I was watching the movie adaptation of My Best Friend’s Exorcism with my sister the other day. And, right before they’re about to do the exorcism, the exorcist asks the main character if she’s been baptized. And the main character, a high school senior at a Catholic school, taking catechism classes and attending evangelical events at school, says in a deadpan voice, “I’m Jewish.”
My sister and I, as well as her roommates (it was movie night at her place), burst out laughing, because it was great comedic timing. Plus, it wasn’t something about the character that was in the book, so I hadn’t seen it coming. But looking back on it now, I can’t help but feel like it’s the latest example of an issue of Jewish portrayal in media.
I said in a previous post that I might be talking about problems of portrayal I see in media, thanks to the panel I was on last month. And I’ve noticed that portrayal of Jews in the media–at least the media I’ve been consuming–has been problematic. This is because, generally speaking, I have noticed Jews tend to be portrayed in one of three different groups:
The religious types. They’re Orthodox, with black coats and beards. At least one of the men is a rabbi, and if the story is speculative in nature, Kabbalah shows up somewhere. I’m not too upset about this portrayal, because I have seen some good and nuanced portrayals of this group since Fiddler of the Roof. I’ve even used it myself. Still, it’s done A LOT.
The barely-Jewish portrayal. They say they’re Jewish, but the characters eat bacon, have barely any connection to their ancestry, and their religious affiliation is only used as a joke or a quirk of their character. Examples include Howard Wolowitz from The Big Bang Theory, Rachel Berry from Glee, and, most recently, Abby Rivers in My Best Friend’s Exorcism. There are Jews like this, but it’s nuts that this is the biggest alternative to the religious types I see in media.
Jewish equals some weird behavior or stereotype. The fact that they’re Jewish usually translates to some silly behavior or conglomeration of behavior or traits that defines their entire character and is equated with their Jewishness. Maybe they’re clownish wimpy goofs that are always going “Oy vey” and speaking in funny voices, like Krusty the Clown in The Simpsons or Mort Goldman in Family Guy. Or they’re hypochondriacs, like Stan Uris in IT. Usually satirical, but sometimes it’s meant to be taken seriously or realistic, like in IT.*
Ziva David. So far, the most unique portrayal of Jew I’ve come across.
Honestly, the only character I’ve seen buck this trend is Ziva David from NCIS, a former Mossad agent from Israel who was tough, somewhat religious, and very connected to her Jewish heritage and faith. When I watched NCIS, I absolutely loved her, and was so sad when she left the series for good. That was a great and different portrayal of a Jew on media. (As for her being portrayed by a Catholic actress…well, she’s still a great character.)
But that’s the only one. And honestly, I think that’s a damn shame. There are so many different kinds of Jews out there: Jews who are religious but enjoy listening to the Ramones and going out for drinks and bowling with friends; non-religious Jews who are connected to their heritage and use it to make art; Jews who are both Israeli, Jewish, and Arab (just read about him yesterday in an article a friend sent to me); and the disabled Jewish horror writer who lights Shabbat candles on Friday night and keeps kosher while also seeing plays on Saturday afternoons or getting tattoos of Tarot cards all over his body.
Me, if you couldn’t tell.
This is why I’m not just writing an increasing amount of Jewish characters in my work, but also a wider variety of Jewish characters. There’s the married and heavily connected Jewish gay couple in “The Red Bursts,” one of the stories in Hannah and Other Stories; the rabbi, his less-religious but still Jewish best friend and his secular daughter in “The House on Lafayette Square” in Symphony for Walpurgis; and in The Shape of Evil, a Jewish teen on the spectrum (who’s only partially based on me). And I hope to write many, many more.
It may be only a drop in the water. But mentioning those stereotypes at StokerCon did make one or two writers consider how they were writing their Jewish characters. Perhaps mentioning them here, and writing all those characters, might cause some positive ripples. Which, in these scary times, would be most welcome.
I very much prefer this version of Stan than the one in the book.
*In all honestly, I hate Stan Uris. At least Stan in the book. I love King and I love IT. Hell, I’m a horror writer because of them both. But Stan was barely connected to his Jewishness, except in how it made him different, and he was more defined by his clean-freak nature and his almost worshipful adherence to logic and a normal world. In fact, it’s stated in the book that Stan’s suicide was because he wanted to “stay clean,” rather than get “dirty” and jump into a world completely outside of normal. I hated that.
This is why I prefer Stan’s portrayal in the movies. In the first movie, he’s the son of a rabbi studying for his bar mitzvah (I can relate) and, while being religious and connected to his heritage, is still pretty much a normal kid. And as an adult, his suicide is portrayed as him ensuring that the others are able to defeat It. A true sacrifice for the greater good. No wonder I prefer that version.
In recent days and across my social media, as well as on my blog, the number of people following me has grown by leaps and bounds. Why is that? I have my theories, but this post isn’t about theories. Instead, it’s to better introduce myself to my new Followers of Fear, as I like to call the people following me and supporting my writing career.
And since I’m a horror writer, obviously I’m doing thirteen items to get to know me better.
So, without further ado, here’s what will hopefully be a fun introduction to yours truly. And who knows? Perhaps some of my long-time Followers of Fear might learn something that’ll surprise them. It’s happened before!
I’m a writer of horror and dark fantasy with five books under my belt. I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and in college, I started self-publishing books. My first book was a collection called The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones, which came out in 2013. The next year, I published a slasher novel called Snake about a serial killer hunting mobsters in New York City (think John Wick, Taken and Friday the 13th got smashed into a novel). Both did okay, and continue to get readers today.
Five years later, I published my first novel with a publisher. Rose was released by Castrum Press in summer 2019, and followed a young woman turned into a plant/human hybrid (and that’s just the start of her problems). I followed Rose in 2021 with The Pure World Comes, a Victorian Gothic horror novel about a maid who goes to work for a mad scientist. And last year, in 2023, I published my second collection, Hannah and Other Stories, which was released by BSC Publishing Group.
That’s all five of my books out now. I’m proud of all of them and all I’ve managed to do with them over the years. And I plan to put out more in the years to come.
All five of my currently available books. I love them and am so proud of them (and their awesome covers).
I’m Jewish, queer, and have disabilities. Growing up, my life has been an interesting ride, to say the least. Not only did I grow up in a fairly religious Jewish household, but both my father and mother are rabbis. I went to a Jewish day school for most of my youth, learning Hebrew and Judaic subjects for half the day and then learning normal stuff the rest of the day. I also went to synagogue nearly every week, and attended Jewish teen and college groups until I graduated.
To this day, I still practice a lot of the religious practices I grew up with and feel a strong connection with my faith and heritage.
I’m also bisexual. I figured that out in college, and came out about half a year after I came to that realization. Probably took me that long to get comfortable with it because, even surrounded by accepting people and LGBT family members, I still worried about being persecuted. However, I did come out and it was all good, which was reassuring. And then some years later, I realized I was also aromantic (if you’re unfamiliar, it means I can’t feel romantic desire or attraction). Which, looking back, felt pretty obvious, considering I didn’t care about having a relationship all my life. But when I realized it, it was still a bit of a revelation.
And finally, I’m on the spectrum. Have been my whole life. I also have ADHD, a form of albinism, an anxiety disorder, and most recently, diabetes. Yeah, that last one was only diagnosed a couple of months ago, and it sucks! To say the least, it was a shock for me and I miss not being able to eat sweets or have a drink as much as I used to. But, on the bright side, I’ve improved my health by leaps and bounds since finding out, and I plan to keep it that way. Too much to do in my life, after all.
And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve made it a goal to increase representation of these three groups, as well as their intersections, in my fiction. So far, I’m meeting that goal, and hope to release some of those stories soon.
My writing influences. My major influence is, without a doubt, Stephen King. I read IT as a preteen and it was a formative moment in my life! That whole summer, I was transported to Derry, Maine and, when I finished that book at summer camp, I knew what kind of books I would write for the rest of my life.
I’m also majorly influenced by the ideas of HP Lovecraft and the subgenre of cosmic horror, as well as Anne Rice and a ton of anime and manga. All those creators and stories have led me to writing some really insane stories, such as Rose, which I mentioned above, or “Fuseli’s Horses,” one of the stories in Hannah, which is about carnivorous horses.
But I’m not complaining. People seem to like my work, after all.
I love going to the movies and to the theater. It’s rare that a month goes by without me going to see a movie. Usually it’s a horror film or a new superhero film, but I sometimes go see comedies, fantasy and sci-fi films, and anime films getting theatrical releases. I just love going to the movies! I didn’t get to go as much as I wanted when I was growing up, so starting in college, I went as often as possible. And I still do.
Most people are surprised to learn I like ballet. Then they see how much it appears in my stories.
And now that I have a decent day job, I also go to the ballet and to touring Broadway shows. My interest in ballet started probably in college, and as a working adult, I got really into it. It’s gotten to the point where I’m kind of obsessed and look for ways to insert ballet and dancers into the stories I write! And as for Broadway shows, I think Disney movies as a kid primed me to be a fan of those, though the breadth and depth of musicals out there is far wider than Disney can think up, as it turns out.
Now, I have subscriptions to both the local ballet company and to touring Broadway shows that stop in Columbus. And I have to say, I think I would be just as psyched for one of my stories to be adapted into a ballet or Broadway show as I would be for a movie. Maybe even more.
I have several tattoos. To be precise, I have a chest tattoo of a tiger with a blue Star of David, a full back tattoo of one of my favorite ideas from the horror genre, a wrist tattoo referencing some of my favorite anime, and a Tarot card on my right leg that’s about halfway done. However, while I have my tattoos, I don’t normally share photos of them. That’s partially because I just don’t feel the need to. My tattoos are for me to express myself and to have my body reflect who I am. So, their existence on my body is enough for me.
Still, they’re awesome. And I plan to get more as time and money allows.
My most popular work is Rose. I’ve been publishing for over a decade now, but none of my work has done as well critically or commercially as Rose. And I think I know why: it’s the unusual story of a woman turned into a plant/human hybrid. Very weird, very Kafkaesque, and very fantasy horror. Add in that it’s a short but twisty read with Japanese folklore and mythology mixed in, and it’s not surprising that that book does so well.
Plus, you gotta love that cover.
Anyway, if you would like to check out Rose, you can check out its page HERE. I hope you like it if you read it.
I go ghost hunting at least once a year. I’ve been lucky to go to several different locations to ghost hunt. From famous places like the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, OH and the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast in Fall River, MA, to lesser known locations such as the Anchorage Mansion in Marietta, OH and the Bellaire House in Bellaire, OH, with the hope to visit and revisit many, many more.
Also, I try my best to get my investigations on YouTube and upload them to YouTube. So, if you would like to check out my ghost hunting videos, you can check out my channel HERE. They’re spooky good!
I make my own wine. Most people don’t realize that you can brew your own alcohol at home, but it is, and there are plenty of people of doing it, including me. I’ve made a batch of plum wine, and I just finished and bottled a batch of pumpkin wine (yes, pumpkin wine). And I’ve been making my wines based on colors of the rainbow: plum wine is red, and pumpkin is obviously orange. Yellow will be dandelion wine, green will be mint, blue will obviously blueberries, and indigo/violet will be elderberries. And I can’t wait to try them all!
The pumpkin wine I made, all bottled up. Looks good, doesn’t it?
I bought my first home two years ago. For millennials like me, it’s hard to find an affordable home, let alone a non-fixer upper that you don’t have to share with a bunch of other millennials. However, I was lucky enough to find and buy a small condo for myself two years ago, and I’ve been living in the Haunted Condo, as I call it, ever since.
Sadly, it’s not very haunted by anything except me. I don’t know why, I’ve done voodoo rituals and everything else to make the place haunted, but so far, no otherworldly dice. At least I can make one hell of a Halloween display every October and decorate the inside as I like!
My yard is the spookiest in the neighborhood every October.
I’m the chapter coordinator for HWA Ohio. The Horror Writers Association is an international organization that supports horror writers and helps them network and grow. Ohio’s chapter is about six or seven years old, and I’m the guy who runs it! Which was never my intention: some other members organized the chapter, and I volunteered to find a venue. Somehow, I kept arranging locations for us to meet, and that morphed into becoming the chapter coordinator. And after the parent organization set a formal election process for chapter coordinators for all chapters…well, I ran without competition. I guess people think I’m doing a good job or something?
Anyway, HWA Ohio has its own website, which lists our members and puts out news about us. If you would like to check the website out and support us, click HERE.
So proud to have a story from this collection adapted into a radio play.
I recently had my very first story adaptation. Remember my collection Hannah and Other Stories, which I mentioned above? Earlier this year, I became acquainted with a producer for WCBE 90.5, a local NPR station who interviews local creative types. He also runs a yearly Halloween show, where a short story is adapted into a radio play, with the roles played by local high schoolers.
“Hannah,” the lead story in Hannah and Other Stories, was this year’s story. It was my first time having a story adapted, and it was so, so good! The kids did really well in their roles, and it was amazing hearing my story brought to life on the radio.
And if you would like to listen to it, you can! It’s available to stream online, and you can listen to it in full HERE. Let me know what you think if you listen to it. The more people who listen, the better for future shows and future students. Plus, who knows? Maybe another one of my stories will get adapted. It happened once, didn’t it?
I tend to break out in song at any provocation. I kid you not, this is something I did daily in high school, and which I do quite frequently these days. In fact, I’m part of a critique group with some of my fellow Ohio horror writers, and they say it’s not a meeting if I don’t burst out in song at least once!
Too bad I sing badly, but hey, why should I let that stop me?
What I’m working on now. I’m juggling a few projects at the moment. For one, I’m putting together another collection of short stories, and I hope to have more on that in the coming days and weeks. I also recently finished a new novel, The Shape of Evil, which is about a 3D printer from Hell, and I hope to have that ready for pitching to agents and publishers by June next year. Finally, I also have a collection of novellas I plan to work on at some point, and I have a mummy novel I started but put aside for other projects that I plan to get back to.
Plus some short stories to send out to magazines and anthologies here and there. Yeah, I’m a busy guy, aren’t I? But that’s kind of the way I like it.
Anyway, that’s thirteen things you need to know about me. I hope you enjoyed learning about me, because I enjoyed writing it. And if you did, be sure to follow this blog and my other social media to keep up with what I’m doing and when I have new work coming out.
And if you would like to check out any of my other work, I’ll leave a link to my book page down below. You’ll find all my published works and then some there, including free stories. And if you like what you read, I hope you’ll leave a review online so I, as well as other readers, know what you think.
Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.
I’ve been saying it all weekend, in person and on my other social media: one of the things I love about writing (among others) is getting to add my interests to the stories I write. And not just interests: I get to play with my favorite tropes, character types/archetypes, locations, and so much more.
And I’m not the only one: Stephen King likes to set his stories mostly in Maine or other parts of New England, have characters who are either writers or psychics (with the latter often being children), and just getting into weird ideas like aliens or extradimensional entities. Anne Rice enjoyed placing her stories throughout history, particularly places that are beautiful in some way or another, and telling stories that delve into our cruel but beautiful world (AKA the Savage Garden) via supernatural but very human creatures. Riley Sager enjoys deconstructing and turning classic horror movie tropes on their heads by making them the entire plots of his books, female leads who have some deep trauma in their pasts that affect their present, and a male romantic interest whom they should have no business getting with. HP Lovecraft–wait, let’s not get into him. We know what he liked, as well as what he hated.
As for me, I’ve got a few. For one thing, I like to include ballet and ballerinas in my stories. Part of that is that I love ballet like some people like football, but there’s also a symbolic reason. As I’ve said before, corruption of the innocent is one of my favorite elements of horror and ballerinas, particularly young ballerinas, are a symbol of innocence to me. With that reason, it’s no wonder I tend to add ballet and ballerinas to my stories when I get the chance. Though given that I write horror, I often put those poor dancers through hell. Just look at Maddy Taggert in Rose and Annie Hummel in “The Dedication of the Hight Priestess.”
Though whether or not that pattern holds with the dancer character in Crawler, I’ll let you guess.
I also enjoy putting my nerdy interests into my stories when I can. For example, in my WIP I’m working on now, I’ve included references to anime, fantasy tropes, and Doctor Who, among other things. In that same story, I also modeled two characters after the original detectives in Law & Order and named them after the actors who played them. And with half the story still left to write, I can probably find more room to add those in. It’s a blast when I do!
Some other things I like adding with my work when I can are:
setting my stories in Ohio
making some of my major characters Jewish like myself
noting the tropes I might be using while the character denies that their life is working like a story.
references to famous movies and books, especially those in the horror genre
my favorite periods in history (such as The Pure World Comes for Victorian England)
and powerful, sometimes godlike entities that often come from realms very much unlike our own
I love it when I get a chance to reference this show in a story.
And these are just the ones that I’m aware of. Some things are more noticeable to authors than others. I’m sure as I write and publish more, others will point out things about my writing that I never noticed before but will find very true.
But yeah, this sort of thing is a perk of writing fiction. They say “write what you know,” but what that actually entails is often quite different than what our writing professors often preach. Instead of basing our stories entirely on our own experiences and reality, we weave what we love into our stories and use it to spice up our stories. To make them the stories we would enjoy reading ourselves. And when you release those stories and find people enjoy them and the elements you add in…well, that makes it all the better, doesn’t it?
What are some elements you enjoy putting into your stories when you can, Followers of Fear? Let’s discuss in the comments below.
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I mentioned this sort of thing to my folks after seeing Nutcracker last night and on social media after the Doctor Who reference was written into the story last night. After all that, it just felt natural to blog about it. Now, if anyone needs me, I’ll be making dinner and then getting back to my WIP. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and happy second night of Hanukkah!
Back in January, a gunman took a Texas synagogue hostage, making antisemitic statements and slurs while he was at it. The hostages were able to make it out alive, thanks in part to courses offered by law enforcement in case of terrorist action the rabbi and other members of the synagogue had taken.
This past week, a security guard at the Jewish day school I attended and graduated from, Columbus Torah Academy, was arrested. He had been making threats against the school and its students on social media, including photos of himself holding a gun and threatening to shoot parents picking up children. This was a man the teachers and students knew, saw often and maybe even trusted and liked! And he talked about killing the students, including young children, like they weren’t human.
And a few days ago, another man here in Ohio was arrested for making similar threats online. No word at this time if he’s connected to the security guard who threatened my old school, though it wouldn’t surprise me if they were connected.
These are just the most prominent incidents, or the ones I’ve heard of, in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League has tracked numerous incidents in just the past few days, ranging from graffiti and fliers to assaults and threats of violence. And there are more out there. There were two series of murders in Israel recently, for example. And God only knows how many others have happened out there.
It’s hard not to be afraid. My people have to take courses from law enforcement in case of hostage or shooting crises, of which we’ve suffered several in the past few years. I have to worry that the school I went to from fourth grade through graduation can’t trust the people hired to protect them. I have to worry that the school I went to has to hire security! And I have to worry because there are more of these monsters out there who think my people are an insidious influence on the world and that we need to be stamped out. That they’re planning on doing horrible things, together and independently, and bragging about it on social media as if it’s something to be proud of!
I’m afraid too. I don’t go to synagogue often, but when I do, I’m always mapping exits and checking to see who arrives who looks like they don’t belong, or are acting suspiciously, or are just openly carrying a gun around, because some people think that’s a good idea! I worry that next week, when Passover starts, I’ll be reading news articles about beatings, stabbings, shootings, and God knows what else.
And I’m angry. No one should have to live like this because of their beliefs and lineage.
And I can write stories where anti-Semites get their asses kicked and where Jews come out on top. And maybe some of them will get published. At least two already have, and I hope to have more on the way. But it only alleviates the stress I feel. It doesn’t make the problems go away. It doesn’t make anti-Semites change their beliefs or keep people from adopting anti-Semitic beliefs.
I want to do something to fix this problem. So that my people and I don’t feel as scared. So that I can walk into a synagogue without worrying about being shot. And so that more people know what you wonderful Followers of Fear already know: that the vast majority of Jews, like any group of people, just want to get along and live in peace.
I haven’t figured out what I’ll do yet. But if and when I do, I know I’ll go at it full-throttle as I usually do and probably make a difference. God help the anti-Semites who might try to get in my way.
Hey, Followers of Fear. I needed to get this off my chest after finishing a new story with Jewish themes/characters last night and reflecting on all the shit my people have gone through or might’ve had to experience recently. It’s a good way to take care of myself.
And that’s all for now. I was hoping to have some good news to share by now, but it looks like you’ll have to wait a little longer. As soon as I have something to share with you, though, I will. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first publication of 2022!
Some time ago, I met another Jewish horror writer by the name of Richard Gerlach. There was an anthology being created at the time of holiday horror stories, and we thought we’d team up to write one with a little Jewish flair. We wrote a story set around Hanukkah and submitted it. It didn’t get in, but it birthed a friendship and we both believed in the story, so we kept shopping it around.
Dead of Winter from Dublin Creative Writers Cooperative and Spark Street Media, which contains mine and Richard Gerlach’s story “Azazel Dances.” Looking forward to hearing what you think of it!
Some time last year, the story was accepted by the Dublin Creative Writers Cooperative,* who in partnership with Spark Street Media are releasing the anthology Dead of Winter. And our story, “Azazel Dances,” is featured in the anthology! Which is out today!
Honestly, Rich and I are so excited for you to read this story, which centers on a demon who interferes with two feuding Jewish families around Hanukkah. Not only do we get to add to the ever-growing subgenre of Jewish horror (something I’ve been trying to do anyway), but we worked really hard on this story. Like really hard. Like oh my God, the amount of work that went into this story to make sure it was ready for publication! And it was not easy for either of us to find time to edit it, either. Like, I tried to buy the guy a bottle of wine because we somehow made the deadline despite the amount of work and how crazy our lives got! Sadly, mailing alcohol without subscriptions or memberships to special clubs is troublesome.
The point is, we put in a lot of hard work, and I’m very proud of the work we put in to write and edit this story together. So I hope you read it and see what we managed to create together. And if you like what you read, please make sure to spread the word somehow. Goodreads, Amazon, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok, whatever. Leaving your thoughts online somewhere allows us writers to know what people think of our work, as well as helps other readers decide whether or not to check out the book.
Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ll leave a link to check out Dead of Winter below. Ebook is already available, and paperback shouldn’t be far behind. Either edition, there are a lot of great stories in there besides the one by Rich and me, so it’s worth your while. And while you’re at it, you should also check out Richard Gerlach. He’s a great writer with another story in another anthology and has more on the way. He also writes for Divination Hollow Reviews and is a co-host for the podcast Staring Into the Abyss. You can find him on his Twitter account here, his previous publication here, Divination Hollow Reviews here, and the Twitter account for the podcast here.
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I don’t know how we got to the end of February so fast, but I’m looking forward to whatever March brings. So until next time, good night, happy reading and pleasant nightmares!
*Dublin Ohio, which was used for a short scene in Rose. Not Dublin, Ireland. Just clarifying.
September has gone by so fast, but I’m having a lot of trouble believing that it’s only been a month since The Pure World Comes has been released. That’s right, an entire month! And man, it’s been doing well. Not only that, but there have been other updates on my projects and upcoming publications. Let me tell you about it.
The Pure World Comes
The cover for “The Pure World Comes” on the Readict app.
So, if you’re new here, The Pure World Comes was a novel I wrote last year and which was published, as I mentioned at the beginning, exactly a month ago on the Readict literature app. The novel was a love letter to the Victorian era and to Gothic literature from that era, which I’ve been obsessed with for quite some time now. Here’s the summary:
Shirley Dobbins wants nothing more than to live a quiet life and become a head housekeeper at a prestigious house. So when she is invited to come work for the mysterious baronet Sir Joseph Hunting at his estate, she thinks it is the chance of a lifetime. However, from the moment she arrives things are not what they seem. As she becomes wrapped up in more of the baronet’s radical science, she realizes something dark and otherworldly is loose within the estate. And if left unchecked, it’ll claim the lives of all she holds dear.
The app records how many people have been reading the novel and aggregating their ratings of the chapters, as well as the novel in general. When I was writing this post, 728 were reading or have read the novel and rated it a 4.7 out of 5 stars! I don’t think any of my published works have ever scored so high before.
But the best feedback was from my sister. She actually doesn’t read much of my work, as she’s both got a busy life and is not a big fan of horror (I can’t even remember if she’s read Rose). But because it was on her phone, she was able to read it more easily than other books, and she tried to read at least a chapter every night. As of last night, she actually finished it and said she loved it. She especially loved the characters and the mystery hanging around the story.
Considering she doesn’t have much time to read, let alone read all my work, I’m happy to hear that.
And if this is how the first month is going, I can’t wait to see how the next year goes. In fact, I hope to get an ebook and paperback out some time next year. I’ll start working to that end after the new year. I look forward to hearing what people say when they can own a physical copy.
In the meantime, you can find it on the Readict app. It’s free with ads, so why not check it out before Halloween? I’d love to hear what you say.
The Jewish Book of Horror
As you may remember, I submitted a story to The Jewish Book of Horror, an anthology all about what scares my people (besides cholesterol and allergies, of course). I’m happy to say that The Jewish Book of Horror will be released this Hanukkah (so December-ish) and will feature my story, “The Divorce from God.”
And the cover is already being circulated around the internet. You can see it on the left, and isn’t it terrifying/sexy? I love it! I’m so honored to have a story in there. I can’t wait for people to read it and the other stories in the anthology and to let me know what they think.
Anyway, it’s only a couple of months till Hanukkah, so I’ll be sure to let you know when the book is available for preorder and purchase. I hope you’ll support it. As I’ve mentioned before, I think it would be cool to have more Jewish portrayals in fiction, especially from Jews. And the Denver Horror Collective, which is putting out the anthology, has hinted that if it does well, they may pursue doing a sequel anthology. I would love to see that (and maybe submit to them again).
Other Stories
I mentioned in a recent post that I had settled on a new novel to write and was working on an outline. The outline for that novel, Crawler, is finished and I should be ready to work on it after my vacation (more on that later). I’m not sure if the novel will be any good, but I think it’s going to be at least fun to write. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Also, the next part of “Blood and Paper Skin” will be published in Issue 9 of The Dark Sire, which should be out at the tail end of October. I’ll post links when they’re available.
And I’m shopping around several more stories, looking for homes for them. I’m even waiting to hear back from publishers regarding a novel and a collection of short stories. Hopefully I’ll be able to give you some great news very soon. I’m trying to get a few more stories accepted for publication before the end of the year, so I won’t let up on writing and editing and submitting.
And I have more stuff I can’t wait to tell you about. I’m just waiting for the right time to tell you.
In the meantime, I’m hoping you’ll check out some of my work that’s available, including The Pure World Comes. Except for that novel, all my stories are sold wherever great stories are sold. I look forward to hearing what you think.
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to enjoy the weekend and relax after a rough week. I’ll be starting with a Phantom of the Opera movie starring Robert Englund. Yeah, that apparently exists. And it’s apparently really bad. Still, it sounds like something you gotta see to believe. I can’t wait!
Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.
So, for the past several days, I’ve been working on the outline for Crawler, the mummy novel I’ll write after my upcoming vacation. And it’s coming along very well. I think I could be done with the outline by the middle of the week. That being said, more fun than writing this outline (and believe me, it is fun), is the characters themselves.
Some of my favorite Stephen King novels are those that have, along with a kick-ass premise, a really memorable cast of characters. IT has the Losers Club, as well as bullies, a mother with Munchausen’s by proxy, a budding serial killer teen, plenty more nasty parents and a few horrible lovers, and so many more. Salem’s Lot has Ben Mears, his girlfriend Susan, the professor, the priest, the teen boy with a fondness for horror, the real estate agent, Susan’s controlling mother, Susan’s asshole ex-boyfriend that her mother loves for some reason, the teen mom who takes her rage out on her baby, her lousy husband, the woman having an affair, her husband and her lover, the hunchbacked man and so many more. Not to mention the vampire Barlow and his familiar Richard Straker.
And I could write a whole blog post about the characters of Needful Things, one of my favorite King novels ever. There’s Leland Gaunt himself, as well as Sheriff Pangborn, his girlfriend Polly Chalmers, the town drunk, the crazy first selectman, the preteen boy obsessed with baseball and his speech therapy teacher, his mom and her best friend who think they’re having affairs with Elvis, Ace Merrill, Polly’s housekeeper Nettie, local angry bitch Wilma Jerzyck (what else would you call her?), the various members of the Catholic and Baptist churches who hate each other’s guts, etc. They’re all part of the fun that make this and the previous two novels, which wouldn’t be as impactful without them.
And I’m willing to bet that for King, a lot of the fun he had writing those novels probably came from these characters. Maybe even moreso than the stories themselves, let alone the horrors within.
By the by, I’m pretty sure Salem’s Lot will be especially influential on Crawler. I’ll have to work hard not to let that influence make the novel read like a King ripoff or pastiche.
Anyway, as you can probably guess, I’m having a ball with this outline, and a lot of the fun comes from the characters. Remember my blog post about wanting to include Jewish characters? Well, I made my leads Jewish. And while I didn’t need to, it actually adds an interesting dimension to the struggle of the novel. After all, they’re facing an Egyptian-style mummy. Play the Prince of Egypt soundtrack! Plus, they each have aspects to them that people will like or identify with.
It’ll probably help that I modeled their appearances after Rei Hino/Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon and Dean Winchester from Supernatural (if there’s a movie version someday, can we get Jensen Ackles as the male lead?).
I would love to have a novel with a cast compared favorably to either of these novels.
I’ve also been able to add a bunch of characters that I think will be fun to write. For instance, there’s my antagonist, whom I think people are going to find terrifying and yet relatable. There’s also a troublesome mother who thinks she’s entitled to things when she’s not; a police dispatcher with a very big secret; a drug dealer; a preteen with a heart of gold who ends up caught up in the meshuggas around town; a true crime blogger who’s kind of awful; and more. They’re going to be great to write.
Of course, there’s a good chance I could screw it up by not writing them well enough before they reach their final fates, whatever that might be. Still, I gotta try. And I’m sure if I focus on making these characters memorable and somewhat likable while also making sure they play the parts needed for the novel…maybe the cast will turn out as well as the casts of the above novels. Or close enough to it. Balancing acts in writing like this are often a matter of practice, trial and error.
Anyway, that’s where I’m at right now. I look forward to giving you further updates on this novel and the other projects I’ll be working on in the near future. Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and it’s 42 days till Halloween. Have you decided on your costume yet? I have. It’s going to be a killer.
What would happen if I featured my faith more in my stories? Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com
I’ve been thinking a lot lately on Jews in the media I consume.
As you probably know, in addition to being an eldritch abomination from another universe in human form, I’m Jewish (we need faith too, you know). I’m not super-religious, but I follow many rituals and feel close to my heritage and my definition of God. But except for a couple of stories, my religion doesn’t really show in my writing. Or at least, characters who share my faith don’t show up in my stories a lot.
There could be a lot of reasons for that. Part of it could be that horror, the genre I’m drawn to and find most exciting, doesn’t necessarily need religion. Horror may draw on religious beliefs a lot, but that doesn’t mean the stories are religious. Religious elements are just tools for telling a good horror story. Also, Judaism itself isn’t really a scary religion. We don’t have a Devil or Hell, and demons and evil spirits are still subservient to God’s Will and Plan. Beyond golems and dybbuks, the biggest sources of horror for us is our history of being oppressed. And finally, I may have never felt a real need to emphasize the beliefs of my characters. It just doesn’t matter that much. Unless I need to state it, their religion is, “Whatever.”
But lately, I’ve been thinking a bit about that. It started with an essay on Variety about Jews in Hollywood and how we’re represented that brought up some good points. I’ll let you read the article yourself, but it made me aware that I don’t see many members of my faith in the media I consume. And that includes in horror. Yeah, there are some: Stan Uris in IT; Yakov Ronen in The Vigil (one of the best horror films I’ve seen yet this year); Tzadok in The Possession (played by musician Matisyahu, believe it or not); and then some.
But still, it’s a small number. And in an age with resurgent anti-Semitism, I feel like that’s something that needs to change.
Besides, I want to challenge myself. What kind of stories can I tell with a Jewish character as a lead? And not just any kind of Jew, but an amalgamation of the Jews I’ve known throughout my life, from secular to religious and old to young, from all walks of life and all types of spirituality? What if I decided, for a few stories, not to make their religions “whatever?”
Well, I actually already know the answer to that. As you probably are aware, my short story “The Divorce from God” is to appear in The Jewish Book of Horror this holiday season, and a short story in this collection I’m working on has two Jewish men as the leads. And I like to think both stories are good (I only have confirmation of one).
But what if I expand that? What if I tell more tales–not all of them, but some of them–with my fellow members of the Tribe? What if their faith is both an aspect of themselves, though not the only one, and a source of strength? What if the lead is that amalgamation I mentioned?
Well, perhaps I’ll find out sooner rather than later. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m thinking of working on another novel after I’ve finished editing this collection and a couple more stories. And while I don’t think it’s necessary for the lead, I can also see them being Jewish. It could actually fit them very well.
We’ll see what the future holds.
I look forward to the stories I write in this vein.
You know, it’s funny. At one point when I was young, a grown up tried telling me I should write less horror and more of what I know. Which at the time was mainly going to a Jewish day school, having rabbis for parents and being annoyed by my sisters. I absolutely refused, telling this well-meaning grown up “that would be boring.” I think they were worried I was going to turn out to be some psychopath who murdered people in basements and then wrote about it (we horror lovers and creators are so misunderstood!). Still, I wasn’t going to write something I wasn’t attracted to or found boring. Stories are an escape from reality, not a regurgitation!
Now I want to incorporate what I know into a horror story. I guess it’s true what they say, when people “write what they know,” they’re writing it in a completely different way than expected. I wonder that well-meaning adult would make of this now? Hopefully they’d be intrigued enough to read it (and realize I grew up much more well-adjusted than they anticipated).
Anyway, it’s late and this post has gotten insanely long. I’m going to sign off and say Shabbat Shalom, an early Happy New Year (Rosh Hashanah starts Monday evening, it’s our New Year), pleasant nightmares, and a good night. See you next time, my Followers of Fear!
Rami Ungar The Writer 