An interview with Horror Author, Armand Rosamilia

The Fifth Dimension is proud to be able to produce the transcript  of an interview recently undertaken with Horror author, Armand Rosamilia. 

Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey native currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not watching zombie movies, the Boston Red Sox and listening to Heavy Metal music... 

Besides the "Miami Spy Games" zombie spy thriller series, he has the "Keyport Cthulhu" horror series, several horror novellas and shorts to date, as well as the "Dying Days" series:

Highway To Hell... Darlene Bobich: Zombie Killer... Dying Days... Dying Days 2... Still Dying: Select Scenes From Dying Days... The Siege of European Village... and many more coming in 2013.

He is also an editor for Rymfire Books, helping with several horror anthologies, including "Vermin" and the "State of Horror" series, as well as the creator and energy behind Carnifex Metal Books, putting out the "Metal Queens Monthly" series of non-fiction books about females into Metal...

You can find him at http://armandrosamilia.com and e-mail him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal: armandrosamilia@gmail.comInterview questions.

(FD) Due to the fact those who read this interview will be scattered throughout the world, tell us more about where you are from and where you live.

(AR) I'm a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida. But I will always be a Jersey guy at heart. I am currently sequestered in Flagler Beach, where I get to sit around all day in a great little coffee place called Kokomo's, and watch the tourists on the beaches and the whales and the dolphins. Sometimes I don't get distracted and actually write.

(FD) Tell me about your average writing day, if there is such a thing!

(AR) I drop off my son at high school at 7:30 am and head to Kokomo's, where my table and coffee are waiting. I go through my e-mails until around 9 am until I'm almost awake, and then write for the next three hours and hope to hit my 2,000 word goal. Lunch is usually something unique they whip up and I like to try the specials. Then I waste the afternoon, getting more writing in but mostly playing on Facebook, doing e-mail interviews, answering e-mails and reading way too many blogs.

(FD) When did you first start writing fiction and why?

(AR) I was twelve when I started, and it was all Dean Koontz's fault. I loved his paperbacks as a kid and wanted to write like him. And I did! I wrote exactly like him, stealing ideas and sentences I liked from his books and making my own horrible stories that made no sense. But my parents encouraged me and I kept it up.

(FD) Aaah, Dean Koontz - a particular favourite of mine. I remember being completely knocked out by the the first book of his that I read, 'Ticktock'… amazing stuff. Could you nail down your favourite?

(AR) It was definitely "Phantoms" for me. I can remember reading that book, especially the first act, as a kid and being scared lying in bed reading it. I've never seen the movie and I have no intention of seeing it, because it ran in my mind already as a teen and it creeped me out for whatever reason.

(FD) Why do you write predominantly in horror genre?

(AR) I love it. I always have. I've been reading it since I can remember, thanks to my mother's huge horror paperback collection. She would read 3-5 books a week and I tried to keep up through my teen years. It was just natural for me to write it, and I've dabbled in fantasy (thanks to RE Howard), but horror has always been my main passion. 

(FD) Why do you think it is that the sci-fi & horror genre’s are looked down upon by many in the literary world, and does that bother you?

(AR) It doesn't bother me, because the real fans are all that matter. I've been writing mostly zombie fiction in the last couple of years, and there is a small but rabid fan base for it. You'll get some fans of The Walking Dead who will try it, which is awesome. But they aren't the fan I'm trying to hook in. I want the zombie reader who loves Mark Tufo and Ian Woodhead and John O'Brien to read my stuff.

(FD)  What are your thoughts that Zombies seem to be the new vampires? The Walking Dead seem to be everywhere!

(AR) If it helps bring in new fans, I'm all for it. I know many people who started reading zombie fiction thanks to the TV show, but I also worry about too much out there, and zombies going the way of the vampire. I went and saw Warm Bodies with my twelve-year old daughter, and she loved it. She also loves Twilight. Me? Not so much. It's getting into those Jump The Shark moments and I'm getting uncomfortable with it.

(FD) Oh god, tell me about it - Bram Stoker will be turning in his grave! Since when did Vampires start to 'spangle' when they died?

(AR) I loved what Anne Rice did with vampires, because at the time it was different. I was also a big Poppy Z. Brite fan with her vampires, but it's been taken way too far now. I want disturbing killers who would rip you apart instead of trying to date you and play baseball in the daylight… ugh…

(FD) When I was growing up, I was that nerdy kid ridiculed for my comic collection and obsession with all things Sci-fi and horror. So when was it that Geeks became cool & began to take over the world?!

(AR) I know! I was the mullet-wearing Heavy Metal dude who played Dungeons & Dragons and had a huge comic book collection. I was total geek in junior high and high school. Really bad. I wasn't ever thought of as one of the cool kids. Now, if you act like you're onBig Bang Theory you're cool. I don't get it. I never got laid telling chicks I played D&D, that's for sure. 

 (FD) Who in the horror genre (writers, film makers etc) inspire you?

(AR) I think there are so many out there that inspire me, and I owe a nod to. Obviously, Dean Koontz from when I was a kid, and all the schlocky B-movies I saw as a teen, with names like Bloodsucking Freaks. Writers like Brian Keene got me into zombie fiction, and authors like John Everson, Scott Nicholson, Douglas Clegg and Bryan Hall kept my love for horror fiction alive.

(FD) How familiar are you with British horror?

(AR) Not as much as I should be. I read quite a few British authors but I never go out of my way to find them, they just happen to be from across the pond. I'm always looking for recommendations, so…

(FD) Well you have some of the classics such as Horace Walpole, Gregory Lewis, Mary Shelley Wheatley then  some of the contemporary writers such as James Herbert, Peter James, Ramsey Campbell, Graham Masterson and Clive Barker. I'd love to hear your opinion of them if you get the chance. Plus, perhaps the greatest British horror movie ever ( in my opinion)  - 'The Wicker Man'.

(AR) As a teen I read sci fi and "Dune" was one of my favorite series, but as I got older I got more and more of of sci fi and firmly into horror. Campbell and especially Masterson are big parts of my bookshelf collections, and I always try to find new reads from them. I also grew up on a steady diet of those great Hammer Films and saw "The Wicker Man" years ago, which I liked. I also like the Iron Maiden song based on it, haha. I saw the remake with Nic Cage… that's all I will say.

(FD) What is more important to you, writing character or plot driven story lines?

(AR) They are both important, but the main reason people keep reading a story is because they care about the character. Whether you love or hate them, you need to feel invested in what happens to them. A mindless plot of action sequences and more action sequences won't get people involved, but a great character will.

(FD) Oh I completely agree, you have to emotionally connect to even the most unsettling of characters and sometimes even try and see things from their point of view. If there was one classic horror character that you wish you had written, who would it be and why?

(AR) Harry Keogh from the Necroscope series. I absolutely love the evolution of the character in the books, and Lumley is such an immense talent. And a British guy… hmm.

(FD) Leading on from that, who is the favourite character you have created and why?

(AR) Darlene Bobich, hands down. She stars in the "Dying Days" series and I created her wanting to stay away from the cliché main characters like cops, military or super humans in a zombie apocalypse. She's less Milla Jojovich and more the normal woman. 

She is not a stunning beauty but she is very pretty, she is a bit overweight, she works behind a makeup counter in the mall, she has panic attacks and cries… she is just normal.

(FD) You have a single choice; Make money from writing or being critically praised for your work?

(AR) I like feeding my kids. That is the bottom line because I do this full-time and in order to keep doing it full-time I have to keep writing, and sometimes write a little out of my comfort zone. I chalk it up to learning experiences and being able to adjust my writing to strict deadlines and ideas that aren't originally my own, but making them mine. Critical praise is more of an ego thing, and I have more than enough ego for several people.

(FD) So do you think the advent of the Internet, social networking, self-publishing etc have become a help or hindrance to fiction writers to make money these days compared to the past?

(AR) Both. It depends on how much time you are spending online. My thought is writing is 25% writing and 75% promoting it. But really promoting it, like doing interviews (thanks, by the way!) and talking about your books and selling you as a Brand. But then chit-chat on Facebook and Twitter, while helping to sell you as a person as well as a writer, can easily get lost after hours of talking about stupid things (which I do all the time), and not advancing your career. I love self-publishing but I'm also realistic to know each author has a ceiling for sales unless he can generate new readers. How do you get them? By engaging them online, at book signings, and word of mouth.

(FD) Can you tell us what you are working on at the moment? 

(AR) About fifty projects, it seems. Dying Days 3 and Dying Days: Origins zombie novellas, final edits on my Chelsea Avenue horror novel, and a non-fiction book called Metal Queens: Models 2. I keep adding more and more projects as they come up.

(FD) So its safe to say that either by nature or necessity, you're something of a multi-tasker?!

(AR) I am a multi-tasker out of fear. I need to keep working and keep the ideas flowing or I feel like I'll lose my momentum and/or mojo. I need to get out as many projects and stories from my head as is humanly possible before I die. Or before this weekend… 

(FD) Finally, possibly the most important question of this interview; Marvel or DC?

(AR) Make mine Marvel. 'Nuff said.

(FD) Aaaah, a man after my own heart! :-)

This interview took place between the 11th and 16th of March. I would sincerely like to thank Armand for his time.

In praise of the Low-budget B movie - The Man with the X-Ray Eyes.

The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)

Yes folks, it's another trip down memory lane - but don't worry, this one doesn't involve recollections of an old flame……

As with some of the previous Sci-fi and horror movies that I've mentioned in previous blog entries, this particular movie provides a major part of the rich fabric of the cinematic experience of my life. Again, it's a movie that I can remember vividly where and when I first saw it, and yes it evokes happy memories of that particular time. However it is more than just that, it is for me perhaps the prime example of how good a film from an often much maligned sub-genre can be.

Okay, first some of the history - feel free dear reader to scroll down the page if all you want to read about is this science fiction/horror B-movie classic…..If you don't mind me talking about myself (again) for a few lines or so, then continue. 

I can't remember the exact year I first saw The man with the X-Ray Eyes, my guess is that I was about 9 or 10 years old and probably far too young to have seen it at that age. I was on holiday with my family to spend two weeks in Portsmouth ( don't laugh, this was quite a cosmopolitan undertaking for the Anderson family back in the mid 1970's). It was actually something of a family affair as my mums brother and his family also came, which is relevant for the connection they have to me first seeing this movie. One night, my parents went out for a meal and a few drinks, just leaving my younger brother and I to be looked after by my Aunt. Even as a nine year old, I was something of a night owl, so once it had got to about 10pm and my brother was fast asleep we started looking for something to watch on TV - this being 1970's British television, the choice of channels amounted to 3….yes dear reader, we had to survive on just 3 channels  - dear god, it was the dark ages. By coincidence, right at the time of this mini-channel hopping, an early 1960's movie that I never heard of ( & neither had my aunt) was about to start. As I was already in the early stages of sci-fi and horror nerdome i was intrigued - and boy was not to be disappointed with a piece of cinema that at times humorous, visceral and occasionally wholly disturbing.

  The cinematic Trailer

The man with the X-Ray Eyes was directed by the irrepressible director Roger Corman, who demonstrated with this B-movie classic that horror and science fiction films could be instruments for intelligent and literate storytelling.  Dr. Xavier (played by the always excellent Ray Milland) develops a serum designed to improve the range of human vision. After the funding for his project begins to run out and believing that merely testing on animals will only bring unclear results, he begins testing the serum on himself.

After discovering that he can see though people's clothing, Xavier behaves in a way that most of us would do when suddenly given the power of x-ray vision as he displays an an adolescent delight at his discovery. The scene where, like some pubescent schoolboy, he spends his time observing women's underwear at a dance party was particularly uncomfortable for this nine year old watching it with his Aunt!

Up until this pint, the movie is a slightly over-talky but often humorous take on the ability to see through objects. However, proceedings take a darker turn when after continuing to take the eye serum, he accidentally  causes the death of a colleague and is forced to go on the run. Xavier escapes but he can no longer see the world as we would normally do, instead his brain is unable to fully comprehend the bizarre and surreal take he now has on his visual reality. Even when he shuts his eyes this offers no relief from the his bizarre visions, as he can see through his eyelids. 

Xavier's eyes are altered along with his vision: first they become black and silver, and then completely black. In an effort to mask his strange appearance, he wears dark sunglasses at all times. In an effort to keep in touch with some element of his humanity, he secretly starts treating the sick. Though he garners a reputation as a miracle worker, he starts to fear and despise his patients as by now he can even see the death lurking in their body tissue. 

The movie climaxes with Xavier heading out into the Nevada desert and finds himself at a religious revival where there is a shocking & in some ways, satisfying climax to the story.

The rumour of an alternative ending to the movie has long passed into Science Fiction movie folklore. According to some, the ending imposed by the studio is not the one Corman envisaged and in fact somewhere in a movie vault is the actual footage the Corman wanted. The director himself has confirmed the story by acknowledging filming an alternative ending where Xavier, after pulling his eyes out proclaims " I CAN STILL SEE, I CAN STILL SEE"!! 

The man with the x-ray eyes does have its share of limitations, it had a only a small budget of $300,000 and it has to be said that some of the performances are at best, pale comparisons to Milland's and at worst, distinctly wooden. Indeed Ray Milland's performance of a good and decent man driven beyond insanity by his inability to control what he sees is beyond description. His gradual descent from normality to madness is perfectly judged. In addition, this is an intelligent, compelling and engrossing B-movie that includes thoughtful science fiction and genuine elements of horror. The special effects by modern standards may seem very basic, but Corman's technique of letting the audience see Xavier's increasing hallucagenic-like visions are at times extraordinary - the scene with sight of the skeletons of buildings floating in space has a mystifying beauty of its very own. I would suggest that Roger Corman never did anything better than this.

The man with the X-Ray eyes - the complete movie from youtube

The Hobbit DVD release

Due to recent illness ( OK it was the flu, but a REALLY bad flu) I missed the announcement by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment officially announcing that the marvellous The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey DVD release date for March 19th, 2013. As well as the DVD there’ll be a Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet and 3D BD/DVD/Ultraviolet Combo Pack. Hurrah!!

Sadly, the releases don’t seem to include any deleted or extended scenes included in the specifications, so as in the LOTR releases is seems that we will have to wait until the extended editions come out later this year. 

As far as i can see, special feature in the March release are;

• New Zealand: Home of Middle Earth
• Video Blogs

• Start of Production
• Location Scouting
• Shooting Block One
• Filming in 3D
• Locations Part 1
• Locations Part 2
• Stone St. Studios Tour
• Wrap of Principal Photography
• Post-production Overview
• Wellington World Premiere

• Theatrical Trailers

• Dwarves
• Letter Opener
• Bilbo Contract
• Gandalf Wagers
• Gollum Paths

• Game Trailers

• The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-Earth
• Guardians of Middle-Earth
• Lego The Lord of the Rings

• Standard DVD copy of An Unexpected Journey (2D)
• UltraViolet digital copy An Unexpected Journey (2D) (expires 3/19/15)

Having said all that I may wait until the rumoured December release date to coincide with the next theatrical instalment for the extended version. Being the nerd that I am, the extended versions of LOTR are the only ones that I ever watch - so The Hobbit, which I seem to remember ran at over a zillion hours means that it may take the rest of my life to see all the extended material, scenes and deleted scenes. It's a dirty job, but someones got to do it........ Ah, to hell with it. I'll get the ordinary DVD in March and then the extended one too.........

The Changeling (1980) - revisiting an old flame

"How did you die, Joseph? Did you die in this house? Why do you remain?"

I was driving home from work a few days ago when a song from the mid-1980's came on the radio that I hadn't heard in ages. The name of the song isn't important, suffice to say it was bought for me by my first love ( do I hear an ahhh, bless him?) and I must have played it to death at the time, I loved it. The memories of that time and and the people who were in my life that suddenly filled my head were intoxicating - such is the power of music. Yes, I started thinking of the particular person who bought me that song, as I said, she was my first love and well, it was a special time in my life. Such is the way my mind works, I started thinking of the science fiction and horror movies that we used to watch together. 

Her favourite count..

She was a huge classic Horror fan, particularly of Dracula in his various incarnations ( she had a particular obsession with Frank Langella's performance I seem to remember) 
and it's fair to say that she is arguably one of the biggest influences I've had in my education in the genre. 

The one single movie that has pride of place in my memory banks from that time was in fact a film that I proudly 'discovered' for us both. She had been isolated at home after being diagnosed with tonsillitis and after a few days of moping around ( yeah, what a suck) I decided to wander down to my local video store to find something to take my mind of things. This being 1984, the video rental industry was still pretty much in it's infancy so finding something new and worth watching was always a challenge in itself, I remember being less than hopeful of finding anything that would catch my attention. After what seemed like hours of deliberation whether to watch a movie I had seen a hundred times or a movie I had seen five hundred times my eyes caught sight of a dark looking video case with an orange effect lit  wheelchair in the dimly lit shadow of what looked like a child. The video case was hidden away on the far end of the shelf and by its immaculate condition it was clear that it had hardly been rented - the movie was called 'The Changeling'

As one does, I read the blurb on the back and it should be immediately put down on record that I didn't hold out too much hope of it being that good. Yes, it starred George. C. Scott, one of my favourite actors ( and in my humble opinion, still the best 'Scrooge' there has been on the silver screen). However, the rest of the movie's synopsis didn't inspire many other positive feelings. I had never heard of it, even though it was only four years old at the time (thanks to 'her' I regarded myself as something of a horror movie aficionado) and it's themes of haunted houses, ghosts and seances seemed derivative at best. At worse it also apparently lacked any gore, blood or scream queen element to it either, a recipe for disaster it seemed to my horror-loving mind. So I asked the dependable video store assistant about the movie, a man whose opinion I invariably trusted. He told me that the film had been in the store for over a year with just a handful of rentals. It had done nothing on it's cinematic release and gone pretty much straight to video…… and yet……and yet……he said that without fail, every single person had returned the movie and told him that it was quite simply the scariest and most terrifying film they had ever seen. He seemed particularly amused about one customer who had stated that they couldn't sleep with the light off since seeing it. High praise indeed. I was intrigued. I was desperate for something to watch from the horror genre and then tell 'her' about it. I decided against renting it. I instead bought it outright on the spot.

It was only when I was on my way home that I started to doubt whether or not video store man was exaggerating and had just landed another sucker to buy one of his 'never gonna sell products' with a made up pack of lies about it. There was nothing for it but to put aside my doubts, turn of the lights, draw the curtains, take the phone off the hook and put on the video.

The movie scared the living crap out of me………….

 

"It's a nice house, the attic needs a bit of fixing up though…."

The plot is cunningly simple. The always excellent George C Scott plays Dr. John Russell a well known classical music composer. The films begins with him and his family on a winter holiday in upstate New York where his wife and daughter are killed in a traffic accident.  Following their deaths he moves across country to Seattle and starts to try and rebuild his life where rents a large dilapidated mansion and slowly begins to teach again and start re-writing his musical scores. However, nightmares of the accident that killed his wife and daughter continue to haunt his dreams

Soon, Dr Russell soon realises that all is not right in his new home - in fact it seems to be haunted. The ghost turned out to be the spirit of a boy who makes its existence know by various incidents such as loud banging noises coming from the attic, shattering windows, abruptly opening and shutting doors, and dramatically appears during a seance. Russell, sceptical and still grief stricken, slowly realises that the ghost is looking for him to provide some form of justice and so investigates the identity of the dead child and finds that the mystery is linked to a powerful local family.

So there you have it, a clever yet effective chiller. Yet outside it's loyal fan base, this movie is still widely ignored yet its contemporaries of the time such as The Amityville Horror have gained a huge following whilst being immensely inferior to this movie. So I think it's time we redressed the balance eh?

So why is this movie so good, and yet even today is relatively unknown outside it's loyal fan-base? As I mentioned previously, the themes within it have been done a thousand times in horror stories - the haunted house, objects suddenly moving through their own accord, mysterious loud noises, a initially disbelieving owner slowly realising that the ghost is real, a medium holding a seance - all familiar themes and often badly made. What perhaps makes this movie superior is its dedication to slowly building up the audiences tensions through careful and sympathetic character development and then providing scenes of genuine terror where often the terror lies not with what we see ( because often we see nothing) but instead leaving our imagination to digest and experience for itself. 

"Oh Bugger……"

Perhaps one of the factors thats sets The Changeling apart from films of a similar nature are the actors performances - they are simply stunning. Scott as Dr. Russell in particular gives us a warm, confident yet vulnerable individual who slowly changes from a figure of disbelief, moving through terror, to a point where he truly wants to help the spirit of the murdered boy. My favourite scene comes when the boy's spirit is first trying to communicate with Russell - it's a sneakily simple yet effective set-piece that simply involves Russell first hearing, then seeing a child's rubber ball bouncing down the wooden stairs. After taking the ball and throwing it over a bridge into a river he returns to the house…… only for the now wet rubber ball to come slowly bouncing down the stairs again. There is no blood, no violence, yet the feeling of true terror that Scott portrays simply through his facial expression and reactions is truly amazing. See the clip below to get a flavour of what I'm saying.

The 'ball on the stairs' scene  - simple yet effective horror

Another simple yet chilling scene of The Changeling takes place during the seance and John Russell's subsequent listen to the audio recording of the seance. The deeply unsettling atmosphere it creates as we see the 'inhabited' psychic medium frantically scribbling down the spirit's answers to her questions with ever increasing savagery is excellent. Again, the scene is beautifully acted by Scott as his character is clearly unsettled, his facial expressions and reactions to the seance bely his own still remaining skeptical belief about the experience…...until he replays the audio recording of the seance in which he hears a child's voice answering the psychic's questions. The two scenes that i've just described ( as is the famous 'wheelchair moving on its own' sequence) all sound rather tame and insipid, but believe me, it is horror at its very very best.

The Seance scene - its been done countess times in movies, bit never as well as this.

The Changeling could be described as being old-fashioned in it's 'Hitchcockian' approach to film making - instead of 'diving' straight into the blood and gore instead decides to treat the audience with a modicum of intelligence and patience. It pull slowly ushers the audience into its grasp, at first understanding then challenging our own sense of scepticism until it generates a genuine richly textured horror.

This may not end well…..

The movie's concentration on character development makes us care for these people, even when we discover the horror perpetrated by the murdering father we still can understand why he did what he did, even though its was act of pure evil. This in turn makes the film's atmosphere become ever more chilling and unsettling. So when the film's most terrifying events finally take place, the audience has been psychologically prepared for being well and truly frightened out of their skins. 

A final element of this stunning film is the use of the house - as in any good haunted house movie it should become an additional cast character in itself. The masterful direction makes the perfect use of the big spaces to help focus attention on Russell's grief and loneliness The camera of tens looms around the set to give the sensation of the ghost watching and listening to the new occupiers. The house is always a main character making sure that the chills are genuine, the attic room in particular is the personification of eeriness. the soundtrack too should not be forgotten as the movie is constantly accompanied by some sweeping musical arrangements from Ken Wannberg (the music box theme composed by Howard Blake), without ever taking away the audiences attention from the film itself.

So there you have it - in the space of a few moments my mind moved from a much loved piece of music, through a much loved girl I once knew, to a movie that I love.

If anyone reading this has never seen this truly amazing piece of film-making, then rent it, stream it, download it, or watch the various sections of it that you can watch on youtube. If you have seen it before, well watch it again…..

Siberian Hellhole - A novel.

A new Facebook friend of mine asked me recently to have a read of his new novel and provide a little review of it if I wouldn't mind - of course I said I could oblige, for two very important reasons. Firstly it was a free copy of the book I was sent to read. I'm not saying that I'm cheap, but it meant I could quite happily provide an opinion knowing the experience hadn't cost me a penny (OK, maybe I'm slightly on the cheap side). Secondly, well after all, it makes a change to be asked and entrusted to provide ones opinion on a piece of work rather then me deciding to force my musings on the unsuspecting world.

So it was with a keen sense of anticipation that I began Michael Mulvihill's horror story. The story is set in modern day Siberia and the protagonist, Tobias is a caretaker looking after a small area of land for a major Oil company. He's a sympathetic and likable character who has fallen on hard times in the Russia that is now very different (and not always for the best) from the days of the Soviet Union. Times are hard, crime is rife and the people seem to have lost their identity and protection that the old controlling system seemed to offer

As in any self-respecting horror story the world we find ourselves in becomes instantly authentic. The reader is immediately sucked into Tobias' weary boredom with his job and general dissatisfaction with his life which very quickly turns into an ever increasing sense of paranoia and foreboding. We are under no illusions that things are not what they seem in Tobias's world. The scene, for example,  where the mysterious white hand appears and tortures Tobias within the first couple of chapters is genuinely unsettling. I won't go into to many details of what Tobias' experiences are (delusion or not as the case may be) at the White hands, er, hand. Lets just say the brain investigation is suitably deliciously detailed, whether you like your human brain raw or fried……

Slowly it becomes apparent to us that the piece of land that Tobias is looking after only happens to be a recently opened gateway to hell which is about to spew forth all manner of dastardly and satanic forces into the deliciously named 'Vodka Valley' and its local residents. So thats a bit annoying then. Not that this is a straightforward by-the-numbers forces of evil take-over of the planet. Things aren't helped for the devil's cause as there is a continuing battle of wills and priories by the various 'evil factions'. The continuing attempts at one-upmanship between Asmodeus, demon leader of dark forces, and Ethagoria Nebsonia, master of the Siberian Vampires are a joy to read. It seems that its not only us humans who have problems with disagreeing factions stopping us, or in this case, the devil, getting things done.

Siberian Hellhole is horror story yes, there are some genuinely explicit scenes of pure Horror contained therein. However, it is far more than that. The characters are extremely well structured and each have a rich, textured tapestry that instills feeling of immediate dislike or empathy, depending on the individual concerned. In the case of the devil, you could say both feelings are instilled. The blossoming relationship between Tobias and his love interest Lyuba is both believable and authentic. For me, the character of Affanasi, the owner of the Chekov bar and his transformation to a fully fledged vampire is extremely well written and poignantly believable.

It is also an intelligent horror story containing elements as difference as Perestroika, philosophy, the power of religious faith and the ultimate battle of good over evil. Michael also draws upon his own background as a psychologist in some passages that draw upon detailed analysis of the human condition. Overall, it is a satisfying and thought provoking horror story of the battle between the forces of hell and a reassurance of a populations spirituality.

Highly recommended. 

Michael Mulvihill is a Dublin based was a long-time contributor to BLACK PETALS e-zine. This includes his issue #61 poems: A Love Story Beautiful, Capitalism’s Modern Architecture of Love, Red Brick, The Securocrats, and Toxic Addiction (+ the poems, Fatigued, O Mother, and Spike-Inverted Hearts for BP #58; “The Cleaner and the Collector” tale & all 6 BP #56 poems; BP #50’s story, “The Soul Scrubber”, and as featured vampire poet with A Vampire’s Dilemma: Love, Becoming a Vampire, Vampire Insomnia, and Vampiric War in The Kodori Valley; BP #49 poems, I, the Vampire, The Reluctant Vampire of Tbilisi, Vampire Observations, and Vampire Psychoanalysis). The 30ish author published a short story, “Ethagoria Nebsonia,” in BP in 1998 and had a poem, “The Bombing,” in The Kingdom News about a domestic tragedy in Ireland. Rest in peace and rise again, thou sweet and terrible soul!