A TASTE OF THE NIGHT LIFE:

AN INTERVIEW WITH RAY GARTON

Ray Garton is the author of the novels: Seductions, Darklings, Live Girls, Crucifax Autumn, Crucifax, Lot Lizards, The New Neighbor, Dark Channel, Biofire, Shackled, The Folks, Sex and Violence in Hollywood, Zombie Love, and the collections, Methods of Madness and Pieces of Hate. His most recent releases are a novel, Scissors, and The Girl in the Basement and Other Stories, a new collection of the author's short fiction. We caught up with Ray to discuss, among other things, the publication of Night Life--the much-anticipated sequel to his acclaimed vampire novel Live Girls.

KPB: In the current market, some readers tend to look down their noses at vampire novels unless (and sometimes even when) the name Rice or Hamilton is on the cover. Why do you think that is, and what is it about vampires that keep you coming back to them?

I think a lot of people are tired of a certain kind of vampire -- the effete, angst-ridden, tragic hero with fangs. Anne Rice really started something with her popular vampire novels, and there have been a lot of other writers to work in that mold. It's the same with vampire detectives. For some of us, it's gotten a to be a bit much. Some of us don't want to feel sorry for our vampires or solve a mystery with them, some of us want to be frightened by them, we want them to be mean and vicious. It's just a difference in sensibilities, I think. But those who complain about them don't make any difference because vampire novels are very popular and probably always will be. There is an erotic allure to the vampire and its mythology that is proving to be very enduring.

KPB: Your fans seem to be unanimous in selecting Live Girls as their favorite Ray Garton novel. What do you think it is about the novel that puts it above your other works at the top of a Garton fan's list?

I honestly don't know. Maybe because it's a vampire novel! While I may not be able to answer your question, it makes me very happy that you're asking it seventeen years after the book was published. Live Girls has really stuck around -- there have been a few different editions, it's been published in a few different languages, and it gets optioned almost once a year for the movies, but nothing ever comes of it. It's certainly one of my favorites, too.

KPB: Rather than having one or two of the characters from Live Girls showing up in the sequel, you've brought back almost all of them. Did you know when you finished Live Girls that you would be exploring that world again?

I never had any intention of going back to that book for a sequel. I'm not too fond of sequels, and I was determined not to do one.

KPB: Given the popularity of the first book, the demand for a sequel must have been obvious. Why then, did you wait twenty years to continue the story?

Well, like I said, I resisted the sequel for a long time. But during that time, I got a lot of requests for a sequel. I would sometimes toy with it in my head, and I came up with lots off different possibilities. Finally, Bill Schafer asked me outright, "Would you like to do a sequel to Live Girls?" I thought about it, and I said yes. I was genuinely interested to know what Davey and Casey and Walter Benedek were up to these days. I figured if that many readers wanted a sequel, there was no reason I shouldn't give it to them. So I wrote Night Life. It's a different kind of book, a little more action-driven than Live Girls was, and it's not set in the same seedy world of peep shows and strip clubs. It takes place in Los Angeles eighteen years after Live Girls.

KPB: Should readers expect a third outing?

Not exactly. There are three new characters in Night Life, though, who might make appearances in other novels.

KPB: There's plenty of sex and gore, and quite often combinations of the two, in your novels and you've been criticized for your graphic depictions of both, despite you being far from the biggest proponent of this kind of fiction. What do you say in response to those who are quick to label your work because of the presence of the aforementioned elements?

If they condemn my books on that alone, then I know they haven't read them. Yes, there's explicit violence and sometimes sex. I honestly believe them to be integral parts of the story. Maybe I'm deluding myself, but there it is. I don't believe violence should be glossed over -- it should be ugly and painful to read. Violence isn't pretty. Sex is a part of life, it's a big part of each of our lives -- why not explore a character's sexuality as much as any other aspect of his or her life? The way people behave in bed often reflects on their characters as much as the way they behave in their social lives or their business lives. I'm not writing for children. If there are adults who aren't comfortable with that stuff, they shouldn't read my books, simple as that. But to condemn them on the basis of sex and violence alone is just silly. I mean, that's like criticizing Captain Kangaroo for being a children's show host. It is, after all, horror, folks -- it's what I do! They don't call it horror for nothing.

KPB: Does that kind of extreme reaction to your work surprise you?

Nothing surprises me anymore.

KPB: Night Life features a typically striking cover by Hugo and Chesley Award-winning artist Bob Eggleton, perhaps best known among horror fans for his work on Brian Lumley's Necroscope series. You've mentioned being dissatisfied with the covers of some of your earlier books. It must be gratifying then to be able to cite terrific artists like Eggleton, Caniglia, Glenn Chadbourne, and others, as artists you've worked with more recently.

I have no business complaining about the luck I've had with covers. I've had wonderful luck with book covers. There's only one cover I truly hate, and that's from Methods of Madness. It's one of the worst covers in the history of publishing, period. And there've been a few covers I've been lukewarm about, but not many. I've been very lucky to have had covers by some of the greatest artists working out there -- J.K. Potter, Bob Eggleton, Caniglia, Glenn Chadbourne, those guys are fantastic at what they do! I'm in love with Eggleton's cover for Night Life. Sometimes I just sit and stare at it, I'm so happy with it.

KPB: Let's go back in time for a moment, to the sale of your first novel Seductions. Aside from the obvious jubilation that comes with that all-important first novel sale, what aspirations did you entertain once that first hurdle had been crossed?

Oh, I went crazy. I figured my life was set, I was a writer. I put any possibility of going back to school behind me and settled down to write my second novel at the typewriter, where I planned to write for the rest of my life. I should have gone to school and learned to do something besides write for those dry periods that come now and then, but no, I had this ridiculous notion that now that I was published, I would always be published. It started out too easy for me, I think. I went backwards -- it started out easy, then got harder.

KPB: Did you find yourself cursed with that fabled Second Novel syndrome, where the pressure of the first sale makes the writing of the second a trojan effort?

Not at all. I immediately went to work on Darklings without a single negative thought in my head. I was too stupid to feel any pressure. It wasn't difficult to write at all. And as soon as I was done with Darklings, I went immediately into the third (a movie novelization). I never felt any pressure. I never stopped to think long enough to feel any pressure.

KPB: Your career took off right in the middle of the '80's horror boom. Do you think now, on reflection, that your work would have cracked the market had their not been such an explosion of horror titles?

No, I make no such assumptions. I came along at a very opportune time, and it was just as important to the publication of my first few novels as anything else. I came along at a time when publishers were snatching up horror novels right and left, and I got caught up in that. Now, it's not so easy, of course, things have changed. I haven't sold to a New York publisher in awhile, although I'm hoping to change that with Night Life.

KPB: What were the positives and negatives of being a young horror writer at that time?

Well, the biggest negative was that I was young, which means I was also a.) stupid, and 2.) a know-it-all, which probably falls under the category of being stupid, too. I made a lot of mistakes. Now I listen far more than I talk, and I learn every day a little more about how little I know about anything. If I could do it all over again, I'd do most of it with my mouth shut.

KPB: You've spoken candidly about how difficult you find it these days to sell a novel to a mass-market house and yet your specialty-press titles sell out on a regular basis. Why do you think NY publishers are so resistant to even the most recognizable names, and what does that say about a newcomer's chances in the market?

I have no idea why they're so resistant. I really don't. I keep hoping it will change. Horror surges in popularity during hard times and times of war, and that's certainly happening in Hollywood. But it hasn't caught on in New York yet. It doesn't bode well for newcomers, that's for sure. I wouldn't want to be starting out now.

KPB: You've also written a number of Young Adult books. Did you enjoy the experience and how does the writing process differ from your regular novels?

I love writing YA stuff. For me, the writing process is no different, but the mindset is. It forces me to remember what life was like when I was that age.

KPB: You've tackled novelizations too with A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 & 5 and Good Burger, to name a few, all written under the name of Joseph Locke. Did you enjoy the novelization work, despite the obvious restrictions of working from an existing story? And will we see more work from Joseph down the line?

Like YA fiction, I really love writing novelizations and TV tie-ins. For me, novelizing a movie script is like having a chance to direct the movie myself. And on top of that, it's fast money. I would really like to find Joseph Locke some more work. Unfortunately, novelizations just aren't as common as they used to be.

KPB: You were, up until recently, unable to write due to intensive surgery. What did you do to retain your sanity during convalescence? Was their much mental writing going on?

I read a lot, and watched a lot of movies. I was constantly writing in my head. I finished Scissors in my head during that year-plus that I was unable to write, and I started a couple other books, as well. As soon as I got back to it, the rest of Scissors was ready to write, locked in my head and pounding to get out.

KPB: How has the procedure affected your shedule?

I'm still not quite as regular about my writing as I used to be. I haven't gotten into a regular schedule. Instead, I've been writing at all hours. I need to get my inner clock reset and do more of my writing earlier so I won't sleep so late the next day. Fortunately, I'm able to set my own hours, one of the many perks of doing this full-time. It's been a slow journey back to writing every day again, but I'm back to it. I just don't write the same hours every day.

KPB: You're also a big movie buff, with your collected Bloodshot Eyeball movie reviews due for release soon as a hardcover volume from Shocklines Press. Are you encouraged by the recent flurry of horror movies, or is it all so much dreck tossed out for mass consumption?

There have been a number of good horror movies in recent years. Right now, there are two horror movies doing great business at the box office, The Grudge and Saw. I haven't seen either of them yet (although I want to), but just the popularity of the movies alone is very encouraging. The Grudge is a modest little ten million dollar movie, but on its opening weekend, it shocked everyone in Hollywood when it did a whopping forty million dollars, and it's been doing good business steadily ever since. Hollywood is discovering, once again, that there's money in scares.

KPB: What movies have you most enjoyed (regardless of genre) over the past two years and which ones are you anxiously awaiting?

I just saw Shrek 2 and loved it. I'm a big animation fan. I also loved Finding Nemo. There's an interest movie available now on DVD called The Swimming Pool, which I'm very fond of. I recently watched the remake of Dawn of the Dead, and was blown away by it, I loved it. The worst movie I've seen this year -- maybe in a few years -- was The Village. What dreck. I'm looking forward to Mike Nichols's Closer, and to a little comedy called Sideways.

KPB: If I asked you to take a look back over the past twenty years, what would you consider your best and worst memories as a writer?

I have good memories of attending conventions back in the '80s and getting to know some writers I'd admired for a long time. My most pleasant writing experience was fairly recent -- Sex and Violence in Hollywood was just a blast to write, and it's my favorite of my books. I also have bad memories of those conventions I attended. And probably my worst writing memory is working with Ed and Lorraine Warren on In A Dark Place: The Story of a True Haunting.

KPB: Finally, what's up next for Ray Garton?

At the moment, I'm working on an untitled short story collection similar to The Girl in the Basement and Other Stories that will contain one new novella and four or five new stories. I also have a new collection coming from Cemetery Dance, Slivers of Bone. And I've started a couple new novels, I'm just not sure which one I'm going to work on next.

KPB: Thanks a million, Ray, and the very best of luck to you!

Thanks, Kealan, I appreciate it.

This interview originally appeared in Subterranean Press Newsletter