Garrett Cook: Narrative Tyranny and the Gilawalrus in the Living Room | The Outer Dark: Episode 28 — JANUARY 21, 2016

Garrett Cook discusses his latest novel A God of Hungry Walls, an extreme, brutally transgressive and claustrophobic haunted house tale that not only pushes the limits of Bizarro but provides the latest twist on a lineage of “malevolent genius loci” that starts with Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. Twisted topics include the influence of “growing up in a grim and antiquated place,”…

For the next few days my surreal horror collection A Gentle Hell (Dark Continents 2012) will be free on Amazon.

Praise for A Gentle Hell:

"Christian's writing is melancholy and sorrowful and full of depth, like rich soil that grows strange, poisonous flowers. I had images of Flannery O'Conner's "Wiseblood" going through my head as I read her work, or the early voice of Joyce Carol Oates, which is an unusual thing to say about such a young writer!"

"Christian's writing is enigmatic, yet crystal-clear. I suppose the best way to describe it would be "poetic". Her images are unusually constructed, but they are never nebulous. Her horror is definitely unsettling, but not necessarily gory. The horror in these stories comes from within the characters; a quiet desperation at the numb bare facts of human existence. After reading the stories in this collection, I found myself making plans to revisit it in a month or so, once I've had time to digest the first reading. Great stuff!"

"A Gentle Hell is written in a unique voice with beautifully turned phrases that paint pictures without being overly wordy. The horror elements are subtle, but they are definitely there. This collection left me thinking about the stories for days and wishing I could write so elegantly and without all the overly writer showoffism we see in so may books these days."

AJ: So, who is Autumn Christian?

AC: Autumn Christian is known in some circles as an anarchist collective of radical hippie savant children or a fall Baptist church festival. In truth, Autumn Christian is a girl who lives in Austin, Texas and writes dark stories, tests videogames, and occasionally is led to believe she’s the reincarnation of Philip K. Dick. Mostly because of coffee induced delusions.

AJ: Well then, during one of your coffee induced delusional states do you ever feel like Dr. Seusse or Charlie Brown?

AC: No, but there was one time I thought my ex-boyfriend was Edgar Allan Poe, but only because he refused to shave his beard and I hadn’t seen sunlight in four days.

An interview about me and my e-novella, A Gentle Hell. Check it out. My dad said it was the best thing he ever read, and I am sure he is not biased at all.

An excerpt:

2 – What are your feelings in reference to LEGO’s?