by F. R. Tallis
In a previous life you wrote crime fiction under the name Frank Tallis. What made you decide to turn to horror?
I thoroughly enjoyed writing crime novels, but deep down, I’ve always wanted to write supernatural fiction and horror. Indeed, I think this desire was so strong, characters and themes associated with supernatural fiction kept on surfacing in my crime writing. For example, my psychoanalytic detective series features séances, occult societies, the golem legend, a secret alchemist’s laboratory, and visitations by the angel of death, none of which are staples for most traditional crime novelists. It was more or less inevitable that my fascination with the supernatural would eventually necessitate a genre change.
What normally comes to you first: an idea for the plot or the character(s)?
Neither. What usually comes first is an idea, a theme, or a single image. So, the starting point of The Sleep Room was an image of a darkened room full of sleeping patients. I then learned more about deep sleep therapy and thought a great deal about where the action of the novel might take place. It was only at a relatively late stage that I started to construct a plot. Of course, I knew that I wanted to write a ‘ghost’ story, but I wasn’t at all sure how the supernatural element would manifest itself. As for characters, I like my characters to develop as the novel progresses. I like them to surprise me occasionally. This isn’t possible if their behaviour is limited by too many preconceptions.
What do you feel is the hardest part of writing a convincing horror story?
The hardest thing to achieve when writing horror novels is suspension of disbelief. Fiction is most compelling when the reader is completely immersed in a story. If something seems absurd, or ridiculous, then the reader is quickly delivered back to reality. He or she will become self-conscious and disengage from the book. The problem with supernatural fiction is that its dramatis personae (ghosts, vampires, monsters) are – by their very nature – incredible. Therefore, the horror writer is presented with a unique and substantive challenge: to sustain suspension of disbelief while working with ‘materials’ that test credulity to its absolute limit. Essentially, one must make the unbelievable believable.
Your last book, The Forbidden, was set in nineteenth-century Paris. Was it difficult to make the transition from nineteenth-century Paris to England in the 1950s?
I didn’t find the transition difficult at all. Indeed, it was very easy, because The Sleep Room was less problematic with respect to the choices I had to make about language. I simply wrote it in the 1950s English I am familiar with from watching post-war British films. The Forbidden, however, was technically more demanding. I wanted to create an impression of it being written in the style of a nineteenth-century French novel, but without compromising accessibility. In other words, I had to create a literary illusion.
Which authors have had the biggest impact on your writing?
For the purposes of this interview I will consider only those authors who have had an impact on my supernatural fiction. Needless to say, I am indebted to all the genre colossi of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Edgar Alan Poe, Charles Dickens, Henry James, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Bram Stoker, M. R. James, William Hope Hodgson, H. P. Lovecraft and Shirley Jackson. In addition, there are two other writers with whom I feel a more personal connection: Dennis Wheatley and J. Meade Falkner. I discovered the black magic novels of Dennis Wheatley when I was a schoolboy and found them deliriously enjoyable. Although Wheatley is no longer fashionable (he is a complete stranger to political correctness) and his writing style leaves much to be desired, he remains a profound formative influence. The Devil Rides Out is a stupendous supernatural adventure. I was still an adolescent when I read The Lost Stradivarius by J. Meade Falkner and I was immediately captivated by this strange tale of an English aristocrat who obsessively pursues a vision of absolute evil. It is sometimes described as the novel that M. R. James never wrote. It remains, to this day, my favourite full-length ghost story. Indeed, I am prepared to commit heresy and suggest that it is not merely comparable to the best work of M. R. James but superior.
Do you have any advice for an aspiring horror author?
I was recently asked to contribute a writing tip to a book of writing tips for aspirant authors. My tip was: beware of tips. It was considered such an unorthodox tip that it was given its own special place at the back of the book. Perhaps I should elaborate. I once overheard two writers discussing the role of research. ‘The important thing is the story,’ said one. ‘I always make sure I have a good story first and then I do my research after. Otherwise I end up doing too much research, most of which I never use.’ The other writer responded, ‘That’s a really good tip: so very professional!’ And he was right. It is a good tip, except I don’t work like that at all. In fact, I do the exact opposite. I get an idea, go off and read a large number of books on related topics, and gradually a story emerges. I am not against giving tips and advice; however, I think there is always a danger of implicitly suggesting that some working practices are inherently superior to others and will get better results (and this is clearly not the case). Different writers benefit from different methods.
What scares you?
I have had only one supernatural experience in my life. It was while on holiday in an old French farmhouse in the Loire. I know a lot about the circumstances in which people see ghosts. I also know a lot about psychological and scientific explanations of supernatural occurrences. Yet I am unable to provide a plausible alternative hypothesis to explain what I experienced that night. I wasn’t alone. My wife (a barrister with a scientific background) was also present. She still refuses to accept that what occurred was supernatural (although I suspect more as a matter of principle). I, on the other hand, have my doubts. An invisible presence making noises in the bedroom in the early hours of the morning and then running up and down the hallway is not, to my mind, easily explained. Nor are lights having no obvious source. The only alternative hypothesis that has any credibility, as far as I’m concerned, would be some sort of shared hallucination. But that is almost (although not quite) as implausible as a supernatural visitation. Spontaneous, complex, shared hallucinations are extremely rare, particularly among individuals with no prior history of hallucination, psychiatric illness or drug abuse. Besides (for what it’s worth) I felt perfectly normal at the time. Was I scared? Yes. As well as bemused, confused, and outraged by the impossible!
THE SLEEP ROOM
F. R. TALLIS is a writer and clinical psychologist. He has written self-help manuals, non-fiction for the general reader, academic text books, over thirty academic papers in international journals and several novels. Between 1999 and 2012 he received or was shortlisted for numerous awards, including the New London Writers’ Award, the Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, the Elle Prix de Letrice, and two Edgars. His critically acclaimed Liebermann series (written as Frank Tallis) has been translated into fourteen languages and optioned for TV adaptation. The Forbidden, his ninth novel, is a horror story set in nineteenth-century Paris and this, The Sleep Room, is his tenth.
For more on Frank Tallis, visit his website
www.franktallis.com
or follow him on Twitter @FrankTallis
BY F. R. TALLIS
The Forbidden
The Sleep Room
Writing as Frank Tallis
FICTION
Killing Time
Sensing Others
Mortal Mischief
Vienna Blood
Fatal Lies
Darkness Rising
Deadly Communion
Death and the Maiden
NON-FICTION
Changing Minds
Hidden Minds
Love Sick
First published 2013 by Macmillan
This electronic edition published 2013 by Pan Books
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ISBN 978-0-230-77190-1
Copyright © F. R. Tallis 2013
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