| Feeding sea urchins and creating comic strips to impress girls are just two of the feats horror author, Scott Nicholson, mastered on the literary quest for fame. Nicholson says he dabbled in poetry, weird fiction and humor during high school and college, but didn’t get into serious writing until eight years ago.
“While I always liked scary stuff, I was as surprised as anyone when I turned out to be a horror writer since my interests are so varied.” By genetics, and by choice, Nicholson is Appalachian and takes most of his inspiration from his Blue Ridge home in North Carolina. Using the folk-tale model, Nicholson has a deep well of characters to pull from and considers the mountain setting to be one of his characters, as well. “I’ve drawn on my background as a trailer-park child and worked a variety of jobs.” The Red Church, The Manor and The Harvest are three of Nicholson’s more widely distributed books. When asked which of his works he was most inspired to write, Nicholson stated The Harvest, about an alien menace landing in western North Carolina and infecting natives. “The Harvest was written in three months and I really let it fly. Some of the scenes are a little over the top, but I cut out a lot of the more needless stuff, such as an encounter between an infected moon shiner and a sow. It was really fun and easy to write because, of course, I never expected to sell it.” Whether or not you enjoy scenes and characters reminiscent of Dickey’s Deliverance, Nicholson stories pack a character-driven punch. While his books fly off the shelves in their now mass-distribution market, reviewers sometimes scold Nicholson for using Southern clichés. “The funny thing is, those characters weren’t stereotypes, those were my relatives.” Nicholson feels horror could be difficult to market largely due to the writers not being gifted or skilled enough yet; he includes himself in that group. However, Nicholson states that with an agent and editor who believe in what he is doing, he has been able to keep up his end and make it in the field. “A well-told tale will find its home, no matter how it’s eventually marketed. Right now, New York is open to horror, but it can’t be awful and there seems to be little patience for horror that does nothing but gross out the reader.” Nicholson enjoys reading and while his list changes frequently, some of his favorite reads come from William Goldman, Ira Levin, James Lee Burke and Joe Lansdale. His stock favorites include Steinbeck and Twain. Nicholson has been called ‘the love child of Sharyn McCrumb and Stephen King’. If you are looking for an old fashioned, down-home scare, pick up Scott Nicholson on line or at your favorite bookstore. Nicholson’s The Home, featuring a telepathic manic-depressive in a haunted group-home, will debut in August 2005. You can also read him in Cemetery Dance, Dark Fluidity, Third Alternative, Crimewave and the anthologies Poe’s Lighthouse and Brimstone Turnpike. |
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| Scott Nicholson Interview |