Why Do I Write Horror?
By Jack Bantry
My writing stems from a love of books. I love reading. Have done ever since I was a teenager when I discovered horror fiction. Prior to that, I wasn’t a book person. Probably because I hadn’t discovered the right type of books. I remember vividly my first horror novel. It was Pet Sematary by Stephen King. I’d been watching Barry Norman’s FILM programme on BBC 1 and he showed a trailer for the film adaptation. I was intrigued. I had an earlier connection to horror through film. I watched THE FOG with my mum one night and around the same time I stayed at my Grandma’s and watched AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. I was 11 years old. That makes it 1986. But it wasn’t until 1990 that I started reading horror books. It was in the days after seeing the PET SEMATARY trailer. I noticed a student in the school library reading a copy of King’s novel. That evening I asked my mum if she’d buy me a copy. I wanted to read a book, she didn’t hesitate, and the rest, as they say, is history. King led on to James Herbert, Clive Barker, Richard Laymon, Graham Masterson and Guy N Smith. I quickly fell in love with the genre, gobbling up books, then in the late 90s, I decided I wanted to be a writer. I thought I could do as good a job as the people I was reading. If only it was that simple. I wrote a few shorts and even had a couple published in small press zines. That all fell by the wayside as I became an adult. Too busy going to punk gigs and involving myself in the local punk scene. I still read horror fiction compulsively and ten years ago I suffered a serious bout of pneumonia, resulting in 5 weeks off work. When I started to recover I once again toyed with the idea of writing. I started with a short story during the time I was off work. I thought it was destined to be a Bram Stoker award-winner. But in reality, after numerous rejections, the story remains unpublished on a hard drive. This time I was more mature. I’d grown up and consumed a lot of books. The internet had been invented and I had discovered writers like Jack Ketchum, Ray Garton, Skipp & Spector, Brian Keene, JF Gonzalez… I had ideas for stories of my own. And now was the time to start writing…
Jack Bantry
Jack Bantry is the editor of Splatterpunk Zine. He wrote the novella, THE LUCKY ONES DIED FIRST, (published by Deadite Press); and has co-wrote AIN’T WORTH A SHIT (Sinister Grin Press) and INSATIABLE (Grand Mal Press), both with Robert Essig. They have a collection due out later this year, (through Death’s Head Press). He lives in a small town at the edge of the North York Moors where he writes and publishes horror fiction.
The official Splatterpunk Zine website can be found here
You can follow Jack on Twitter @JackbantryH
Insatiable
For some of the punks, it was just another night at a local gig. Partying with crazy people after gigs was nothing new, but on this night there was something in the air. Was it all the tequila and weed? Something was turning the locals into maniacs…sexual deviants. Something was giving them an INSATIABLE sexual appetite!
For Megan it was another late night at the lab, but when she needed another cup of coffee what she discovered in the break room would shock her to the core.
And that was just the beginning…of the end of the world!
Punk rockers, secret labs, sexy cops and animal rights activists. INSATIABLE will take you to hell and back!
You can buy Insatiable from Amazon UK & Amazon US
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