This interview originally appeared in the Cemetery Dance Newsletter dated
September 4, 2009.
A Few Words with Ronald Kelly
By Mark Sieber
CD:Hell Hollow has a wonderful Stand By
Me/It feel to it. Are you a big Stephen King fan?
RK: I've always been a great fan of Stephen King. I started out
reading a lot of Poe, Bradbury, and Matheson. Then I read 'Salem's
Lot and—BAM!—that was it. I knew I wanted to be a horror
writer. Hands down, no questions asked.
CD: Has his work had a substantial influence on your own?
RK: Without a doubt... King has always been a major influence. I
admire how King takes everyday people and situations and injects horror
into the equation. I pretty much use the same approach in my own
writing. And I always enjoyed the stories that had kids or teens as the
protagonists. Carrie, The Shining, Firestarter,
Christine, "The Body," all show that horror involving
children is incredibly potent. Also, I've always been a huge fan of
coming-of-age stories. A couple of my favorites are King's It and
Robert McCammon's Boy's Life. I've explored the same territory
myself, first with Hindsight and Fear, and now Hell
Hollow.
CD: I had a lot of fun reading Hell Hollow and I bet you
had fun writing it. Especially near the end when you brought in some
characters that will be well-known to most readers.
RK: Yes, it was fun, especially the dream sequences, when each
child is granted the opportunity to live out their innermost fantasy...
with dark and unexpected results. I got a big kick out of incorporating
some of my favorite TV and movie characters into the story, as well as
some well-known historical figures. But then you might end up meeting
anyone in a dream... or a nightmare.
CD: Ron, how about Restless Shadows, the sequel to
Hindsight you mentioned? Have any publishers shown interest in
it? I'd especially like to see a new, deluxe edition of Hindsight
to go along with it.
RK: As a matter of fact, both Hindsight and Restless
Shadows will be published as limited and trade hardcover editions by
Full Moon Press. They'll be part of FMP's Essential Ronald Kelly
Collection. All of the Zebra novels will be reprinted, along with
all-new novellas that are somehow connected to the characters and
location of the original novels. And they'll all be lavishly illustrated
by Alex McVey.
CD: That's fantastic, Ron. I'm thrilled to hear it. Now, one
final question: Have you been working on any new full-length novels?
RK: I have a proposal for my next novel with a major small press
publisher right now, and there's the possibility of a serial novel
sometime in the near future. Plus I've got more stuff coming from CD, so
I've got a lot of irons in the fire.
CD: Excellent. Thanks Ron and good luck with everything!
