This Is Horror

TIH 235: Simon Strantzas on The Horror Market, Mentors, and Growing as a Writer

  • October 12, 2018

  • 4 mins to read

In this podcast Simon Strantzas talks about the horror market, mentors, growing as a writer, and much more.

About Simon Strantzas

Simon Strantzas is the author of Nothing is Everything (Undertow Publications, 2018), Burnt Black Suns (Hippocampus Press, 2014), Nightingale Songs (Dark Regions Press, 2011), Cold to the Touch (Tartarus Press, 2009), and Beneath the Surface(Humdrumming, 2008), as well as the editor of Aickman’s Heirs (Undertow Publications, 2015), a finalist for both the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Awards, and winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. He also edited Shadows Edge (Gray Friar Press, 2013), and was the guest editor of The Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Vol. 3 (Undertow Publications, 2016). His writing has been reprinted in Best New Horror, The Best Horror of the Year, The Year’s Best Weird Fiction and The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, and published in Nightmare, Cemetery Dance, Postscripts, and elsewhere. His short story, “Pinholes in Black Muslin”, was a finalist for the British Fantasy Award, and his collection, Burnt Black Suns, a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award. He lives with his wife in Toronto, Canada.

Show notes

  • [02:00] Political influence and concerns on fiction
  • [03:50] Not talking about stories working on
  • [06:45] Dreams
  • [07:45] Andrew M. Reichart, via Patreon, asks about Simon’s shirts
  • [12:15] Traci Kenworth, via Patreon, asks about mentors
  • [16:30] The horror market
  • [19:15] Irrelevant writers
  • [25:30] Improving and growing as a writer
  • [53:30] What frightens Simon
  • [56:00] Something Simon’s changed his mind about recently
  • [01:00:30] Nothing is Everything
  • [01:02:35] Connect with Simon
  • [01:03:00] Final thoughts

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