Interview with The Undead
Interview originally posted at http://www.rockcrown.com/zombie/churchill.php. Reproduced here with premission from the publisher.
THE UNDEAD:
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview, Vince. Tell us a little about your background and how you got started writing.
CHURCHILL:
Thank you for asking, it's my pleasure. My background is a bit scattered. I've worked a lot of different jobs...everything from being a messenger to a bank teller to a nightclub bouncer to a dating service salesperson. I don't have a writing related degree in English or Journalism, etc. For the past several years I have worked at Showtime Networks in both the film production and development departments. As for writing, I still have the report card from my 1st grade teacher who noted I was already writing little stories. I really have been writing for as long as I can remember. Always been a big reader. Started off with comic books and eventually graduated to novels like Jaws & The Exorcist until I became a disciple of Stephen King...[laughing] My Mom is responsible for my early introduction and love of horror. She used to take me to movies when I was young, particularly the drive-in, where I was treated to the glory we call the 70's and such classics as TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS...man, I love my Mom!
THE UNDEAD:
What drives you to write?
CHURCHILL:
Well, there are a couple of things. One, I think I've always known it's what I'm supposed to do, so I've always done it. The second is that I get off on the power I potentially hold over my readers. I want to make them see what I see in my head, make them feel things against their will. I want to entertain people in ways they'd have never thought they could be entertained, much less volunteer for! And I'm really addicted to the creative process of writing. I just love doing it.
THE UNDEAD:
What projects are you working on now (or have planned) ?
CHURCHILL:
Well, besides my short story in The Undead, I've just started my 4th novel called Good Night My Sweet, a contemporary end-of-the-world love story I'm anxious for people to read. After that I will complete the work on the sequel to my 2nd book (The Blackest Heart) which I'm calling Pandora. And I'm fighting to complete my first horror script called THE BUTCHER BRIDE before the holidays. After that, it might be time to return to another zombie novel with an idea I came up with as I was brainstorming for The Undead. The basic idea for the zombie thing would allow me to push the envelop for some really nasty, ugly fun.
THE UNDEAD:
Out of your previously published stories/novels which are you most proud of?
CHURCHILL:
I'm very, very happy with my latest novel, The Blackest Heart. I think after the first one I had to prove to myself that I could really become a novelist and write another book, you know? I think readers that missed my first novel, The Dead Shall Inherit The Earth, will find a gem in The Blackest Heart. It's my ode to THE CROW & HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER with a sci-fi twist. I also have a short story called "Happy To Meat You" that I never found a home for I really love. I may have to motivate myself someday and produce a short film out of it.
THE UNDEAD:
Who are your favorite authors and why do they inspire you?
CHURCHILL:
I have a lot of them but I'll try to narrow them down. [laughing] Jack Ketchum, Robert Deveareaux and early works of Shaun Hutson and Richard Laymon for their fearlessness & their ability to shock. Books like Deadweight, The Girl Next Door, and Off Season really showed me the power a book can have when the author exploits his or her creative freedom to the fullest. I'm still learning to do that. I really feel a kinship to early James Herbert & Robert McCammon for their ability to blend action with the horrific. I think my style is most like theirs. Clive Barker & his Books of Blood opened up the world of horror for me like no other piece of writing. I really dig Joe Lansdale because his writing crosses all genres and he writes like a master storyteller speaks. Stephen King of course, though I have probably only read 1-2 of his last several books, but the early stuff I inhaled. I also love Skip & Spector, Steve Perry for his Matador series and Richard Avery for his Expendables series, both of which are my favorite sci-fi/action series.
THE UNDEAD:
What is your favorite zombie movie and why?
CHURCHILL:
Hands down, my favorite zombie flick is DAWN OF THE DEAD. And that would be the original, not the wannabe...[laughing] I love the action, the horror, the social commentary, the relationships between the 4 main characters...I'm also a fan of CEMETERY MAN & DEAD ALIVE with that kick-ass kung-fu priest!
THE UNDEAD:
What is your favorite zombie book and why?
CHURCHILL:
Now that's a much tougher question...it's funny, I have several bookcases full of horror novels, mostly paperbacks, and on my main bookcase I have my 13 all-time favorite books on the top shelf. I have many zombie books, but the only one on the top shelf is Wet Work by Phillip Nutman. Right behind it would probably be the first Book of the Dead. And even though this is off the question a little bit, by far my favorite zombie short story of all-time is "Abed" by Elizabeth Massie in the second Book of the Dead collection. Talk about a nasty ass mind f*ck. Yikes!
THE UNDEAD:
The current trend seems to be making zombies fast and/or smart (or at least smarter). Do you support this trend or do you prefer the classic Romero-style zombies?
CHURCHILL:
I think having grown up with slower zombies, I'm a bit more old school about it. The faster zombies of 28 DAYS LATER (I know, I know, not really zombies) & the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake are a fun change of pace but I think I'll stick to the more conventional Romero-style dead.
THE UNDEAD:
Thank you again for your time and thanks for submitting your story for The Undead.
CHURCHILL:
Thank you, it's been fun. And thank you for asking me to take part in such a cool project.