In Part II of my interview with Michaelanne McGorman, we delve into her childhood, examine the seeds that sprouted a truly unholy antagonist, and speculate on whether or not the characters in The Names will be featured in future stories.
Did you miss Part I? Catch up here: Gothic Horror Revival Part I: Author Michaelanne McGorman
ORDER NOW ON AMAZON: The Names: An Epic Modern Gothic Horror by Michaelanne McGorman
Horrorlust: This is a dense book, but a quick read — can you describe your writing process and how you planned such an intricate plot?
Michaelanne McGorman: Good old fashioned storytelling I guess. I was always very shy and introverted my whole life but I liked hearing my grandparents and older adults tell stories from when they were young and where they lived (especially if they were ghost stories} and I think I always wanted to have these engaging well-crafted stories to tell. As a child I loved the show “Reading Rainbow”. It really brought books to life through storytelling so much so that I still can recall some of those stories.
My first venture into verbal storytelling was at a slumber party that I was surprised I got invited to. We were all 11 year olds and wanted to do something spooky so we tried playing “Light as a feather-Stiff as a board.” We never got lift-off so we quit but the desire for a good scare was still present.
The basement where the party was had a lit fireplace and the flame was eerily dancing inside of it, throwing shadows around the room. I told the girls to turn off all the lights. I placed an old rocking chair near the fireplace so that as I sat in it the flames would backlight me but keep my face in shadow. I made my hair a mess, hunched my back, and made my hands appear as gnarled talons then started telling twisted tells off the top of my head in a low growling witch’s voice. If any of the girls interrupted I would screech threats at them which would scare them into silence. I told them I was the witch, Vivian, and that I was hundreds of years old and that I could call down the moon from the sky and send beasts and ghouls to attack people. Everybody was scared. I was scaring myself as well. The following Monday at school, it was all the girls from the party wanted to talk about, “The witch, she was so real and scary.” For a shy kid who never commanded much attention, I felt pretty accomplished.
I suppose it’s rather easy to entertain a group of 11 year olds who want to be scared and you have the right props, but it’s pretty scary when you’re an adult and tasked with entertaining and engaging with groups of 25 to 30 strangers of all different ages and from different parts of the country or even the world. That is what I did on the daily as a tour guide.
I didn’t take to it easily either. I was shy, introverted, failed my first public speaking class and barley passed the retake. But when you love something you’ll break through whatever fear is holding you back.
I love history and I love story telling so I combined those two things but as a tour guide you have to keep a group of 25 to 30 people engaged and entertained for about an hour- so you can’t just yammer on about what you find interesting. You have to make what you find interesting, interesting to everyone else so that they’re not bored with your story and you’re not bored in telling it.
I did have to write my own tour then commit it to memory, everything was my own words and presentation and it truly taught me how to be a better writer. The style of storytelling I used as a tour guide is much like the style I used for the book: engage, engage, engage, breathe, walk, walk, walk, breathe, engage, engage, engage, never let the listener or reader get bored.
Some of my tours went over an hour because everyone involved was having such a good time- why stop? I guess the book is dense, or “epic” because I was so entertained and enthralled in writing it. I certainly was never bored. I felt quite sad approaching the end.
I know all that describes more of a style than a process. I don’t think I really have a process. I just have stories and ideas. I guess I can compare it to doing artwork. If I’m commissioned to do a piece or an illustration, there is a clear plot- an expected end. If I am creating art for no other purpose but to create, there’s not a clear plan- I just see what develops and the end will be the end. I guess my writing process is more like non-commissioned artwork. I felt the story was always within me and I simply let it out, like the improvised character I created and the stories she told at that silly slumber party.
Horrorlust: The antagonist is truly a vile character and also something of an enigma — how did you craft such an inhumane and cruel personality?
Michaelanne McGorman: I’d love to say that it’s because I’ve never met anyone like that, but the opposite is true.
I experienced some shocking cruelty in my life, like so many others have. Mostly verbal abuse but sometimes physical and psychological.
When I was four or five years old the little boy who lived on the corner of my block tried to drown me by forcing my head underwater into a small pool, he thought it was funny.
When I was a bit older than that I met a little girl who I thought was friendly yet she quickly proved she wasn’t when we were at the library.
I was very interested in books and she was interested in sneaking up on me and stabbing me as many times as she could with one of those very thick thumb tacks she pulled from a corkboard.
Every time I tried to get away from her she would stalk me. She would hide behind the bookcases then jump out and begin repeatedly stabbing me again, as she did so she kept laughing and laughing like it was the most fun she ever had. I was covered in puncture wounds but the psychological trauma may have been worse.
In elementary school I had an ongoing problem of being punished for things I never did. The paddle was still in use at my school so punishment meant having your pants pulled down in front of your class and being paddled in your underwear.
After that, I was thankful to receive detentions instead. Still, I couldn’t understand why I kept getting punished. I was a quiet kid who kept to myself.
I found out later that after almost every recess these two little girls would tell my teacher that I did or said very naughty things at the playground and my teacher believed them without confronting me. I didn’t even know these little girls. They were younger than me and not in my class so I had no interaction with them yet they were always pointing and laughing at me- that’s how I figured it out. And again, they did it solely because they thought it was a good laugh.
No wonder why “Carrie” was and is my favorite Stephen King movie.
I did know kind children and adults as well, but too many adults in my life were not any less cruel than those children. Some of them were more so only they had different methods. You expect adults to behave better yet all those scary true stories about kidnappers, killers, and predators, well, those monstrous perpetrators were all adults.
Outside of potential psychopathic predators, the cruelest, most inhuman, and puzzling characters I have ever encountered have all been clinical narcissists. It’s the only personality disorder that’s hellbent on erasing everyone else’s personality. Everyone is a mere device to them and nothing more- unfortunately I grew up with a parent with that diagnosis which is not a happy subject to go on about- so I won’t. All I can say is, you cannot satiate a narcissist nor can you escape one unscathed.
Horrorlust: Delivering scares is an art form unto itself — what’s your formula for building suspense and creating the creep factor essential to a story of this nature?
Michaelanne McGorman: Something as subtle as the wind or a person’s appearance as they lie asleep and motionless can be eerie and foreboding. Pacing and placing plays a role in making the subtle suspenseful. As a visual artist I could see the story unfolding as if watching a scary film. I would visualize what should happen next then write it. The story is paced more like a film than a book. I think that’s why it’s such a fast read.
Of course there’s more intimacy in a book than a film, not all suspense comes from fear of the antagonists or literary jump scares. The visual landscape is vital. Equally vital is that all the characters have to have enough depth that the reader becomes invested in them so that the character’s emotional state or what they may say or do next is also suspenseful even if it’s only a quiet exchange between two protagonists. There is a lot of affectionate rapport between certain characters in this story so there’s always an underlying fear that that rapport can be damaged or severed.
The story deals with some delicate subject matters making it all the more intimate. The themes of fragility and fortitude, of faith and despair are woven throughout. There are quite a few heart-rending or tear-jerking moments that may come as a surprise to the reader. Yet- no good gothic tale is complete without tragedy and tears- that’s often how they begin.
Horrorlust: The story features a number of vivid dream sequences — how did you set these scenes apart from the rest of your story?
Michaelanne McGorman: The dream sequences were one of my favorite parts of the story to write. The dreams mix reality and unreality in a very suspenseful way so that the dreamer {and the reader} is left guessing the exact purpose of what they are being shown- is this vision true or false or is this vision that which will become true? Is the dream/nightmare a story from the past that explains the present or is it a warning about the future?
The dreams don’t occur as in old soap operas where they fool you into thinking that a character is dead until the next episode where it’s revealed that the last episode was a dream. No- the narrator announces the dream in words such as “that night I dreamt” so that the reader can get on board and experience the mystery of what is contained in the vision or nightmare. I like to keep the reader in suspense and also in the role of detective uncovering clues and deciding if those clues are useful in some way.
Removing the parameters of reality through the use of dreams allows for a lot of creative storytelling and produces those vivid images. It also allows for a fast flow out of one scene then into a new scene which is completely different.
The dream sequences were inspired by my own dreams. I’ve always had very vivid and lucid dreams where I felt there was a message. Something I was supposed learn from the experience- some revealing insight. Parts of the story had come to me in my dreams so, there’s that.
Horrorlust: You’ve created quite a sprawling universe in The Names — can readers expect future installments featuring these same characters?
Michaelanne McGorman: I did fall in love with the characters that’s why it was rather sad to end the story. I felt like I was saying goodbye to them. At this stage the book is still quite new and I have not received much feedback on it. Unfortunately when you self-publish you don’t get anywhere near the publicity or advertising as you would with a renowned publishing company.
I have ideas for more mystery and thrills with the characters I’ve created however, I would like to hear from readers- what they think before I parkour onto the next haunting adventure. So far, I’m happy to say that, as a fan of horror and mysteries, I have written the haunting gothic tale that I have always longed to read. Yet, unlike my six books of sappy gothic poetry, I published it in hopes that others would enjoy reading it as well- it is unusually touching for a horror novel.
ORDER NOW ON AMAZON: The Names: An Epic Modern Gothic Horror by Michaelanne McGorman
