In October I reviewed a beautiful romance novel titled Concealed In My Heart. Yesterday, I reviewed a horror collection by that same author, Regina Puckett.
She talks here about going from romance to horror so effortlessly and reveals the inspiration behind her chilling stories!
1. What made you want to pen a horror collection?
I never planned on writing an entire collection of horror stories. In 2012, I decided to try my hand at writing a short horror story. I wanted to try something different from romance and horror seemed to be just about as different as I could get from writing about love. My oldest daughter loves ghost hunting and has been investigating a deserted hospital for the last couple of years. That seemed like a good backdrop for a horror story so that was how my short story, "Mine", was born. The second story came about when I was searching to buy a picture to use for the cover of "Mine". My co-worker was looking over my shoulder and saw a creepy picture with dolls in it and told me I should write a story about dolls. My first thought was that theme had already been done to death, but the longer I thought about it, the more I became convinced I could put a new spin on an old theme. Before I knew it, "Crying Through Plastic Eyes" was written. One thing lead to the next and then to the next, and I soon had enough short stories to put together as a collection.
2. Out of all the stories, do you have a favorite?
I had the most fun writing "Will Work for Food". I laughed when I wrote the ending to it even though it’s in such bad taste. I never knew black humor was my thing but it still cracks me up every time I think about its ending. I always let the ladies at work read my short stories before I publish them, and I knew exactly when each one of them had finished reading that story. There would be a loud groan echoing down the hallway that would quickly be followed with a, “Regina!”
3. Can you tell readers about the inspiration behind some of the individual stories?
My inspiration for "Paying the Hitchhiker" came to me while my husband and I were driving from Tennessee to Myrtle Beach. I didn’t actually see anyone hitchhiking but a thought came to me about how I could put an interesting twist on the tale of a woman hitchhiking and finding trouble in doing so.
I saw a group of college age kids on the side of the road begging one day, and that is how "Will Work for Food" came about being written. I had a totally different ending in mind when I first started writing, but out of the blue, it hit me what needed to done to make it into a really twisted finale.
"Pieces" came to me one Sunday morning, while I was on my way to church. I was thinking about using the storyline of an abused woman finding true love, but right in the middle of church service it came to me how I could make the story into a tale of horror instead. Of all the stories in my horror book, this is the one that brings a few tears, whenever I hear it being read on the audiobook. It’s horrifyingly touching in a strange way.
4. Will you ever write an entire horror novel?
I joined forces with my youngest daughter, Charity Parkerson, to write a three book horror/erotic series for Ellora’s Cave. The first story, "Bedroom Games", is a short story but the next two are full length books.
In Bedroom Games we introduce the demon named Septem. He is the ruler of the seventh level of hell and a collector of souls. While I enjoyed writing these books, I’m not certain I’ll ever write another full length horror book again. I’m not saying I won’t, but I never know from one day to next, if I’m ever going to write another story of any genre again until another idea strikes out of the blue.
I’m not even going to pretend to be Stephen King, but if the right storyline came to me, I would definitely try to make it into something that sends grown men screaming out into the night.
5. Would you like to see any of the stories made into short films, as so many have been in the past?
I don’t know of an author alive who wouldn’t want their book made into a film. I was approached last year by a German film student who wanted to film "Paying the Hitchhiker" for a class. I don’t know if he ever did or not but I would have loved to see how it turned out.
If you ever meet Steven Spielberg, be certain to tell him that Regina Puckett’s Short Tales of Horror would make six great movies.
Visit Regina Puckett on her website , where you will find all of her books and links to her social networks!
Enjoy!
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