Special Guest Interview Rayne Hall!

Halloween is coming–so this week I have a very special guest horror author and editor, Rayne Hall!

Portrait of Rayne Hall by Leah Skerry

Rayne Hall has published more than thirty books under different pen names with different publishers in different genres, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. Recent books include Storm Dancer (dark epic fantasy novel), Six Historical Tales Vol 1, Six Scary Tales Vol 1, 2 and 3 (mild horror stories), Six Historical Tales (short stories), Six Quirky Tales (humorous fantasy stories), Writing Fight Scenes and Writing Scary Scenes (instructions for authors).

She holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Currently, she edits the Ten Tales series of multi-author short story anthologies: Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts, Scared: Ten Tales of Horror, Cutlass: Ten Tales of Pirates, Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft and more.

Her short online classes for writers intense with plenty of personal feedback. Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, Writing about Magic and Magicians, The Word Loss Diet and more.

https://sites.google.com/site/writingworkshopswithraynehll/

For more information about Rayne Hall go to her website https://sites.google.com/site/raynehallsdarkfantasyfiction/

Alright, on to the questions: When did you know you wanted to tell stories?

The stories we had to read in primary school were yawnishly dull, so I made up my own. When I was six, I told the teacher the stories were stupid and I could write better ones.  She took me up on it – bless her! – and gave me this assignment:  a story about a letter’s adventures from writing to delivery. When I handed it in, she was startled that a six year-old could write so well. Of course, she didn’t know I’d had the help of my older sister. From then on, when the other kids had to read the dull pieces for their homework, she often assigned me to write stories, and I soon learnt to do it without my sister’s help.

Where do you get your ideas & inspiration?

Most of my horror story ideas come from my own fears – things that frighten me, places that creep me out, nightmares that keep me awake at night. Thousands of ideas flutter around in my head at the same time. Sometimes, two or three of those ideas click together like jigsaw pieces, and that’s when a story starts to form. The location is almost always one of the first pieces to click. I like to set my stories in unusual, atmospheric places.

 

What do you think is scarier in a horror story: tension or gore?

Definitely tension! If the gore mounts up in a story, the shocking effect soon wears off, and the readers get bored instead of horrified.  Tension, on the other hand, keeps the reader hooked. In horror fiction, gore is optional. Some stories need gore, others don’t. Personally, I enjoy reading horror that’s low in violence and gore, but rich in tension and suspense. As a writer, I don’t shy away from gore if the plot requires it, and I have written graphic descriptions, but most of my horror stories are more psychological than gory.

How do you accomplish scaring the audience in your own writing?

I like to make the main character’s experience so vivid that the readers sees, hears, smells and feels everything as if it was happening to them.

I put the character into a dangerous situation – usually something they’ve brought about themselves – and then I take away every chance of support or rescue. The companion storms off after a quarrel, the terrible weather means no one else is around, and then the phone battery goes dead.

If possible, I dip the story into darkness: a powercut shuts off the lights, the campfire burns down, or the wind blows out the candle and clouds hide the moon. With the sense of seeing reduced, the other senses become more intense. The character hears alls sorts of disturbing noises, and she may have to grope her way out of danger.

I have written a book – Writing Scary Scenes – in which I reveal techniques for frightening readers.

What are your biggest fears? (Rational and/or Irrational.)

I have so many fears! The high-pitched whine of a dentist’s drill. Slimy garden slugs. Big spiders in my bathtub. Crowds. Fire. Heights. I’m a real coward, which is a good thing for a horror writer, because I know what it feels like to be afraid, and I never run out of ideas.

Many of my best horror stories are inspired by my own fears. Sometimes, it takes courage to confront that fear in my writing.  Once the story is finished, though, the fear is replaced by a sense of triumph: By fictionalising the fear, I’ve gained control over it. By writing about what frightens me, I can make it less frightening.

Thank you for coming, Rayne!

FYI, Rayne will be watching the comments, so if you have questions for her, please post them in the comments and she will answer them!