Is such a thing possible? Turns out, yeah. Very possible, and here I give a shout out to another one of my esteemed Seton Hill Professors, this one Scott A. Johnson. Imagine what it must have been like for him having a romance novelist in his Horror class.
Me: OMG, Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!
He: *sigh*
Still, I learned a lot from him about a genre I never really spent any time in. (I didn’t realize that Ghost Stories were a morality tale. Did you?) Amusingly enough, I also went to Elementary School with Horror author Staci Layne Wilson back in Lake View Terrace, CA.
She came to me and said “Want to be a part of an Anthology?” I said “sure” and BOOM, I had a short in her Rock & Roll Nightmares: Gory Days. Mine is the one titled “Bite it Out,” if you’re interested, and it’s fashioned on Benatar’s 80s Fight It Out song.
She asked and I didn’t hesitate. I mean, I had Scott’s information poured into my skull and Staci’s editing pen to make sure I didn’t embarrass myself too much, as well as all the pressure of an MFA “Writing Popular Fiction” degree to learn how to actually craft a story, short or otherwise. So, I wrote it, off it went, and hopefully I did both Scott and Staci proud.
But that isn’t my only journey into Horror. Currently I’m pitching a Light Horror–read Scooby Doo style–episodic TV show for streaming. (Streaming is the new wave of Entertainment, yanno.) I thought to use my knowlege of literature to bring forth the monsters of old. I mean, for this person there’s nothing more horrifying than 17th Century Literature. #just saying
Late last night–Midnight, actually. Apropos, no?–I received feedback on my project. No, not yet an offer for The Harkening but remember, this is just my second foray into Horror and only now is Hollywood opening itself back up to new ideas. (2021 – ’22 they were playing “catch up.” Returning staff from COVID seclusion to finish up projects, and all that sort of stuff.)
Here’s what they said:
My Mom says “Well, are they gonna take it?” and I’m like, “Mom, Mom, I’m the author. I’m not the producer. I don’t deal with the money.” Who knows? Maybe someone will option it. Maybe it’ll sit in Production Hell for decades, never seeing the light of day. Or maybe it will Stream for someone. Who knows?
Me? I’m probably going to take the ideas, toss them into short stories, and make them available for my Dollar Dreadfuls line. I mean, $.99 cents for a Light Horror romp. Would could go wrong? At least I’ll be keeping myself out of trouble…
B. Thatcher 