Interviews & Guest Posts

26 Oct 2011 No Comments

Jason Dark and Gothic Horror with Author Guido Henkel

Today, we have a special guest at Fictitious Musings, Guido Henkel, author and creator of Jason Dark: Ghost Hunter. He’s here to answer a few questions and shed some light on Jason Dark while giving us some insight into the world of Gothic horror.

Pull up a chair and get gothic with us.

Welcome to Fictitious Musings, Guido.

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What inspired the creation of Jason Dark and Siu Lin?

 I think a number of factors influenced me. First and foremost, perhaps, Sherlock Holmes, along with the German dime novel series “John Sinclair.”

I loved the idea to combine detective mysteries with a supernatural twist. It’s not all out horror and it’s not a traditional detective story either. This genre mix allows me to go anywhere I want with my adventures. If I want to write something more detective-y, I can do that, like I did with “Dead by Dawn.” If I want something that is a little more bloody, I can do that too, like “Dr. Prometheus.” If I feel like going all-bets-are-off supernatural, I can do that, too, like “Terrorlord” did.

Once I had my detective figure, I knew he’d need a sidekick. Every good detective has a sidekick – even Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. I didn’t want to get straight into the Holmes/Watson dichotomy, though, because I wasn’t sure how readers would react to it. I wanted something different, and that’s where my wife came in.

She’s always the voice of reason in my life. What I don’t see, she points out for me. What I forget, she will remind me of, and most of all, she’s always there to cover my back. That’s how Siu Lin was born. She is, in essence, my wife — down to the physical appearance.

 With paranormal being such a big hit, why choose Gothic horror as your niche? Why not lean towards the contemporary style of horror?

 I’ve always been a huge fan of Gothic horror. I am a sucker for the classic Universal monster movies, the films of Boris Karloff, the Hammer Horror films of the 50s and 60s, Roger Corman’s Poe-adaptations. All of these were extremely formative for me and defined how I perceive horror. When I had decided to write a book, I knew immediately that it had to be a gothic horror story, taking place in Victorian England, because the setting and atmosphere immediately fires up my imagination. I live and breathe that stuff.

Contemporary horror somehow doesn’t have the same kind of appeal to me, mostly because it lacks the dense atmosphere of Gothic settings. I love horror to be creepy — an emotion that is created by our imagination in response to atmosphere. Contemporary horror has a tendency to work more on a shock-level, which I’ m not all that interested in.

Of all the formats available in today’s market, why the classic dime novel format?

I loved to read dime novels when I grew up in Germany, where there used to be a vibrant dime novel culture up until the 80s. I’ve been writing non-linear fiction for computer games for many years, and one day I decided, I would finally like to give linear fiction a try. A story that is defined by the author and not by the player’s countless — and often unpredictable — actions.

At the same time, I was intimidated by the scope of a full-length novel. I feared I would never be able to finish it, so I looked for a format that would be more suitable, and the idea of dime novels popped into my head. That was a length I felt very comfortable with. I felt it was something I could complete, and within a reasonable timeframe, too. So I gave it a shot and had a blast. So much so, that I decided to keep going.

Is there anything in the works outside of the Jason Dark series?

I recently released a middle-grade children’s chapter book under the pen name Ben Oliver. The book is called “Kitt Pirate: Snaggletooth’s Treasure” and was another one of my experiments. I simply wanted to see if I was able to write a children’s adventure story.

Currently I am writing a thriller — my first full-length novel, actually — which should see its first draft completed in a few weeks. Once I am done with that I’ll have to decide what to do next. I have a few ideas floating in my head, though I really have not made up my mind whether I should write the fantasy novel or the zombie novel I have in mind. I might possibly even write another Jason Dark mystery first.

I’ve also, kind of, discovered my love for writing short stories, and I may write a few more of those. As you may know, I’ve had a serialized short-story published in Fangoria magazine this year, as well as another story in “The Spirit of Poe,” a charitable anthology filled with Poe-inspired stories and poems.

I noticed a spark between Siu Lin and Jason Dark. Is there a relationship forming?

I am not telling.

Then again, I guess that kind of answers the question. Let’s just say, they get to like each other very much, yes, though I have not worked out any details regarding any true romantic relationship. It’s been on my mind, though, and I want to play up that angle, if only to create stronger emotional ties between the two characters which the bad guys can exploit.

Jason Dark encounters a number of entities in this series. Can you give us a clue as to what Jason will face in future installments?

I don’t really plan the series ahead much. I have a long list of story ideas that I have in mind, including many ideas about villains. But I usually fly by the seat of my pants. Once I finish a story, I will usually sit down with my list of ideas and see which one intrigues me the most at that given moment. That is usually the one I will write next.

With that in mind, the next Jason Dark story will be “Fu Man Chu’s Vampire,” a story surrounding Asian mysticism, as evil Dr. Fu Man Chu unleashes Chinese-style vampires on Jason Dark and Siu Lin. I foreshadowed this in “Curse of Kali” already to quite some length, but the story will take a different twist than most readers will probably expect.

I also have more ghosts and demons on the plate, along with a story surrounding a dragon, a trip straight to Hell, and many others.

In addition, I also want to bring back some of the villains from previous adventures, as I’ve done already with Astaroth, the demon, and Dr. Prometheus. I like the concept of recurring characters — even the bad guys —, as they help to create a sense of continuity in a series and give me the chance to explore these characters in a little more detail, make them badder and meaner every single time.

Which Jason Dark adventure is your favorite? Why?

I think “Terrorlord” is my favorite, though it is really hard for me to pick one. As I go through the list and look at the books, each one holds a special place in my heart, and I think each one is very exciting and deserves to be read.

For me, “Terrorlord” stands out, though, because it is a departure from the others in that it is much darker in tone and because the balance of characters shifts quite dramatically during the story. As you know, Siu Lin has to live up to her potential in that story in particular.

When I wrote “Terrorlord,” I deliberately wanted to break away from some of the elements I’ve used in the previous mysteries. It was a deliberate attempt to make sure the series doesn’t become too formulaic, and as a result repetitive or predictable. Therefore, “Terrorlord” goes down a different, darker, route and upends some of the notions I had established in the other stories.

How much research is involved in the creation of each installment?

It depends somewhat on the story itself, and how much the period and the setting plays the part of a character. When I first started writing “Demon’s Night,” I spent three weeks or so doing nothing but researching Victorian London. It helped me build a library of references that I would then peruse in subsequent stories, cutting down on my research time quite a bit.

Since I try to always mingle real history with my fiction, naturally, I have to dig into research for every single story. In “Dead by Dawn” for example, the calendar dates of my story coincided with the opening of the London Natural History Museum, which was a really big event at the time. So I made sure that part of my story revolved around that opening. It adds a lot of flair and character to period writing, in my opinion.

The same is true for the city layout. I will always check historic maps and period accounts to make sure things fit together. In 1881 it was simply not possible to cover large distances in short periods of time, and particularly not within the inner city. So I always try to keep that in mind and select locations based on how accessible they would be for the characters at any given time.

The same kind of research goes into the choice of characters. As you may have noticed, I make frequent use of real life people as well as literary characters of the Victorian era. I usually do a good amount of research into the lives of these people to make sure I get a feel for who they were and whether it would at all make sense to make them appear within the context of my story. Bram Stoker is a perfect example for this, the way I incorporated him in “The Blood Witch,” alongside with actor Henry Irving, whom he represented at the time.

To make a long story short, I prepare quite a bit before I start writing each story, as I try to find the right blend of history, the right cast of supporting characters, and the right locations that satisfy me.

The romance portion of the Gothic horror theme is minimal. Have you considered making it a more prominent aspect of the series?

Romance is a tricky thing for me to pinpoint, especially since each adventure is, by nature, action-packed from the first to the last page. The format I chose to tell these stories leaves little room for a lot of the inter-character development that would be necessary to develop deep romances. However, I do have a story in mind that is very “seductive” and another one where romance might become a key plot point. So, yes, I may let romance flow into the series at some point, if I feel it helps the story as a whole.

The covers of the Jason Dark series seem to have a pulp magazine appearance. Was this an idea you had from the beginning or was it an afterthought?

Yes, from the moment I conceptualized the series, the pulp look and feel has been an integral part — down to the two-column layout in the print editions. I knew exactly what style of covers I wanted and spent a lot of time to find an artist who could provide this look for me.

Interestingly, however, it turns out that people are not responding to the covers as much as I had hoped. As a result I have changed the eBook covers slightly, trying to reduce the pulp look somewhat. In some cases, like “Demon’s Night,” I have even abandoned the original cover altogether for the eBook, to create a more modern look.

If you were allowed only one Tweet to promote your work, what would it be?

That is a tough one. How about this?

Supernatural mysteries in Victorian England that will grab you and not let go! Your encounter with the extraordinary awaits!

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Thanks for stopping by, Guido. We had a lot of fun learning more about Jason Dark and Gothic horror.

by Jennifer in Interviews & Guest Posts Tags: Guido Henkel