This month I'll be sharing a series of interviews with female horror creators. The first is with D J Doyle, author of the Red series.
Welcome, D J Doyle. My first question is, why do you write horror?
I grew up watching horror from The Twilight Zone to the old Hammer Horror movies. When I started to read horror, a Stephen King collection, I knew then I loved reading it too. I’ve been reading horrors and thrillers ever since, and love it. When my imagination started developing stories in my head (totally out of my control), I knew I had to write them down.
What’s the favourite comment you’ve received in a review?
This is from a two-star review, I love it -
The reader who enjoys this must be truly twisted individual...so if you are, this will be a five-star experience for you. If you aren't - and this is high praise to a horror author - do not touch this book. No. Walk away and buy something soft. Like everything else from this amazing author that is not part of the RED series.
And
This is extreme horror at its finest. It was a quick throat punch with a kick to the nuts finale. Violent and gory with a truly twisted psychopath at the helm, Red is a must-read.
Would you be a villain, victim or hero in a horror story?
I would want to be the villain. With my sick sense of humour, no other part would suit me. A character like Cersei Lannister is ideal, except the brotherly love part.
Who is your favourite female villain?
My answer is from the book Carrie. We have many female characters which would be considered ‘the villain’ - Carrie, her mother, and the girls who bullied her. They are all in a beautiful grey area. You feel for Carrie and try to understand her actions because of her experiences (I did this in Red, too). Was the mother just trying to protect her daughter or a minister of religious evil? The girls were not good, they were not bad. They were...human. We’ve always known girls like this growing up. They’re assholes, but do they deserve to die. This is why I love Carrie.
What’s your least favourite horror trope?
‘Let’s split up’ - why would you do that????
Tell us briefly about your work in progress.
I’m working on two stories at the moment. One is an extreme horror about a group of captives being experimented on. It’s written in 1st POV from the perspective of one of the victims. The other is the third in my Celtic Curse tales, which is taking way longer than I wanted it to. This one is about the Puca, with my own spin on the ancient Irish shapeshifter. A group of backpackers stumble on the beast and pay the price.
Share the opening of one of the stories you’ve had published.
This is an excerpt from the first chapter in The Celtic Curse: Newgrange.
The stalk selected by the slave bounced high in the middle and landed on the dead tufts of barley. The others sighed with relief as they would live for now. The slave, Aongus, watched his stalk and life flutter by on the wind, prancing to the tune of mortality. He heard footsteps as one of the elderly Druids squelched through the mud and stood directly behind him. The chill in the air did not stop the sweat rolling from his hairline to his brows, and his breathing quickened. A large stone hovered above his head, ready to come lumbering down as soon as the prayer finished. To move now was his only chance of survival.
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