THE VOICE OF TERROR: TALKING WITH EMMA LOUISE CHAMBERLAIN by Owen Keehnen

Emma Louise Chamberlain is primarily a stage actress... however she has also has recently become "the voice of horror" . In the CD 'Beyond the Shadows: Classic Gothic Tales' the Kent England native does a wonderful job reading four short tales of terror Poe's 'The Tell Tale Heart' , Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Haunted Mind' , Saki's 'The Open Window' and Louisa May Alcott's 'A Pair of Eyes', or 'Modern Magic' . She's been Lady MacBeth in the 2005 film 'MacBeth' and will hopefully soon be featured in the film adaptation of 'Weekend Break'. Recently Ms. Chamberlain was kind enough to take tie from her busy schedule for this www.racksandrazors.com interview.


 

 

Okay Emma, would you please start the www.racksandrazors.com readers with a visual and describe the room where you are answering these questions?

I'm in my lounge. I have a collection of antique taxidermy, most of which live (or not, as is the case!) in this room. I love the Victorian Gothic look and am really inspired by that era. I think this comes across very much in my home. I'm fascinated by the way the Victorians were into preserving their pets forevermore. I have quite a few animals in my collection, including two beautiful cats and a magnificent raven.

First off let's talk about the CD you've just released 'Beyond The Shadows'. On the CD you narrate four classic horror tales - Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Tell Tale Heart', Nathaniel Hawthorn's 'The Haunted Mind', Saki's 'The Open Window', and Louisa May Alcott's 'A Pair of Eyes, or Modern Magic'. Was a tough to narrow your love of horror stories down to four?

I was first drawn to the idea through the works of Edgar Allan Poe. It was difficult to decide which Poe story to narrate, but, in many ways, the writing dictated this for me. So many of the tales are written in first person male narrative and it would have been impossible for me to have got them across believably. I love 'The Tell-Tale Heart' as it's desperately manic and can be interpreted by either a man or a woman. It's the first track on the CD and the one people always remember, because it's so mad!

What were a couple of the stories you almost included but didn't?

There were quite a few I recorded and then literally 'left on the cutting room floor'. However, I've decided to rediscover these as I'm doing a tour of British theatres from July to November of this year and the show is based solely on the writings of Poe. I really feel that he defines the gothic genre beautifully, although, again, it was hard to pick which stories to use. 'The Tell-Tale Heart' is in the performance, along with 'The Masque of the Red Death' and 'The Fact in the Case of M. Valdemar' , both of which were recorded for the CD but not included in the final edit. They are such great stories, though, and I really look forward to performing them again.

I think many racks and razors readers will be surprised to hear that 'Little Women' author Louisa May Alcott also wrote horror. Can you give a quick synopsis or description of her story 'A Pair of Eyes, or Modern Magic'?

I was too! At the time, I really wanted to find an unknown story to record for the CD. I was amazed that Louisa May Alcott had written horror. Apparently, it was before she wrote 'Little Women' when she was a struggling author, trying to pay the rent. She wrote quite a few gothic stories anonymously for magazines, and they were rediscovered about fifteen years ago and put into a book.

'A Pair of Eyes, or Modern Magic' is a favorite of mine, as it deals with the Victorian's fascination for mesmerism. In the story, a half-blind woman hypnotizes an artist to fall in love with her whist he is painting her portrait. They marry, and she holds a strange spell over him, calling him back to her every time he leaves the house. He goes mad and tries to escape, but she follows him to the place he has fled, through a terrible storm. On appearing at his hide-away (a tower in a remote part of the country), she immediately drops dead, but continues to haunt him for all eternity with her spellbinding voice.

Did you have an original agenda or intent in choosing stories from roughly the same era and all Americans (very interesting considering you are British) as well?

The funny thing is that the Brits didn't seem to write horror as well as the Americans at that time. Mary Shelley, of course, a few years earlier defined the genre fantastically, but I found her short stories a bit too long! Also, she seemed to write as a male narrator a lot of the time.

Saki (Hector Hugh Monroe) was British and I use his story 'The Open Window' , although it is very short and he wasn't predominantly a horror writer. I think that Poe inspired so many writers of his time (particularly through Graham's Magazine) in quite a close circle, and maybe that is why there was such great gothic writing coming from America during the nineteenth century.

Other than the above, did you find any common thread that ran through those gothic horror tales?

Death and despair! Lots references to graveyards and big, scary houses. Seriously, though, there is a real 'style' in the writing, which I don't think could be feasibly recreated by authors today. There's a lot of underlying sexual repression in there as well. I think it's very difficult for us to be able to image what it was truly like living in that era. Things such as the unavoidable darkness of night, for example. We get scared, we turn on the light, but in those days ...

I noticed too you went to school for Scriptwriting - are you going to be penning or adapting a horror movie anytime soon?

I'd like to but, realistically, it's so difficult to get movies financed in Britain. It was drummed into me at university and now, working in theatre, I realize that it's the same old story. The problem with the British film and theatre industry on the whole is that it has a strange pretentiousness about it, and commercialism is a dirty word, which is sad as there's so much talent in this country but, generally, it goes unseen.

I know you also have directed a lot of film shorts --- did the 'Beyond the Shadows' spark a desire to make some horror?

I loved making 16mm shorts when I was at college. I think that 'Beyond the Shadows' created a lot of images in my head that I could really see on the screen. I'm a sucker for shooting on film as opposed to digital, but it's so expensive. I feel like a real novice now when I go into an editing suite full of computers and always think 'Where are all the reels?!'

Have you always had a lifetime fascination with horror and if so do you have a first memory of being drawn to the genre?

I used to watch all the old horror and sci-fi movies when I was a kid with my dad. I remember sneaking downstairs, when I was about five, to watch 'War of the Worlds' and being utterly terrified, especially when the priest got zapped! I think horror is really interesting, as it plays on the mind more than any other genre, even when the film is finished and the audience leaves the cinema. It's fascinating how horror directors can manipulate the minds of their viewers.

Can you tell me a little something about 'Weekend Break'?

'Weekend Break' was a play I did just under three years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. I played a mad, psycho, alcoholic actress who killed her cheating husband with his own shotgun. It was fun, as we did it at a venue that was called 'The Caves' which was underground the old city and reputed to be haunted (which brought the audience in!). The play is actually being turned into a film within the next year or so and, hopefully, I'll get to recreate the role.

Do you any other projects lined up in the near future you would like to let the readers know about?

I'm really looking forward to my theatre tour. Initially, it was going to be an extension of the CD, but, as mentioned, we've really decided to focus on Poe, so the official title is Edgar Allan Poe's 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination'. I start rehearsing in June, so we're in the pre-production stages right now. It's all coming together really well and I think the actual look of the show is going to recreate the gothic era beautifully. My costume has been made by the very talented designers at Nightshade Clothing (www.nightshadelondon.com) and is absolutely gorgeous. The set design is looking good (I think my stuffed raven might even be coming on tour with me!) so, hopefully, the play will attract a wide range of people and create an interest in gothic literature.

What makes you go psycho in real life?

Rude people. They're just so unnecessary.

What frightens you in real life?

My own imagination. I'm an only child and used to scare myself senseless when I was alone. Problem is, I still do!