Dark fiction author John Grover entertains with monsters, supernatural

1.) John, you are mainly a horror writer, so can you tell me a little about how you approach the genre as a writer?

I mostly write quiet horror, subtle things. I examine the nature of evil in mankind. A lot of my stories have a questioning theme that leaves the reader to question his or her understanding of the world around us. Is man the real monster in horror stories or is there an external force that seduces him to do evil? I write stories that feel a lot like the Twilight Zone or Tales from the Darkside. I love writing about monsters, the supernatural and I tend to explore themes of life after death in my stories. More than likely I tell stories that help myself and others deal with our mortality and what comes after we leave this world. I’ve been told that many of my stories have an ironic twist to them. I like to think I write entertaining stories ... ones I’d love to read myself.

2.) You have also written some fantasy. How was the process of writing fantasy different from that of writing horror?

I actually find writing fantasy to be much harder. In horror I have an established world, ours. So I find it easy to take the every day or the normal and turn it upside down. In horror the people are everyday people. In fantasy I have to invent an entirely new world. One that is not ours, one that is populated with beings that don’t exist, or at least we think they don’t. To me, this is much harder to suspend the reader’s disbelief. This world has its own laws, physics, people, gods, geography, food, languages, you could go on and on. I find that creating this world takes a lot of discipline and detail. When I’m done I'm still never sure if I’ve pulled it off.

3.) Who are some authors you feel have had a major influence upon you?

Some of my favorites are Clive Barker, Jack Ketchum, HP Lovecraft, Poe, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Bram Stoker.

4.) Where are the darker genres headed?

As in other decades, I think dark fiction takes on a lot of the issues going on in society. I think we’ll continue to see stories that deal with life after death but also tales about government control, invasion by outside forces, losing our identity, waking up to find that things changed right under our noses and now we no longer feel safe, invasion of mind and body. I think common monsters like zombies and vampires will fade somewhat to be replaced by new beasties. I’d love to see the werewolf make a big come back and bigfoot stories seem to be on the rise.

5.) Beer, wine, or the hard stuff? Or something else?

I tend to like mixed drinks. My favorite ... The Mojito! Is It Cinqo De Mayo yet?

6.) You are walking down the street when suddenly a screaming girl covered in blood comes running past you. You look back and there's a great big guy with a butcher knife (also covered in blood) and he is running after the girl. You are now between him and the girl. What do you do?

Get killed. I’m a weakling ... that psycho would rip me apart, throw my limp body aside and continue after the girl. But seriously ... I’d either slow the guy down with a trash can, a rock, tripping him or I’d run with the girl, grab onto her and guide her to the nearest public place and of course scream like hell!

For more about author John Grover, check out:
Shadow Tales: the official site of John Grover
Aftermath ... the online series
The John Grover Amazon page
... and the following video!