By Jim Mcleod 
In this fascinating interview, we dive into the mind of Sam Dawson, a prolific journalist and horror writer with a passion for history and the eerie. With years of experience crafting unsettling tales and illuminating forgotten places, Sam’s work reflects his unique blend of personal experiences and an insatiable curiosity for the strange and underground. From his debut novel, “The Running,” to his illustrated history of Dorking’s subterranean secrets, Sam offers insights into the art of storytelling and the enduring allure of horror. Join us as we explore the intricate layers of his creative process and literary influences.
Sam Dawson: Journalist, Horror Writer, and Underground Explorer, Author Interview
Please tell the readers a little bit about yourself.
My day job is journalist, and has been for years, along with (formerly) being a campaigner and volunteer medic. In my spare time I’m a cave guide and first aider, among other voluntary roles, with a particular interest in history, films, books, and investigating places that are odd, old or underground.
Since 1997 I’ve had too many stories to count published. All horror. Also a collection of horror tales (Pariah and Other Stories), a history book (Dorking: a Town Underground) and now a first novel (The Running). I also do some illustrating. Actually making any money out of all this continues to elude me.
(I’m in a running competition with the excellent supernatural writer Steve Duffy as to which of us can submit the shortest biography to volumes which include our stories. I’ve been winning for several years now. I hope that I haven’t blown it here.)
Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?
In the case of The Running, I already have, since it’s the classic first novel, in being wholly autobiographical. The others? The implacable, unpersuadable ones, those who cannot be reasoned with, those populating situations you cannot escape from.
Which of your characters is your favourite?
I honestly couldn’t tell you. I have a handful of favourite stories though.
Which of your books best represents you?
As mentioned, The Running is the most autobiographical, but everything I’ve ever written draws on people I’ve known and places I’ve visited (or dreamed of). It’s all quite personal, isn’t it? There are situations and characters I stick in stories that I wouldn’t dare invent in case they seemed too improbable, but even beyond that, doesn’t every tale someone writes reflect something, someone or somewhere they have touched or been touched by, lived or dreamed? Perhaps utterly unreal, they are all grounded, somewhere, in real life.
I’ve also written and illustrated a history book that could be taken to accurately represent a geezer with a fascination with the past who is using writing a book for a museum as an excuse to get into and research lots of lost, creepy, subterranean spaces
Other than the horror genre, what else has significantly influenced your writing?
Journalism. Writing and then editing it down again and again, always looking to make it shorter and then shorter still. (This may not always be a good thing, and I’m fighting the temptation here to cut these answers by two-thirds.)
The term horror, especially when applied to fiction, always has such heavy connotations. What’s your feeling on the term “horror”, and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?
I suspect it will always be slightly looked down on, and we will never change that. Perhaps we don’t need to, we just need to keep it readable and relevant and, hopefully, enjoyable to readers.
It isn’t just horror, though; much genre-based writing seems to get the same treatment. Look at Raymond Chandler, David Nobbs and Len Deighton. Three world-class authors whose sometimes utterly brilliant prose doesn’t get the praise it deserves because they are boxed away as penpushers of, respectively, private eye novels, comedy and spy thrillers.
That said, it would be nice if the genre still had the shelf-space, cultural impact and front cover artwork it used to be awarded in, say, the 1970s and the days of publishers such as the New English Library.
Should horror be political?
Anytime it wants or is appropriate, why not?
Why do you think so many people enjoy horror?
In a world of real life terrors we enjoy those we can banish by turning on the bedroom light.
What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?
As mentioned above, it’s difficult sometimes not to pine for the days of shelves dedicated to horror in bookshops, and the multitude of publishers (including the mainstream ones) pumping out books in the genre.
What new and upcoming authors should we take notice of?
There’s too many to list, especially when you add in all the excellent writers who remain largely unrecognised and consigned to the ‘And others’ tag on anthology covers. We are lucky to be living in a bit of a boom time for quality writing, much of it published by the small presses.
And who would be on your Mount Rushmore of horror?
How much space is there? MR James; Charles Dickens; Algernon Blackwood; Edgar Alan Poe; Edith Nesbitt for Man Sized in Marble; Stephen King for reaching millions; Mary Shelley; Shirley Jackson; the wonderful Ray Bradbury for lighting up so many childhoods; Henry James; the criminally under-recognised Robert Westall; Machen; Matheson; Stoker; Bloch, and countless more. How much space is there on this mountainside?
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative, that have stayed with you?
Yes. They’re all printed off and tucked in the relevant volume. So far I think I’ve wholly escaped negative comment, probably by being largely unknown.
What aspects of writing do you find the most difficult?
Having an idea to be taken forward, and if there isn’t one, then getting down to writing regardless. Personally, it only really works if I write every day, without fail. When I have something to write, that is (sometimes there’s just no spark or idea to take forward; but when there is it has to be hammered at daily, at least for me). No excuses and no breaks for research, which must be done alongside rather than instead of the writing, or it becomes too seductive.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
There are times when the characters feel right, you know where the story is going and you’ve been working on it in your head while doing something else and you can’t wait to get those words down. That’s pretty invigorating when it happens. Pretty rare too.
What’s your best advice for new authors about social media?
I’m the wrong age to answer that.
How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?
Keep the nastiness unreal.
Assume that not all historical or cultural references need to be explained (wasting words and diverting from the flow of the story) but, conversely, make sure that if the reference isn’t recognised the reader can just continue without needing to know it or can Google it.
With the first collection, and any subsequent ones that come along, hopefully scare and/or intrigue the reader, but then finish the book with a happy story so they go away feeling OK about life.
Writing is not a static process; how have you developed as a writer?
I can reread my stuff now without cringing. I couldn’t when I started. I’ve learnt that my original model from the 1990s of writing a story, then waiting for my Christmas annual leave to illustrate it, and then not writing another story until that one had been accepted was fatally flawed. It took me several years to realise this.
What’s the most surprising thing you learned while writing your books?
How much surprising and fascinating information you learn and then have to put aside and not include.
What does literary success look like to you?
It would be nice to get paid a bit now and then.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received regarding your writing?
Probably those rare rejection letters for my first novel where the person said this isn’t for us, but it deserves publication. Don’t say I sent you, but try XXXX and if they don’t want it, keep going, don’t give up.
Do you have a favourite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
Not so much a favourite, but, absurdly – given that it’s fiction and I wrote it – the last line of this para, about Alex, a young lad injured because he worked so hard to be able to afford a Vincent Black Shadow motorbike, makes me feel a tiny bit tearful. His mates have bought the bike and taken it to the hospital where, they realise, he is dying.
‘… the five of us pushed the Black Shadow into Alex’s ward and parked it next to his bed. The Matron blew her top, telling us to get that dirty, oily thing out of her nice clean ward, but we ignored her. There was nothing dirty about that bike. We had polished every inch till it gleamed. We expected her to call the police, but we didn’t care if she did. We were on a pilgrimage. But she didn’t in the end, I think because she saw the unexpected glimmer of light in Alex’s dying eyes and the sudden smile, his last ever, when we took his hand and touched it to the sweet lines of that bike.’
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
The one just published is The Running, an extremely personal story of life, love and the legacies of the Spanish Civil War. It has taken years to reach publication stage.
The next one, written right after that one, is called Index Case, a pandemic thriller with horror elements. I have to find a publisher and get it out there, and not take too long about it.
Work in progress is a ghost novel, which I’ve had to shelve for now due to pressure of work and because I need to write some short stories in order to keep some kind of presence out there (and also, if I’m honest, because the lead characters who are needed to take it forward don’t feel real to me in the way their predecessors earlier in the book did).
This might be the time to put it out there that I have several volumes worth of published and new stories which it would be nice to see put into two or three books.
If you could erase one horror cliché, what would be your choice?
Not quite a cliché but I find disappointing the ‘and then this happened’ kind of story. Where there’s, say, a genuinely exciting situation, typically with people endangered, but there’s no explanation of how they got there, or how the thing(s) menacing them came about. One or two of those tales could be absolute classics if the basic legwork had been put in.
If your partner was going to leave you for another author, which author would you like them to end up with and why?
Unfortunately quite a few male authors (including some of those whose work I most admire) famously turn out to be or have been absolute bastards in real life. Exceptions that spring to mind would be Ray Bradbury, a dreamer and famously faithful friend, or the cartoonist Charles Addams. There must be many more, the equivalents of, say, those performers known for their simple decency or kindness to others, such as Roger Moore, Dolly Parton, Keanu Reeves, Paul Eddington, Roger Livesey, Jack Lemon, Tom Hanks, Paul McCartney, David Gilmour, Julie Andrews etc.
What’s the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?
The Running by Sam Dawson
‘Do you want a cheque or will an E-Type do instead?’
I’ll leave you to decide the answer.
It started with him. And his love of history.. his thirst for knowledge. We still have his journals.
Or maybe…it was the War. The secrets of the Civil War still damage the living, especially in haunted Spanish villages. Secrets which were better left buried. Irreversible truths harming everyone he knows.
Past and present converge in a forgotten landscape, and for journalist Tom Drummond, The Running is coming. Villains and martyrs depend on who writes the history.
“There are no secrets in the village. Ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn’t have fallen in love with?”
Sam Dawson is a journalist, ex-campaigner and volunteer medic A spare time cave guide and first aider, his interests include history, films, books, martial arts, and investigating places that are odd, old or underground. This is his first novel with Other Side Books.
Interviews on Ginger Nuts of Horror
If you’re a fan of horror literature and cinema, then you absolutely need to check out the horror interview section of Ginger Nuts of Horror.
Firstly, the interviews feature a diverse range of authors, filmmakers, and horror enthusiasts, allowing readers to gain a multifaceted understanding of the genre. Each interview is an opportunity to explore the creative processes, inspirations, and personal stories behind the minds that produce some of the most chilling and thought-provoking works in horror today. From seasoned veterans to up-and-coming talents, the variety of voices ensures that readers can find something that resonates with them.
Moreover, these interviews often delve into the nuances of what makes horror such a compelling genre. Contributors share their thoughts on the psychological aspects of fear, the societal influences on horror trends, and the ways in which horror reflects cultural anxieties. This deeper exploration not only enriches one’s appreciation for horror stories but also fosters discussions about broader themes, such as identity, morality, and existential dread.
The interviews frequently touch on practical advice and industry insights. Writers and creators often share the hurdles they faced in their careers, tips for aspiring horror writers, and the realities of getting published or produced. This wealth of knowledge is invaluable for anyone looking to navigate the sometimes challenging waters of the horror genre. Readers interested in breaking into horror writing or filmmaking will find a treasure trove of wisdom that could pave their path toward success.
Lastly, the community aspect of Ginger Nuts of Horror cannot be overlooked. Engaging with these interviews allows readers to feel connected to a larger community of horror enthusiasts. Comment sections and social media interactions often follow, enabling fans to discuss their thoughts and engage with both the interviewees and fellow readers.
In conclusion, the horror interview section of Ginger Nuts of Horror is an essential resource for anyone interested in the genre. It provides rich insights, guidance, and inspiration that can deepen one’s appreciation for horror while fostering a vibrant community among fans and creators alike. Don’t miss out on the chance to delve into the minds of your favorite horror creators!
