Today see’s the launch of the latest Steve Stred chiller, ‘The Window In The Ground‘. To celebrate, author Duncan Ralston talks to erm, author Steve Stred about a wide range of subjects including Indie Horror, Steve’s work past and present and his involvement with the LOHF Writer’s Grant.
“An immensely readable and original coming-of-age horror tale” – Duncan Ralston, author of Ghostland.
On the outskirts of town, hides a secret.
If you follow a path through the trees, read the rules (always twice) on the signpost, go up a hill and across a grassy clearing, that secret will reveal itself.
You see, for hundreds of years, this seemingly normal town has done its part, kept the balance.
But on this day, a rule will be broken.
You might have heard the rumors shared in whispers.
You may have been told about someone who’d seen it with their own eyes.
But now, on this day, you’ll join us.
You’ll come for a car ride and we’ll park.
Then we’ll walk along a path, read some rules (always twice), and go up a hill and arrive at a clearing.
Across the grass, you’ll see just what the town’s been hiding, protecting for centuries.
Then you’ll feel a pull.
And we’ll make our way over to it.
Over to the window in the ground.
“I looked at the mound and could see that a light was shining up from the under, from inside the window. Something was happening below.”
Steve Stred Talks To Duncan Ralston
Steve, you’ve been a champion of horror, particularly indie horror, for some time now. What are some of the things you like about indie horror? Do you feel it’s lacking anything?
Thank you, Duncan! That’s very kind. I think a lot of it stems back to trying to make it as an athlete and trying to find funding, while training and working etc etc. Indie writing and Indie horror is a very punk rock DIY mentality and I love that, for the most part, it is very passionate and talented writers doing their best job to write a stunning story – but also doing all of the other components. Writing, refining, getting beta reader feedback. Cover approval (and in some cases cover design), edit approvals, formatting, reaching out to reviewers to try and get any buzz at all. That is a ton of stuff to do and very seldom, very rarely is it profitable. I started doing these author shouts – a few “hey, check out this rad author!” a day, purely to try and give folks a bump. Anything additional to help them pick up a sale or two. I know just how hard any of those things are, let alone all of them combined. So, really, long way around, I love that every single release is a passion project and each one is a personal achievement, a moment of greatness. Every single release that I see makes me smile – BECAUSE THEY DID IT!
As for what’s lacking? Damn. Good question. One thing I see a lot of is reviewers not taking more chances on “un-established authors.” I don’t know how to really say it without possibly angering a lot of people, but I try really hard when I wear my reviewers’ hat to read books that have very little promo or reviews. As an example, I just recently read a stunning book called “The Blood Beast Mutations” by Carl John Lee. As of writing these answers, it has 4 ratings and 3 reviews (including mine.) I want to see this fantastic book in all of the bookstagram pictures and these TBR carts etc etc. So, I really am not trying to anger anyone, and there are only so many hours in the day, I just keep seeing these great books get passed over and it makes my heart hurt for these authors.
The concept for “The Window in the Ground” was wildly original but grounded – so to speak – by the coming of age aspect of the story and the “rules” the society follows. It reminded me of a horror incarnation of Lois Lowry’s The Giver in that regard. Can you tell me about how you came up with the concept?
Thank you! I love this little strange tale. It came from two things or ideas that popped together in my demented head! The first was – a few years back, my wife, my son and I were going for a walk one weekend in the Clifford E. Lee nature preserve that’s about a thirty-minute drive from our house. It has a number of trails and the one we were following that day, led us up a short hill, across a clearing and then steered right towards a small lake. When we got to the top of the short hill, far off at the edge of the clearing to our left was the oddest thing. We still had snow on the ground when we went on this walk, but off in the corner was this perfectly square area of bright green grass. It was inaccessible to walk to, but I turned to my wife and commented that it looked like someone had been tending to this specific part of the ground. Flash forward to spring and my son and I were playing in his sand table. We were using an old measuring spoon to dig dirt, and it happened to be a translucent green. I half buried it and it looked just like a window in the dirt. So, bingo, bango, bongo – The Window in the Ground was born. I burned through a rough first draft, and then let it sit for a while. Now, here we are!
I like that “Ritual” (Released September 2019) starts off almost mundane but gradually gets darker and stranger as it goes along. The final third I thought worked especially well. Did you always intend for it to be the first book in a trilogy?
Seriously, I just want to say how much your kind words towards this book have meant to me. “Woom” is one of my favorite books ever and knowing that this tickled your reading mind, just so humbling.
“Ritual” started out as two very different parts. The first part or section was the Brad part. I wanted to write this totally boring character, this devoted bible loving guy who lives to serve the scripture but also just goes to work and goes home. The big thing I wanted to get across was the juxtaposition between daytime Brad and nighttime Brad if you will. (Look at me with my $5 words!) At first, I had originally written that portion for a Flametree Press open call. I had even sent it to Michael Patrick Hicks and David Sodergren for quick beta reading notes. I had also written this weird “ending” of a detective story for an Unnerving open call. When Eddie passed on it, I got the rejection email from him about five minutes after I had emailed Michael and David. Something just clicked. I knew that the story in “Ritual” couldn’t just end with the final scene but needed to carry on. So, I messaged Michael and David and told them to ignore my emails, I wouldn’t be submitting to Flametree, adjusted the ending and voila, “Ritual” was born.
As for the trilogy aspect – no. I finished up “Ritual” and let it sit for a month or so. When I went back into that world, and I’ll share a bit about that here in a second, but when I went back in, I knew then it needed to be a trilogy. “COMMUNION,” which is part two is now out, was a rushed draft once I knew where I wanted to go. I think I wrote that first draft in two or three days and then had to relax on it as it had fired up that part of my brain that it does.
And when I say, “go back into that world,” as of right now, from parts 1, 2 and 3 I have almost 300 hours spent researching and getting an understanding of Chaos beliefs on the dark web. At times it has been horrific, grotesque and unnerving, but I decided as I started to make “Ritual” more and more repulsive if you will, that I was in for a penny, in for a pound. The chat rooms and websites that I’ve visited and been making connections to see just what dark stuff some of these back-room cults participate in has made even my stomach squirm at times. But for me, personally, it has been completely worth it to create a figure in Father that I detest and can use for these three books to just be a horrible, horrible character.
You’ve been working with the Ladies of Horror Fiction for their writers’ grant. How did you get involved with that?
Cheers for that. Truthfully, I hate this question, because when I get asked it, I don’t want this wonderful grant to be about me, haha! How it began was, I was really frustrated seeing so many book world people say that there were just not these financial opportunities in our community etc and when there was, traditionally it was always awarded to a white, male. So, one day I just got pissed off enough that I wanted to start something, but I’m a small potato in a large field. I was messaging a bunch with the amazing Toni, from LOHF and we got into a discussion about my idea and from there we came up with how to facilitate it etc. Last year we had one grant and one recipient. Stunningly, this year, through people coming forward we have TEN grants! So, we’ll have TEN wonderful recipients this year!
As a Canadian writer working mostly in small press and indie publishing, do you feel like you face any extra hurdles publishing outside of the US, the biggest book market for English-language fiction?
I think the hurdle will always be – so many amazing books coming out. Consumers/readers only have so much disposable income and so many hours in the day. For some reason, I have always had solid sales in the UK. It may be partly due to my involvement for some time now with Kendall Reviews, as Gavin resides in the UK, or it just might be that my particular take on bleak, depressive horror, typically told in novella length, has connected with that reading base? I’ve always been OK with the Canadian market and I think that is because I have so much of my work set in the woods and the backcountry. Again, resonates with the readers. As for the US, it has always been an odd duck to predict. Some releases are embraced, others slip through the cracks.
I’ve always been upfront that I write for me and not for sales, so if a book misses or has a poor book launch, I’m never too sad. I try and do the same thing each and every time with my lead in promo, and frankly, I am a way better promoter of other people’s work than my own.
But I have always loved the idea that with a fairly extensive back catalog, when someone discovers one of my books, I picture a smile on their face when they head to Goodreads and discover that I have plenty more worlds to visit.
What can we expect next from you?
Well, as always, I have a lot on the go! “The Window In the Ground” arrives July 1st. I truly love this book and I hope people find it a home on their shelf or their kindle and visit that strange little clearing in the woods. I will be announcing an October release very shortly with a great friend of mine! This one I think will be one a lot of people will be excited for. “Scott: A Wagon Buddy Tale” will arrive at the end of the year. This is the sequel to “Wagon Buddy,” which arrived a few years ago now. I am still working on “Cathedral of the Skinned,” and “Carry the Moon,” the second and third books in the “Sermons of Sorrow” trilogy. And lastly, I’ve just finished my section of the first draft of a novel co-written with David Sodergren, which I think is just fantastic. I have more on the go as well, but nothing far enough along to really discuss!
So, there you go! Thanks again for the great questions!
The Window In The Ground
On the outskirts of town, hides a secret.
If you follow a path through the trees, read the rules (always twice) on the signpost, go up a hill and across a grassy clearing, that secret will reveal itself.
You see, for hundreds of years, this seemingly normal town has done its part, kept the balance.
But on this day, a rule will be broken.
You might have heard the rumors shared in whispers.
You may have been told about someone who’d seen it with their own eyes.
But now, on this day, you’ll join us.
You’ll come for a car ride and we’ll park.
Then we’ll walk along a path, read some rules (always twice), and go up a hill and arrive at a clearing.
Across the grass, you’ll see just what the town’s been hiding, protecting for centuries.
Then you’ll feel a pull.
And we’ll make our way over to it.
Over to the window in the ground.
“I looked at the mound and could see that a light was shining up from the under, from inside the window. Something was happening below.”
You can buy The Window In The Ground from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Steve Stred
Steve Stred is the author of a number of novels, novellas and collections. He has appeared in anthologies with some of Horror’s heaviest hitters.
He lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with his wife, son and their dog OJ.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred
You can follow Steve on Instagram @stevestred
You can visit Steve’s Official website here
Duncan Ralston
Duncan Ralston was born in Toronto and spent his teens in small-town Ontario. As a “grownup,” Duncan lives with his wife in Toronto, where he writes dark fiction about the things that frighten, sicken, and delight him. His work has been reviewed in Scream: the Horror Magazine, Cultured Vultures and Daily Dead. In addition to his twisted short stories found in GRISTLE & BONE and VIDEO NASTIES, he is the author of the novels SALVAGE, THE METHOD and GHOSTLAND, and the novellas WILDFIRE, WOOM and EBENEZER.
Duncan’s influences include (but are not limited to): Stephen King, Clive Barker, Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison, Jack Ketchum, Roald Dahl, Irvine Welsh, Chuck Palahnuik and Bret Easton Ellis.
He runs the small press Shadow Work Publishing, which has published the writing of Jack Ketchum, Wrath James White, Jeff Strand, William Malmborg, The Sisters of Slaughter, Glenn Rolfe and many others.
You can find out more about Duncan by visiting his official website www.duncanralston.com
I really enjoyed this interview, Steve has been so supportive of my horror writing endeavours and enthusiastic about the genre. Great guy.