BK:
How did 'Horror 101' come into
being?
AC:
Honestly, I still can't quite wrap my
head around the idea that it actually has come
into being. Seems like only yesterday that the
wheels first started turning, but in fact it's
now been over a year since the first copies hit
the streets. In fact, I remember when Horror
Society printed its write-up of 'H101',
it was the first review we had gotten from
anyone, which was pretty special. Especially
since you guys liked it! We'll forever thankful
for that - it really got us off on the right
foot. You work so hard on something, you want it
to be welcomed into the world. A couple kind
words from our intended audience gives artists of
any stripe the confidence to continue creating,
so thanks for that.
BK: Did you originally think you would do the book by
yourself or was it always going to be a fan
project?
AC: Well,
originally, I was envisioning a much larger
project. Based on years of personal
"research", (i.e. watching tons and
tons of horror flicks, ha ha!), I thought it
would be interesting to create a hierarchy of
genre films, going from the
"essentials" on out into the fringe, a
curriculum of creature features. We'd have our
Freshman class, Sophomore, Junior, etc. and the
whole thing would be called something like 'Going
to Horror U.' But it soon became clear
that once you got past the Freshman year, things
started spreading out in a big, big hurry - the
scope of the project was going to be simply
"enormous", and ultimately superfluous,
considering the fact that there already were
great resource books like John Stanley's 'Creature
Features' and Phil Hardy's 'Encyclopedia
of Horror', not to mention the Internet.
Did we really need another comprehensive volume
of every horror movie ever made? Survey says...
no.Still, there are
these essential films within this wildly diverse
genre, and that appealed to me. For instance,
you've got the natural touchstones of
'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Them!' and 'Gojira' for the "giant
atomic monsters," serving as the gateway to
that particular subgenre. But once you get into
the pool, it's like an inverted pyramid; you've
got hundreds of rip-offs, spin-offs and sequels.
It's very easy to disappear into a particular
subgenre without an understanding of or
familiarity with the rest of the rich and varied
horror genre as a whole, be it the Universal
classics, slashers, etc. So then I
thought, why not compile a collection of essays
on these various touchstone films - a beginner's
class, if you will - that would give new fans an
introduction to a wide variety of subgenres,
historic turning points and important figures
within the genre? I liked this idea very much,
but as I began writing, I realized that I was
only going to be able to bring my experiences and
sensibilities to the table. I wanted more than
that; I also wanted to show that the fans are as
varied as the pictures themselves - I wanted to
represent that aspect of fandom as well. Then it
occurred to me that thanks to the Internet, I was
already in direct contact with the global horror
culture that I wanted to give a voice to. My
fellow horror friends were from all over the
world, they were male and female, they came from
all different walks of life, and they ranged in
age from high school students to senior
citizens... It was a no-brainer that enlisting
these diverse individuals to write an essay on
their favorite horror film was the real project
worth pursuing.
BK: How did you narrow down the contributors featured
in 'Horror 101'?
AC: I tried to approach potential writers who were
capable of expressing themselves articulately and
intelligently. Anyone can say, "Man, that
movie is "awesome!", but I wanted a
"little" bit more than that. So, I
trolled around various horror message boards and
sent out emails to friends, inviting people whose
work I thought would make for compelling and
interesting reading. Most of them were thrilled
by the idea of contributing to a book, but when I
started talking about deadlines, etc., that
thinned the field a bit. I wanted contributors
who were willing to go the distance, respect
deadlines, supporting the book up to and beyond
publication. The recruiting process itself took a
pretty long time. Then after we had assigned the
essays, the first deadline came along - and half
of the writers had either dropped out or were
begging for an extension! I realized right then
that this was going to be no stroll in the park.
It was a bit of a revolving door for a while, but
about a year we eventually had all the essays in
hand.
BK: Upon
celebrating a year of 'Horror 101',
what has been the most surprising thing that you
have discovered about its success?
AC: Wow.
I think what\rquote s been most gratifying is
that people still respond to the notion of a
"book". I grew up in the public
library, poring over reference books, and there's
a tactile experience from having an actual book
in hand that I could never replace with the
computer screen. Websites are wonderful, but I
knew I wanted something I could hold, keep on the
coffee table, take with me on the train, etc.,
and it's been great to find so many people who
still feel the same way. Watching someone pick it
up and start flipping through the various essays,
saying, "Oh, wow, I love this
movie!".... That makes it all worthwhile. I
think that's why we've enjoyed such a wealth of
positive reviews - people are responding to the
enthusiasm that went into the book from start to
finish. It really was designed to be a gift back
to the horror community - for the fans by the
fans - and that seems to be how it has been
received, from the big boys like Fangoria and Rue
Morgue to individuals fans' pod casts and
websites. It's been great.
BK: Were there favorite films of yours that didn't
make the cut for the book?
AC: No
doubt about it. I had the oh-so-clever notion of
101 essays 'Horror 101', get it?
But you wouldn't believe how hard it was
narrowing it down; You have your initial list,
and then you say, "Oh gees, I can't leave
"that" out. Or "that". Or
"that"... It felt like a 'Lucy' skit,
trying to keep the overflow in the washing
machine. So, yes, there are several films that I
had to kick to the curb, and it was for that
reason that we opted to call it Vol. 1 , just to
reassure ourselves that we would be back to pick
up the orphans later. I still can't believe we
couldn't make room for seminal flicks like
'Carnival of Souls', 'Basket
Case', 'The Toxic Avenger',
'Mario Bava's Black Sabbath', 'I
Spit on your Grave', 'Maniac'...
As you see, once you open the floodgates, it's
hard to stop. But we had to draw the line
somewhere. Hopefully we'll see a Vol. 2 sometime
in the near future.
BK: Is
there anything that you'd want to do differently
concerning the second volume of 'Horror
101'?
AC: Get
someone else to edit it? Just kidding. Not
really, I suppose. The selection of contributors
is going to be interesting, since so many more
people want to participate this time and of
course, all of the original authors are up for
another round. I think I'll probably be a bit
firmer with the deadlines - fewer extensions this
time around, especially if someone else is going
to be bumped in order to give out that slot. I
understand life gets in the way sometimes, but
when you've got this many people involved, the
commitment level needs to go up a notch as well.BK: Why
does Ray Harryhausen belong in the same volume as
Jacques Tourneur, Val Lewton, William Castle,
John Carpenter and M. Night Shymalan?AC: See, to me the question is, why
"wouldn't" he belong? But that's
probably because I grew up during the time period
that I did. Growing up in the time before CGI,
Harryhausen's stop-motion epics were as close to
magic as any of us had seen. The man conjured
some of the most memorable creations and imbued
them with so much personality that they often
seemed more real than the human characters
alongside them. His work (along with mentor
Willis O' Brien) inspired a whole generation of
filmmakers and special effects artists. There is
something about films like 'The 7th
Voyage of Sinbad' and 'Mysterious
Island' and even 'Clash of the
Titans' that strikes a chord with the
little kid in all of us. I think for many of us,
these films were the spark as to just how cool
monster movies could be, or how cool movies in
general could be. I think they are similar to
films like 'Star Wars' in that
way, the imagination is free and unrestricted -
anything can happen. I want people to be excited
by monster movies, and for my money, experiencing
a Harryhausen film is a guaranteed winner. And
for all those who say these aren't monster
movies, um, we've got an enormous Cyclops,
dragons, two-headed Rocs, dinosaurs, giant wasps,
a huge octopus, etc... Case closed.
BK: 'The
Unseen' (with Barbara Bach providing da
- yowza!) was one of my favorite 80s horror
flicks. Can you discuss what you think makes this
film so potent?
AC: It's funny, I had never seen the film until the
recent 'Code Red' DVD release,
so I expect you are even more excited than most
now that it's out there where more people can
experience it. It's a great time to be a film
fan, no doubt about it. I think what makes
'The Unseen' so memorable is that it
starts off following a standard template for
horror: A trio of attractive women go out to a
sparsely populated location, get lodgings at the
local old dark house, we discover that there is
something strange living in the basement, it
starts picking off the women one by one until the
lead character goes down in the basement and
encounters the creature face to face... Up until
this point, it's pretty standard stuff, elevated
by Sydney Lassick's terrifically eccentric
performance as the crafty old codger running the
joint. However, what we expect is that the
creature will appear, we'll see his ugly mug for
a few minutes during the final struggle, and then
our Final Girl will somehow prevail and credits
will roll. Uh-uh. Here, Stephen Furst (who plays
'The Unseen' ) pulls out a show stopping
third-act tour-de-force performance that will
knock you on your ass. In fact, the final 30
minutes between Lassick, Furst and Lelia Goldoni
reach a near-Shakespearean level of weirdness and
emotional fever pitch. I was so pleasantly
surprised by it, especially since I was expecting
nothing more than a fair-to-middling forgotten
slasher flick.
BK: Considering the fact that guilty pleasures
shouldn't exist within the horror film community,
is there still a film that you are embarrassed to
admit that you like?
AC: Not anymore. Funny, John Bowen from Rue Morgue
magazine and I were just having this
conversation. I refuse to call anything a guilty
pleasure anymore, because I refuse to feel guilty
for liking what I like. Do I think all the 'Godzilla' or 'Planet of the Apes' movies
are "good" movies? Not at all. Do I
love them? With all my heart. So many horror
fans, I think, are made to feel guilty for being
horror fans in the first place, so I try to
preach tolerance and let people watch (and enjoy)
whatever they want to. I know that there's a lot
of stuff out there that different people would
consider crap, but in the end it all comes down
to personal tastes. Granted, it has
taken me 40 years to get to that place, and I
think being a horror fan has helped me stick to
my guns. You tell people you're a horror fan, you
automatically get "the look." So, it's
possible horror fans develop a thicker skin about
their own personal tastes much quicker than
others. I'm a film fan: I like Disney, I like
porn, I like romantic comedies, I like
exploitation films, and I like horror. Do I feel
embarrassed by it? Not anymore, but I certainly
did as a younger person and for years was a
"closet" horror fan. Now I try to
embrace it all and simply take other people's
opinions for what they are. Before, I might have
dismissed someone for their personal tastes; now
I find it fascinating that they can have
affection for a film that I don't care for - I
want to talk about why they liked it so that I
can understand them and/or the film better.
BK: Is fiction writing or screenplays something that
you plan on pursuing?
AC: I think my mind tends to be more reactive than
whole-cloth creative, so I'm not sure. I get
plenty of ideas from seeing so many
"bad" films, so it's possible that
someday I'll feel inspired to write something of
my own. But to be perfectly honest, there are
still so many film out there that I have yet to
see, so many books I've yet to read, it would
have to be a pretty strong spark to sway me from
my real passion. I'm a fan first, no question
about it. I was talking to Jon Kitley from
Kitley's Krypt.com the other day, bellyaching
about how, "There never seems to be an end
to it. There's no way you can see it all!"
His response was that that is the beauty of it,
that there will "always" be new (or
old) films to encounter, new lands to discover,
unsung diamonds in the rough to share with the
masses. Right now, my passion seems to be to
shine a light and encourage folks into the horror
pool, to be an 'Ambassador of Horror,' so for now, that's where I'll put my energies.
But things change, so never say never.
BK: What
was the impetus behind the founding of WildClaw
Theatre? Was it simply the lack of a Midwest
theatre company specifically devoted to horror
themes - or was there a deeper significance?
AC: WildClaw's artistic director, Charley Sherman,
originally approached me last year with the idea
of forming a horror-centric theatre company, one
that would focus on bringing serious horror back
to the stage. There are plenty of campy,
splattery productions that go on in town, but we
wanted to do something more than that. He brought
together a strong core of like-minded actors and
designers, and I'm very proud to have been
included in the mix.I think we simply
wanted to create an opportunity for Chicago fans
to have year-round " live"
horror-themed experiences, as opposed to just
that random haunted house in October. Horror and
Theatre have a grand history together, dating
back to the Greeks (Oedipus tearing his eyes out,
Medea slaughtering her children), Shakespeare is
gory as hell, there's France's Grand Guignol on
through to Sondheim's 'Sweeney Todd'....
The possibilities are there. Theatre relies upon
the viewer's imagination, making them an active
participant as opposed the more passive
experience of watching a movie. We offer
audiences an intelligent, visceral experience,
one that will appeal to the mind, the gut, and
hopefully even the gag reflex. We create a form
of entertainment that gives performers something
juicy to sink their teeth into and audiences
something different than they're used to seeing
on Chicago stages.
BK: With its own festivals (Flashback Weekend),
independent film productions, author-screen
writers (Adam Rockoff) and particular brand of
celebrities (Svengoolie, Ari Lehman), Chicago
seems to be the perfect place to begin a horror
theatre company. Do you have a grand plan to
bring all these diverse elements together to make
one fantastic, limb ripping whole?
AC: As
anyone who knows me can tell you, I am all about
community. I love that Chicago horror fans are
slowly but surely becoming this cohesive force to
be reckoned with, and over the past few years,
there has been such an outcropping of
horror-themed events that we are able to see each
other more often, which strengthens the bond. The
success of events such as Flashback Weekend and
the Music Box Massacre only breeds more interest
and more success. I don't know that a company
like WildClaw would have a place in a city that
didn't value the genre, but Chicago's horror
community has embraced us openly. We're going to
continue to give back with everything we have.I don't think any
of us have any "grand plan," but it's
great to continue to share opportunities for
fans. For instance, it's awesome to see a bunch
of movie nuts all crowding into an art gallery
because Clive Barker is showing his work there.
It's fun to see theatre people at a horror
convention, excitedly looking around them at this
spectacle that they never knew existed. This kind
of community mindset is thoroughly rewarding;
without getting all touchy-feely about it, horror
serves as a common ground that brings together
people of different races, economic stations, age
groups... When the lights go down, it doesn't
really matter what your religious beliefs are,
what matters is that you scream when the monster
jumps out of the shadows. I think that's pretty
cool.BK: Earlier this year, WildClaw presented a classic
(Arthur Machen's 'The Great God Pan'),
an evening of original works ('DEATHSCRIBE' , an evening of radio plays) and now H. P.
Lovecraft with your current production of 'The
Dreams in the Witch House'. Do you have
a dream project in mind for the company - or is
it all an evolving process?AC: The ideas keep pouring in \endash I wish we had
the time and money to do them all. I don't know
that we have a "dream project" at this
time - the existence of the company itself is the
dream. Next spring, we'll be presenting our first
full-length original work (i.e., not an
adaptation), Scott T. Barsotti's zombie drama,
'The Revenants' , which should be
challenging and rewarding in a completely
different way than the period pieces we've
already done. We're also planning to produce some
of the 'DEATHSCRIBE' submissions
as radio dramas to put out as pod casts. Then
next year we'll have another new season, the 2nd
annual 'DEATHSCRIBE' Festival,
more blogs and pod casts, the sky's pretty much
the limit. We just need to live by our wits and
beneath our means and we should be fine.BK: Lastly, any words of wisdom (i.e., make sure the
popcorn's hot and buttered before the monsters
start emerging) or future plans that you'd like
to tell us about?AC: I
think the more we continue to bring horror into
the light, the more it will be respected as a
legitimate art form. I hope that everyone reading
this takes it upon him or herself to become the
resident 'Ambassador of Horror' in their own community. Host a horror movie
party, and invite people who may not be
card-carrying genre fans (and don't blow them out
of the water with the biggest gore fest you can
find if you know that they are squeamish). Try to
actually "cultivate" more horror fans,
and be respectful of the ones that you do know.
If some kid has only seen mainstream modern
horror, don't ridicule him - we all started some
place, and more likely than not, it was in the
mainstream. Earn their trust and encourage their
passion. Read and see as much as you can, and
"talk about it". Keep waving that
horror flag high because there is someone out
there dying for someone "just like you"
to talk to!BK: Thanks
- this has been better than the last 10 Stephen
King novels put together!
AC: Thank "you". Thanks for continuing to
fight the good fight, good sir! See you - round
campus!