Up until a hundred years ago, western horror stories have all been ghost stories, until Edgar Allen Poe came along. In some ways he re-invented western horror stories, with hearts buried under floors, guys walled into basement wine cellars, people buried alive. Now horror can be about almost anything. Stephen King and Richard Matheson come from the same tradition as the Japanese in a way, because they mix horror with the ordinary. Instead of a haunted castle, the monster can be in a supermarket aisle. The vampires can be sleeping in your own garage. The gremlin is tearing up the engine of the airplane you're sitting in. Those are like American Kwaidanshu when you think of it.
Chinese horror movies I think will be the next thing. Chinese film makers are shameless, audacious and nuts. No concepts. There's even a Kung Fu zombie movie with undead karate masters. You name it, its out there.
Did you have to do a lot of research to write your ghost story?
Well, Mire Uno was the first one to straighten me out. After that I knew I had to do my homework. I bought a book called The Take of Heike translated by Helen McCollough. This is a Japanese classic hundreds of years old, and gives the background story for the civil war between the Taira and Minomoto clans and the fall of the Taira at the samurai battle of Dan No Ura. There’s a lot of poetry in that book. Some of the poetry is in my novella, and there is a lot of poetry I wrote myself. The waka poem in the story that begins “I myself I know must sleep as a traveler...” was actually written by the real Lady Dainagon No Suke who was a historical person.
What are you doing this Halloween?
Whatever I can afford, which isn’t much. It would nice if someone invited me to a Halloween party.
Do you have any other horror books in the works?
I recently wrote a story called "How Paradise Comes to the Blind" which would qualify for a horror story. I would really, really love to put together a story collection of international erotic ghost stories from all different cultures. All countries and cultures have traditional ghost stories. But I haven’t been able to find another Mire Uno to get me started. She was one of a kind. Maybe somebody reading this would like to get together on it if they have the expertise.
Who are your favorite horror authors these days?
I like Stephen King of course. I like his older stuff better than his new stuff. I still read the old school guys. I like Anne Rice’s early vampire novels. Interview With The Vampire is definitely still the best vampire novel ever written. Among horror writers, I like Poppy Brite. Neil Gaiman has some really good story collections. It’s rare these days to find someone who actually scares me though. Usually if you can find a good story that keeps you reading to the end you’re doing good.
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