I think the picture above is as good an explanation as any as to why I write horror fiction. Who would not be thrilled by a scene such as this? A full moon peeping through a dark cloud base at night with a church shooting up into the sky. It has dark and sinister connotations written all over it.

From a child I have been enthralled by the idea of meeting a ghost and conversing with this spirit. It would be an invigorating conversation I have no doubt. I would especially love to come across a shroud from a long-gone age, especially the Victorian times. I have always held a strong affinity for this historical era and would be interested to learn from someone who had lived in this epoch of history.

I find inspiration in my writings from the great horror films, especially the old black and white classics. Horror films these days might have the benefit of technology with all that this brings but there is truly nothing so special as the power of suggestion. This is where the old films steal a march on their modern day equivalents. Besides, there are no actors around today who can quite compare to the sinister intent of a Bela Lugosi or Boris Karloff. They to my mind are legends of the horror cinema if I may put it that way. Then in the sixties and seventies we had the great British actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee who took over the baton passed to them by Lugosi and Karloff and did it with style and sophistication. Cushing and Lee were always worth a watch no matter the film they were in. And I can’t possibly forget another of my favourites performers in horror films: Vincent Price. His voice was of the sort to send shivers down anyone’s spine. He was class through and through.

I touch on my horror influences in another part of this site: those writers who have inspired me. But there are a few other names not on that list which I would like to add here if I may. H.P. Lovecraft was a tremendously atmospheric writer. Stephen King has said Lovecraft was not the greatest dialogue writer of all time which is a fair point, but the eerie mood he created in his stories was something to behold and really drew me in to each tale I read from his hand. A modern day author who I like a lot is Dean Koontz. I have not read a lot of his work but all of his novels I have read have been spellbinding and have kept me on the edge of my seat. He is a quality name of horror fiction and his books are good to go to in order to see how it is done.

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