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This week on The Scariest Part, I’m doing something a little different. Instead of hosting the author of a new novel or collection, my guest is the editor of a new anthology. His name is Joe Mynhardt, and the anthology is The Outsiders. Here’s the publisher’s description:

The Outsiders is a shared-world Suspense Thriller / Horror featuring the gated community of Priory, with its religious leader Charles Erich and his cult followers: those who’ll do anything for him, and those who are waiting to overthrow him. Is that which slithers below true evil, or does evil reside in Priory?

Inside Priory awaits a lot more than meets the eye. The people might seem friendly, but only because their enigmatic leader Charles Erich doesn’t give them much of a choice.

The cottages inside this gated community seem simple enough, and even though what lurks beneath them is more ancient than mankind itself, can anything be more evil than the people worshipping it?

If you dare follow this UK invasion of five prime authors as they each tell their own story of the people living behind Priory’s steel gates and high walls, you’ll quickly find yourself an outsider, as well.

And now, let’s hear what the scariest part was for Joe Mynhardt:

You might be asking yourself what can possibly be so scary about editing an anthology.

Stressful? Sure.

Time-consuming? You bet!

But scary?

Then let me tell you. Three years ago I started writing a Lovecraftian story about a father and son who, after visiting the gated community of Priory on a business trip, find themselves fighting to escape the clutches of a blood-thirsty cult. I enjoyed writing the story and about my main characters, but what I enjoyed even more was how Priory started growing as a living, breathing community. Their religious leader Charles Erich started following me in my dreams, his silhouette always visible in the corner or standing at the far end of the passage.

I began to contemplate the options laid out before me, and decided to invite several authors to join me in shaping this world. I stepped down as author and into the role of editor/publisher, since I’d recently started my own little press — Crystal Lake Publishing.

And what better place to set a Lovecraftian story than a gated community with an underground church? It so perfectly symbolizes xenophobia and the need to be different, to separate or seclude ourselves from others — keeping them at a distance.

That brings me to the scary part. Writing or compiling a book about such a sensitive subject as race.

There have been a lot of opinions about Lovecraft and his viewpoint of other races and cultures. And although a lot of us are fans of his work, we are totally against his viewpoint. Some believe his viewpoint changed towards the end of his life, and although I’d love to believe that, I can’t say it with any certainty. The last thing I need is people labeling me, Crystal Lake Publishing, or our contributors, as being racist. I live in South Africa, so we’re used to being extra careful about what we do and say.

So instead of just ignoring the race issue, we decided to take it on in the collection. In Rosanne Rabinowitz’s story, a young black girl comes back to Priory years after making it out, hoping to save her mother. I don’t want to give anything away, but she plays a major role in the denouement. James Everington’s story features a female cop of color who investigates a murder linked to Priory and Charles Erich. Their race and how they’re treated by the folks of Priory and their own peers end up being huge obstacles they need to overcome.

I read a lot online about people’s viewpoints on Lovecraft, and with so many extremists on both sides, it was certainly a discussion I didn’t want to get involved with.

So what to do?

Do we scratch a project we’ve been working on for years? Or do we continue with the goal of providing solid entertainment inspired by the work and life of Lovecraft, the good and bad? This book does not take a stance, it merely comments on the world today, as good fiction does. It offers a glimpse of our time for those still to come.

Stepping aside as author and into the role of editor and publisher came with its own challenges. Spending so much time and money on a project is an investment. As a writer your story can be rejected and refined, but if a project fails, it fails. I had to find the right frame of mind to guide me through this. I had to find a balance between wanting to entertain the readers and making a profit. And let’s not forget, this is a shared-world anthology, which comes with a heap of new challenges. Talk about the mountains of madness, right?

In the end, I think it turned out pretty damn good. And what a cover!

Joe Mynhardt: Website / Facebook / Twitter 

The Outsiders: Amazon / Crystal Lake Publishing

Joe Mynhardt is a South African horror writer, publisher, editor and teacher. Joe is the owner of Crystal Lake Publishing, which he started in August, 2012. He has published and edited short stories, novellas, interviews and essays by the likes of Ramsey Campbell, Jack Ketchum, Graham Masterton, Adam Nevill, Lisa Morton, Elizabeth Massie, Joe McKinney, Edward Lee, Wes Craven, John Carpenter, George A. Romero, Mick Garris, and hundreds more. Crystal Lake Publishing believes in reaching out to all authors, new and experienced, and being a beacon of friendship and guidance in the Dark Fiction field. Joe is also an Associate member of the HWA.

These Last Embers by Simon Strantzas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another creepy winner from one of the current masters of weird fiction. It’s a bit too short for its own good — I would have liked to learn more about what it was like to grow up in that house in order to better understand Samantha’s (and ultimately Lemule’s) burning desire to leave it all behind — but as usual for Strantzas there is a lot of striking and original imagery to be found, as well as an ending that will resonate with you long after you turn the last page. Check out this short chapbook and see why Strantzas is quickly becoming one of my favorite horror and weird fiction authors.

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This week on The Scariest Part, my guest is Keith Rommel, whose new novel is The Devil Tree. Here is the publisher’s description:

Based on the Port St. Lucie Legend…

Back in the 1970s, a series of bizarre incidents occurred at what has since been known as “The Devil Tree.” Beneath this ancient denizen, evil was wrought by a sick serial killer, calling upon forces most evil and dark. People were hung there…and bodies buried there…exhumed by the police. Overcome by superstition, some tried to cut down the tree, to no avail. Since then, it has stood in a remote section of a local park — left to its own devices — quiet in its eerie repose — until now!

Best-selling psychological-thriller author Keith Rommel has imagined the whole tale anew. He’s brought the tree to life and retold the tale with gory detail only possible in a fiction novel. Action-packed, with spine-tingling detail, this thriller is beyond parallel in the ground it uncovers…one author’s explanation of what may have really been said — what may have really happened — under Port St. Lucie’s “Devil Tree.”

And now, let’s hear what the scariest part was for Keith Rommel:

When I stumbled on a local legend called The Devil Tree here in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, I was horrified by the back story but was equally intrigued. When I started to dig into the legend, I discovered a serial killer that was a sheriff’s deputy had picked up two people and had taken them to an ancient oak tree. The goliath tree dripped with Spanish moss and that is where the killer tormented his captives, beat, raped and murdered them. It is also said he hung them from the tree and soon after buried them there. As legend would have it, the bodies remained under the tree for many years before a local fisherman discovered bones sticking out of the ground.

After the killer was caught and had been incarcerated, he had been noted as writing, “Doing doubles is far more difficult than doing singles, but on the other hand it also puts one in a position to have twice as much fun. There can be some lively discussions about which of the victims will get to be killed first. When you have a pair of teenaged bimbolinas bound hand and foot and ready for a session with the skinning knife, neither one of the little devils wants to be the one to go first. And they don’t mind telling you quickly why their best friend should be the one to die.”

To think what these people might have gone through is disturbing and frightening on many levels, but it isn’t even the scariest part; at least not for me. When I wrote The Devil Tree and handed the manuscript into my publisher, owner Lawrence Knorr told me that I had to include the necrophilia scene in because that’s what the killer did. I know I didn’t mention that the killer was into necrophilia because it’s quite disgusting. Yeah, the killer deputy often went back to pillage the bodies until they reached such a state of decomposition that he could no longer use the bodies.

I remember Lawrence telling me to do the necro scene “tastefully”. We got a big belly laugh from the request and the wording used behind it. Even though I turned down writing such a scene and I thought Lawrence was kidding — I mean, how can someone write a necro scene and do it with taste? Lawrence quickly reminded me that Hannibal Lecter ate people. If you think about it, that is rather repulsive and has a high shock value to it, but the way it was portrayed, it wasn’t over the top make you look away from the screen sort of nasty. If there is such a thing as making something so vile tolerable to the squeamish, then author Thomas Harris did it tastefully (pun intended).

So I sat down and wrote the scene and I won’t lie that I was sweating while I was doing it. I hand wrote it at first, crumpling up some pages and starting over until I found an angle that I felt captured the essence of the act but didn’t go too far. I typed it in and sent it to Lawrence and then I got a phone call. He said, “You did it. That’s exactly what I was looking for.”

I had another belly laugh and told Lawrence that I needed a blessing and a shower. I think readers will find it was done tastefully and that it was a good inclusion and an important piece in trying to portray the legend with as much realism as possible.

The killer deputy was sentenced to prison after being caught and was soon stabbed to death.

Keith Rommel: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Facebook community for The Cursed Man film

The Devil Tree: Amazon / Sunbury Press

Keith Rommel is an award-winning author of eight books and is the co-screenplay writer of The Cursed Man movie adapted from his first novel with the same title. It is expected to be released October 2015 and has brought in talent that worked on such movies as The Matrix, Madagascar, Cabin in the Woods, Green Lantern, Harry Potter, and The CW’s Supernatural.

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book so much! Carey has crafted an outstanding horror novel that offers a new take on the zombie trope along with characters who are beautifully, achingly, crazily human — even when they’re not. The plot is tense and exciting, but it’s the characters that make this novel stick with you. THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS is an exceptional achievement and without a doubt one of the best horror novels of 2014. I can’t recommend it enough. Just read it and you, like me, will find yourself wanting to tell everyone to do the same.

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