Darrell, they say, you’re such a pleasant person. Why immerse yourself in the doom and gloom of killers, demons and flesh eating zombies?

What can I say? It makes me feel good.

A writer reflects the world through the prism that is his personality. The world is full of shadows and unseen nightmares. These are interesting places to explore.

From a distance, that is. Bottomless crevasses provide interesting views. And that’s probably why I like to read and write horror. It’s great to stand at the edge and safely examine distant and scary shores without fear of falling in.

Horror stories are different from other types of fiction in that the good guy does not always win. Usually he does, but in most fiction this is taken as a given. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl back. Finis.

Horror is different. Boy meets ghoul. Boy loses ghoul. Boy finds ghoul and hacks it to pieces. Dismembered body parts reassemble and attack boy. He attacks them with a -.

Well, you get the idea.  

Horror stories are a different animal to other types of fiction. Possibly, the good guy may lose. He may make a pact with the Devil for all the right reasons…and still end up burning in Hell for all eternity.

But isn’t life like that sometimes?

There are terrible things in the world. Who can explain an earthquake that kills thousands of people? The senseless death of a child? The murder of a loved one? Maybe in my writing I’m trying to understand these horrors, to make sense of them for myself. And maybe within the lines of my stories you’ll spot an element of truth that will help to illuminate the world for you.

Or maybe you’ll think, hey, I’m sticking with science-fiction. This horror shit is too weird for me.

Fair enough.

How did I become a writer?

I’ve been writing stories since I was twelve. An English teacher at high school originally planted the idea within me that I could be a writer. My first published piece was in a magazine called Neos Young Writers. That was quite a few years ago now. I’ve had various pieces published since then, but it’s only in the last few years that I’ve taken up the challenge to become a successful writer.

The book that has taught me the most about how to write is ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ by Ron Kovic. You may have seen the movie, but I recommend the book if you can find it. It is a story of guts and determination and it’s not a great literary piece. But it’s great writing. It’s about a man who is trying to make his way in the world. Full stop. And I think that’s what writing is about. Telling stories about people. Real people. Describing how the average person deals with the triumphs and tragedies of life.  

There have been a few highlights in my (short) writing career. Here’s one of them.

I entered a story called ‘Calculations’ into the 2001 Katherine Susannah Pritchard Foundation writers competition. One day, shortly after the competition closed, I came home to find a short message on my answering machine. There was nothing substantial in the message, just a comment that someone from the Foundation had rung and that they’d be in contact with me.

The weeks passed. I tried calling them, but the person who had rung was not in the office. However, I did not forget their call. You see, by this stage I was feeling a little pissed off.

‘Calculations’ was a fairly controversial story, and I was concerned that they had rejected it out of hand because of its content. In fact, I thought their call was to chastise me about writing such material, and to recommend that I did not enter the competition again.

I received my story back in the mail a couple of weeks later.

Seething with annoyance, I opened the envelope and tipped out the contents. Out fell a cheque for three hundred dollars, a glowing letter about my story and a certificate for winning first prize.

Here is a snippet from their letter regarding my story ‘Calculations’:

“Calculations” is, in my view, the stand-out story in this year’s entries. A suspenseful, deeply disturbing story….Here is a first-class writer and right on time. A hip twenty-something writer, I suspect, who is not afraid of appearing angry, calculating, detached. Bravo!...

Yes, they loved the story. And, actually, I’m thirty-something, but who’s counting?

Times like this make it worthwhile being a writer.

Thanks for reading these few words about me. Small press publications boldly go where no-one has gone before, simply because they have less to lose. Larger publications take fewer risks; they will rarely publish controversial material that shakes the foundations of society, because there are too many dollars involved in disturbing the establishment.

Challenging the world around us is a good thing. Maybe the most important thing. Let’s keep challenging it and not accept the conventional mode of thought as being ‘reality’. Then maybe the only horror we have to deal with will only ever be fictional.

Thanks again and keep reading!

Darrell’s Bibliography

Wicked Hollow 3 (July 2002)

Redsine 8 (April, 2002)

"Reunion" - Burning Sky Issue #11 (2002)

Orb Speculative Fiction 3/4 (2002)

Potato Monkey (Spring 2002)

"A Cardboard Sign and Pliers" - Dark Animus #3 (May 2003)

Coming Up in the Near Future

"Flesh" - Dark Animus #4

Bare Bone