as a history professor and a lawyer, and has already heard your lawyer joke.
Gardens of Night
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Greg F. Gifune’s new existential thriller Gardens of Night is the premier release from Uninvited Books, an independent press dedicated to restoring the mantle of literary distinction to dark fiction.
Description: Recovering from an unthinkably violent trauma, Marcus Banyon comes to perceive a different reality. Have his eyes been opened to forces long hidden from the rest of humanity, or has he suffered a psychotic break as his doctors suggest? As he retreats to an isolated chalet with his also-recovering wife and his oldest friend, Marc’s visions lead them to an ancient mythology steeped in mystery and deception … and to a trio of sinister beings who hold the fate of the world in their hands.
Greg F. Gifune has been called “the best kept secret in dark fiction.” Yet Gifune’s work has been published all over the world, and his already considerable readership grows daily. Books such as Kingdom Of Shadows, Children Of Chaos, Judas Goat, Long After Dark and Saying Uncle have garnered consistent praise.
You can pick up a copy here: Gardens of Night
Three New Additions To Cemetery Dance Novella Series
Posted by: | CommentsCemetery Dance Publications has announced three new additions to the Cemetery Dance Novella Series: Invisible Fences by Norman Prentiss, Catching Hell by Greg F. Gifune, and The Corpse King by Tim Curran.
Invisible Fences (Novella Series #19): Do you see the point of the story, Nathan? We all cut parts of ourselves away, but we never lose them. Things stay with us — souvenirs with memories attached. We can’t always choose what to keep, what to throw away. Nathan’s parents devised cautionary tales for him and his sister — gruesome stories about predatory cars racing along the “Big Street” at one end of their neighborhood, or dope fiends lurking in the woods behind their house and ready to plunge hypodermics into the skin of foolish young trespassers. These stories served their purpose during Nathan’s gullible childhood, essentially constructing an invisible fence around the yard and keeping the boy close to home where he’d be safe. Such barriers are not so easy to discard in later life.
As an adult, Nathan no longer believes his parents’ stories, and yet they still confine him. He lives cautiously, avoiding serious relationships, avoiding risk. But despite his efforts, something from his parents’ cautionary tales threatens to creep beneath that invisible border…and the enclosed yard might not be as safe and secure as it always seemed …
To order: Invisible Fences
Catching Hell (Novella Series #20): Summer, 1983. As fall approaches and the summer stock theaters on Cape Cod close for the season, three promising young actors and a stagehand pile into an old Ford Fairlane and head for a vacation resort in Maine. Hoping for a relaxing getaway before pursuing their dreams in New York City or going on to college, they instead encounter a bizarre storm while on a lonely stretch of state highway and soon find themselves stranded in the strange rural community of Boxer Hills.
At first glance it seems a harmless little backwoods town, but Boxer Hills has a horrible secret and a deadly history. It’s a place of horrific age-old rituals and a legendary evil that will let no one escape without paying a terrible price.
Before the sun rises on a new day, they will have to fight their way through the night and out of town, or risk falling prey to an endless cycle of depravity and violence at the hands of a demonic creature so profane few will even speak its name.
They were young, reckless and chasing hell.
What they hadn’t counted on was actually catching it.
To order: Catching Hell
The Corpse King (Novella Series #21): From the fields of the dead, the harvest was brought forth. Tended by resurrection farmers with grubby fingers, cold hearts, and greedy minds, the fields were worked with shovel and spade and sweat. Beneath a pall of thin moonlight, the crops were plucked from the moist, black earth, torn from wormy boxes and mildewed shrouds like rotting corn from corrupting husks.
The harvest of cadavers was piled in the beds of muddy wagons and taken to market, sold to the highest bidder to supply dissection room and anatomical house. The farmers worked their bone fields night after night, thinking they were alone in their grim harvest.
But there was another who worked the graveyards and mortuaries, another reaper whose cultivation reached back to antiquity. Moon-faced and skeleton-fingered, he was the grand lord of the charnel harvest, master of graveyard harrow and yield.
Enter the world of the late-18th century and join Samuel Clow and Mickey Kierney as they earn their living in the resurrection trade … little realizing that they will soon meet The Corpse King.
To order: The Corpse King
