Village Books Blog

Oh the Horror! An Interview with Chad Helder

Chad Helder is the Stoker Award-winning editor of Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet (Dark Scribe Press 2008), an anthology of queer horror fiction, which he co-edited with Vince Liaguno. Helder's first book of poetry, Pop-Up Book of Death, will be published by Queer Mojo Press, an imprint of Rebel Satori. He is currently working on a new collection of horror poetry for Dark Scribe Press.  He is also the creator and writer of Bartholomew of the Scissors (Bluewater 2008), a comic book miniseries with art by Daniel Crosier. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Jory Mickelson: You recently won a Bram Stoker award for your anthology Unspeakable Horror, tell me more about that.

Chad Helder: The Stoker award was for category “Superior Achievement in an Anthology.” I co-edited it with Vince, the founder of Dark Scribe Press. It was the press’ first book. That was pretty exciting. 

In June, I attended the Horror Writer’s Association convention in Burbank, CA and they had the awards ceremony there. There was a big dinner in a ballroom. It was very Emmy-esque. Our presenter was Ellen Datlow, probably the world’s greatest anthologist. It was a huge honor.

JM: Are you editing anything now? You have worked on several different projects in the past.

CH: I am not editing anymore; I am just writing poetry. The submission period for Unspeakable Horror started in the fall of 2007 and ended in May of 2008. I was reading 35 stories a month for it. We managed to but the book together by December 2008. That was it for me editing. I am not writing comic books right now either. I am working on a collection of horror poetry for Dark Scribe Press and have about 60 pages of poems. I need to get going on it if I am going to meet my deadline.

JM: Can you define horror poetry?

CH: Horror poetry is poetry that uses subtexts and borrowed images from the horror genre. My stuff tends to be very surreal and postmodern, in the sense that it consciously borrows from horror movies.  My poems want to be horror movies. I also use my dreams as a source for my poems. I dream about monsters from the horror genre.

I think that you have to be careful. If you Google “horror poetry” you will find a lot of stuff on the Internet. A lot of it can be really bad. The same thing happens if you search for love poetry online.  When poetry is awesome, it is awesome, no matter what the genre or theme is. Sylvia Plath wrote a poem with vampire overtones. I really love Plath.

Read the entire interview here.

If you would like to hear Chad read from his work, he will be appearing on the Chuckanut Radio Hour on October 13^th at 6:30pm at the Leopold Crystal Ballroom. Tickets are available at Village Books or www.brownpapertickets.com  You can also visit Chad’s website Unspeakable Horror at  http://unspeakablehorror.com/

Jory Mickelson is a VB Bookseller and is the blogger behind Literary Magpie.

 

But Does It Contain Wizards?

I recently told a friend that I had begun reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman and he replied "Do let me know what you think of the book, from your perspective not steeped in sf/fantasy." He's right. I typically . . . mostly . . . alright 98% of the time cannot stand sci-fi/fantasy. That's most evident when sheer panic arises when I'm approached by a customer and asked to recommend something from that section. I tried reading the first Harry Potter. I really did. It just wasn't for me. Actually, I'm so resistant to those genres (they are two separate ones, correct? Kidding! I'm kidding! I think.) that when my friend introduced even the possibility of The Magicians being fantasy, my opinion changed. Do I really want to read this? Even as I carry on through the book, I find myself asking, "Is this too much fantasy for me? Am I getting my usual sci-fi/fantasy heebie-jeebies?" To be fair, though (perhaps I need to whisper this): I am enjoying the book. There, I said it. I AM ENJOYING THE MAGICIANS!  Actually, I'm finding myself as intrigued with the story as I was while reading The Secret History (now THERE'S an amazing book!) This inner conflict ("I hate this genre, but I like this book") has me thinking--what have I missed out on by closing myself off from certain types of books? What amazing pieces of writing exist that, simply because of a dragon or perhaps a robot alien thingy on the cover, I have overlooked? I mean, perhaps I don't need to delve into The Wheel of Time series, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to check out American Gods. Don't hold me to that, though. I'm not ready to commit. I mean, I love zombie reads. That counts for something, right? But my endeavor with The Magicians does beg the question: What have I been missing? And really, I suppose, the same could be asked of you.

--Lindsey

The Anti-Aging Process

Recently I've found myself involved in numerous conversations about favorite children's books. Perhaps these talks are the result of the surge in young adult fiction (most recently, of course, being the Twilight series). One thing I've noticed--bringing up kid's books with a group of adults causes an immensely different reaction than say, bringing up religion or politics. Rather than heated arguments, people let out exclamations of "Oh my god! I LOVE that book!" or get wide-eyed with excitement and wave their arms wildly, practically jumping up and down like a 5-year-old (maybe that's just showing the true maturity of my friends). Now that I think about it, these recent conversations are the result of the upcoming release of Where the Wild Things Are (Chills! Chills, I tell you, from the trailer alone! SO excited for the movie!) A beloved book of so many of our own youths is being made into what looks to be an amazing movie. Huzzah! My absolutely favorite kid's book is and always will be The Monster at the End of This Book, narrated by none other than Grover. Know this one? If not, you need to set aside 2 minutes to read it (plus you can say you read an entire book today). My mom used to read this book to me, doing the most fantastic Grover impression she could conjure. And no matter how many times we came to find out who the monster at the end of the book was (I won't spoil it for you), I still held my breath as the brick wall crashed down and the ropes shredded apart at the turn of each page. And my mom, such an amazing mom she is, would be just as shocked as I was when the monster was revealed. I get so excited when I sell someone that book. I tell them my own story and, quite often, they've had a similar experience as a child. Few things can so quickly transport adults back to their childhood like their favorite book as a child. Think about it--what is your favorite children's book? Do you remember how you felt when you read your favorite book as a child? Are you smiling right now just thinking about it? When is the last time you sat down and read ________? Maybe today's a good day.

--Lindsey

Summer Reading

There seems to be no lack of summer reading lists around--NPR, nearly every newspaper, well, just about everybody has one.  There's a lot of great stuff on those summer lists but, I was particularly struck by the "How I'll Spend My Summer Vacation" blog post by VB's own Dave Wheeler.  His list has a special twist.

She May Be Twisted But...

I've written about Chelsea Cain before in this blog and I've opined to many that her thrillers, based on a female serial killer and an emotionally and physically damaged cop, are smart and extremely well-written.  Now I've been joined by an expert on the subject of thrillers, Stephen King.  Writing for Entertainment Weekly, King puts Heartsick and Sweetheart in the number six position on his list of "10 Best Books of 2008."  And, it's a list that includes Koontz, Wambaugh, Kate Atkinson and Ande Dubus III.  Not bad for a girl from Bellingham.  Here's what King had to say about Chelsea's books:  "We've been down Hannibal Lecter Avenue many times, and these two books shouldn't work...but they do. Chalk it up to excellent writing and Cain's ferocious sense of humor. The Portland (Ore.) setting is refreshing too."  Chelsea's "ferocious sense of humor" was even evident in the dedication of Sweetheart:

For Village Books in Bellingham, Washington,
for taking me in as a kid,
and letting me sit for hours reading books
on all those cold winter evenings.
You are to blame for this.

And, if you need more evidence of her dark humor, join the Facebook group Chelsea Cain is more TWISTED than I am.  You can learn more about Chelsea and her books on her website.

Lists

I've always loved lists.  Numbered best-ofs make me giddy.  And, book lists just send me over the top.  So, when I saw my friend Dan Cullen at the American Bookseller's Association had linked to two very interestingly titled book lists I was intrigued.  Right away I clicked on 75 Books Every Man Should Read.  The first title, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver, took me back to a small hotel room in old town Puerto Vallarta in the  early eighties.  Suffering a bout of tourista, I spent the day reading the stories one by one, exhaling deeply as I finished each.  While the list seems to me a bit macho, I have to admit loving many of the titles.

The second list, 75 Books Every Woman Should Read, was just as intriguing.  And, there are as many books on that list that I love as on the men's list.  I found myself wondering whether that says more about me or the list maker.

Holiday Colors: Green to be Re(a)d

Our friend Christian Martin of North Cascades Institute and a frequent contributor to the Cascadia Weekly offered his gift selections in "A Gift Guide for the Greens on Your List" which was posted today on Crosscut.com.  Read it here.  And, Village Books has all of these books and more.

Why Not a Fall Reading List?

Our friends at the book trade e-newsletter, Shelf Awareness, brought a post by Ellen Steinbaum of Boston.com to my attention.  With commentary that could make you believe she was writing from Bellingham rather than Boston, she begins:

"What's with all those summer reading lists? You'd think no one ever picked up a book at any other time of year. Well, summer is gone in a blink around these parts and, besides, this isn't exactly a beach-read kind of town. So here's a radical idea - why not a list of great fall reads? Why not some books filled with spice and substance for curling up with on these first chilly days. Maybe even one to last until the first snowed-in day."

She goes on to create a fall reading list.

Summer (or anytime) Reading

Book Expo America and some vacation time took me away from the blog for several weeks.  Now, with summer arriving with tomorrow's dawn, I'm back.  It seems appropriate to recommend some books for summer reading.  Admittedly, I hardly ever see a copy of Entertainment Weekly.  However, I was intrigued when I learned that the current issue is dedicated to "the new classics" (created in the last 25 years) in a variety of areas, including music, film and books.   So, if you're looking for a place to begin your summer reading you may need to look no further than this list.

Book Sense Books of the Year

Each year, from among the thousands of titles we sell, independent booksellers from coast to coast vote on our favorite books of the year. Just over a week ago the list of winners was announced. Check out the Book Sense Book of the Year winners for 2008.