Horror Anthology: An Interview with David Turnbull

The Black Beacon Book of Horror will be released on Friday the 13th of October; the Kindle version is available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads list today. To get you in the mood for a particularly spooky Halloween this year, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. The first Black Beacon Book of Horror is bound to give you the creeps!

Hi David,

Why do you write horror?

In simple terms because I am huge fan of the horror genre. I read it. I watch it on TV. I go to see it in cinemas. Probably all caused by watching episodes of the Twilight Zone and Friday night horror films on TV when I was growing up.

Is there a story behind your story in this anthology?

I’m claiming back Halloween for its Celtic roots. Trick of Treat didn’t start in America and get exported across the world. It started with the guisers in Scotland, Ireland and Wales. But the guisers in my story come from another world entirely, and the tricks they play are pretty unsettling.

Do you have an all-time favourite horror tale?

I suppose it would have to be Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I love the way Ray Bradbury writes and the motif of a sinister fairground visiting a small town is the perfect mix of the ordinary tainted by the uncanny. A book that scared me was The Rats by James Herbert, because it seemed plausible and possible. I remember reading the part where one of the characters is on a London Underground platform. He hears a thunderous roar coming from the tunnels, accompanied by a strong gush of air. But it is not an approaching train he’s hearing. It’s a ravenous horde of fresh eating rodents. Even now, many years later, I can’t sit on a tube station platform without getting a flashback of the imagery of that scene.

What books did you grow up reading?

I was an avid reader of the Pan Book of Horror Stories series. Those really got me into a love of short stories, particularly horror stories.

Do you have any writing rituals?

I usually write stuff at my PC sometime during the day and then edit it in bed on my laptop first thing in the morning.

Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?

I have recently qualified as a guide with the Lambeth Tour Guides Association and I have developed a number of walks which take in film and TV locations as well as writers and novels associated with different part of South East London.

Where can we find you online?

www.tumsh.co.uk
https://fiction4all.com/writerdavidturnbull.htm
https://lambethfantastical.blogspot.com/

Thanks for answering our questions!