We recently reviewed ‘The Remedy‘ where the best statement from the book is really fitting by saying: It brings up a serious philosophical issue that you probably wouldn’t expect from a novel with the lines: “It’s not your fault. How were you supposed to know your friend was related to a family of cannibals.” However as fun as that statement is its time to question the author Asher Ellis as well as give away a few copies of ‘The Remedy’ in ebook format!
First the interview:
- What made you decide to write a horror novel?
Simply put, I love the genre. I’ve always been a firm believer in the saying, “Write the book you would want to read,” and that was pretty much my goal with this novel. I suppose that answer ultimately leads to another question, “why do I love horror?” That one is a little trickier, and I still find myself struggling to form a succinct response. Instead, I tend to point people in the direction of Stephen King’s essay, Why We Crave Horror Movies, because it offers as good as an explanation as you’re going to find to why anyone would be drawn to such gruesome subject matter. As King famously states in it, “All you need is love…as long as you keep the gators fed.”
Another quote that sheds a great deal of light on this dark subject comes from Japanese horror film director, Takashi Miike. If you’re familiar with Miike’s work, be it Ichi the Killer or Audition, you know he is entirely unflinching when it comes to the brutal and bloody. In an interview included on the DVD of his film, Imprint, he says, “The joy you get when you make people happy is very similar to the joy you get when you scare them. Every kid in the world does this. They hide in the shadows and yell ‘Boo!’ when a grown-up walks by. They always do this. Why? They enjoy the surprised expressions. If you are a child at heart, then comedy and horror should be very familiar to you.”
In other words, not only can the horror genre offer loads of fun, it just may be good for us too. “Horror is good for you” would make a great t-shirt, wouldn’t it?
2. After reading the novel, it’s clear that you have a great deal of horror knowledge. What books were most important, or the most influential, on your writing of THE REMEDY?
I’ve found that many reviewers so far have done a fantastic job of identifying the various works of horror fiction that influenced my own book. One even described the plot as being reminiscent of The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verhill from the 1982 horror anthology film, Creepshow. Indeed, the mysterious green vegetation that claims the life of a wonderfully goofy Stephen King was precisely the inspiration for my own killer fungus. But when speaking of influential novels, I was greatly inspired by the works of Jack Ketchum and Richard Laymon. In particular, Ketchum’s Off Season and Laymon’s The Woods are Dark, each played a significant part in the crafting of my tale. Though both serve as great models for a backwoods horror story, they’re even better examples of how to create visceral imagery when writing scenes of violence. In fact, these authors, along with the other “Spatterpunks,” should be required reading for any aspiring author who’s interested in writing body horror. The Bridge by John Skipp and Craig Spector would be another fine example. It also greatly influenced THE REMEDY, as it too portrayed the darker side of Mother Nature. Better still, I would very much recommend John Skipp’s online workshop, The Choreography of Violence, that he offers via LitReactor. Learn from the master himself!
3. What is it, in your estimation, that makes cannibalism such a fascinating topic in horror fiction?
That’s a meaty question! (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.) I’ve actually given this idea a lot of thought, as cannibals just happen to be one of my favorite horror “monsters.” I recently blogged about this very topic in which I compared them to the very similar, and vastly popular, zombies. For my money, cannibals are far scarier than the undead. They’re faster, more cunning, and most importantly, far more personal than “walkers.” Zombies are pretty much animals: they feed on humans simply because instinct tells them to. Screaming “Why are you doing this?” at the living dead would have the same effect as asking a fox why it would eat a rabbit. It’s just the food chain. Cannibalism, however, is a choice. Unless you’re in a situation comparable to the Donner party or the Uruguayan rugby team in Alive, humans do not need to eat other humans to survive. “Why are you doing this?” is now a viable question with a whole range of possible answers. Cannibal fiction explores these answers, whether it’s Hannibal Lector’s unique moral code, or my own novel that offers a medical justification.
4. You turned traditional gender roles in horror on their head during one memorable scene in THE REMEDY. What was your intention in doing that?
I attended the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing program, where I wrote the first draft of THE REMEDY. During my final residency, I had to give a presentation of my choosing to fulfill the requirements for graduation. I partnered with short story writer Caspian Gray (whose work can be found at Nightmare Magazine, among other places.) Our presentation was titled, “Sexual Violence as Literary Device in Genre Fiction,” and it explored the difficult task writers face when portraying non-censual sex on the page. I tried to apply what I learned from this project to my own fiction. Again, author Jack Ketchum played a significant role in this. In his essay, “Splat Goes the Hero,” Ketchum discusses how important it is to “exercise the compassion muscle.” The scene in which this question refers was my attempt to do so. I think horror author Brian Keene also said it well in his essay, “On Rape and Repugnance.” He states, “I don’t think the problem is using rape (or murder or cannibalism). I think it’s how you use rape (or murder or cannibalism). And I think that awareness only comes with time, because you see others discussing it and then you look back and examine your own work.”
5. What books were most important in making you a reader as you grew up?
I was a child of the 90s, which means I was devouring Goosebumps® books as quickly as R.L. Stine could release them. I still have a box of over sixty of them in the back of my closet! King and Stine probably have the most to answer for when it comes to inspiring this current generation of horror authors to want to write this stuff in the first place. (Maybe Alan Schwartz too.) But I do recall discovering Ernest Hemingway in my English classes and having the revelation that writing, even classic “literature,” did not have to be flowery, or poetic, or overly complicated to make an astounding impact on the reader. I can still remember first reading “Indian Camp,” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” and “Hills Like White Elephants,” and how the writing was simplistic yet unforgettable. Later I would of course learn that this phenomenon was what Hemingway referred to as the “Iceberg Theory.” I enjoyed the work of Shirley Jackson and Richard Matheson for this same reason. Lastly, my maturation into “writerhood” included reading many playwrights. Miller, Williams, and Mamet have always been three of my favorites, as they each focus on common, everyday people, and bombard them with doubt, fear, paranoia, and even insanity in some cases. Any one of those guys would’ve made great horror writers!
6. What are the writing projects that you are working on next?
I have two more books already written that I’m putting through the editing process one at a time. They’re both horror, but of a different kind than THE REMEDY. I don’t want to give away too much at this point, but I will say they’re more “domestic” and less rural than my debut novel. I’m also currently writing two other novels geared toward a slightly younger audience, though that’s not to say they’ll be without their darker qualities. One of them marks my first time co-writing a novel, and I have to say, I’m loving the experience! And finally, yes, I have a sequel to THE REMEDY in the works, because if we know anything about cannibals, it’s that they always come back for seconds.
Now onto the giveaway which is being sponsored by a Rafflecopter giveaway
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