All posts by greydogtales

John Linwood Grant writes occult detective and dark fantasy stories, in between running his beloved lurchers and baking far too many kinds of bread. Apart from that, he enjoys growing unusual fruit and reading rejection slips. He is six foot tall, ageing at an alarming rate, and has his own beard.

Carnacki Lives!

February 7, 2016 greydogtales Leave a comment

Joyous news, dear listeners (except for the lack of longdogs today, boo!). We return to our William Hope Hodgson roots, with a super exclusive. Producer Scott Handcock talks about his brand new Carnacki production, what Sontarans think of Hope Hodgson, and what Mark Gatiss will be doing next. Yes, we’re back on The Voice of Horror. Be still, our ex-sanguinated hearts.

Some will already know Big Finish Productions because of their Dr Who audio stories, but the company’s range expands every year, and includes Dark Shadows, The Avengers (no, not Thor & Iron Man – the proper UK ones, silly) and many others. We’ve long been fond of The Scarifyers series, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at occult mysteries with the renowned David Warner and Terry Molloy (the early episodes also starred the late Nicholas Courtney, the renowned Brigadier from Dr Who’s UNIT).

With both direct adaptations and adventures inspired by original stories, the Big Finish catalogue already includes Sherlock Holmes (with Nicholas Briggs and Richard Earl), the Confessions of Dorian Gray, and Frankenstein. To our delight they are now adding Carnacki to their range, covering six tales of the Ghost Finder:

The Gateway of the Monster
The House Among the Laurels
The Whistling Room
The Horse of the Invisible
The Searcher of the End House
The Thing Invisible

The collection stars Dan Starkey (Thomas Carnacki) and Joseph Kloska (Dodgson), with music by Ioan Morris & Rhys Downing. Let’s turn to the producer, Scott Handcock, to explain things in more detail…

greydog: Welcome to greydogtales, Scott, and thanks for putting time aside for us. We’ll get straight down to it. You’ve chosen six of the nine Carnacki stories for this collection. We can understand you not using The Find, which is a bit of a throwaway, but that leaves The Hog and the Haunted Jarvee. These two are rather strange and disturbing tales. Any plans for them?

scott: No plans at the moment – but never say never. I’d love to tackle the remaining tales at some point, but for the initial release, it made sense to stick with the six core stories that act as a foundation for the character and his world.

audio clip from “the gateway of the monster”

greydog: Did you find you could take the stories and translate them easily to audio needs, or did you have to re-interpret the original text to achieve the effect you wanted?

scott: The Carnacki stories work so well because of Hodgson’s original style – they’re direct, intimately told, and filled to the brim with glorious language. Yes, we could have had a stab at translating them into something akin to a full-cast audio, with guest characters popping up, but you’d have needed to invent so much new dialogue for those characters, it would have detracted from Hodgson’s writing.

In that sense, no work at all was needed. Hodgson’s work serves as a perfect monologue, performed in character, with an occasional external commentator in the form of Dodgson. We toyed with a bit of sound design, but again, that weirdly undermined the beautiful language that makes the original stories so unique, so even that was pared back. The result is that Carnacki is unlike most Big Finish ranges, in that it’s really stripped back to the text and performance alone, supported by a lovely, brooding musical score from Ioan Morris and Rhys Downing.

greydog: Someone once described the setting of the Ghost Finder stories as akin to M R James’ tales, to be told around a roaring fire in a safe place. It sounds like that’s the result here.

scott: As I say, the Big Finish Carnacki stories are more straightforward productions than adaptations – we take no liberties with the text at all – and I like that fact. Hodgson’s format is, after all, why people love the Carnacki stories, and why they still serve as the ideal introduction to the character over a century later. The stories themselves are so dependent on mood, and the thought processes of Carnacki himself, I think you’d have lost a great deal by trying to extrapolate a larger world from these original stories.

So yes, these feel very much like fireside reminiscences, as each case is recounted and relived by Carnacki himself, taking us through the events of each mystery, blow by blow. And because we let the writing take centre-stage, each and every listener will experience the stories differently depending on how they interpret the words and temper the scares to suit them. I love that!

dan_starky_biopic-1 — the talented dan starkey

greydog: Dan Starkey, who’s rathered cornered the market in Sontarans (sorry, Dan, you’re great in other roles as well!), is playing Carnacki. We have to say that he really sounds the part. Are we right in thinking that Dan was already familiar with the Carnacki stories?

scott: Dan Starkey is a brilliant, brilliant actor. I’ve worked with him a few times at BBC Wales, where he appeared frequently on Doctor Who, and as a regular in Wizards vs Aliens, as well as Big Finish’s production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He’s simply delightful to have around – utterly professional, fun and hugely talented. Plus, his radio training with the BBC’s Radio Drama Company means you can throw all manner of characters, accents or voices at him, and he’ll tackle it with aplomb!

How he came to be Carnacki was slightly strange. I’d recommended Dan to another Big Finish producer, James Goss, who was pulling together some DVD extras for BBC America about the Daleks and Cybermen and needed a presenter. I knew Dan was the man, and thankfully we got him, which meant a very enjoyable if hard day’s work at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, filming with all manner of sets and props – including a Dalek voice coaching session with Big Finish’s executive producer Nicholas Briggs.

Quite by chance, over lunch, Nick and I were chatting about some of the things I had coming up on the Big Finish slate – one of which was the series of Carnacki audiobook readings – and Dan’s ears pricked up at the very mention of his name. Suddenly, he was gushing about the stories and the character, and was clearly very familiar with Hodgson’s work, so I couldn’t resist asking him if he wanted to actually be our Carnacki on audio. Thankfully, there wasn’t a moment’s hesitation, and he inhabits the character splendidly. I mean, Dan’s a terrific audiobook reader at the best of times, but his pre-existing familiarity and enthusiasm for the stories really has brought a lot of nuance and charm to the character. I can’t praise him highly enough!

greydog: You yourself have produced other horror for Big Finish, including The Confessions of Dorian Gray. Are you cautious about dipping your toe into this genre market, or do you think there is room for a much wider range of horror and weird fiction audio adaptations?

scott: You’re always cautious whenever you tackle something new, as you never know quite how an audience is going to respond, and if they’ll embrace it. I do, however, think that horror is ideally suited to audio. Fear is such a personal thing, as is listening to audio drama in a lot of ways, you’re able to really get into people’s heads and imaginations. With horror films, for instance, what you see if what you get – for some people it will be far too explicit, for others the same sequence can be incredibly tame. It all depends on who you are, and what you respond to.

On audio, everyone reacts differently. How you perceive the same effects and words and vary wildly, depending on how scary you want things to be. It’s what appeals to me so much about the medium. Not only can you do anything, and tell all manner of tales, but no one listener will ever see it in exactly the same way. The Carnacki tales are no different in that regard, and we deliberately hold back on any effects so as not to detract from the tale you’re being told. Carnacki is telling his stories to you and you alone, and that should hopefully make for something very special.

greydog: And are there other classic horror works of the same era which you would like to produce if you had the chance?

scott: It’s no secret that I adore horror, and I’ve been quite lucky to have tackled the big three gothic horror novels for Big Finish Productions. In 2013, we produced The Picture of Dorian Gray with Alexander Vlahos as a tie-in to our Confessions range. Then, in 2014, I lured the brilliant Arthur Darvill into studio to play my Frankenstein, with voice maestro Nicholas Briggs as his Creature. And of course, even as we speak, I’m pulling together a dream project, as Mark Gatiss plays Dracula himself in a new three-hour production for May 2016! It’s hard to think where you go after that.

If the Carnacki readings prove popular, and there’s an appetite for more, I’d love to tell some original stories with the character – stories that could be more full-cast mysteries with an element of narration to frame them, rather than full-length monologues. And there are obviously so many hinted-at cases and references from Hodgson’s own stories that we could pick up on and explore in the Big Finish universe. But we’ll see what the response is like.

greydog: As positive as we can make it. Many thanks, Scott Handcock.

This is one of those rare moments where we throw caution to the wind and say – buy, buy this now. Not only does it sound good, but every time someone purchases the new Carnacki, a little accountant angel in Heaven smiles and whispers “Produce more Carnacki. Now!” Which would be a Good Thing. You can click below to pre-order your own copy, out any day now:

carnacki the ghost finder

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We were also quite interested to see that Big Finish have recently released a new dramatisation of Ray Bradbury‘s The Martian Chronicles (December 2015), starring major players Derek Jacobi and Hayley Atwell. We haven’t had a chance to listen to this one, so can’t tell you much more, but we thought you might like to know.

b7-slides_015-1024x658 — the martian chronicles

The full range of their productions can be found here:

big finish productions

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Next time on greydogtales – Strangers Seas! The storm is rising, and we start with writer Steve Vernon, who tells us all about his own nautical myths and legends. Sou’westers on, everybody…

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Once in an April Moon

February 5, 2016 greydogtales Leave a comment

Do you want to be published? Do you want to be a publisher? Is that a big YES? Is that your life-long dream, the one which will finally justify your expenditure on catfood? Which ever way your keyboard hangs, we have a great interview with publisher Neil Baker of the Canadian small press April Moon Books.

Neil is also a writer, of course, and the author of the wonderful children’s book A Picnic at the Mountains of Madness (which all parents should steal from their kids and read themselves).Today, though, we’re focusing on his company. Settle yourselves quietly, listeners, and let Uncle Neil tell you the ins and outs of what it’s like to run one of the presses which give so many writers their first big break.

Warning to starving authors: This article is absolutely nothing to do with submission calls. It doesn’t mean that Uncle Neil wants all the boys and girls to send him crayon copies of their latest story about zombie elves. Don’t get over-excited now. Although, hmm, zombie elves – must make a note of that one.

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April Moon, based in Ontario, has published a fascinating selection of books, from madness in the English countryside (Black Star, Black Sun) to A Picnic at the Mountains of Madness for young and old. Then there are their anthologies, such as a new look at the werewolf trope in Flesh Like Smoke, and the Dark Rites of Cthulhu collection, which features two writers we’ve already interviewed here on greydogtales, Ted E Grau ( a voice from the nameless dark ) and Willie Meikle ( william hope hodgson: the inheritors ).

So let’s get the lowdown…

greydog: Welcome to greydogtales, Neil, and many thanks for participating.

neil: Thanks for having me.

greydog: You’re our first publisher on the site, so we’ll be gentle and start with a basic question. Some would say that it’s an insane idea to set up a small press, given all the known trials and tribulations of such a venture. What inspired you in particular to do it?

neil: You are right about it being an insane idea, but then most acts of passion are. There are a couple of reasons why I set April Moon up; firstly, I was at a low point where nothing seemed to be panning out in the other avenues I was pursuing (film/animation), and I needed to do something creative to keep the drive going. I have always been a writer, but for most of my life I have forced my stories into other fields. Then I saw some sub calls on Facebook and thought I might as well have a bash at it – and enjoyed some success straight off the bat with my first couple of stories. However, that brings me to the second reason. I wasn’t happy with the overall experience and thought I could make a better job of it. I had sent a story to Brian Sammons around this time and we became social media buddies – then he learned of my ambition to start publishing, and pitched The Dark Rites of Cthulhu to me. From that moment on, there was no turning back.

greydog: They say that everyone has a book inside them, though possibly some should stay there (we know, we’re being mean). With so many books competing for publishers, where do you start when building up your list? Do you approach authors you admire, or do you sift through hopefuls who contact you first?

neil: I regularly have writers contact me with regard to publishing their work, but I have to let them down gently. I am fully aware that this venture is a long game and really, as a small (some might say micro) press, I’m in no position to make anybody rich. That puts half of them off straight away.

I have always been about the short story – I grew up reading Frederic Brown, Harry Harrison and Roald Dahl’s horror fiction – and I find that just putting out the call attracts the talent hungry to get their work out there. That said, once I have a roster of authors who have written for me, and whom I love, then I regularly dip into their secret plans to see if I can get involved. Now my short stories are getting longer, novellas have crept in, and now there appears to be a novel on the horizon. April Moon is morphing.

greydog: Harry Harrison bought us a whisky or two in the old days, when we were eager fan-pups. Happy times, before we got serious and authorial. You’ve already managed to publish some cracking stuff, as we said earlier. Do you have a set of guidelines in your head which says, oh yes, this could be an April Moon book?

neil: I come from a film background, and I like my stories to entertain me the same way a tent pole blockbuster or a B-movie would. If a story is visually grand, pulpy and well-written, then it has a very good chance with me. You’ll find many of my anthologies laced with humour – this is deliberate and important. I’m always on the lookout for stories that take me by surprise, that lead me by the nose and then spin me around. The short story is not an easy form to do this in, and I admire everybody who succeeds. There are many other excellent publishers out there who produce stories that make you think, that force you to contemplate your very existence. I just want everyone to have a bloody good time.

greydog: Do you keep in touch with many other small and micro presses, or is it a fairly lonely road to take?

neil: We nod politely at each other via social media, but other than that, I haven’t sat down for tea and crumpets with another publisher yet. I’m hoping to get over to downtown Toronto this year and butt heads with some fellow writers/publishers, but in the meantime it’s just me and the shadows in this basement.

old-time-950445_960_720 — april moon headquarters, yesterday

greydog: We imagine that promotion must be a bit of a headache. Do you find it hard work getting your books noticed in the crowd, or do you find that quality wins out in the end?

neil: This is the hardest aspect of small scale publishing, and one that I continue to investigate. You’d be fooling yourself if you thought a hundred Facebook posts would sell your book – you really need to put the big money in to get your name and product in the trades in order to sell well. There are certainly other avenues, but I’ve been crunching the numbers and Goodreads giveaways, Facebook adverts and Google ads amount to nothing. It all comes down to playing with the big guns, and right now I’m in no position to drop $400+ on a full page ad in a magazine, let alone two or three. So, I beaver away, building up trust and good relationships with writers and readers – when the time comes (and I can afford it) I’ll unleash the April Moon catalogue upon the world.

greydog: One thing we know nothing about is the attitude of the large publishers to their feisty kin. Do they connect with small presses and watch what they’re doing – or is there no common ground?

neil: None at all. I suspect the large publishers have no idea April Moon exists.

greydog: Their loss (or maybe it’s safer that way). Now that you’ve been going a while, what sort of advice would you give someone starting up, or hoping to start up, in the business?

neil: First up, do it. If you love something, pursue it. That said, if you are getting into the game because you want a luxury yacht, get out now. You will need capital to get started. Even publishing through someone like Createspace, which is print on demand thus eliminating printer costs, will cost you loads if you intend to pay your authors (and you do, don’t you?), pay for a cover illustration, pay for promotion, send contributor copies out, send copies out to reviewers etc… Also, don’t forget that Amazon, or whomever else you publish with, will be taking a hefty cut. That $15 book will net you about $2.50 after everyone has had their slice.

But, it’s not all doom and gloom and purse strings! You are publishing stories! Little lumps of escapism that other humans will (hopefully) treasure and that will be around forever. That makes you a God.

greydog: We’re aiming for Fallen God at the moment. That way there are less expectations. So, small press or self-publishing? With the rise of easy-to-use self-publishing platforms, what would you say are the pros and cons for aspiring authors?

neil: The main pro is the ability to get your work out there, the con is that it might never be seen by anyone other than your aunty. True, there are several astonishing success stories connected to self-publishing, but for every one of those there are about five million who still languish, unread, in the bowels of Amazon’s top list for books>YA>vampires>glitter.

Hooking up with a small (or big) publisher means that your story has a better chance of being seen. That publisher will push your book, promote it every way they can, as they also have a stake in the book’s success. It also means that a pair of eyes that reads many, many stories, day after day, will be reading your work. You need those fresh and experienced eyes. Then there is access to artists, a built-in reader base and other networking opportunities.

greydog: All good points. It’s hard for emerging writers, but at times you need someone with publishing experience who says no, that really doesn’t work. Right, we like to signpost a wide range of authors and books on greydogtales. Apart from people on your own list, which writers are currently vibrating your antennae, either as a reader or a publisher?

neil: I tend to go through phases when reading outside the current selection for one of my books. To that end, I sometimes find it hard to squeeze in authors that I’m not working with. However, there are definitely some books that I have enjoyed recently by authors I hope to work with one day: Red Equinox by Douglas Wynne was one, as was God Bomb! by Kit Power. Rich Hawkins’ ‘Last’ books are awesome, but I suspect I’m not allowed to mention him as I published his first novella. Also, someone else I shouldn’t mention as he appears in my first anthology, ‘AMOK!’, is Rob. E. Boley, but his ‘Scary Tales’ books about a zombified Snow White are by far my favourite reads of last year.

aa24ba_370971f108054f6e9b8b36265bec9b4f — flesh like smoke

greydog: Finally, what’s coming from April Moon over the next year? Give our readers the low-down on your plans – with a bit of luck they’ll rush off to check their wallets.

neil: Mad plans are afoot. First up will be volume 4 in my Short Sharp Shocks collection – ‘Spawn of the Ripper’, a loving homage to the Hammer and Amicus films that made me the man I am today.

That will be followed by a couple of Kickstarter campaigns (remember how much it cost to produce a book?), one for a new collection of original James Bond stories spliced with Lovecraft’s Mythos (the first one has stories by Ed Erdelac and Willie Meikle) and the other for a secret project that involves some top authors and monsters.

Then I am working on publishing the debut novel from Patrick Loveland called ‘A Tear in the Veil’, which will knock everybody’s socks off, plus a follow up to my children’s book, probably based on Jules Verne, and then a sci-fi anthology called The Stars at my Door which will be optimistic pulp of the highest order. That one will be co-edited by George Anderson, who knows a thing or two about awesome stories. So, a quiet year then…

greydog: Thank you ever so much, Neil Baker.

neil: Thank you for taking an interest in my little company!

Full details of April Moon Books’ publications can be found at:

april moon books

aa24ba_db33a98fee3142509ca45ae3764316c2 — flesh like smoke

Next time on greydogtales, an exclusive interview with Scott Handcock, producer of the new Carnacki audio-tales for Big Finish Productions. We’re so excited we could build a pentacle…

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Lurchers in the Wind (and an Empress)

February 3, 2016 greydogtales Leave a comment

In which we whimsify about wild weather, walkies and worthless whistles. Plus writer Brian Barr joins us to talk about his Empress comic, hurrah! So much for alliteration. Lurcher lovers should board the first carriage only; comics enthusiasts should proceed to the far end of the train.

Lurchers first, then.

There is no ‘I’ in team. That’s because I is here, on my own, staring at mounds of mud-splattered washing and paw-marks over every surface. I’m fairly sure that’s one on the ceiling over there. Goodness knows, I love my longdogs, but the weather this winter has seriously challenged my desire to leave the computer chair.

In previous years, we’ve had some great walks in the snow. Django is especially fond of snow, and digs his muzzle into it so that he can throw it in the air, like a little kid. Ice is quite fun as well. Two long dogs in tandem do a great job of hauling you along like a world-class skater, and make you the envy of passing Jack Russell owners.

This year – storms and rain since November. Mud so deep in the woods that I’ve almost lost my wellies a number of times. And the wind…

dog-702733_960_720 — not a longdog, sadly

I have three problems with constantly walking in high winds:

Chilli, our alpha huntress, is only fully manageable on the whistle-treat system. For starters my fingers have been too numb to find the whistle under layers of clothing. I look like a terrible accident at a jumble sale on most walks, as if three old ladies were involved in a head-on collision and all their second-hand cardigans became one huge bundle with a beard sticking out. Worse, Chilli doesn’t always hear the whistle (or me calling her) because of the wind. A loose Chilli is a sort of wiry black missile, which even Django can’t catch.
That suspicious movement in the distance. You develop an additional sense if you have longdogs, a sort of long-range peripheral vision. Anything shifting in those bushes over there, a shadow moving on the far side of the field and so forth. Is that an alsatian off the lead, or a piece of cardboard? Trying to work out what is a potential risk, and what is just an airborne cornflakes packet, has become a nightmare. Recently the wind has been so bad that everything is whipping around madly, including people’s wheelie bins, car hubcaps, plastic bags and probably smaller, less well-anchored dogs. I dread the day when a Yorkie or a miniature poodle flies past. Snack-sized dogs are always a worry…
Poo bags. I am a dutiful sort of fellow, but pursuing escaped poo bags across a field which is mostly underwater is not my idea of fun. If you get them out of your pocket, they catch the wind, turn inside out and whip around trying to get free, seeking only to join that colony of liberated poo bags living in the nearby woods. Old, half-shredded bags gather round the young ones at night and shake their heads as they tell the little bags about how they escaped from The Beardy Man. I am their Urban Legend. This might be a minor problem, except for the fact that Django has days when he decides he needs multiple bottom-emptying stops, usually when a family with lots of curious children goes by. He does like an audience, and poo bag hell in high winds starts again…

Add to that my frozen ears, and I submit, m’lud, that it’s about time these bloody winds stopped. I rest my case.

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Now, as I am the only serious comics lover on the greydogtales team (unless you count Twiglet, who enjoys chewing the edges off a good graphic novel) I shall continue in First Person. The Magic Loft here is renowned for its many wonders, one of which is a large collection of old comics. You can’t get at half of them, because of the books, the vinyl LPs, the clothes which will never be worn again, forty seven draft novels with bits missing and the large, rusty television aerial. This last item is crucial, because the cable from it runs down the outside of the house and is the only thing which anchors the thirty foot of jasmine growing into the bedroom window.

What was I talking about? Oh yes, comics. In the last year I’ve renewed my expeditions up there and managed to extract a good quarter of the old comics. Wondrous treasures. So I thought I’d explore some newer stuff, hence things like our article on the Hellboy spin-off, Edward Grey, Witchfinder, a while ago (see the 3 sir edward greys). And in the process I bumped into writer Brian Barr. Having apologised for the light bruising, I could only make it up to him by letting him say something about his own comic, Empress.

A collaboration between Cruel Productions and Isle Squared Comics, Empress is both easy and hard to describe. The visuals, layout, all that technical stuff I leave to others, but the writing certainly caught my eye. Empress shifts between time zones, characters and viewpoints, always anchored one way or another by the titular character. I’ll let Brian tell you the rest, along with a bit about himself:

Lines of Inspiration

My name is Brian Barr. I’ve been writing and telling stories since I was a kid. I always liked ghost stories, and would often share them with family members. I grew up with a mom who loved horror, so horror and dark stories rubbed off on me. I also loved comic books growing up, and eventually got into fantasy and science-fiction. I also like literary fiction from time to time.

My favorite authors are Anthony Burgess, Tad Williams, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Alan Moore, Clive Barker, Jon Walter Williams, and Jim Starlin. I love Japanese manga and my favorites are Akira (also love the movie), Lone Wolf and Cub, and Devilman. Anything that is creative and thought-provoking really fascinates me, and I like to explore different social themes in my writing. Along with gaining inspiration from books and authors that I like, music is very inspiring, and I like many types of music ranging from rock and punk to ambient electronic music. Different cultures and societies from around the world also feed my inspiration, as noticeable in Empress.

Empress is a comic co-created by Chuck Amadori and myself. Chuck is an amazing writer and encourages me to get better in our collaborations. The artist of Empress is Marcelo Salaza, whose great talent turns my scripts into living works of art along with Geraldo Filho, our current colorist. Matheus Broncas colored issues 1-4 before Filho and his work is just as stunning.

Empress starts as a supernatural noir horror-thriller, and there is a mix of other genre in the work as well, from dark fantasy to historical fiction. The comic revolves around a character I created in 2011 named Zia, a Hollywood starlet from the 1930s who suddenly ends up missing. A private eye is sent to find her by the movie studio Zia works for, and he finds that Zia’s fate is beyond anything that he could have imagined.

We planned Empress as an ongoing comic series, and we’re almost halfway through the scripts we’ve written so far. We’re working hard to get it out there and share a new, unique story with lovers of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and good fiction period. We’re creating our own mythology with inspiration from many archaic cultures, and forging a fun, dark story that people can enjoy.

Along with the Empress comic book, my first novel, Carolina Daemonic, Book 1: Confederate Shadows, is available on Amazon in Kindle and Print. I have many short stories in a range of magazines and anthologies from Dark Chapter Press’s Kill for a Copy (with more to come from Dark Chapter Press), Nebula Rift, New Realm Magazine, and different publications from J. Ellington Ashton Press. Just type in Brian Barr in the Amazon search, my stuff will come up.

Thanks for this opportunity to join in the fun, greydogtales.

It’s been our pleasure. You can find out more about Brian’s writing at his site here:

brian barr books

Empress #5 is the start of a new story arc, but in addition to back issues you can also get #1 – 4 as a single edition.

61CcJ+xwYYL._SX325_BO1,204,203,200_ empress at amazon

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We’re a little over-stuffed here in the ramshackle shepherd’s hut. So what comes over the next couple of weeks is a mystery. An interview with Neil Baker of small press April Moon, Steve Vernon on supernatural sea stories, more Lurchers for Beginners, a feature on the new Carnacki audio production, David Senior‘s fabulous photography and Scary Women 2 are all waiting somewhere.

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Andy Paciorek: The Weirdfinder General Pt 2

January 31, 2016 greydogtales Leave a comment

And we’re back, with Part Two of our Andy Paciorek feature. This time we focus down on his folk horror artwork, how he does it, where it comes from and where it’s all going. And we present a range of his illustrations, a feast for the eyes.

Not a feast of eyes, please note. That would upset the local coroner again, and we had a lot of trouble last time. You can only plead the headaches so many times…

greydog: Andy, hello again. So, weird art – it’s why we first noticed you, and what we hunt out here on greydogtales. Regardless of FHR, you’ve been an artist in your own right for a number of years. Your Strange Lands website was recognised in the Froudian Artists Awards in 2008, and covers creatures from Celtic myth and legend. Was this your first major venture?

andy: In the area of darker more mythic art, yes it was my first venture into this area. So that was extremely complimentary and inspiring that such a tremendous talent in the field as Brian Froud would select my work as one of the best of the year on his fantastic World of Froud website.

Prior to that I was writing and illustrating comic strips for small press publications, zines, mail art projects and on community based arts projects. I then took a few years out and literally ran away with the show-folk as I joined a travelling carnival that took me from Wales to South East Asia and the Middle East. When I returned to art, it was rather different to what I had been producing before.

greydog: Strange Lands draws on the Celtic Otherworld, as we said, but one of your current illustrated projects, Black Earth, draws on the Slavic Otherworld. What was your inspiration for artwork based on Slavic tales?

andy: After Strange Lands, the desire grew within me to approach the supernatural entities and creatures of various different cultures in a heavily illustrated field-guide type format. My father is Polish (my mother was Italian – they met in Middlesbrough in the north of England so quite a mix there) and on a visit to Poland, the idea of doing a Slavic based book took seed in my mind.

At that time there were very few Slavic lore books available in English in Britain (there have been a few more since, but as myths and legends go it is still comparatively under-represented in western publication) but other work prevented me from starting on the Black Earth book for a few years, then I had to put it aside as I concentrated again on commissioned work, some smaller personal projects and then life situations came to the fore which also for a while diverted my attentions elsewhere. But I have returned to Black Earth and have made good ground on it. The writing is for the most part complete and the majority of illustrations done – however when I embark on personal illustrated books we are sometimes talking over a hundred illustrations per book not a handful so there are still a few dozen to do. But hopefully 2016 may see it released.

It’s an interesting project to work on. There are some very intriguing denizens of Slavic lore, some very dark ones also, which for me are a great pleasure to draw.

11230646_10153625629926952_3574292202946422555_n — rasputin, paciorek

greydog: We usually ask something about technique or media, for anyone who’s feeling creative. What do you prefer to use when getting down to work – pen, charcoal, acrylics? Paper, a computer screen or a cunningly scraped goat-skin?

andy: Nothing as exotic as goat skin I’m afraid, I may have to try that for a future project. My parents used to keep goats when I was a kid (bad pun). They’re feisty critters, I doubt one would keep still long enough for me to draw on it!

I actually prefer a very direct route from idea to image. Pen on paper suits me best. I rarely paint and when I do it is very different to my drawings, I paint loosely and quickly in an expressionistic manner (though I do think my drawing is quite expressionistic too in a manner, it is more detailed and takes a bit longer). I haven’t actually painted for a few years now and my last painting was in collaboration with the exciting artist Dr Steg on our Stegorek project.

4901064835_964f3c7e9f_b — dr steg and andy paciorek

In drawing I used to do more sketchbook rough compositions but more recently I have used photoshop to create photo-montaged collages to work out compositions. Having completed the ink drawing I will scan it into photoshop just mainly to do basic touch-up work, but may occasionally add colour filters, but I prefer mostly to work in black and white. I reserve colour more for my photography work these days.

11140095_10153488060436952_2307630184453253962_n — paciorek

greydog: We’ve had John Coulthart on greydogtales, of course, and mentioned other contemporaries like Santiago Caruso, as well as some classical illustrators. Who do you particularly admire?

andy: Both of the artists you mention are excellent artists whom, through the wonder of the internet, I’ve been lucky enough to have had communication with. Though I have a love-hate relationship with technology (though sometimes I think on its side it just hates me! Amazing when it works, awful when it doesn’t and I do seem to attract glitches and gremlins), the internet in its favour has made it far easier to see the work of both older less familiar art and contemporary artists, and there are some truly astounding artists out there. Too many to name individually as it would be a disservice to those I’d left out. What I admire in work is a sincerity of style and motive and an interesting individual eye.

Of all art I particularly love the Symbolist and Decadent movement, Romanticism, Expressionism, Flemish Primitivism / Northern Mannerism, Victorian fairy painting, Golden Age book illustration, pulp art, Ukiyo-e and the graphic works of artists such as Gustave Doré, Goya and Max Ernst.

Takiyasha_the_Witch_and_the_Skeleton_Spectre — an example of ukiyo-e – by utagawa kuniyoshi

greydog: Yes, Doré remains inspirational for so many illustrators of the weird (see also our post john coulthart – axioms & other dark beasts) When we were much younger creatures, one of our favourite disturbing possessions was the old Dover edition of Goya‘s Los Caprichos, still in one piece and treasured today. It’s a source of monstrous images which we should cover in more detail some time.

61CVRwcAzqL._SX332_BO1,204,203,200_ — dover (1969)

Do you have a personal favourite among your own artistic pieces or projects, one which gave you particular satisfaction?

andy: I’m not sure if I do. With having a pretty massive oeuvre of work, there’s a lot to choose from. It’s always interesting to see which pieces other people pick out as their favourites of my work, as frequently it’s quite surprising and diverse.

12122881_10153730023736952_3973530762857513040_n — paciorek

Satisfaction wise, I’ve enjoyed working on collaborations such as those done as Stegorek and the Balcan~Paciorek projects, and illustrating the stories by different authors for Cumbrian Cthulhu and some other projects. For my solo work it’s always satisfying to complete personally epic projects such as Strange Lands.

PRINCE RANDIAN THE HUMAN CATERPILLAR2 — prince randian the human caterpillar, paciorek

For my Human Chimaera book which provides over a hundred visual and textual portraits of ‘sideshow freaks’ was satisfying for a different reason as my intention was to present the subjects both with a respectful human portrayal but also to highlight the fantastic world that their stage names or descriptions suggested. I think I succeeded in pulling that off, so that was rather satisfying.

MAXIMO AND BARTOLA THE AZTEC CHILDREN2 — the aztec children, paciorek

greydog: We end with the year ahead. FHR’s Corpse Roads, Black Earth and so on – these books are all hopefully coming. Do you have other artistic plans for the year, or will these pretty much take up all of your time?

andy: They are pretty time-consuming, but by necessity I need to do commissioned work also when it presents itself to keep the wolves from the door. In recent years I’ve been fortunate to have worked on a number of books for Harper-Collins for their Element Encyclopedia and Art for Mindfulness titles. The subject matter there has ranged from vampires to adult colouring books, so that’s also been interesting to work upon and forces me to have a bit of greater diversity in my output, which is not a bad thing. We’ve had initial talks about further projects, so touch-wood they will be knocking on the door again in not too distant future.

greydog: We wish you good fortune in all your projects, and many thanks for joining us, Andy Paciorek!

andy: My pleasure, thank you for asking.

We included a number of Folk Horror Revival links last time, in andy paciorek part one. A link to the FHR book itself is on the right-hand sidebar, and many of Andy’s drawings can be found via Facebook. You can also visit Andy’s great site dedicated to the Celtic Otherworld here:

strange lands

Note for Revivalists: Our next Folk Horror article will be a feature on FHR writer/photographer David Senior, coming next week.

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FILMS FROM THE GUTTER

Before we disconnect the microphones, sweep out the studio and default on the electricity bill, a last something not connected to folk horror. We don’t say a lot about films on here (which may change, but we do have our hands full with fiction and illustrative art most of the time).

We have however mentioned the extensive news, content and reviews site that is Ginger Nuts of Horror here before, and they do cover films.

The Nuts are now publishing their own book, which will feature the full collection of 2015 reviews and interviews from their popular Film Gutter series, looking at some of the most bizarre, grotesque and disturbing horror features ever made.

It’s dead good value, so if you like worrying, full-on horror films, you should check out the rest of the details here:

film gutter volume one

But be warned. The Nuts do have a penchant for some dark, unpleasant stuff. Not like dear old creepy J Linseed Grant and his bad-tempered ponies.

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And we should be away. We couldn’t show all the Paciorek drawings we wanted to this time, but we may slip one or two in as we charge along towards Spring. Here’s one we rather liked as a last little reminder, from The Petrification of Phillipa Hesse, a cautionary tale by Damian Leslie & Andy Paciorek (2005/6).

10401175_35260981951_8362_n — petrification of phillipa hesse, paciorek

Next week on the same wavelength: Something about lurchers, more scary stuff and we’re building up to our next big theme, the watery weird that we call Stranger Seas. We can’t help ourselves…

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Lines of Inspiration

FILMS FROM THE GUTTER

Literature, lurchers and life