July 30, 2024 • 28 mins
Hey folks! I'm uploading the full interview with the iconic and legendary horror author, Darren Shan! This was originally recorded in 2021 during the COVID lockdown; my podcast had only just started and I didn't have the best equipment so the original audio was pretty crappy. This is a re-edited version and the video has been included with the audio on Patreon.Topics include:
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bad-book-bash--5889791/support.
- Writing Archibold Lox
- Darren's views on twilight
- His thought process behind creating villainous characters
- Potential film/tv projects for his books
- More about Mr. Crepsley's backstory
- Gingers
- His opinion on the Cirque Du Freak movie with John C Reilly
- Americanization of novels
- The market of horror novels for children
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bad-book-bash--5889791/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A Sexy day with Daddy is School. I'm and read
this team boiling your Mamma's book Club, So grab your
che buzzy and listen. Bash.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So, Darren Shann, thank you so much for are going
to do this interview with bad Book Bash. But before
we begin, I would just like to ask how we
should address you because you are seen as the father
of Irish horror, and some people wrote into me they
give you a few nicknames like they called you Halloween Santa, Daddy, Darko, Daddy, Darren,
(00:39):
Daddy Shan. What would you prefer to be called?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Not daddy anyway, I have a two kids to call
with that that's enough. I mean, Bram Stoko is the
true father a lot of horror than mine. Irish horror
is the Dracula is about as famous as Addie horror
character's ever likely to get. So I bowed him on
that front. But it's nice to know as well regarded
by the youth of today.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely, especially by a lot of Americans.
I'm American myself. A lot of us have read your books,
but it's a lot a bit of background intro about yourself.
So you wrote Zombie, the Demonada, the City Trilogy, Circuit
of Freak, just the name of you, and you are
currently writing the series Archibald Locks. That's correct, that's right.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, that's my latest one yet. Nearly sixty books of
this stage, including books i' written for adults as well
as for younger readers. So yeah, it seems in my
head I'm still a young, upcoming author. I'll figure out
the world at this stage.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
No, that's like you've said, such a successful career, and
how many books have you have them sold? I saw
thirty million copies online, but that number isn't wrong, correct me.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
It's about third midden. It gets a certain point where
you can't really keep track of it as an exact number,
but it's somewhere in and around that, which is bizarre.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
But you see, you see Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, They sold
over a hundred million copies. So do you feel like
maybe if you adapted to like her kind of style
you could get to that number, Like if you included
over romance between two characters with like a really gross
age difference and like a little bit of Stockholm syndrome,
(02:21):
you could be that successful.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I don't think my fans would like me if I
did fack. I haven't read the Twilight books, but I
often hear from fans of my books who are less
enthusiastic about them, saying, thank god verno sparkling vampires in
my work, that would be lucky. Yeah, Twilight was hugely successful,
so it's obviously ticking boxes, but not people. But no,
it's sort of whole romantic thing and your teenage love
(02:47):
that was That's not my sort of feeling. It's not
what I write about.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So you don't feel like you're missing out by not,
you know, doing that kind of thing. A lot of
those books also have slutshaming, and I noticed that you
have basically no slut shaming in any of your books. Like,
if you wanted to be a successful young adult author,
don't you think you should include at least a little
bit of slutchshaming in your box?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Vampires aren't without shaming with their honorable creatures that I
had try and reslect them as best I can.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Okay, Okay, that's good to know. That's interesting. So that
brings me to my next question. A lot of people
want to know, are you team Edward or team Jacob?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I go again, I hadn't read the books I saw
the first film and it just looked like it looked
like a parody. To me, I didn't follow any after that.
It just it was if you put a laugh track
on it, it wouldn't have just been a comedy. I
just felt it was just so over basd. And it's
on because I'm a really big fan of the two actors,
the main actors, Christian Stewarts and Robert Pattins stuff. I
(03:49):
think the great actors, But that was all film that
launched them, and you know, it wasn't really about them.
It was about the story, and yet it wasn't for me.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I mean I feel the same way about or other
works besides Twilight. Yeah, I mean I think when you're
starting out and acting, you gotta do what shouted now,
so you a the bill's exactly exactly. So I guess
one of one question that someone submitted this was from
Edgar Martinez. He wants to know was there an inspiration
(04:19):
for mister Crepsley, and if so, who was.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Now? I mean, mister Craxley is by far my most
popular character Saturday. It's not Darren Shannon an idea what
it would be that mister Crexley and I don't understand
that because he's the character whoys meant the most and
me as well. I never know much about my characters.
Must start writing story. Every right is different. Some writers
will start off with and they'll focus exclusive on characters
(04:44):
and working out their backgrounds and everything is now about them.
For me to always plot the plot, I look at
the structure. I find ways to get instantly connected together,
and then the characters develop out the storytelling. And sometimes
they don't have character's going to be a villain or
a hero. It can change the characters. I thought we're
going to be good guys, and you know they'd gone
(05:05):
over to back for the other team. With mister Crexley,
I was pretty sure he was going to be the
hero of the piece in book one. I was one hundred.
You know. There was that potential over the next few
books for him to have been much much darker than
he was. But yeah, he just uh, it wasn't based
on him specifically. He just tended to grow by himself.
As I wrote it. I've got more and more into it.
(05:25):
Even his way of talking. He doesn't talk any contractions,
always didn't, will not, sort of don't and won't. Now
that was a conscious thing that that I did. If
you probably go back to the first couple of books,
you might find a couple of instances where he does
use contractions because I was still working out his character,
just the way he came to be developed, and it
was I'm not a big fan of sequels and prequel
(05:49):
and that thing. Usually, you know, if there's a sequel
or a prequel to a series being made for money,
that's just the way the world works. And unfortunate enough,
because the books have done so well, I've never had
to do, you know, do write a book with an
eye on the finances. I'd just write what I want.
But I've tried to finish the Cybe of Darren shadd
I kept thinking about mister Crepsty. Normally, when I finished
(06:10):
a book or a series, it moves into my past
and I forget a lot a lot of things that
are in it. It becomes almost like somebody else's written it.
It was the creps I kept thinking about him. It
was a lot about his past which I didn't know,
and I didn't planned to writing more books about him.
I shouldn't mary for myself. So I kept picking up
the puzzle of it, and it got to a point
where I realized to fully get the crypts of him,
(06:31):
I have to sit down and write on a series.
And so I hadn't wrote the prequel series, even though
you know I'd always said I would, I wouldn't. He
actually did to tell his story, and yeah, he's been
a character who I learned a lot about. It wasn't
really really so I got you in the most fall books,
but I finally felt I could put Mi Suter Creptcy to.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Bed interesting and I really I liked what you said
earlier when you said that sometimes you write a character,
and it was I, sometimes you're not sure if we're
gonna be a villain or maybe the end up being
a good guy. And that was actually related to another
question that Fiona Kenny submitted. She said that sometimes she
(07:09):
feels like your villains kind of get away with what
they've done, like some of their bad deeds. I guess
how would you respond to that or was that intentional?
Like what's what's going on there? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:21):
I always it wasn't intentional. But the way the Free
Cope and your first book, I send the first chapter,
this is a true story, and in real life, bad
things happen good guys sometimes lose, bad guys sometimes win.
And I've always tried to treat my books, no matter
how fantastical and far fetched they are, as if the
rules of the real world apply. Now most of the
time they've had the heroes come mountain top or fairy
(07:43):
missorld books to read. Yeah, I try not to stack
the decks completely against bad guns. I try not to
just write them off as paper thin villains who were
just there to be killed. I try to give them
background or try to make them interesting. Occasionally they will
emerge on top or get away with what they've done wrong.
I've felt villains are more interesting if they're not just
(08:07):
one dimensional and you're quite about a villain or a hero. Obviously,
I've got to spend more time on my heroes, but
I try to give the villains their lives too. I
try and give every character a reason for doing what
they're doing. Can even like Steve Leopard insert the Free Yeah,
he's a very fomented character, and I feel sorry a
lot of readers reading books, even though he is the
(08:28):
real widen to piece, they do feel sorry for him
so they can see that you know, direct Abu this
way because the way life has taken in because of
these other people have done it in and so yeah,
I try to. I try to make my villains, for
the most parts relatable. Occasionally I'll let rip and I'll
create someone who's just the epitome of pure evil. And
there's nobody been features like a Lord Lost in my
(08:49):
gymn Artist series, where there's this guy called Dan Dad
in my zombie series, well, very very dodgy character indeed.
But yeah, most of the time, I'll try and find
the human within being human.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That's really yeah. I think that's that's really great because
there are so many books, especially maybe like in the
young adult genre, where the bad guys are just faring
two dimensional, like you said, and I think that's probably
why even adults enjoy reading some of the books you've
written which were meant for young adults. Like I've actually
started reading the Archical Box series recently, and like I'm
(09:25):
twenty seven and I still love it, Like I'm I ordered.
I think I just finished book two. I'm on book
three now.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
So I enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, I love them, man, I love it. But I
do want to pick a bone with you about mister Kresley,
because he's a vampire and he's a ginger, And is
that going off the whole thing that you think gingers
don't have souls because vampires don't have souls.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Is that like, what do you get in a well,
of course gingers don't have souls. That's very well, not
even it's actually he's actually orange hed the books, in
the prequel series you find out why his hair is orange.
He basically was working in this silk cocoon factory and
the foreman to rub this different kind of dyes onto
(10:12):
the hairs of workers. Sorry, Morning's head was brushed this corrosive,
poisonous dye. It was orange colored. So even two hundred
years later, that's why his hair is orange. But I
have nothing. It's gingers. I'm actually well, i'm grave these days.
But before I went great, it was a bit of
ginger in me. When i'd grow a beard, I'd have
a little bit of ginger in the beard in certain places.
(10:36):
Everyone in island ginger somewhere. Then he started and I
have nothing inst just definitely that's true.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Actually the Nicknamber, my boyfriend has ginger beard, and then
he's lending that's oh sorry, can you hear me?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Hello?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Oh no, sorry, Oh do you hear your back?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Sorry?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Oh my god, that's like my worst name. Well, sorry
about that. Okay, sorry, yeah, so let's see. Oh yeah,
so Esther Holtz esther post on Instagram. She wants to
know are there any plans for one of your works
to be adapted into another movie, film or anime. I
think a lot of people would like to see see
(11:17):
it turn into an anime.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
I've loved you don't know if it was a such
freak banga years ago. There was interested in doing anime
back at that time, but because we had for deal
in place with Universal those rights, we'll obviously tied up
up with that, and now by a couple of projects
which are ye in development. Well, whether or not I'll
ever get to the screen and what we'll wait to
(11:40):
see it. Zombie series was optioned for TV a few
years back. That actually produced a script for that, and
it was just before the lockdowns last year, so you
can give the sort of ground to halt on that
front for the time being. Also, there's there's a hopefully
going to be a freak TV series as well down
the line. Again, it's it's there the stages and I
(12:03):
can't say too much more beaut at the moment because
we still are costing points back and forth. Yeah, there's
a team in the States who will work, have been
working for quite a while, and they've got some quite
some heavyweights just attached to it already. So hopefully that
will go ahead. Altho, I always say to my fan,
you'd never get too excited because of these things. You know,
(12:24):
there's at a given time, there's you know, a thousand
of one different books under under option or go into option,
and you know, the earliest settage ever actually get through.
But that's a free I think the Freak will come
up again at some point, so hopefully. I think it's
a TV series, which I think is where it will
work best. I think with the movie. It's maybe ten
eleven yearsgo now since the movie, I think, regardless of
(12:47):
what you might think about the movie and all the
changes that made, I think it straight, but it was
very difficult to adapt such a big story into a
movie format, and television has evolved so much over the
last decade, you know, I just think it's an actual place. Yeah.
I think if I've written that Freak now so twenty
years ago, yeah, I think it would have been picked
up by TV. Definitely before movies, it would have just
(13:09):
been a natural thing for it. You know, twenty years
ago you wouldn't really do that sort of series on TV.
But now I think sup pembec place for its fingers
crossed luck. Luck is with us. Yeah, one of those two.
Hopefully in the next couple of years or so, white
see movements on those one of those ports.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Oh dude, I'm so excited. And actually that was something
that a lot of people wrote into me about. They
were saying that they were kind of comparing it to
a series of Fortunate Events with like circu to Freak,
Like how the film A Series of Fortunate Events did
not hit as well as the Netflix series, and if
circu to Freak gets a Netflix series, it could probably
you know, follow the same path. But actually, so I
(13:52):
want to know talking about I don't know, just like
other authors or no, no way, Actually here's a question. Sorry,
you were talking about the movie. I want to know,
did you get to meet John c Riley personally?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Sadly no, I like, I wouldn't be upfront. I like
the movie on its own terms. I like what it does.
You know, it's not perfect and its turch mygimation I
think if you've never read my books, you see the movie,
it's worky odd little film. But when I read the
script back the year before it was made, yeah, it
was obvious it wasn't gonna be my It wasn't going
(14:27):
to be my story. It was very, very different. Brian
held in the rental script writer changed a lot of things,
and Paul Whyatt's director came in and he we wrote
the stript completely and he changed everything else. So I
just felt I wanted to remove myself completely from it.
So even though I to fly me over and I
came to set and everything, I didn't go. I just
felt I'm not very good at being two faced, and
(14:49):
I just didn't go over there and Yobi shaking everyone's
hands and smart then and you know, doing an interview
for the DVD, and then you know, a year later,
turn around as he's a proud I hate this movie
as it goes out. I didn't hate, you know, I
would have at time. I wasn't sure, and I didn't
want to be too closer to show because wouldn't say
my fans, it is what it is. It's not it's
(15:09):
not my work, you know, it's just something else's work. Uh.
But John mc riley actually he's the one person I
really would have loved the Max big fans anyway, but
he read all the books, all twelve books, and he
was pushing had the film being more faithful to the series.
You know, he pushed in Vailue. Unfortunately. Yeah, he really
got behind the books and he was really in. He
(15:30):
loved it and as I said, he was would have
would have had the books be would have had the
movie be faithful to the books. But sadly the director
has had his own vision. I jog to meet me
at one point I didn't I didn't bump into the
Christian Sharpe. The plays go to Teeth in the film
over in Edinburgh Edinburgh Book Festival the summer, just what
(15:50):
was released and I went up to a rather meek
because I'm very shy and I'm not on stage. I
tapped her and said, I excuse me, Charlotte, I'm Darren
shann faced it. She turned round and she was wearing
a shirt free kuldie. So that was quite surredealed and fun.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Let's so wear when you meet someone and they're a
fan of you and you're a fan of them, it's
like Oh my god, that would be crazy.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Dude, it was. It was nice.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
So I also I want to know have you met
other celebrity authors like R. L. Stein? Like what's your
beat with R? L. Stein? Are you guys enemies? Are
you guys buddies? Like what's going on there?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Oh god? And I don't see ourself's been an enemy
of any author, because we're all in the same spot.
If you like, you know, we need people to be
read us, to find us. If somebody you read our
old Stein or Stephanie Meyer or JK Rowling, where it is,
they're always looking for other books. It's very ready to
get someone who will live with themselves to just one author.
(16:50):
And so you know, fans of rold Stein will come
on and read my books, and yeah, vice versa and stuff.
So I was too old to for goosebumps. We went
around squat up. I would have loved them had me,
but yeah, they weren't there, So I never read those.
I've met notes offers. I'll be very very lucky. You know.
I've toured extensively most of the UK and America but
also places around the world. Yeah, I mean, and I
(17:13):
don't have any nasty, awful stories either. I want to
if I had my woulds. I've heard some of the
other authors, but it's basically why authors I met. Yeah,
they all tend to see seem to be a really
really nice bunch people like own Colfer. I was quite
friendly with Anthony Horowitz. I loved dan Wyn Jones. I
(17:36):
met her years ago before she died. She was a
great old lady. She was, yeah, she was. She looked
like a little fred Rannie, but she had a lot
of fiery I remember we were talking about what was
it americanizations very often to the Bibles when they go
out the States, certain phrases get Americanized, so it becomes
(17:57):
instead of mum, certain phrase this. And someone was asking
me what I thought about that, and I was saying, well, look,
I don't mind it too much. Here my books on
set and you were specific, so you know, I don't
mind if different countries, UH change it. And she turned
to a lady who's asked me a question, turned to
Diane and said, what do you think? She was squart
set o piss and egg.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Graves, sassy.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I love it, Ah, she was brilliant.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I actually thought you were American when I when I
read your books in middle school. That's funny you said
about being a bit too old for Orl Stein. I
did start out reading ral Stein when I was in
elementary school or primary school, and then I started reading
your books when I was in high school or secondary school,
as you guys would call it a year.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I think the natural progression, which which wasn't there when
I was a child, So like when I was I
must have been ten or eleven years waking Stephen King,
no goosebumps. There was nothing like certain free I think
these days, if you're a horror fan like I was
always into horror, there is now that natural aggression where
you can get Ril Stein or point horror, other things
(18:58):
like that. And then she a bath room where you
can come to my works, and they serves a nice
bridge to work like writers like Stephen King or Clive Barker.
So yeah, I think it took publish a long time
to see a market, a horror market in the younger
among children. When we were trying to ship shop cert
(19:19):
a Freak around, no publisher wanted to touch it, said,
is way too dark for Jordan, Look, we can't publish this,
there'll be I was turned down by twenty publishers in
the UK before it was accepted. Really, oh, nobody wanted
to touch it. And the only way I think it
actually did end up getting published was my agent, chrispher
Christopher Little sadly died any started this year. He he
(19:42):
also happened to be jokier Rowlings agent, and I wrote
A Freaking Night in nine to seven, which the first
joke your rolling book come out. And over the next
couple of years obviously that when that's that's a sporic
and his star rose with burrs and so yeah, I
think he was able to forget well the publishers ball,
Well maybe he did. Maybe he knows what he's talking about,
old in London. So it's good to go and see
(20:03):
what happens. And yes, sir free so freak it slapped
through very very nearly, was never published. My career would
never have happened about set Free. Yes, Freak. It has
been my nautipad. It's still my most popular book, you know,
twenty years later. It's a book that most of my
readers will find me through. And yet if I hadn't
be published, you know, there would be no don't tad.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Oh my god, dude, that's I've got those other twenty
publishers are like punching themselves in the face or something
that they said no to your books, and it just
became so huge. I mean, you know, I'm from I'm
from America, and I read it a lot of people
from my high school. I mentioned that I was going
to do this interview with you, and they were like
extremely jealous.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
So yeah, I've been across the stage. I've told lots
of times the stage I do. You start out on
the West coast, work my way across to the east and
three week Juggernut tours. I was younger the and I
used to work. I do like three four five events
a day. Just you had no breaks all the way
through it. I loved it at a great time in
the States.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
I actually I have another question for you, because you
were talking about how some publishers said, oh, this book
would be too these books would be too scary for
kids and so ironic user name one, two three on Instagrams.
They're actually they wanted me to ask you, where do
you think the line is drawn separating horror for children
and horror for adults.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
It's a difficult one, so to just to say definitively,
because yes, some of my children's books are far far
goria than an If you've written for adults chapter two
of Lord Lost of my demon art series, you know
it starts with it begins where boy walks in the
bedroom and find these parents sis that I been ripped
(21:48):
apart by demons, literally ripped apart, and it describes it.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
For me.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
The line of sand I found was in that chapter.
I wrote a chapter in the first draft. He walks
in the room and he sees a body hanging up
so dad receding, which pent chopped off and blood ripping
to the floor, which breaking right over to neck, and
it was his mother and my I sent, I said
the book to my other time, and she said, I
love this book, Baron, but chapter two you're gonna have
(22:15):
to rewrite that completely about it's just gorgus, too shocking,
it's just too gone, too far. I said, no, where
it's all liberate bit I'll do a big read of right,
And then I lied. All I did was changed one
small dajail ha ha. I swapped it from being the
mother to the father and that was that. Absolutely fine.
It's books as long as you leave the mummy's alone.
(22:37):
You can go as far as you're like everything else.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
You're insulting yourself because you're a dad. Man, you're like
a kids here us kids of their moms.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
More.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
It's fine.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
So everyone knows the dad's are expendable.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
So let me think. Oh yeah, I also I want
to ask you because my friend Robert Paul he said
that you went to go speak to his classroom when
he was a kid, so you probably remember him. I'm
sure Robert Cole you know, yeah, of course, yeah, yeah,
this is Ireland, you all know each other. He said
that you told grow back.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Huh did that I ever grow back? Did that?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I never heard grow back? What he's talking about?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Mind, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh god, I'm American. You
gotta dumb round the jokes for me.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Man.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
As my son always tells me, I'm not pretty funny.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
No, you probably are. You just gotta I'm American. You
gotta be respectful of my people. But anyways, Robert culsi
that you told his whole class that you were a vampire.
Is that true? Are you a vampire?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
No?
Speaker 3 (23:45):
No, he's misremembered.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Back.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
I will always say, especially if I'm doing to talk
to younger readers. Maybe so, because when my books, they
appealed to a very wide age group, unusually normally in
children's of why You're You're nine to eleven year old,
eleven to thirteen or so on. Yeah, I never wrote
that way. I always tried to write a book that
the younger me would have really liked, and you as
(24:08):
a kid, because I said, I was reading Stephen King
maybe at the same time that I was reading Roll
Dull and and so I've always tried to mix those up,
the both sort of worlds. And so it's my books
a real mix of your work. Storylines that would appealed
to younger readers, but also storylines that adults would really do.
It's why a lot of my readers are adults.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Now, yeah I'm an adult or try.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
So I forgot now what I was saying. What was
I saying?
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Oh yeah, I thought if you are a empire, yes.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah, Well what I would say if I'm doing an event,
especially with kids, are aver young, so maybe ten eleven,
twelve years of age. I always say it could be
true because sarch freak style was saying it's a true story,
and so yeah, offen, kids will say, is it really true,
and I'll say, well, it could be, And if you're
reading the end of the series, there's a twist at
the end which has explain how it couldn't be true,
but also how I can write another book as a
normal human. So I've never claimed to be a vampire,
(25:03):
but I do often claim that the story.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Could okay because Rob told me he's tore that you
thought you were a vampire and so. And also your
real name is O'Shaughnessy, it's not Shan. So I'm just
assuming you enjoy lying the kids. Is what I'm picking
up from you.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Is that what every every parent lies the kids. That's
what all loot him.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
If you want to take a moment right now to
apologize to Robert, that's I will give you that moment.
But ha ha, I know we're almost out of time here,
so I will ask you one last question, as as
a horror author, what scares you personally? What gives you nightmares?
Is it like tangible things like zombies or bears, or
(25:51):
is it intangible things like claustrophobia or never getting your
mother's approval, like you know that kind.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Of m I found horror scarier the older I get Yeah.
When I was younger, I was always horror. Fibstinction of
age was my favorite genre. As a teenager, I watch
every horror film I could get on video, and read
loads of horror books, comics and so on, and the
area backbend was very much. It was cool. I love
(26:19):
the coolness of horror hands you know, it was like
an adrenalin junkie getting a fix. These days, I still
do love horror, but yeah, I do find it disturbs
it more these days. Maybe it's because I get edge
towards fifty of being closed to the grave and your
though to turn into your mortality. Yeah. I mean what
(26:40):
I find most squeamish these days is, you know, with
people being tortured or commented film, and yeah, I can
sort of whether I can imagine myself going through that,
And I find that a bit a bit hard to
take these days. Ver as young when I was younger,
I always get an arm chopped off. Now I gold
that very nice school would we saw so yeah probably yeah,
(27:02):
but bodily horror. I don't mind dying, as would the
other one said, I still want to be there when
it happens to me.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Yeah, so I guess do you not write so much
like Body War, Then as you get older, do you.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Still just unwy it? I don't mind freaking out other people.
It's just that I was like, I still like it.
I just you know, I do feel it. It does
maybe cringe more than when it would have done. It
doesn't mean I don't like it, and I still do.
And yeah, I still put it into my books. I
thought it needs to be in there.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
All right, cool man, Well, I think I think that's
the end of the thirty minute interview. Is there anything
you want to plug, anything you want to throw out
to myself and my I have a lot of Finnish
fans for some reason, I don't in Finland.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Yeah, I'll still have a few fans all away from Finland. Yeah,
it was a fun place to be I was. I
was there there for a couple of days. It's a
very short trip now. I just yeah, as you said, Archiable,
lots of my lab series and six books have been
out so far. Free would come next year and that
will be end of it. It's horror for lots in
your fantasy. But then I'm Short'll be back for a
field not too far out of mine.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
And again, man, hey, look, if you ever want to
get any ideas from me for how to like get
on Stephanie Meyer's level, like writing like really disturbing like
inappropriate relationships stuff for vampires, just hit me up, like
I could totally help.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
You out with that fights.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
I'll try your lying, all right, I'll just I'll stop
the interview now, so thanks,
A Sexy day with Daddy is School. I'm and read
this team boiling your Mamma's book Club, So grab your
che buzzy and listen. Bash.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
So, Darren Shann, thank you so much for are going
to do this interview with bad Book Bash. But before
we begin, I would just like to ask how we
should address you because you are seen as the father
of Irish horror, and some people wrote into me they
give you a few nicknames like they called you Halloween Santa, Daddy, Darko, Daddy, Darren,
(00:39):
Daddy Shan. What would you prefer to be called?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Not daddy anyway, I have a two kids to call
with that that's enough. I mean, Bram Stoko is the
true father a lot of horror than mine. Irish horror
is the Dracula is about as famous as Addie horror
character's ever likely to get. So I bowed him on
that front. But it's nice to know as well regarded
by the youth of today.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Oh yeah, absolutely, absolutely, especially by a lot of Americans.
I'm American myself. A lot of us have read your books,
but it's a lot a bit of background intro about yourself.
So you wrote Zombie, the Demonada, the City Trilogy, Circuit
of Freak, just the name of you, and you are
currently writing the series Archibald Locks. That's correct, that's right.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, that's my latest one yet. Nearly sixty books of
this stage, including books i' written for adults as well
as for younger readers. So yeah, it seems in my
head I'm still a young, upcoming author. I'll figure out
the world at this stage.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
No, that's like you've said, such a successful career, and
how many books have you have them sold? I saw
thirty million copies online, but that number isn't wrong, correct me.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
It's about third midden. It gets a certain point where
you can't really keep track of it as an exact number,
but it's somewhere in and around that, which is bizarre.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
But you see, you see Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, They sold
over a hundred million copies. So do you feel like
maybe if you adapted to like her kind of style
you could get to that number, Like if you included
over romance between two characters with like a really gross
age difference and like a little bit of Stockholm syndrome,
(02:21):
you could be that successful.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
I don't think my fans would like me if I
did fack. I haven't read the Twilight books, but I
often hear from fans of my books who are less
enthusiastic about them, saying, thank god verno sparkling vampires in
my work, that would be lucky. Yeah, Twilight was hugely successful,
so it's obviously ticking boxes, but not people. But no,
it's sort of whole romantic thing and your teenage love
(02:47):
that was That's not my sort of feeling. It's not
what I write about.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So you don't feel like you're missing out by not,
you know, doing that kind of thing. A lot of
those books also have slutshaming, and I noticed that you
have basically no slut shaming in any of your books. Like,
if you wanted to be a successful young adult author,
don't you think you should include at least a little
bit of slutchshaming in your box?
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Vampires aren't without shaming with their honorable creatures that I
had try and reslect them as best I can.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Okay, Okay, that's good to know. That's interesting. So that
brings me to my next question. A lot of people
want to know, are you team Edward or team Jacob?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
I go again, I hadn't read the books I saw
the first film and it just looked like it looked
like a parody. To me, I didn't follow any after that.
It just it was if you put a laugh track
on it, it wouldn't have just been a comedy. I
just felt it was just so over basd. And it's
on because I'm a really big fan of the two actors,
the main actors, Christian Stewarts and Robert Pattins stuff. I
(03:49):
think the great actors, But that was all film that
launched them, and you know, it wasn't really about them.
It was about the story, and yet it wasn't for me.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I mean I feel the same way about or other
works besides Twilight. Yeah, I mean I think when you're
starting out and acting, you gotta do what shouted now,
so you a the bill's exactly exactly. So I guess
one of one question that someone submitted this was from
Edgar Martinez. He wants to know was there an inspiration
(04:19):
for mister Crepsley, and if so, who was.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Now? I mean, mister Craxley is by far my most
popular character Saturday. It's not Darren Shannon an idea what
it would be that mister Crexley and I don't understand
that because he's the character whoys meant the most and
me as well. I never know much about my characters.
Must start writing story. Every right is different. Some writers
will start off with and they'll focus exclusive on characters
(04:44):
and working out their backgrounds and everything is now about them.
For me to always plot the plot, I look at
the structure. I find ways to get instantly connected together,
and then the characters develop out the storytelling. And sometimes
they don't have character's going to be a villain or
a hero. It can change the characters. I thought we're
going to be good guys, and you know they'd gone
(05:05):
over to back for the other team. With mister Crexley,
I was pretty sure he was going to be the
hero of the piece in book one. I was one hundred.
You know. There was that potential over the next few
books for him to have been much much darker than
he was. But yeah, he just uh, it wasn't based
on him specifically. He just tended to grow by himself.
As I wrote it. I've got more and more into it.
(05:25):
Even his way of talking. He doesn't talk any contractions,
always didn't, will not, sort of don't and won't. Now
that was a conscious thing that that I did. If
you probably go back to the first couple of books,
you might find a couple of instances where he does
use contractions because I was still working out his character,
just the way he came to be developed, and it
was I'm not a big fan of sequels and prequel
(05:49):
and that thing. Usually, you know, if there's a sequel
or a prequel to a series being made for money,
that's just the way the world works. And unfortunate enough,
because the books have done so well, I've never had
to do, you know, do write a book with an
eye on the finances. I'd just write what I want.
But I've tried to finish the Cybe of Darren shadd
I kept thinking about mister Crepsty. Normally, when I finished
(06:10):
a book or a series, it moves into my past
and I forget a lot a lot of things that
are in it. It becomes almost like somebody else's written it.
It was the creps I kept thinking about him. It
was a lot about his past which I didn't know,
and I didn't planned to writing more books about him.
I shouldn't mary for myself. So I kept picking up
the puzzle of it, and it got to a point
where I realized to fully get the crypts of him,
(06:31):
I have to sit down and write on a series.
And so I hadn't wrote the prequel series, even though
you know I'd always said I would, I wouldn't. He
actually did to tell his story, and yeah, he's been
a character who I learned a lot about. It wasn't
really really so I got you in the most fall books,
but I finally felt I could put Mi Suter Creptcy to.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Bed interesting and I really I liked what you said
earlier when you said that sometimes you write a character,
and it was I, sometimes you're not sure if we're
gonna be a villain or maybe the end up being
a good guy. And that was actually related to another
question that Fiona Kenny submitted. She said that sometimes she
(07:09):
feels like your villains kind of get away with what
they've done, like some of their bad deeds. I guess
how would you respond to that or was that intentional?
Like what's what's going on there? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:21):
I always it wasn't intentional. But the way the Free
Cope and your first book, I send the first chapter,
this is a true story, and in real life, bad
things happen good guys sometimes lose, bad guys sometimes win.
And I've always tried to treat my books, no matter
how fantastical and far fetched they are, as if the
rules of the real world apply. Now most of the
time they've had the heroes come mountain top or fairy
(07:43):
missorld books to read. Yeah, I try not to stack
the decks completely against bad guns. I try not to
just write them off as paper thin villains who were
just there to be killed. I try to give them
background or try to make them interesting. Occasionally they will
emerge on top or get away with what they've done wrong.
I've felt villains are more interesting if they're not just
(08:07):
one dimensional and you're quite about a villain or a hero. Obviously,
I've got to spend more time on my heroes, but
I try to give the villains their lives too. I
try and give every character a reason for doing what
they're doing. Can even like Steve Leopard insert the Free Yeah,
he's a very fomented character, and I feel sorry a
lot of readers reading books, even though he is the
(08:28):
real widen to piece, they do feel sorry for him
so they can see that you know, direct Abu this
way because the way life has taken in because of
these other people have done it in and so yeah,
I try to. I try to make my villains, for
the most parts relatable. Occasionally I'll let rip and I'll
create someone who's just the epitome of pure evil. And
there's nobody been features like a Lord Lost in my
(08:49):
gymn Artist series, where there's this guy called Dan Dad
in my zombie series, well, very very dodgy character indeed.
But yeah, most of the time, I'll try and find
the human within being human.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That's really yeah. I think that's that's really great because
there are so many books, especially maybe like in the
young adult genre, where the bad guys are just faring
two dimensional, like you said, and I think that's probably
why even adults enjoy reading some of the books you've
written which were meant for young adults. Like I've actually
started reading the Archical Box series recently, and like I'm
(09:25):
twenty seven and I still love it, Like I'm I ordered.
I think I just finished book two. I'm on book
three now.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
So I enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, I love them, man, I love it. But I
do want to pick a bone with you about mister Kresley,
because he's a vampire and he's a ginger, And is
that going off the whole thing that you think gingers
don't have souls because vampires don't have souls.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Is that like, what do you get in a well,
of course gingers don't have souls. That's very well, not
even it's actually he's actually orange hed the books, in
the prequel series you find out why his hair is orange.
He basically was working in this silk cocoon factory and
the foreman to rub this different kind of dyes onto
(10:12):
the hairs of workers. Sorry, Morning's head was brushed this corrosive,
poisonous dye. It was orange colored. So even two hundred
years later, that's why his hair is orange. But I
have nothing. It's gingers. I'm actually well, i'm grave these days.
But before I went great, it was a bit of
ginger in me. When i'd grow a beard, I'd have
a little bit of ginger in the beard in certain places.
(10:36):
Everyone in island ginger somewhere. Then he started and I
have nothing inst just definitely that's true.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Actually the Nicknamber, my boyfriend has ginger beard, and then
he's lending that's oh sorry, can you hear me?
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Hello?
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Oh no, sorry, Oh do you hear your back?
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Sorry?
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Oh my god, that's like my worst name. Well, sorry
about that. Okay, sorry, yeah, so let's see. Oh yeah,
so Esther Holtz esther post on Instagram. She wants to
know are there any plans for one of your works
to be adapted into another movie, film or anime. I
think a lot of people would like to see see
(11:17):
it turn into an anime.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
I've loved you don't know if it was a such
freak banga years ago. There was interested in doing anime
back at that time, but because we had for deal
in place with Universal those rights, we'll obviously tied up
up with that, and now by a couple of projects
which are ye in development. Well, whether or not I'll
ever get to the screen and what we'll wait to
(11:40):
see it. Zombie series was optioned for TV a few
years back. That actually produced a script for that, and
it was just before the lockdowns last year, so you
can give the sort of ground to halt on that
front for the time being. Also, there's there's a hopefully
going to be a freak TV series as well down
the line. Again, it's it's there the stages and I
(12:03):
can't say too much more beaut at the moment because
we still are costing points back and forth. Yeah, there's
a team in the States who will work, have been
working for quite a while, and they've got some quite
some heavyweights just attached to it already. So hopefully that
will go ahead. Altho, I always say to my fan,
you'd never get too excited because of these things. You know,
(12:24):
there's at a given time, there's you know, a thousand
of one different books under under option or go into option,
and you know, the earliest settage ever actually get through.
But that's a free I think the Freak will come
up again at some point, so hopefully. I think it's
a TV series, which I think is where it will
work best. I think with the movie. It's maybe ten
eleven yearsgo now since the movie, I think, regardless of
(12:47):
what you might think about the movie and all the
changes that made, I think it straight, but it was
very difficult to adapt such a big story into a
movie format, and television has evolved so much over the
last decade, you know, I just think it's an actual place. Yeah.
I think if I've written that Freak now so twenty
years ago, yeah, I think it would have been picked
up by TV. Definitely before movies, it would have just
(13:09):
been a natural thing for it. You know, twenty years
ago you wouldn't really do that sort of series on TV.
But now I think sup pembec place for its fingers
crossed luck. Luck is with us. Yeah, one of those two.
Hopefully in the next couple of years or so, white
see movements on those one of those ports.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Oh dude, I'm so excited. And actually that was something
that a lot of people wrote into me about. They
were saying that they were kind of comparing it to
a series of Fortunate Events with like circu to Freak,
Like how the film A Series of Fortunate Events did
not hit as well as the Netflix series, and if
circu to Freak gets a Netflix series, it could probably
you know, follow the same path. But actually, so I
(13:52):
want to know talking about I don't know, just like
other authors or no, no way, Actually here's a question. Sorry,
you were talking about the movie. I want to know,
did you get to meet John c Riley personally?
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Sadly no, I like, I wouldn't be upfront. I like
the movie on its own terms. I like what it does.
You know, it's not perfect and its turch mygimation I
think if you've never read my books, you see the movie,
it's worky odd little film. But when I read the
script back the year before it was made, yeah, it
was obvious it wasn't gonna be my It wasn't going
(14:27):
to be my story. It was very, very different. Brian
held in the rental script writer changed a lot of things,
and Paul Whyatt's director came in and he we wrote
the stript completely and he changed everything else. So I
just felt I wanted to remove myself completely from it.
So even though I to fly me over and I
came to set and everything, I didn't go. I just
felt I'm not very good at being two faced, and
(14:49):
I just didn't go over there and Yobi shaking everyone's
hands and smart then and you know, doing an interview
for the DVD, and then you know, a year later,
turn around as he's a proud I hate this movie
as it goes out. I didn't hate, you know, I
would have at time. I wasn't sure, and I didn't
want to be too closer to show because wouldn't say
my fans, it is what it is. It's not it's
(15:09):
not my work, you know, it's just something else's work. Uh.
But John mc riley actually he's the one person I
really would have loved the Max big fans anyway, but
he read all the books, all twelve books, and he
was pushing had the film being more faithful to the series.
You know, he pushed in Vailue. Unfortunately. Yeah, he really
got behind the books and he was really in. He
(15:30):
loved it and as I said, he was would have
would have had the books be would have had the
movie be faithful to the books. But sadly the director
has had his own vision. I jog to meet me
at one point I didn't I didn't bump into the
Christian Sharpe. The plays go to Teeth in the film
over in Edinburgh Edinburgh Book Festival the summer, just what
(15:50):
was released and I went up to a rather meek
because I'm very shy and I'm not on stage. I
tapped her and said, I excuse me, Charlotte, I'm Darren
shann faced it. She turned round and she was wearing
a shirt free kuldie. So that was quite surredealed and fun.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
Let's so wear when you meet someone and they're a
fan of you and you're a fan of them, it's
like Oh my god, that would be crazy.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Dude, it was. It was nice.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
So I also I want to know have you met
other celebrity authors like R. L. Stein? Like what's your
beat with R? L. Stein? Are you guys enemies? Are
you guys buddies? Like what's going on there?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Oh god? And I don't see ourself's been an enemy
of any author, because we're all in the same spot.
If you like, you know, we need people to be
read us, to find us. If somebody you read our
old Stein or Stephanie Meyer or JK Rowling, where it is,
they're always looking for other books. It's very ready to
get someone who will live with themselves to just one author.
(16:50):
And so you know, fans of rold Stein will come
on and read my books, and yeah, vice versa and stuff.
So I was too old to for goosebumps. We went
around squat up. I would have loved them had me,
but yeah, they weren't there, So I never read those.
I've met notes offers. I'll be very very lucky. You know.
I've toured extensively most of the UK and America but
also places around the world. Yeah, I mean, and I
(17:13):
don't have any nasty, awful stories either. I want to
if I had my woulds. I've heard some of the
other authors, but it's basically why authors I met. Yeah,
they all tend to see seem to be a really
really nice bunch people like own Colfer. I was quite
friendly with Anthony Horowitz. I loved dan Wyn Jones. I
(17:36):
met her years ago before she died. She was a
great old lady. She was, yeah, she was. She looked
like a little fred Rannie, but she had a lot
of fiery I remember we were talking about what was
it americanizations very often to the Bibles when they go
out the States, certain phrases get Americanized, so it becomes
(17:57):
instead of mum, certain phrase this. And someone was asking
me what I thought about that, and I was saying, well, look,
I don't mind it too much. Here my books on
set and you were specific, so you know, I don't
mind if different countries, UH change it. And she turned
to a lady who's asked me a question, turned to
Diane and said, what do you think? She was squart
set o piss and egg.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Graves, sassy.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I love it, Ah, she was brilliant.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I actually thought you were American when I when I
read your books in middle school. That's funny you said
about being a bit too old for Orl Stein. I
did start out reading ral Stein when I was in
elementary school or primary school, and then I started reading
your books when I was in high school or secondary school,
as you guys would call it a year.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
I think the natural progression, which which wasn't there when
I was a child, So like when I was I
must have been ten or eleven years waking Stephen King,
no goosebumps. There was nothing like certain free I think
these days, if you're a horror fan like I was
always into horror, there is now that natural aggression where
you can get Ril Stein or point horror, other things
(18:58):
like that. And then she a bath room where you
can come to my works, and they serves a nice
bridge to work like writers like Stephen King or Clive Barker.
So yeah, I think it took publish a long time
to see a market, a horror market in the younger
among children. When we were trying to ship shop cert
(19:19):
a Freak around, no publisher wanted to touch it, said,
is way too dark for Jordan, Look, we can't publish this,
there'll be I was turned down by twenty publishers in
the UK before it was accepted. Really, oh, nobody wanted
to touch it. And the only way I think it
actually did end up getting published was my agent, chrispher
Christopher Little sadly died any started this year. He he
(19:42):
also happened to be jokier Rowlings agent, and I wrote
A Freaking Night in nine to seven, which the first
joke your rolling book come out. And over the next
couple of years obviously that when that's that's a sporic
and his star rose with burrs and so yeah, I
think he was able to forget well the publishers ball,
Well maybe he did. Maybe he knows what he's talking about,
old in London. So it's good to go and see
(20:03):
what happens. And yes, sir free so freak it slapped
through very very nearly, was never published. My career would
never have happened about set Free. Yes, Freak. It has
been my nautipad. It's still my most popular book, you know,
twenty years later. It's a book that most of my
readers will find me through. And yet if I hadn't
be published, you know, there would be no don't tad.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Oh my god, dude, that's I've got those other twenty
publishers are like punching themselves in the face or something
that they said no to your books, and it just
became so huge. I mean, you know, I'm from I'm
from America, and I read it a lot of people
from my high school. I mentioned that I was going
to do this interview with you, and they were like
extremely jealous.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
So yeah, I've been across the stage. I've told lots
of times the stage I do. You start out on
the West coast, work my way across to the east and
three week Juggernut tours. I was younger the and I
used to work. I do like three four five events
a day. Just you had no breaks all the way
through it. I loved it at a great time in
the States.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
I actually I have another question for you, because you
were talking about how some publishers said, oh, this book
would be too these books would be too scary for
kids and so ironic user name one, two three on Instagrams.
They're actually they wanted me to ask you, where do
you think the line is drawn separating horror for children
and horror for adults.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
It's a difficult one, so to just to say definitively,
because yes, some of my children's books are far far
goria than an If you've written for adults chapter two
of Lord Lost of my demon art series, you know
it starts with it begins where boy walks in the
bedroom and find these parents sis that I been ripped
(21:48):
apart by demons, literally ripped apart, and it describes it.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
For me.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
The line of sand I found was in that chapter.
I wrote a chapter in the first draft. He walks
in the room and he sees a body hanging up
so dad receding, which pent chopped off and blood ripping
to the floor, which breaking right over to neck, and
it was his mother and my I sent, I said
the book to my other time, and she said, I
love this book, Baron, but chapter two you're gonna have
(22:15):
to rewrite that completely about it's just gorgus, too shocking,
it's just too gone, too far. I said, no, where
it's all liberate bit I'll do a big read of right,
And then I lied. All I did was changed one
small dajail ha ha. I swapped it from being the
mother to the father and that was that. Absolutely fine.
It's books as long as you leave the mummy's alone.
(22:37):
You can go as far as you're like everything else.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
You're insulting yourself because you're a dad. Man, you're like
a kids here us kids of their moms.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
More.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
It's fine.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
So everyone knows the dad's are expendable.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
So let me think. Oh yeah, I also I want
to ask you because my friend Robert Paul he said
that you went to go speak to his classroom when
he was a kid, so you probably remember him. I'm
sure Robert Cole you know, yeah, of course, yeah, yeah,
this is Ireland, you all know each other. He said
that you told grow back.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Huh did that I ever grow back? Did that?
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I never heard grow back? What he's talking about?
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Mind, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh god, I'm American. You
gotta dumb round the jokes for me.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Man.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
As my son always tells me, I'm not pretty funny.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
No, you probably are. You just gotta I'm American. You
gotta be respectful of my people. But anyways, Robert culsi
that you told his whole class that you were a vampire.
Is that true? Are you a vampire?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
No?
Speaker 3 (23:45):
No, he's misremembered.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Back.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
I will always say, especially if I'm doing to talk
to younger readers. Maybe so, because when my books, they
appealed to a very wide age group, unusually normally in
children's of why You're You're nine to eleven year old,
eleven to thirteen or so on. Yeah, I never wrote
that way. I always tried to write a book that
the younger me would have really liked, and you as
(24:08):
a kid, because I said, I was reading Stephen King
maybe at the same time that I was reading Roll
Dull and and so I've always tried to mix those up,
the both sort of worlds. And so it's my books
a real mix of your work. Storylines that would appealed
to younger readers, but also storylines that adults would really do.
It's why a lot of my readers are adults.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Now, yeah I'm an adult or try.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
So I forgot now what I was saying. What was
I saying?
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Oh yeah, I thought if you are a empire, yes.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah, Well what I would say if I'm doing an event,
especially with kids, are aver young, so maybe ten eleven,
twelve years of age. I always say it could be
true because sarch freak style was saying it's a true story,
and so yeah, offen, kids will say, is it really true,
and I'll say, well, it could be, And if you're
reading the end of the series, there's a twist at
the end which has explain how it couldn't be true,
but also how I can write another book as a
normal human. So I've never claimed to be a vampire,
(25:03):
but I do often claim that the story.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Could okay because Rob told me he's tore that you
thought you were a vampire and so. And also your
real name is O'Shaughnessy, it's not Shan. So I'm just
assuming you enjoy lying the kids. Is what I'm picking
up from you.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Is that what every every parent lies the kids. That's
what all loot him.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
If you want to take a moment right now to
apologize to Robert, that's I will give you that moment.
But ha ha, I know we're almost out of time here,
so I will ask you one last question, as as
a horror author, what scares you personally? What gives you nightmares?
Is it like tangible things like zombies or bears, or
(25:51):
is it intangible things like claustrophobia or never getting your
mother's approval, like you know that kind.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Of m I found horror scarier the older I get Yeah.
When I was younger, I was always horror. Fibstinction of
age was my favorite genre. As a teenager, I watch
every horror film I could get on video, and read
loads of horror books, comics and so on, and the
area backbend was very much. It was cool. I love
(26:19):
the coolness of horror hands you know, it was like
an adrenalin junkie getting a fix. These days, I still
do love horror, but yeah, I do find it disturbs
it more these days. Maybe it's because I get edge
towards fifty of being closed to the grave and your
though to turn into your mortality. Yeah. I mean what
(26:40):
I find most squeamish these days is, you know, with
people being tortured or commented film, and yeah, I can
sort of whether I can imagine myself going through that,
And I find that a bit a bit hard to
take these days. Ver as young when I was younger,
I always get an arm chopped off. Now I gold
that very nice school would we saw so yeah probably yeah,
(27:02):
but bodily horror. I don't mind dying, as would the
other one said, I still want to be there when
it happens to me.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
Yeah, so I guess do you not write so much
like Body War, Then as you get older, do you.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Still just unwy it? I don't mind freaking out other people.
It's just that I was like, I still like it.
I just you know, I do feel it. It does
maybe cringe more than when it would have done. It
doesn't mean I don't like it, and I still do.
And yeah, I still put it into my books. I
thought it needs to be in there.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
All right, cool man, Well, I think I think that's
the end of the thirty minute interview. Is there anything
you want to plug, anything you want to throw out
to myself and my I have a lot of Finnish
fans for some reason, I don't in Finland.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Yeah, I'll still have a few fans all away from Finland. Yeah,
it was a fun place to be I was. I
was there there for a couple of days. It's a
very short trip now. I just yeah, as you said, Archiable,
lots of my lab series and six books have been
out so far. Free would come next year and that
will be end of it. It's horror for lots in
your fantasy. But then I'm Short'll be back for a
field not too far out of mine.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
And again, man, hey, look, if you ever want to
get any ideas from me for how to like get
on Stephanie Meyer's level, like writing like really disturbing like
inappropriate relationships stuff for vampires, just hit me up, like
I could totally help.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
You out with that fights.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
I'll try your lying, all right, I'll just I'll stop
the interview now, so thanks,
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