Today we are joined by Author Lisa Lepovetsky. Lisa recently had her story, MASKS featured in the Halloween anthology DOORBELLS AT DUSK from Corpus Press. You can read my review of the book HERE.
So please welcome Lisa Lepovetsky as she shares with us her thoughts
on why she writes horror and how it ties into her story.
on why she writes horror and how it ties into her story.
Growing Up on HORROR
By Lisa Lepovetsky, Author Contributor to Doorbells at Dusk Anthology
When
did I first become interested in horror? It seems as if I’ve always had
a propensity for all things that “go bump in the night.” Maybe it
started with something as seemingly innocent as Aunt Marian reading Beatrix Potter’s Roly-Poly Pudding, with the rats tying to make a meal out of little Tom kitten. Or maybe it was Howard Garis’ Uncle Wiggly, trying forever to escape the clutches of the Skeezicks, who constantly bothered him. I remember being vaguely terrified by these stories as a little girl, but not knowing quite why.
Until I was four or so, my family lived in Atlanta, but all my parents’
relatives were in Pennsylvania. So, a couple of times a year, we would
make the long trek north for holidays, vacations, and funerals. My
father would read to my mother for hours as she drove, and usually read
classics of some kind. He read Mark Twain’s books and Treasure Island,
but also Les Miserables and On the Track of Unknown Animals about creatures like the yeti and the Loch Ness monster.
And
he read horror stories—Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow
Wallpaper” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Summer People” and “Afterward” by
Edith Wharton and, of course, “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier, along
with the frightening stories of Ray Bradbury and M.R. James and Edgar
Allan Poe. And, though I didn’t always understand the message of these
stories, I was tantalized by their shuddery sense of mystery and fear.
Also, I learned that men weren’t the only ones writing horror—women
could write tales of terror, too. And sometimes better. I began telling
myself that maybe one day I could do that, too.
My
mother was a writer, mostly of confessions, and she encouraged me to
try my hand at writing. My first literary attempt, in fifth grade, was a
story based on a dream my older brother had had, called “The Red Lady”
about a scary woman who floated down the staircase in our century-old
house, calling out to us to come with her. The dream was certainly
scary, though I suspect my story didn’t quite do it justice.
But
I was hooked. Every story I wrote for my classes was a mystery or ghost
story, or both. I entertained my friends and family with wild, dark
tales about spirits and monsters and death, either natural or un-. Of
course, my favorite holiday was Halloween. Every October, I would help
friends put up scary decorations, and then when it was dark, I’d shine a
flashlight under my chin and tell some creepy story I’d read or made
up. One of my favorites was “The October Game,” a Ray Bradbury story
about a Halloween party that goes terribly wrong. This story allows the
reader to imagine what’s going on, rather than the author shoving her or
his face into it.
I
loved horror movies as well, though I’ve always preferred to be really
frightened to being grossed-out with blood and guts. One of my favorite
scary movies is the original William Castle version of “The Haunting of
Hill House,” based on the superb novel by Shirley Jackson. Nary a
monster or drop of blood show up in this film, but it scared me to
death, and still has the power to make my skin crawl.
I
believe in the adage that the reader is far more capable of terrifying
himself than I am. This predilection for quiet, internal rather than
external horror has ruled my fright-writing. Some of my poetry is actually more descriptive than most of my fiction, but either way, I tend to avoid graphic depictions of violence. For instance, my story in Doorbells at Dusk
is just such a story, more concerned with the inner lives of the
characters and the anticipation of horror than showing the inevitable
bloodletting at the end.
LISA
LEPOVETSKY has published fiction and poetry widely in the small press,
professional publications and anthologies. Her work has appeared in
Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Cemetery Dance and many other
magazines, and such anthologies as Dark Destiny, Blood Muse, and HORRORS!,
among others. She earned her MFA from Penn State, and her most recent
book is VOICES FROM EMPTY ROOMS, a collection of dark poetry.
You can purchase DOORBELLS AT DUSK now on AMAZON.
To learn more about CORPUS PRESS and all their other great books, you can visit their website HERE.
