This Is Horror

TIH 053: Rich Hawkins on The Last Plague, Zombies and The British Fantasy Awards

  • August 5, 2015

  • 4 mins to read

In this podcast Rich Hawkins talks about his British Fantasy Award nominated novel The Last Plague, his recent novella Black Star, Black Sun, writing zombie fiction and much more. 

About Rich Hawkins

Rich Hawkins hails from deep in the West Country, where a childhood of science fiction and horror films set him on the path to writing his own stories. He credits his love of horror and all things weird to his first viewing of John Carpenter’s The Thing when, aged twelve, he crept downstairs late one night to watch it on ITV. He has a few short stories in various anthologies, and has written one novella, Black Star, Black Sun, released earlier this year. His debut novel The Last Plague has recently been nominated for a British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel. He currently lives in Salisbury, Wiltshire, with his wife, their daughter and their pet dog Molly. They keep him sane. Mostly.

Show notes

  • [01:32] Rich’s start and initial interest in the horror genre
  • [06:18] Shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award
  • [11:08] From submission to publication, The Last Plague
  • [13:05] Promotion
  • [15:50] The genesis of The Last Plague
  • [18:10] Debuting with a zombie novel and the stigma of zombie fiction
  • [22:25] Lovecraftian monsters and influence
  • [23:10] Black Star, Black Sun
  • [25:12] Influences behind Black Star, Black Sun
  • [27:47] Implicit horror
  • [29:50] Writing the sequel to The Last Plague
  • [33:30] The Last Plague trilogy
  • [34:45] Werewolf novel
  • [41:20] Working on one project at a time
  • [43:15] Planning and plotting
  • [44:55] Dealing with self-doubt
  • [46:55] Writing routine and other commitments
  • [49:25] Productivity
  • [50:55] Biggest misconceptions surrounding horror
  • [55:11] Best and worst things happening in the horror genre
  • [58:50] Biggest challenges in career to-date
  • [59:40] Book recommendations
  • [01:09:20] Fear of sharks
  • [01:13:30] Small presses
  • [01:16:55] Connect with Rich

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