Tony Bowman's Page on Redbud Revue

Last night, I was privileged to be interviewed on Whispers in the Dark along with several of my fellow Terror Train Anthology alums - check it out! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/viktoraurelius/2014/07/31/terror-train--horror-anthology-show-1 The entire show is two hours. I'm third on the interview list after author Stuart Keene and publisher James Ward Kirk - right around the twenty-eight minute mark. The entire show was a blast featuring other fantastic authors: Jeremy Mays, Alex S. Johnson, and Jim Goforth. Viktor Aurelius also read two poems from the anthology by Lori Lopez and Mary Fortier Schutz!

I always read my stories to my wife first. My typical pattern is: write a chapter or short story, revise, read out loud. This habit has served me well - I'm fortunate because my wife is an honest reviewer. This wouldn't work if she just told me what I wanted to hear. She's great at judging whether what I just wrote 'worked', and I respect her judgement. She's got a great ear. But, just because it 'works' doesn't mean she would want to curl up with it on a cold winter night. Some of the things I write frighten her. One of my projects I hope to release later this winter is a book about witches that absolutely terrifies her. She can't listen to it because it gives her nightmares. And, for a horror writer, that's a good thing. It means I'm doing my job. This summer, I wrote a dark little short story called Night Train (most of my short fiction is very dark, not sure why). After reading it aloud, my wife just gave me 'the look'. ...

I love werewolves. To me, they're the epitome of cool. Whether you're watching Lon Chaney, Jr. glue some yak hair on his face back in the 30's or Dee Wallace animatronically wolfing out during a newscast in The Howling, there's something about the primordial draw of getting in touch with your animal side. In short, it's sexy. I enjoy writing about them in stories because they are interesting - full of urges and conflicts. Werewolves have the upper hand when it comes to charming the opposite sex. Lon Chaney, Jr. wasn't a great actor, and he was a bit on the chunky side. But, he always got the girl - Dracula couldn't, Frankenstein's monster couldn't, but good ol' Larry Talbot the tortured werewolf always got the girl. Larry Talbot: "Oh, Mary, you don't understand. Tonight, the full moon will come out, and I will become a hideous monster. I'm afraid I might hurt you." Mary: "Oh, Larry, you poor dear. I don't care if ...

Nine Fingers, my horror novel about werewolves and responsibility is nearing the 1/3 complete mark. If all goes well, we should be going to press in mid-August. And, no, my werewolves aren't fluffy. Here's a very short sample:     Hayden stood up and cupped her face in his hands, “Your husband hurt you, Karen. He betrayed you, and you’re never going to have peace until you confront him.”     “You’re not talking about confronting him. A confrontation is just an argument, a few harsh words. You and I, we don’t do harsh words anymore, Hayden,” there were tears in her eyes as she spoke.     She felt as if his eyes were tearing into her soul as he spoke, “He used you for twenty years. He used your body, your emotions. And, then, when he felt like you were used up, he tossed you to the curb for some slut half his age. He demeaned you, disrespected you, and left you with nothing.”     Her tears fell, but she felt so...

A disclaimer before I begin: I have a story in Terror Train. However, narcissist that I am, not even I would have the audacity to award myself five stars. My review is for the other 95% of the book, which is a wonderful mix of excellent short stories and exceptional poetry, masterfully edited by Grabowski and Keene. Each piece is tied in beautifully to the Terror Train theme, and together they weave a tapestry of horrific beauty. It's very hard to pick favorites, but the stories I connected with most were: "Summer Train" by Brigitte Kephart - a yarn about adolescence and a train filled with cadavers. "Training the Unfortunate" by Jim Goforth - a very novel solution to the homeless problem. "Enter the Corruption" by Leigh M. Lane - a different kind of zombie story. I also especially loved the poems "Midnight Train" by Mary Genevieve Fortier and "Viper" by Lori R. Lopez. Terror Train is an excellent read. Believe me, you w...