How to Dismantle Your Life: Men in Horror: WILLIAM COOK

I first read William Cook a couple of years ago and was immediately enthralled with his writing and his style. The book I read was BLOOD RELATED. I loved it. It was intense, creepy, dark and twisted. For some reason, my review of this book has disappeared from Amazon and Goodreads, so I dug it up and reposted it.

Be warned, this tale is not for anyone who dislikes gore and violence.

This is a brilliant tale of fathers and sons, serial killing at its finest and the legacy families create. Charlie and Caleb Cunningham are twins and serial killers, following in the footsteps of their father and grandfather.

The story is told through letters, news articles and from the points of view of the killers, the police and the doctors involved. All the pieces of the story are woven together beautifully through the the magical way William Cook has with syntax. Well worth the read....if you can stomach it.

William Cook

1. When did you start writing horror?

I started writing horror stories (although I didn’t know they were horror stories) when I was about ten years old. The first one I wrote won a school competition – it was about a boy who gets lost in a strange desert where he witnesses giant heads falling out of the sky. He discovers that the heads are being fired out of a cannon by a voodoo witch-doctor who has somehow reversed the process of shrinking heads. I think I got the idea after watching King Solomon’s Mines and seeing the scary witch doctor in the movie. My first real horror publication was a story called ‘Devil Inside’ which was published in 2010 in Lee Pletzer’s Masters of Horror Anthology. Since then I haven’t stopped.

2. Have you written in any other genre?

Yes, I have recently ventured into Science Fiction, Young Adult and even had a story published in a collection of children’s Christmas tales. I also write a lot of poetry – too much perhaps, and my first ever book published was a limited edition release called ‘Journey: The Search for Something’ way back in 1996.

3. What makes you uncomfortable?

Bad reviews! Seriously though, I am not a fan of needles – absolutely hate getting jabbed, especially at the dentist when they use those syringes and stick them in the roof of your mouth etc. Bullies also make me uncomfortable and I quite often write about them. Usually really bad things happen to them in my books.

4. Does your family read your work?

I deliberately don’t encourage them to read my (horror) books for obvious reasons. Although some of my newer work like the kid’s stories and science fiction I don’t mind as much. I’ve found it’s very true the old adage that the worst critics are family and friends – I don’t know why the hell it is but I can count the friends and family (you know who you are) who have bothered reading my books on one hand! I used to actively seek feedback on my writing from friends and family in the early days, but gave up when I realized any critique from such quarters was largely pointless as it was either biased or I could tell they hadn’t actually read the work in question. Sort of related to the question . . . I am working on a small kids book with my seven-year-old daughter who is a keen writer herself. She has written about ten pages so far of a story about zombies (don’t know where she gets that from!) and it’s really good. Obviously I’m biased (see above) but it really is good and I’m looking forward to publishing it for her when it’s finished.

5. Does your writing make you uneasy?

Most of the time, no. However, it really depends on the subject matter though and I must admit to getting a bit nervous about some of my research subjects for stories. Not so much in the subject material but in what other people or readers will think of the finished stories. I am a bit paranoid about the NSA and their monitoring of certain taboo subjects that are common to the grist of the horror mill. Subjects like ‘terror’, murder and serial killers, for example, are common research subjects for horror authors and ‘red-flag’ search strings that are actively monitored by the powers that be. I used to feel uneasy when writing about topics (such as described above) but I think that I have largely become desensitized to the emotional effects of dealing with this material on a daily basis. Writing ‘Blood Related, my novel about a family of serial-killers, definitely made me pretty strung-out and slightly disturbed due to having to project the main character’s stream of consciousness on to the page via a first person narrative. Five years of my free-time went into this book and I researched just about every case of serial murder that I could find which definitely impacted on my psyche but paid off in the final presentation of the story. Suffice to say, I now have an encyclopedic knowledge of these weirdos whether I like it or not!

6. Who would you say you write like?

I write like me of course! My writing style or ‘voice’ is a collage of influence and styles – everything from the way I learned to write at school, the accent of my written voice (a combination of UK and US spelling and theory), the authors I have read over and over again, and the evolution of my own style and development as a writer. I don’t try to write like anyone but I do try to write like someone who knows what they’re doing (hopefully). Over the past five years I have been intentionally writing in the (north) American vernacular and it was a decision that I worried about for a while but it largely came down to the way certain words were spelled and styled and now it is like second nature to me. My schooling was based on a U.K. education system and we were taught to spell and write according to the commonwealth rules and style-guides of the day.

7. Who are your favourite authors?

I have many favorite authors and it will be no surprise that writers like Stephen King, James Herbert, Robert Bloch, Robert McCammon, Clive Barker, Edgar Allan Poe and Ramsey Campbell are at the top of the list. Over and above horror the authors I love to read again and again are Sherwood Anderson, Roald Dahl, James Ellroy, Colin Wilson, Charles Bukowski, Ray Bradbury, Peter Carey, Dostoyevsky and Thomas Harris. For a full rundown on my favorite books and authors, check out my list here: http://www.williamcookwriter.com/2013/08/favorite-books-list.html

8. Who influences you as a writer?

I find that I’m not really influenced by people directly but that I am more influenced by the things that people create. Art influences me greatly in my writing, film and music particularly, but graphic art and, obviously, written works conjure up emotion and IDEAS that definitely inform my own work. Probably the biggest influences on me have been Stephen King and Ray Bradbury. King for his amazing and prolific output and superb writing style and advice (‘On Writing’ really changed the way I approached my writing), Bradbury for his simplicity and story-telling ability that encourages original and creative thought (his stories influenced my dreams for a long time) – a very inspirational pair. Ultimately though, without being too modest, I am my biggest influence. It is up to me to drive myself forward and to push hard with my writing. The outside world is full of influence and affectation, but at the end of the day, it is my will-power and my mind that allows me to sift through all the detritus and glean the remaining gems and pearls of wisdom and apply it to my own style and philosophy. One of the works I studied at University was Harold Bloom’s ‘The Anxiety of Influence’ and it really struck home with me. The central tenet being that writers (specifically poets in Bloom’s discourse, but equally applicable to writers in general in my opinion) are inspired by writers that have come before them and that this somewhat inescapable influence inspires a sense of anxiety in authors attempting to forge new and original works. I believe it is true to a large extent and I work hard to try and create work that is as free from the influence of other authors’ styles and subject matter as much as possible. However, when you write genre fiction, this is a nearly impossible task. No writer creates in a vacuum and for every style we have a representative genre (or sub-genre) and a group of influential writers and works at the helm of such literary movements, regarded as exemplars and pinnacles by which up-and-coming authors should somehow emulate to attain the same success. Unless an author doesn’t read, influence is unavoidable but, in my view, not necessarily a bad thing.

9. Do you remember what your first horror book was that you read?

The Monster’s Room (or Pete’s Angel) by Hope Campbell introduced me to Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolfman when I was about seven years old. Loved it! The first real horror book I read was probably James Herbert’s The Rats at about eleven years old, followed closely by Shaun Hutson’s Spawn, Stephen King’s Carrie and Night Shift, and Robert McCammon’s Mystery Walk. Suffice to say by the age of twelve I was hooked on horror in any shape or form.

10. How old were you?

See above. I used to watch Hammer House of Horror on Sunday nights with my Mum when I was eleven/twelve years old. Still cannot work out why mum used to let me watch those shows but wouldn’t let me listen to KISS because she thought they were ‘Satanic’! Go figure!

11. Is there any subject you will not touch as an author?

Graphic descriptions of pedophilia are something I have no interest in portraying in my work. I have written stories about these creeps before but I feel it is unnecessary to portray the acts for any reason. Implication is far more subtle and effective than graphic description. I write horror that attempts to confront readers with their own fears, not make them sick in the process.

12. What was the best advice you were given as a writer?

“If you want to be a writer, just write.” Pretty simple really, but a no-brainer (obviously). The best advice about writing I have read/received is Stephen King’s excellent memoir/writing guide – ‘On Writing.’ It is a wonderfully inspiring book for a budding writer, and more so for the writer of dark fiction. Highly recommended.

13. If you had to start all over again, what would you do different?

I would begin writing as soon as possible, at any age. Self-doubt is one of the biggest killers to a writer’s self-confidence and career. In retrospect, I see that I could have had established myself as an author a lot earlier than I have if I had just given a go instead of doubting my ability and listening to naysayers who were mostly inexperienced or wannabe writers themselves. I would probably not restrict myself to genre fiction as I have up until now. I think I would have made more of an attempt to develop my story-writing skills in Science Fiction and Children’s literature. Oh well, tomorrow’s only a day away – still time to alter direction.

14. How many books do you read a year?

Between twenty-forty books now that I have a Kindle. Before I started reading eBooks I’d probably only read ten books a year while I was writing. Before I started writing seriously I used to read about forty novels/books a year at least.

15. Do you write every day?

In one form or another. I do a lot of blog posts and marketing which cuts into my writing time but I try and write at least 1,000 words a day. Life is very busy as I look after two primary school age kids when they’re no tat school and I have a couple of casual jobs that bring in a little bit of cash. Luckily I have a very supportive wife who earns a good salary and who encourages me with my work from home. Without her support, life would be very tough as a writer.