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Halloween Haunts 2013: Stoker Spotlight Interview with Lisa Morton

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Lisa MortoMorton_cover_TrickOrTreat2n is the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel for Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times co-written with Rocky Wood and drawn by Greg Chapman as well as the recipient of the Bram Stoker Award® for Superior Achievement in a Nonfiction for Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween.

1. How would you describe Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween and Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times?

Trick or Treat is both a comprehensive history of Halloween and an overview of the way the festival is celebrated around the world; it also includes information on related holidays such as All Saints Day, Guy Fawkes Day, and Dia de los Muertos. Witch Hunts is a graphic novel that tells the history of the witch persecutions in Europe, the British Isles and America in a dramatic, illustrated form.

2. Tell us about what inspired you to write Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween and Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times?

On the basis of my earlier book The Halloween Encyclopedia, I was approached by Reaktion Books to do Trick or Treat; originally it was intended to launch a line of books on particular holidays, although I think it’s ended up being a stand-alone title. On Witch Hunts, Rocky Wood asked me if I’d like to write the book with him. Oddly enough, I’d been asked by the book’s publisher, McFarland, about doing some other graphic novels, so it was a good fit.

3. What most attracts you to writing dark fiction?

It allows a writer to explore bigger themes in the most intensely emotional way. Witch Hunts, for example, is really about intolerance, misogyny, and class issues.

4. What are you writing now?

Earlier this year I was hired to write a tie-in novel to the very popular Zombie Apocalypse anthologies edited by Stephen Jones. My book is called Zombie Apocalypse: Washington Deceased, and combines Capitol Hill political intrigue with…well, zombies!

5. What adWood_cover_WitchHuntsvice would you share with new horror writers? What do you think are the biggest challenges they face?

Confidence is a big one, and I think it may even be a bigger issue for new female writers. Be confident that your work is good, don’t be afraid to submit to major publishers and editors, and learn to accept rejection in a way that doesn’t diminish your belief in yourself and your talents.

6. Name three of your favorite horror stories.

I’m going to be very classical here and mention the three short stories that I think have done more than any other works of fiction to shape Halloween: “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving.

7. What’s your favorite Halloween memory or tradition?

I remember one year—I was probably about nine—Halloween came just after we’d moved to a new neighborhood where I didn’t know anyone (we moved a lot when I was a kid). I wanted to be a werewolf that year, so I figured out how to make a werewolf mask by gluing cotton to an existing mask, and (amazingly enough) it turned out really well. When I went out on Halloween night, I got endless compliments on that mask (to say nothing of extra candy!) and it really made me feel great.Morton_bio

Treat. I’m a sucker for horrible crap like the special Halloween Candy Corn M&Ms.

TODAY’S GIVEAWAY: Journalstone Publishing, one of Lisa’s publishers, is offering a half-page ad in the January 31 issue of Dark Discoveries and a medium sidebar ad on Hellnotes.com.

Giveaway Rules: Enter for the prize by posting in the comments section. Winners will be chosen at random and notified by e-mail. You may enter once for each giveaway, and all entrants may be considered for other giveaways if they don’t win on the day they post. If you would like to comment without being entered for the giveaway, include “Not a Giveaway Entry” at the end of your post. You may also enter by e-mailing memoutreach@horror.org and putting HH CONTEST ENTRY in the header.

LISA MORTON is a screenwriter, author of non-fiction books, award-winning prose writer, and Halloween expert. Her work was described by the American Library Association’s Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror as “consistently dark, unsettling, and frightening,” and Famous Monsters called her “one of the best writers in dark fiction today.” Recent and forthcoming releases include the novellas Smog and Summer’s End (both JournalStone), the novels Malediction (Evil Jester Press) and Netherworld (JournalStone), and the trade paperback reissue of Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween (Reaktion Books). She lives in North Hollywood, California, and online at www.lisamorton.com .

Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween
http://www.amazon.com/Trick-Treat-A-History-Halloween/dp/1780230478/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378496327&sr=8-1&keywords=trick+or+treat+a+history+of+halloween

Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times
http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Hunts-Graphic-History-Burning/dp/0786466553/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378496590&sr=8-1&keywords=witch+hunts+a+graphic+history+of+the+burning+times

10 comments on “Halloween Haunts 2013: Stoker Spotlight Interview with Lisa Morton

  1. These both sound like great books and I am putting them on my TBR list! As a new writer in the horror genre, I am enjoying the foray into all the dark crevices of history, especially this time of year. I love witchy stories and anything about the Burning Times strikes a cord. Great article and I look forward to reading your work.

  2. Correction: I meant none of the stories would be works that most would be familiar with. As stories, they wouldn’t be best sellers. But as screenplays and performed right — I wonder!

  3. Loved your choices for favorite horror stories and noted that none of them are in high demand, not Best Sellers, not works that most folks today would have even heard of (unless they work in a book store like The Illiad!)

  4. I agree, Annie. Great answer to #5. I know I have issues speaking about my own work in a confident way. I always sputter something along the lines of, “Yeah, it’s horror. It’s good. It’s about, uh, you know, this one person…” And unfortunately, it seems we still live in a world where female writers have a bit of a steeper struggle to publication than male writers. Stupid.

    And, Lisa–it was great to meet you, however briefly, at the WHC in Nola this year. That was my first con and I had a great time! I hope you’re doing well!

  5. Pingback: Halloween Haunts from the Horror Writers Association

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