The Horror Library - The Best in Horror Fiction

Interview with John Condenzio
By Chris Perridas

Interview with John Condenzio by Horror Library's Chris Perridas

HL: John, you are probably best known as staff writer at Blood Moon Rising. What have been a few interesting experiences due to this?
JC: It has been a very fruitful and rewarding experience since the beginning, as it is not only an additional outlet for my work, but it also has been a springboard for many other thoughts and ideas that have led to other projects. For example, I wrote my very first short story in any genre, "The Succubus Club," for it, and the germ for my book The Eternal Thirst began with Blood Moon Rising, and Al Vermette was kind enough to agree to serialize it as I went along, which was an immense help in seeing it to its completion. I also have met may fine and talented people through it whom I now consider friends. Al and his staff are good people too, and one cannot put a price on such relationships. Al also reviews and promotes my books there. I see good things in the future for Blood Moon Rising, as I truly feel that it is one of the best horror magazines that are around these days. And I am not saying it because I am a member of the staff; Al and the others put their hearts and souls into it, and it shows.

HL: You are also known as an upbeat, positive person who always has time to help encourage new writers. Has this been rewarding?
JC: Absolutely. I have been in the arena of writing for over thirty years now, so I know what it's like to be a new writer struggling against the wall of indifference out there; to have the doors shut in your face by people who are too self-involved, too "busy," or too worried about pandering to the lowest common denominator, as some say, to consider someone, or something, new -and many good and talented people have literally drowned, or given up, because of this. So I make it a point to be just the opposite in that respect, and do what I can to be helpful-after all, we all are kindred spirits here, and fellow human beings, as well, and to me such indifference is intolerable, so it's not on my agenda.

HL: What few writers have influenced you, personally?
JC: I would have to say that Poe was, and continues to be, in many respects, my first and foremost influence. I find his writings, for the most part, to be absolutely first-rate; even astounding to some degree. I also like a lot of Stoker's works, as well as Lovecraft's. I am not overly fond of many of the modern writers in the horror genre, as I think they leave little or nothing to the imagination; the use of one's imagination helps to make a book, I think, and that's something the older writers knew how to utilize well. Oh, and Le Fanu is good too.

HL: You chose the highly controversial route of self-publishing. Many writers scorn this route, why did you choose it? Did it give you any opportunities?
JC: It, along with the internet, literally opened up a whole world of possibilities for me, as it was the publication of The Shadow of the Succubus, and then the Shadow of the Succubus/The Eternal Thirst: Two Novels of Horror that began to get me noticed-and they became good calling cards, so to speak, when I tried to make contacts too. The second book has been selling and getting good reviews, as well, and a French writer, Jacques Sirgent, recently posted a great review of it on his website, which is called Musee Des Vampires, and which is getting the book noticed in France and elsewhere in Europe. Also, Max Perrier, the producer/director from 72 Films, for whom I wrote the screenplay "Carmilla" (which is based on Le Fanu's tale) first noticed me on a literary website that contained something about the book, and I eventually helped to co-write another script for him that's a film noir in the Hitchcock tradition called 'Traces," and which is being filmed in Canada as we speak. And the way I see it, if I were still waiting on traditional publishers for it, then that's what I'd be doing, still waiting. Self-publishing was once considered an honorable and respectable way to present ones works, and many writers considered great today, such as Whitman and Poe, used it to their advantage-but in today's profit-driven and media-hyped environment, it is, as you said, something that's scorned.

HL: Your renewed writing career as a screenwriter, tell us a little about that.
JC: As I just mentioned above, Max Perrier is currently filming 'Traces," which I co-wrote, and plans to begin the filming of "Carmilla" soon after "Traces" is in the can. The studio is 72 Films, which is based in Montreal. I had a good time with the scripts, and they gave me a wealth of new experience too.

HL: What future goals do you have?
JC: I hope to get to Paris soon, as Jacques Sirgent has plans to eventually translate my book and seek a publisher for it there.

HL: Thanks, John.
JC: You're welcome; it was my pleasure.