The third book in the hilarious and horrifying national bestselling anthology series from the Horror Writers Association—a frightfest of sidesplitting stories from such New York Times bestselling authors as Jim Butcher, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Heather Graham, L.A. Banks, Kelley Armstrong, and many more!
Horror fiction explores the dark side of human nature, often pushing the limits of violence, graphic gore, and extreme emotions. Blood Lite III: Aftertaste puts the fun back into dark fiction, featuring a wide range of humorous and highly entertaining horror-filled tales.
After my interview with Kevin J. Anderson, the Blood Lite editor, I tapped a bunch of the authors to talk about why humor is so important in the horror genre, and what inspired their horrifically hilarious tales. This is part three of four.
Disembowelment—how is that funny?
- Lisa Morton: Oh, easy: It’s only three syllables removed from “bowel movement”.
- JG Faherty: It depends how it’s done, just like anything else. Write it or film it with a sense of humor, and it’s hilarious. A perfect example is the scene in Machete where Machete rappels out a window and down the hospital wall, using a victim’s intestines as a rope. Ask Quentin Tarantino or the folks from Monty Python what’s funny about disembowelment and they’ll probably say, ‘What isn’t?’ Ask your local pastor (or veteran) and they’ll probably tell you you’re a sick bastard.
- Mike Baron: It’s funny when you slip in the guts and do a pratfall.
- Jeff Ryan: The word itself is funny, like “defenestrate” or “keelhaul.”
- John Alfred Taylor: It’s not, but I can think of a movie short that might make it funny. Perhaps best animated.
- Adrian Ludens: Disembowelment is NOT funny, with one exception. It all hinges on the lower intestines. I envision a victim whose pride or sense of decorum compels them to stagger around, unsuccessfully trying to hold their lower intestines in to no avail. Instead they unspool or unravel like film in an old Hollywood camera.
- Chris Abbey: I actually overheard someone say, “Did you hear they’ve figured out a way to make Damascus Steel without the blood of slaves?” Doesn’t get any funnier than that.
- Christopher Golden: It’s not. Though I’m confident Jeff Strand could make it funny.
- Jeff Strand: It’s not. Why would you even suggest otherwise? What are you, some kind of disembowelment-enjoying sicko? For God’s sake, this is people’s intestines being yanked out that we’re talking about! Here, point your tummy this way and we’ll see how much you like it, you twisted bastard.
- Kelley Armstrong: There is something surreally absurd about intestines tumbling out, and the writer can play with that--and the readers can acknowledge--particularly if the victim is someone the reader doesn't care about...or is happy to see disemboweled.
Part 4 coming next week!
Related Articles
- Kevin J. Anderson interview
BLOOD LITE: AFTERTASTE AUTHORS
 | Lisa Morton has written six movies, four books of non-fiction, two novellas, one novel, and somewhere around fifty short stories. She’s a three-time Stoker Award winner, a recipient of the Black Quill Award, and her cats think she’s awesome. She lives online at www.lisamorton.com. | ||
 | JG Faherty is an Active Member in the Horror Writers Association. His first novel, CARNIVAL OF FEAR, was published in 2010. His second book, GHOSTS OF CORONADO BAY, was released in 2011, and his third will be coming out in late 2011 as well. His other credits include Cemetery Dance, Shroud Magazine, and several major anthologies, among them Appalachian Winter Hauntings, Legends of the Mountain State 3 & 4, Bound for Evil, Dark Territories, Horror Library IV, and the upcoming Beast Within 2 and Best New Zombie Tales 3. A freelance writer with over 15 years of experience, his varied background includes working as a laboratory manager, accident scene photographer, zoo keeper, research scientist, and resume writer. When it comes to humor, he enjoys teaching bad words to small children, watching Married with Children, wearing ugly Hawaiian shirts, and trading insults with his friends. | ||
 | Mike Baron broke into comics with Nexus, his groundbreaking science fiction title co-created with illustrator Steve Rude. He has written for Creem, The Boston Globe, Isthmus, AARP Magazine, Oui, Madison, Fusion, Poudre Magazine, Argosy and many others. Nexus is currently being published in hardcover by Dark Horse. Baron has won two Eisners and an Inkpot for his work on Nexus, now being published in five languages including French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Baron’s revamp of DC’s The Flash continues to garner great reviews. Marvel recently published two collections of Baron’s Work, The Essential Punisher Vol. II and The Essential Punisher Vol. III. A prolific creator, Baron is at least partly responsible for The Badger, Spyke, Feud, The Hook, and The Architect. The latter is available as a graphic novel from Big Head Press. www.bloodyredbaron.net | ||
| Jeff Ryan is the author of Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America. He first got interested in mixing comedy and horror when a clown murdered his dog. twitter.com/#!/dailymario | supermariobook.com | ||
 | David Sakmyster is an award-winning author and screenwriter whose short stories have appeared in The Writers of the Future Anthology, ChiZine, Horrorworld, Black Static, Talebones, Abyss & Apex and others. THE PHAROS OBJECTIVE and forthcoming THE MONGOL OBJECTIVE are the first two novels in a series about psychic archaeologists. He’s also written the horror novel CRESCENT LAKE, and the historical fiction epic, SILVER AND GOLD. You can step into his mind at www.sakmyster.com. | ||
 | John Alfred Taylor is a retired professor of English in Southwest Pennsylvania, and has been writing science fiction and horror for years. He has been published in GALAXY, GALILEO, GRUE, OCEANS OF THE MIND, and ASIMOV’S, and had stories reprinted in YEAR’S BEST HORROR STORIES. A collection of Taylor’s horror stories, HELL IS MURKY, is available from Ash-Tree Press. | ||
 | Adrian Ludens is a radio personality and program director for a classic rock station in the Black Hills of South Dakota. His fiction has appeared in Morpheus Tales, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and a number of small press horror anthologies. Recent appearances include stories in Made You Flinch 2: Two For Flinching (edited by Bill Tucker, Library of Horror Press) and in Zombie Kong (edited by James Roy Daley, Books of the Dead Press). Adrian first short story collection is available on Amazon. | ||
 | Chris Abbey was created in the 60s during a bad thunderstorm and someone’s bad trip. His hobbies are grave-robbing, sewer-lurking, and macrame. He is considering a job offer from a major magazine, and will consider it further if the offer ever actually happens. The picture is a still from a YouTube video in which he discusses how to tell a joke (true). | ||
 | Christopher Golden is an award-winning, bestselling author of novels for adults and teens, as well as a comic book writer, screenwriter, and editor. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family, and his original novels have been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world. His is not funny. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com | ||
 | Jeff Strand: Stories by Jeff Strand have appeared in all three BLOOD LITE volumes. He’s written a bunch of novels, including stuff like WOLF HUNT and FANGBOY, and he’ll give you a great big hug if you visit his website at www.jeffstrand.com. | ||
 | Kelley Armstrong: Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed. Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series, "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, and Nadia Stafford crime series. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets. www.KelleyArmstrong.com |
1 comment:
Thanks for the great idea and all your hard work to follow through David! I want to know YOUR answers to the questions! Adrian
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