Interview: Ross E. Lockhart
Ross E. Lockhart made quite a name for himself as an editor for a small press before breaking off and starting his own small press, Word Horde. Tales of the Jack The Ripper is the first anthology Ross has published with his press, and it's been garnering several positive reviews, my own included. Ross stops by The Arkham Digest to chat about the Ripper anthology and what can be expected from his new press.
First things first, I'd like to thank you for taking the time for this interview.
Thanks for having me, Justin.
How did Word Horde come to be, and how did you settle on such a catchy name for your press?
I'm so glad you like the name. The name Word Horde was the result of my daydreaming while listening to a recording of Beowulf. There's this great line in which Beowulf unlocks his "word-hoard"--the treasure-chest of his vocabulary and storytelling skill--to impress a group of warriors. Somehow, that kenning got twisted around in my head and I found myself contending with a gang of words. That metaphor--words as warriors--really resonated with me, so I tucked it away in my own word-hoard waiting for the right opportunity to use it.
Earlier this year, I started Word Horde out of necessity. As you know, until December of last year I worked as managing editor for--what did the New York Times call them?--a "tiny specialty press" out of San Francisco. Without going into too much detail, that was a company with a lot of problems, and while I was able to fix a great many problems while there, there were fundamental problems that were, frankly, unsolvable. Once we parted ways, I knew I wanted to start my own publishing company so that I could continue doing the work I love, editing great novels and stories and anthologies, but I also realized that I wanted to structure my company in a way that treated authors, editors, artists, and designers fairly and with respect. I wanted the creatives I worked with to feel like they were part of something bigger. Part of the Word Horde.
Why did you choose Tales of Jack The Ripper to be your first project? What do you find alluring about the Ripper and his murders?
As boogymen go, Jack is a rock star. Everybody knows about Jack, but nobody knows who he really was. Everybody has a mental image of this heinous killer--mine includes a touch of Lon Chaney in London after Midnight--and yet, a century and a quarter after five women were brutally murdered, the case remains unsolved. Moreover, Jack has inspired so many authors to expand upon the mystery that the lines between fact and fiction aren't just blurry, they're practically invisible. John Francis Brewer's The Curse Upon Mitre Square may have been the first bit of fiction to explore and exploit the murders, but it definitely wasn't the last. Authors from Marie Belloc Lowndes to Robert Bloch to Harlan Ellison to Maureen Johnson to Alan Moore have taken their own stabs at this subject. With Tales of Jack the Ripper, I wanted to give some of my favorite storytellers a chance to peel back the layers of this mystery and expand on Jack's literary legacy.
Is Word Horde going to focus mostly on short fiction, or do you plan to include novels in your lineup as well?
I'm concentrating on anthologies and short works in the short term, but I would like to include novels--the right novels--in the Word Horde lineup some day. Fiction works best for me in bite-sized pieces. I feel that Poe, in "The Philosophy of Composition," nailed it: "If any literary work is too long to be read at one sitting, we must be content to dispense with the immensely important effect derivable from unity of impression -- for, if two sittings be required, the affairs of the world interfere, and every thing like totality is at once destroyed."
Are you open to any sorts of submissions or pitches at this time? If so, what kind of work would you like to see?
Absolutely. I am doing prep work and beginning to send out invitations for a third Cthulhu Mythos volume, though I'd like to partner with a larger publisher for that project. Word Horde projects I am now reading for include a Giallo anthology (stories inspired by the Italian crime genre and the films of directors like Argento, Bava, and Fulci), and I have plans for anthologies paying tribute to some of my favorite filmic and literary genres (weird war stories, swashbucklers, etc.). I prefer to work with authors on an invitation basis, rather than issuing an open call, but I'm always interested in hearing pitches from authors interested in wrangling an invitation to the party. The more the merrier!
What can readers expect from Word Horde in the future? Are there any projects you can talk about at this time?
Readers should expect great things from Word Horde. I'm not quite ready to reveal all our cards, but I would encourage readers to bookmark http://www.wordhorde.com or sign up for our mailing list or like us on Facebook. That way, you'll not just find out about new books and projects as they happen, you'll also get plenty of behind-the-scenes information.
Once again, I thank you for your time!
Thank you! I had a great time.
Labels: interview, ross lockhart, word horde
Review: Alice Walks by Michael Aronovitz
Barring religious and mythological texts, the oldest form of horror tale is that of the ghost story. Mankind has always been fascinated with spirits and the afterlife, and every culture not only has their own idea of what happens to us after we die, but every culture also has their own idea of ghosts.
Ghost stories in Western culture became popular in the Victorian era, with writers such as Le Fanu. The turn of the century saw a rise in spiritualism, and an even bigger rise in the ghost story. M.R. James, Oliver Onions, and Algernon Blackwood all helped foster the ghost story even further.
Now, early on in the 21st century, ghosts still remain as popular as ever. I can't even turn on the TV without finding it riddled with ghost-hunting shows, or shows like Paranormal Witness, where people share their experiences while actors recreate key scenes. Horror cinema is much the same, with ghost films seeing another rise in popularity due to movies such as Paranormal Activity and The Conjuring. Publishers seem to be jumping on this opportunity as well, in the last two-three years alone I could easily name five or more anthologies all dealing with hauntings and ghosts, helmed by many of the big-name editors including Ellen Datlow, Stephen Jones and Paula Guran, and there's definitely no shortage of novels dealing with the subject either.
Readers may wonder why I've included such a lengthy opening talking about ghost stories without getting to the review. The reason is simple: it has to be understood that the industry is flooded with ghost fiction. Some use time-worn tropes but are written well enough that they are worth reading. Some take the concept of ghosts in radical new directions, making for a fresh take on the genre. Michael Aronovitz's Alice Walks does a bit of both.
I came across this book on a recommendation by my friend CM Muller. It didn't hurt that the book was published by Centipede Press either, as Centipede Press is pretty much synonymous with quality. I went through this book rather quickly, and putting it down to head into work was a struggle.
Alice Walks takes place in a Pennsylvania suburb in the 1970s. The book's narrator, now an older man suffering from health problems in modern time, is passing his story on to his son. Michael, the narrator, relates the life-changing events that took place during the winter of his own fourteenth year, when he and two friends go playing around in the cemetery his father works and awaken the spirit of a girl their own age that rather recently died. Things escalate from there.
Aronovitz does a masterful job at conveying character and setting. His characters are believable, and he easily puts the reader in the shoes of Michael, who is a rather average fourteen year old boy. The emotional weight that Michael feels every day in his household, due to his father's shameful suspension from a teaching career over dubious circumstances, has a very authentic feel to it.
When it comes to the ghost, Aronovitz also does something fresh. Alice is a very interesting ghost as far as ghosts go. Many times ghost stories can lose their sense of terror by the end, when the ghost usually becomes a sympathetic figure. The reader finds out that the ghost responsible for all the spooky moments was a murder victim, trying to gain closure and finally be at peace. Aronovitz does something much different with Alice, who goes from evoking terror, to being a sympathetic figure, and then back to evoking terror. Alice's motivations are different from the norm, and this keeps the story very interesting, as the reader never knows what to expect.
Alice Walks is a shorter novel, and Aronovitz has a strong sense of pace, never allowing the story to slow down or become overburdened and bloated. This sense of focus, combined with an excellent sense of character and setting, as well as an original take on the ghost, make for an excellent debut and marks Aronovitz as a writer to watch. Being a Centipede Press book, the novel's price tag is heftier than average, but it's worth every penny.
The novel can be bought HERE.
Labels: Alice walks, centipede press, ghost, michael aronovitz
Review: Tales of Jack the Ripper edited by Ross E....
We'll Always Have Providence