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Latest Release
Baggage
Edited by Gillian Polack
Pick up some Baggage. Humankind carries the past as invisible baggage. Thirteen brilliant writers explore this, looking at Australia's cultural baggage through new and often disturbin... [Read more]
Latest Release
Baggage
Edited by Gillian Polack
Pick up some Baggage. Humankind carries the past as invisible baggage. Thirteen brilliant writers explore this, looking at Australia's cultural baggage through new and often disturbin... [Read more]
Elizabeth's Corner - February
Women In Horror Month: Kaaron Warren
It's a gloomy morning outside the Eneit Press office windows--the perfect atmosphere for hosting today's guest, horror writer Kaaron Warren. Kaaron is an award winning author who has just had her second novel Walking the Tree published by Angry Robot, a new imprint of Harper Collins. She's a fascinating lady with a streak of curiosity that's a mile wide, and I'm very excited to have her here this morning.
Good morning, Kaaron. Thank you so much for stopping by at Elizabeth's Corner. I'm a well known tea addict and loved your line in "Hive of Glass" about tea being instinctive. So, the most important question first: do you prefer tea or coffee?
I like coffee in the morning, tea in the evening. I also rather like warm milk with malt and honey!
Ooo... that does sound good. I wonder if I can get Sharyn to buy some malt for the kitchen...
Leaving beverage preferences aside for the moment, what about preferences in horror? You've said previously that the human form of dark fiction is your favourite. What is it about this that fascinates you?
I've never really been able to answer this question. My fascination is almost instinctive, it really is. I prefer a bad ending in a story to a happy one, perhaps because there is more surprise that way.
I've spoken before about a story which resonated with me when I was a child, about a young man murdering his sister. I can still remember the way it was described; her skull cracked open. These are the stories I remember and want to write about.
Walking the Tree was not as much. That novel came to me fully formed one night. The setting, the character, and the concept of walking the tree. So she always had to be a woman, because the men don't walk. The men stay home.
"Cooling the Crows" (In Bad Dreams: Where Real Life Awaits) and "Hive of Glass" (Baggage) both involve a developing romantic (though not necessarily conventional) relationship between the characters. How important do you think it is to have a note of hope, however dim, in a horror story?
I showed the story to a workmate, the first story he'd read of mine. He was nervous to talk to me afterwards, and I thought he'd hated it. Then he finally said, "Don't you think there needs to be just the tiniest bit of hope?"
I'm not sure that you do. If there is any skerrick of hope in my stories, it's not deliberate. I tend to err in the opposite direction, ripping all hope out and leaving a cold hard shell behind.
In "Cooling the Crows" and "Hive of Glass" both, the relationships built as a natural part of telling the story, rather than any desire to make them nicer stories. My third novel, "Mistification" has a deep thread of love through it, albeit, as you say, unconventional.
Finally, are there any female horror writers or characters you particularly admire?
Celia Fremlin, Daphne du Maurier, Lisa Tuttle and Gemma Files are four favourite writers. Fremlin and du Maurier were greatly influential early in my career, when I was finding my voice. It was wonderful to read the horrifying novels they wrote, based in reality, about the depths of human nature and also the possiblities beyond the normal.
Well, thank you for coming by, Kaaron. I know things are busy and I really appreciate you taking the time to stop by here. Sharyn's got your coffee ready in the kitchen. Don't mind the 70s Australian rock.
Continuing with Women In Horror Month, we have the lovely Amanda Pillar in to tell us a little about her work editing horror anthologies. Feel free to stop by for a listen. I might have some of that warm milk and malt ready to try.