Interview and Cover Reveal - A M Shine and The Creeper
Now last year you may remember I was hugely impressed with The Watchers by A M Shine some tense and weird Irish horror that reminds us never to go alone into the woods. Very atmospheric, character focused and inventive writing that really stood out to me so much that I stayed up late to finish it! I am delighted therefore that Head of Zeus let me know that this September we get more from this new author and this sounds perfect for when the nights get darker again next year. With no further ado let me present the cover and some news about
The Creeper by A M Shine! Coming from Aries Fiction 15/9/22
Superstitions only survive if people believe in them...
Renowned academic Dr Sparling seeks help with his project on a remote Irish village. Historical researchers Ben and Chloe are thrilled to be chosen – until they arrive...
The village is isolated and forgotten. There is no record of its history, its stories. There is no friendliness from the locals, only wary looks and whispers. The villagers lock down their homes at sundown. A nameless fear stalks the streets...
Nobody will talk – nobody except one little girl. Her story strikes dread into the hearts of the newcomers. Three times you see him. Each night he comes closer...
That night, Ben and Chloe see a sinister figure watching them. He is the Creeper. He is the nameless fear in the night. Stories keep him alive. And nothing will keep him away...
Which was the first horror story you read that made you want to write in the same vein? (Was it another type of story that first made you want to write?)
It all began with a picture book for 3-5 year olds called FUNNY BONES by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. It follows a skeleton family with a skeleton dog, and though not officially a horror per se, it’s full of fleshless, reanimated corpses, all smiling as if they’re happier in death than they ever were in life.
After that, I was a teenager, and the book was Lovecraft’s third omnibus – THE HAUNTER OF THE DARK. My older brother borrowed it off a friend of his, and then fate found its way into my hands. Stories like THE OUTSIDER and THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP opened my eyes to a style of writing that I would read obsessively for over a decade.
Had that book not crept into my house, I wonder how different my life would be now.
How has the landscape of Ireland inspired your work? Have you visited anywhere that particularly inspired THE CREEPER?
The landscape here is a character in its own right.
Aside from those few days of sunshine in the summer, the west of Ireland is a beautifully bleak place. It’s a horror writer’s dream, if said horror writer likes their settings dark, damp, and dismally cold.
Nothing stirs the literary mind quite like a good blast of horizontal rain.
I walked many a wet woodland when I was writing THE WATCHERS. And the village in THE CREEPER is actually based on the village I grew up in as a child. It’s a maze of narrow country lanes, with flooded fields, and ruined cottages.
It certainly helps to capture the landscape on paper when you’ve stood there in person.
How has Irish culture and tradition impacted your writing?
I’ve embraced my country’s culture in the same way I did with my baldness.
Impacted? Yes.
Any choice in the matter? Maybe some subtle cries.
I owe so much to Ireland for providing me with the parts I need to assemble something fresh for the horror genre.
Even our better-known folk tales are open for interpretation. Reworking and updating old horrors is a great way to keep them interesting, otherwise there’d be no surprises.
This was the case with THE WATCHERS, which was a reimagining of a very particular character in Irish folklore. And THE CREEPER toys with Ireland’s love affair with old superstitions and how they survive to this day.
The horror at their core of both novels is quintessentially Irish.
So, I count myself lucky to have been born on this little island and to be surrounded by so much spooky shit all the time.
Which other genres do you particularly like to read? Do they have an influence on your work?
I rarely stray too far from the horror genre. It’s become an addiction that I’m happy to live with.
But science fiction and horror are so closely linked that often they’re one and the same. I still enjoy books grounded in reality but what I really look for are elements outside the ordinary – a concept or idea that ‘ve never encountered before.
I really enjoyed Blake Crouch’s Pines trilogy. The twists, horror and pacing were sublime.
Stuart Turton’s SEVEN DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE was also wonderful. Applying a concept like body-swapping to a murder mystery was genius, and I’m in awe of how he managed to map it out.
And the occasional thriller is always welcome, especially if they’re twisty. The last one I loved was THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides.