Interviews:


INTERVIEW WITH SIMON CLARK

Nailed By The Heart

By Daniel Henriksen

You've probably never heard about him before, even though his story's have appeared in all these anthologies and magazines: Bella, Fear, Skeleton Crew, Darklands 2, Dark Voices 5, four times in The Year's Best Horror, Horrorstory, Back Brain Recluse, Aklo, Dementia 13, Stygian Dreamhouse, Krax, Peeping Tom and Dark Dreams ... His first novel, called "Nailed By The Heart", was published by Hodder & Stoughton early 1995 and instantly rose widespread acclaim, - an success quickly confirmed by the hardback publication of his second novel "Blood Crazy", which is about the collapse of civilisation, as a strange disaster leaves children and teenagers having to survive without adults. A book the deals with the same subject, and is as inventive and frightening as Stephen King's "The Stand". They're both too wonderful to neglect! Simon Clark has just completed his work on "Darker"; his latest novel, which will be published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1996, and looks eagerly forward to beginning the work on his next novel after "Darker". Hopefully, there's much more to come from this talented author. He lives in the North of England in a little place called Adwick-le-Street, with his wife Janet and his two children. Eleven years old Alex, which loves Science Fiction and Horror (like father like son), and his five year old daughter, Helen, which partly inspired his next novel: "Darker". He has written fiction for as long as he can remember.

But how did he become interested in horror?

"How did I come to write horror? By accident, I think, or perhaps my desire to write horror is in the blood. In my teens I read a lot of Science Fiction, and even tried to write some, but it always came out as horror. A few years ago I wrote a story called "Beside The Sea". I didn't think of it as horror but it was picked up by that brilliant editor Karl Edward Wagner for the Year's Best Horror (DAW, USA). My first professional sale. That story lead to my selling a lot more horror stories and helped launch my career."

What about the inspiration?

"It's a difficult one this, because the inspi-ration comes from so many different sour-ces; some of the sources I don't even recognize at the time. But I am inspired by people I meet, things I see, conversations I overhear. One specific example of being inspired to write a story by a real life incident was when I happened to walk through a graveyard with my son. When I got home he asked: 'What are these?' And in his hand were fragment of human bone that he'd picked up from the soil in the graveyard. I didn't know what to do with the bone. It seemed sacrilegious to simply throw them in the thrash. In the end I put them at the bottom of the garden. Now, I have to admit, I don't particularly like the idea of going down there after dark! However, it did inspire me to write a story called "Portrait Of A Girl In A Graveyard" (Tales From Tartarus - Tartarus Press.)

Do you just sit down and start writing, or do you plan?

"I attempt to plan them first, but I soon throw the plan away. The story seems to come to life and write itself. Often I feel as if I'm cheating because it does feel as if someone else is writing the story, not me."

What about researching?

"I don't do a great deal of research because I find it clogs up the story. However, it's essential to check facts occasionally. Basically I treat living as research. But when I was writing the scene in "Blood Crazy" when Nick Aten spits alcohol into someone's face as they are smoking a cigar and sets the person's face alight, I did try and find out if this would work. You could imagine this would look pretty bizarre to my neighbours. Simon Clark, in the garden at night, spitting alcohol onto burning paper!"

Are you influenced by other writers?

"I must be. But I think a lot of the influence is unconscious. Perhaps my biggest influences are Arthur Machen, Dylan Thomas, Stan Barstow, Nigel Kneale, and yes, the early Stephen King."

Are there any books, you wish you'd written?

"Flight Of The Phoenix" by Elleston Trevor; a great book; a great movie. Also, the script for "Quatermass And The Pit"."

What do you think is required in a book if it was to have the scare effect? And what scares you?

"I think it is difficult to set out to scare a reader in a deliberate way. I find the frightening parts just seem to fly out of my head. Sometimes I will incorporate a frightening dream I've had into a story. In fact there is a scene in my first novel, "Nailed By The Heart", which was based on a dream and it still disturbs and frightens me to re-read it today. What else scares me? I'm scared of the idea of a member in my family becoming ill or hurt in any way. However, once I had quite a scare in a graveyard. I saw a large stone tomb had a hole in it. It was too dark to see inside. But I did have a camera. The hole was just large enough for me to insert my hand. I pressed the shutter; the light flashed. Immediately there was a furious scraping sound from inside. Nails on wood? Claws on stone? I didn't wait to find out and left very quickly indeed. By the way, the photograph I took showed a pair of coffins that must have been over a hundred years old."

How - or from where? - did you get the idea that made you write "Blood Crazy"?

"I'd been wanting to write a story about the collapse of civilisation for years. Then one day I had to stop me car at a railway level-crossing. There were hundreds of children coming home from school. As soon as the barrier came down to stop the cars the children spilled out onto the road, obviously enjoying the freedom of walking on what is usually a busy highway. Immediately I thought: what if the cars stopped running forever. Then the idea came of a disaster that left children and teenagers having to survive without adults."

Did you plan "Blood Crazy" to be a macabre adventure novel, or do you think of it as a horror novel?

"Mainly I thought it was a story I had to tell. However, I knew I had to target it as a horror novel because that's the field I wanted to work in. Having said that, many people have told me it could equally be classified as Science Fiction."

What is this mystical disease, that forces this urge upon parents, really?

"When I set out to write "Blood Crazy" I didn't intend to explain the adults' madness; however, as I wrote it something clicked in my head - and all that I'd read about psychology and Jung supplied the answer. It's generally accepted by psychologist as fact that we do have two minds inside our heads. The conscious mind, with which we think, make decisions about what to eat for lunch, whether or not to watch Ray Cokes on MTV and so on. Then there is a second mysterious mind hidden in the unconscious. I thought this was a fascinating idea and I ended up trying to explore what might happen if this mysterious second mind should rebel against the conscious mind."

"Blood Crazy" could be continued. Do you write a sequel? And what do you think of sequels?

"I think writers should only write sequels to novels if the story demands it. There won't be a sequel to "Nailed By The Heart". However, I have been thinking what would happen to the characters of "Blood Crazy". I know their story is still unfinished, so yes, I would like to write a sequel. This would probably only happen if there was enough interest from readers. So if anyone would like to see a sequel to "Blood Crazy" by all means send my publisher a postcard saying so.

Is there any-thing else you wish to tell the readers of Trauma?

"Some of your readers maybe interested in writing. My ad-vice is be persistent, don't give up, and write what interest you: write the story you yourself would like to read. Thank you Trauma for inviting me onto your pages."

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