Today’s mega-interview is hard-hitting, includes some rude words, and is predominantly ginger. Yes, it’s Jim McLeod, taking a break from running that major horror fiction and film review site, Ginger Nuts of Horror, to bring joy and vitriol to our mild, puzzled lives.
Jim has many outstanding qualities – for example, he’s got a beard, and he comes from the well-known Yorkshire colony of Scottish-land (a little geography for our far-flung listeners). He’s also fun to know. Join us now and hear the truth about, uh, quite a lot of things…
Warning: There is a small amount of effing and jeffing involved. If you are a lurcher of a sensitive disposition, or a writer who thinks a spell-checker is the same as an editor, you might want to be prepared. The opinions expressed below belong to somebody, probably.
greydog: Welcome to greydogtales, Jim. We would say that it’s a great honour to have you here, but we’re dour Yorkshire folk and don’t believe in crawling.
What we do appreciate is you finding the time to join us, considering the amount of work you put into your site Ginger Nuts of Horror. So we want to look at that side of things first. For people who don’t know much about GNoH’s origins, how did it all start?
jim: Well that’s a story in itself. It all started six or seven years ago. I have no concept of time-frames – I ought to know because my daughter was just about to turn one year old. Yes I know I should know how old my daughter is and I’m a terrible parent, I’ll burn in hell, probably at the hand of my daughter Cthella.
So I was on a three month absence from work after getting my left wrist rebuilt. Apparently I had spent the previous seven years going around with a broken wrist and not realising it. I’m hard as hell, or as my wife says, stupid as hell for not going to the doctor earlier. And while mucking about on the internet I came across THE BRITISH HORROR NOVELS FORUM, a great message board that has sadly been killed off by Facebook. Inhabiting that space were such reprobates as William Meikle, Ian Woodhead, and a few other authors.
I can’t remember if it was Ian or William who suggested that I start interviewing authors on the forum. The interviews took a form of question and response on the forum and went on for as long as the natural discussion allowed. After a few weeks of doing this William suggested I started my own blog. It was supposed to be called THE GINGER NUTCASE OF HORROR as I am ginger, if you haven’t figured that out, and nutty about horror. However, thanks to being off my nuts on really strong prescription painkillers I registered the name as Ginger Nuts of Horror.
Looking back six or seven years later I would never have imagined that what started off as something to do while recovering from a major operation would have grown into one of the biggest horror review websites out there, let alone ever thinking that I would interview Joe Dante, Graham Masterton, Joe Hill, Simon Clarke, and numerous other heroes of mine. And never would have thought that it would take up so much of my life. I work night shifts, and on my day/nights off I get up at 4am just to keep up with the number of emails, reviews and interviews that I have to deal with.
greydog: We tend towards the weird, which often includes horror but which ranges across a lot of genres and interests. How do you set your own site’s boundaries? There must be areas which are too peripheral or too unpleasant for you to want to include – or is it case-by-case every time?
jim: It used to be easier when I was the only reviewer on the site, as I have a pretty strict and conservative set of values and morals. So the extreme side of horror was never going to be touched upon by myself, it’s just not my thing. Hell, I skip over any naughty business in horror books. But in more general terms I think horror is a pretty all-encompassing genre – you can go from the quiet end of the spectrum with the ghost stories of M R James, right up to the extreme end of the spectrum from the likes of Matt Shaw, but it can take in everything from Aliens, Bizarro, Terminator, serial killers, big hairy monsters and psycho clowns. To me horror is a feeling not a genre.
And now that we have a great team of reviewers I’m more open to cover the extreme side of it, mainly thanks to the contributions of Dawn Cano’s extreme horror fiction reviews and Alex Davis’ excellent extreme Horror column FILM GUTTER.
The rest of the spectrum is covered by Kit Power, George Illet Anderson, George Daniel Lea, Charlotte Bond, Duncan Ralston, and Kayleigh Marie Edwards, John Boden, plus Andrew Freudenberg and Adrian Shotbolt, who are taking the lead with the music side of the site.
I’m so lucky to have such strong team of reviewers, who are also a great bunch of guys and gals, ones I am proud to call friends.
greydog: We even know some of these terrifying people, but we wouldn’t dare let them loose on here. Despite that fact that you cover films, news, views and all sorts of horror-related matters, would we be right in saying that horror fiction, the written word, is still the heart of your work?
jim: It is and it isn’t. Personally I have become really disillusioned with the fiction side the genre. There seems to be a real sense of entitlement within the writer community these days. You know the sort, the ones who will spend all day posting that coffee writer meme, interspersed with whinging posts about bad reviews. They forget that writing is all about paying the dues – these are ones who slap a book together, think they can edit it themselves then slap it up on Amazon and wonder why they aren’t a best seller. It’s a rising problem and one that is really pissing me off. Christ, I’ve had death threats over book reviews.
And yet this has never happened from the film side of the genre, and you should read some of my film reviews, that’s where I really fly off the handle and let my piss and vinegar spurt forth with unfiltered glee.
Having said that it probably still is the heart of the site even if it feels a bit rotten at the moment.
greydog: Fortunately we don’t feel entitled. We just write the stuff and beg for as many cents a word as possible. Or free meaty bones and chicken carcasses. Now, we’re not going to ask how people can get a mention on GNoH. They should be able to work that out for themselves if they want to get on in the world (we know, we’re harsh). We’re more curious about what happens next. There are many published works with potential, or brilliant concepts, which aren’t quite there yet. How do you tackle reviewing those awkward animals?
jim: I always review with an honest and open mind. I try and not be mean with my reviews, but if the book/ film is crap the book/film is crap. And I don’t care who created it. There a number of sites out there who are either beholden to advertising revenue or some misbegotten notion that you can make a living out of reviewing horror, and they will give positive reviews to films and books just to keep on the good side of writers, agents and publicists. I don’t care about that. Hell, one of the big American publishers won’t send me books anymore after my damning review of a book from a BIG name in horror. I know I’ll never get an interview with the author now, but at least I know I told the truth about the book.
And before anyone says all reviewing is subjective, yes it is, but there is a line where subjectivity means nothing and something is just badly made.
greydog: Last year a number of writers put together the book Jim McLeod Must Die as a tribute to you and your work with GNoH, but it must sometimes seem like a thankless task. You mentioned threats. Do you get much hassle from people believing they deserve your attention or applause?
jim: Oh god yes, I had to block two authors this month for constantly asking me when the review of their book was going up. If you submit a book or film to the site without reading the submission guidelines then it’s your own fault if you don’t understand that I don’t generally reply to submissions until the review is posted. I get over a hundred emails a day that actually require me to read them, I don’t have time to reply. And even if I do reply on submission it’s not a contract that I will actually review your book. Submitting a book or film to the site just means that we have added it to basically is a watch list. To put it in perspective the current list of books which have made it onto the review list sits at over 400 books. Even if all of the reviewers reviewed one book a week it would take us close to a year to clear the list. Which is a stupid thing to even consider.
Last year I ended up in hospital with blood poisoning, they reckon I was at six hours away from dying if I hadn’t gone into hospital, I posted a Facebook post after spending two days in hospital telling everyone what had happened and not worry about my Facebook silence. I got thousands of messages of support, but one tactless author, and I use that term loosely, actually sent me a message along these lines
“I know you are in hospital, but I thought you might like to read my new novel and review it when you get out of hospital”
Seriously WTF? I really believe that at my funeral there will be a line of half arsed writers waiting to ask my family if there is an unposed review of their book on my hard drive. Fuck it, I bet you £1000 there will be some fucknut trying to get a review from beyond the grave with a Ouija board.
I have had death threats, idiot writers getting their fans to down vote my reviews on Amazon, threats against my family. And even some nut job writer sending me a letter written in their own blood. To be honest I find it all rather funny, that anyone could get so worked up about a genre where no one is ever going to be famous. There will never be another Stephen King, take the review and deal with it.
greydog: We would only ever write to you in someone else’s blood – we like to hang on to ours. As far as the range of your site goes, film is an area we avoid, maybe because it’s often even more subjective than fiction (and we don’t have enough time as it is). What slid you into that area – readership demand or something else?
jim: It was purely a way of getting a bigger audience, plus a small pinch of being able to have a lot more fun with the reviews. I think films are easier to write bad reviews for. I can’t remember what film it was but my review of the film was a half-finished game of hangman, The answer to which was “HELL NO”.
The larger audience is also why we have broken out into music and now art. The horror fiction side of it is a small market. After a while you find you are just talking to the same crowd, and I want the effect of the reviews to reach as big an audience as possible. Not for some sad ego trip, but just so all of the great writers who I love can get that extra bit of exposure. The site has never been about me, that’s why I never put my name to any reviews I write.
greydog: While we have you, we also wanted to ask about small presses, because you’ve done a lot of work promoting books from them. It’s a subject we touch on here every so often. We still see them as the engines which drive a lot of unusual and innovative fiction to the marketplace. On the other hand, a number of writers now self-publish right from the start. Any thoughts?
jim: Self-publishing only works when the writer treats it as a professional project. And you can tell which writers do this. Anyone who thinks self publishing is easy or an excuse to not get a decent cover image, or even have another person edit your book, is on a road to nowhere. The small presses have changed over the years, especially here in the UK, where they seem to be more of a place for established writers to publish limited editions of their work. There are still some small presses publishing new writers, such as Horrific Tales, Boo Books, Pendragon Press and Nightwatch/Black Shuck books to name a few. But a lot of the more established ones are just publishing the same old names.
Which I can understand as the margins of profitability can all rest on the sale of one copy of a book. So I can get why they publish writers with a proven track base.
greydog: Let’s turn more to Mr McLeod himself. Getting greydogtales together on time is often nightmarish, and yours is a much larger and more complex site. How do you juggle the site, work and life?
jim: By spending every waking minute working on it. I’m lucky in that I work nights and my usual shift pattern means I have a lot of free time without the kids. So as I said, on my nights off you will often see me get up at 4am just to clear the backlog. I’m lucky in that I can get by with very little sleep. However it has meant that a lot of my other hobbies have fallen by the wayside. This is the year that I am determined to get back on my mountain bike. You’ll notice a drop in posts/reviews from me when the schools are on holiday, as I would rather be out having fun with the family.
greydog: What’s a good day off, away from horror and GNoH?
jim: A good day off involves the family and a nice big hill to climb. I love getting out there with my kids and partner, whether it’s a day of hillwalking or a visit to a museum, it really doesn’t matter so long as I get to spend time with them.
greydog: There’s some strange stuff out there. Do you personally ever get grossed out by the books or films that you’re asked to consider?
jim: Not very often, even something like Martyrs. Watched that with very little emotional attachment, right up until they forced fed her with a spoon, the noise of the spoon or fork scrapping of her teeth, freaked me out. I don’t know what that says about me psychologically but that is about the only time a film has really grossed me out.
greydog: We were quite upset by the Ghost Rider films – but that was because they turned out to be crap. You’re pretty steeped in the field. Ever considered writing yourself?
jim: Never, I know I don’t have the skill to do it. I do not subscribe to the notion that everyone has a book in them, there are some writers out there who shouldn’t even write a shopping list let alone a novel.
Having said that I did start to write a story composed sole of phrases from that terrible Horror Writers phrasebook that was published last year. I posted it as a live writing experiment on facebook, but I sadly lost the original document before I could finish it. It was awesome if I say so myself. So if anyone happens to have a copy of the last update of it please send it over. i would love to finish it.
greydog: Call our hotline now if you know where Jim’s last update is. Every pound raised goes towards supporting a cranky old Yorkshireman and his dogs. And just to be mean, how about finishing with a bit of name-dropping. Who really does it for you as a reader, rather than as a reviewer/website supremo, at the moment?
jim: For me right now, it’s a mix of old favourites like Adam Nevill, Gary McMahon, William Meikle, John Llewellyn Probert, Sarah Pinborough, and Brian Keene. Mixed in with new writers like Kayleigh Marie Edwards, Kit Power, J.R. Park, Duncan Bradshaw, Lee Thompson, James Everington, Phil Sloman, Laura Mauro, VH Leslie (Laura & Victoria featured in our feature scary women again), Cate Gardener – the list goes on and on. I really think we are in a golden age of talent.
Greydog: Many thanks, and the very best for Ginger Nuts of Horror in the future.
Jim: Thanks for having me. I have had a blast taking part. It’s not often I get to be on the other side of the fence, it’s a lot more fun than my side.
And don’t forget that you can find a wealth of trivia, news and hard-hitting reviews every week here on Jim’s site:
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Remember, you can now buy the new John Linwood Grant bestseller, “A Study in Grey” (or Gray, if you’re American). We say bestseller, but that’s what you’re for, dear listeners. Link on the right-hand sidebar. Not that we’re begging or anything, but…
Next time on greydogtales: We interview Nicholas Cage to find out why, although we think he’s done some great stuff, a lot of his films are utter rubbish. No, we’re lying again. It’ll be dogs and the weird, with probably a tad less horror.
