Horror Aficionados discussion

This is the thread for the August 2019 Group Read with Guest Author, Tony Tremblay, as we read his THE MOORE HOUSE, a 2019 Bram Stoker Award nominee for Best First Novel. Please help me welcome, Tony Tremblay!

Hello Tony and thank you for joining us.

OMG
--Three excommunicated nuns, Nora, Agnes, and Celeste, join a paranormal unit sanctioned by the Catholic Church--

If that doesn't make you want to read this book, i don't know what will! i'm in for this one too!

Welcome Tony! I look forward to reading your book!

Welcome, Tony!

Lol omg i bought this as soon as i read the blurb.

Thank you everyone, and thanks for inviting me! I hope you enjoy the book!

Hey, Tony-it's Char! I'm so psyched to see you here! You know how much I loved this book. :)

Char wrote: "Hey, Tony-it's Char! I'm so psyched to see you here! You know how much I loved this book. :)"

Thank you! It's good to see you here, Char!

I was immensely blessed to read this as an ARC. To those of you who haven't yet read it, oh boy! THE MOORE HOUSE is a TREASURE!

Welcome, Tony!

Welcome Tony! I bought this book after reading Char's review, and still have it on the TBR pile--I will DEFINITELY be joining in for this one!

Welcome tony!! Looks like I’m reading 4 books this month!!

Between the author reads, the poll winners and some suggestions, my kindle is full of unread horror! *mouth waters* Ready to sink my teeth in starting with Rosemary’s Baby!

I think I’m up to 6 for the month of August. But I’ll be listening to some of those.

Any relationship to Paul tremblay?

Atl wrote: "Any relationship to Paul tremblay?"

We joke we are cousins. We could be, Tremblay is the French version of Smith, and we both have family in Canada.

Atl wrote: "Any relationship to Paul tremblay?"

lol that was the first question that popped into my head too

Haha there you go Latasha.

Tony is the much more handsome twin. ;-)

Oh yeah? You got a pic tony?

Atl wrote: "Oh yeah? You got a pic tony?" I do have pictures of both of us together. How do you add a picture here?

Atl wrote: "Oh yeah? You got a pic tony?"

Yes. Is there a way to display a picture here?

Go to your profile. Right below were your picture should be, it should say add a photo. Click that and you should be able to upload 10? 20? I hope that’s right! Lol it’s been a minute & I’m going from memory.

Latasha wrote: "Go to your profile. Right below were your picture should be, it should say add a photo. Click that and you should be able to upload 10? 20? I hope that’s right! Lol it’s been a minute & I’m going f..."

Thank you, the picture is up.

T. wrote: "Latasha wrote: "Go to your profile. Right below were your picture should be, it should say add a photo. Click that and you should be able to upload 10? 20? I hope that’s right! Lol it’s been a minu..." Least, I think it is. It's somewhere under Tony's photos.

yep, i can see it Tony. glad it worked.

Nice to have a face to the name, Tony!

Thanks tony

With all the road-tripping and associated free time while I'm not driving, I'm really hoping to get to this one this month! It really does sound like something I'd enjoy. Welcome, Tony!

Thanks again everyone! I hope you enjoy the novel.

This is your first book, Tony? Can you tell us how you got into writing and what drew your to horror?

Ken wrote: "This is your first book, Tony? Can you tell us how you got into writing and what drew your to horror?"

Hey, Ken! It's my second book, first novel. I have two other books out (Seeds of Nightmares, Blue Stars and Other Tales of Darkness) that are short story collections.

I've been reading horror for over 50 years now, started in jr. high and never stopped. When I was in grade school, my father gave me a bible to read, so I would have to say the Old Testament, with all of it's gore and weird stories stoked my love for the genre.

In high school, I enrolled in a creative writing class and wrote horror stories. They were well received and I should have continued to write, but life got in the way. Family, work, community were all consuming, but I never stopped reading horror. In my mid-fifties, I joined a writers group, and took back up where I left off in high school.

At that time I was also a reviewer for Horror World and Cemetery Dance, so I did have a toe in the writing business. Through my reviews and website memberships, I networked with other writers, joined genre groups, and went to conventions. I asked a lot of questions, and I listened carefully to the answers.

After my first story was published in 2010, I was hooked, and haven't stopped writing since.

One last thing...meeting my hero's at those conventions was not only a fanboy's dream come true, but talking with those authors gave me the confidence I needed to give writing a shot.

I cracked this open tonight. This hardcover edition really is a thing of beauty, Tony. I had to stop after reading the prologue and tell you thank a lot. I’ll never be able to crawl through a window again thanks to you. Whew! What an opening!

Ken wrote: "I cracked this open tonight. This hardcover edition really is a thing of beauty, Tony. I had to stop after reading the prologue and tell you thank a lot. I’ll never be able to crawl through a windo..."

Thank you, Ken! When I first wrote it, it was a bit tamer than the version in the book. My editor, John McIlveen, wrote me a note that simply said, make it even scarier. So I did, and I had a blast doing so.

Thoughts through Chapter 6 -

I am totally sucked in. I’ve got so many question that need answers. Tony, you seem to be a master of the cliffhanger after every chapter.

(view spoiler)[ The first chapter had me after you dropped the bomb about the dad being a molester instead of the house being haunted/possessed. Chapter 6 killed it with the priest who has something to hide and the door that appears to be a different color to everyone who looks at it. I’m also curious about this “pawn” shop of mysterious religious items. I feel like there’s more to the story. Again, I NEED ANSWERS! I guess I won’t be getting anything else done tonight besides kicking this book’s ass. Thank’s a lot, Tony! (hide spoiler)]

Ken wrote: "Thoughts through Chapter 6 -

I am totally sucked in. I’ve got so many question that need answers. Tony, you seem to be a master of the cliffhanger after every chapter.

[spoilers removed]"

:)

Finished this one today and I’m blown away, Tony! Such great characters. Am I correct in that Rex was inspired by Miller’s Chaingang?

Ken wrote: "Finished this one today and I’m blown away, Tony! Such great characters. Am I correct in that Rex was inspired by Miller’s Chaingang?"

You absolutely are! I was a fan of both Miller's - Chaingang, and Gerard Houarner's - Max creations. I wove elements of both into Rex's character. You learn more about Rex in the bonus story in the print editions of The Moore House, or you can read the story (The Reverend's Wife) in my new collection Blue Stars and Other Tales of Darkness.

Miller made quite an impression on me, I've read all the Chaingang books and the short story he wrote featuring Daniel Bunkowski. I'm not sure if you knew who Tom Piccrilli was (he passed away), but Tom was also a fan of Miller's, and we would occasionally discuss him.

I hope Rex proved to be a suitable homage to Chaingang.

Just picked this up after finding it on here. Looks good, can't wait to check it out

Chris wrote: "Just picked this up after finding it on here. Looks good, can't wait to check it out"

I hope you enjoy it, Chris!

Tony, obviously Rex Miller was an influential writer for you. Who else were your influences growing up?

I hope I'll have time to join in on this discussion by the end of the month! Welcome Tony! 👻💚

Ken wrote: "Tony, obviously Rex Miller was an influential writer for you. Who else were your influences growing up?"

Gosh, so many. I'll give as many as I can recall:

Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Poe, Richard Matheson, Charles L. Grant, Dan Simmons, Rober McCammon, Peter Straub, Stephen King, Thomas Tyron, John Farris, Richard Masterton.

They all gave me my formative years in horror; understanding what frightens people (me).

Later on, these people gave me a better understanding on the mechanics of modern horror: Tom Piccirilli, Gary Braunbeck, Graham Masterton, and Steve Vernon.

If you read any of my short stories in my collection, I call out some of these gentleman on the story notes for each tale. Pic influenced me the most when it comes to style, Braunbeck, Vernon, and Masterton, as to how the weird could be frightening, and early King taught me the most about pacing (notice I said early King :) ).

My influences are varied, and they are all there in my short stories.

Prinzessbtrfly wrote: "I hope I'll have time to join in on this discussion by the end of the month! Welcome Tony! 👻💚"

I hope so also! Thanks for the welcome!

Prinzessbtrfly wrote: "I hope I'll have time to join in on this discussion by the end of the month! Welcome Tony! 👻💚"

I had really hoped to join this one, then my schedule kind of blew up. 😕 I still hope to read it soon - sounds interesting!

Tony, can you tell us what you have in store for us horror fans for the rest of 2019 and into 2020? Will you be doing any signings or cons?

Thanks for asking, Ken! I have a short story coming out in November in the Dystopian States Of American anthology. That will be it for 2019 as I have just released the Blue Stars collection.

In 2020, I should have the follow up to The Moore House complete (tentatively titled Don't Weep For Me), a novella released called What Does It Mean To Be A Woman?, and I will be editing and contributing along with three other gentleman an anthology dealing with Halloween Trains due out next October. It will be a busy year!

To all who read The Moore House, my deepest gratitude. Thanks so much, and I hope you enjoyed the novel. Thanks, Ken for the invitation, it was a lot of fun.

Thanks, Tony! It was great to have you here! (I'll see you in October!)

Char wrote: "Thanks, Tony! It was great to have you here! (I'll see you in October!)" Thank you!