Interview with Tamer of the Undead ~ Eric S. Brown

Eric S. Brown is the author of numerous books including Bigfoot War, Season of Rot, How the West Went to Hell, Anti-Heroes (with David Dunwoody), and Kinberra Down to name only a few. His novel, War of the Worlds Plus Blood Guts and Zombies (with H.G. Wells), was recently picked up by Simon and Schuster and is slated for a December, 2010 release. Some of his upcoming books include ,The Human Experiment, The Weaponer, and Undead Down Under.

Eric's short fiction has been published hundreds of times in the small press and beyond. He has also been featured as an expert on the zombie genre in books like Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead and the upcoming Extreme Halloween: Behind the Scenes of America's Fright Night. His monthly comic book column in Abandoned Towers magazine won "Best Nonfiction 2009" in the Preditor and Editor awards this year and his book Season of Rot was nominated for a Dead Letter Award for "Best Zombie collection 2009" as well.

Eric lives in North Carolina with his loving wife and son where he continues to write tales of adventure, rotting flesh, and blazing guns

Ladies and gentlemen of horror, please sit back and welcome once again the tamer of the un-dead, Mr Eric. S. Brown to the Lounge. How have you been man?

Busy, busy, busy. The writing never ends. So many books, so little time.

So Eric, tell us what have you been up to since you last sat in that chair being fondled by my zombie girls?

I have out numerous new books this year including Bigfoot War, How the West Went to Hell, and Kinberra Down. Also The Human Experiment, The Weaponer, Anti-Heroes (with David Dunwoody), and Undead Down Under (my first hardcover) along with the Simon and Schuster release of War of the Worlds Plus Blood Guts and Zombies are all slated for the near future. In early 2011, The Brethren of the Dead (a direct sequel to The Queen from Season of Rot) will be released as well.

So you have a new novel coming out with Sonar4publications this year – The Human experiment. Can you tell House of Horror fans anything about this?

The Human Experiment is my first full on venture into the superhero genre. It's a dark and fantastic novel about a smart ass, C.I.A. operative named Agent Robert Death. He's a character I have been thinking up for years who will also be featured in the book Anti-Heroes and the upcoming comic book "Agent Death and the Angels". I can't say much about the plot at this point but I will say this is a team book despite Death being the main character and it has a very Doom Patrol feel to it. I can assure you, it certainly has the level of action and weirdness I usually bring to all my projects.

Alongside The Human Experiment, you also have another zombie novella with Sonar4 slated for publication in 2011 – Brethren of the Dead. Tell us a little about this project.

The Brethren of the Dead is a zombie pirate book set in the post apocalyptic world of my novella The Queen (available in Season of Rot from Permuted Press). It's a book that is best described as Waterworld meets Dawn of the Dead. It's my current project so it's a still a work in progress but I think folks who enjoy my take on the zombie genre will certainly find it lives up to The Queen. I can tell you for folks who read Season of Rot that you will see the war between the remaining humans and the dead really pick up on the waves of the ocean in this book.

So, how have you been balancing success with your family life?

It's not easy, I'll tell you that. It's hard to find the time to keep up with my writing projects and my four year old son but I juggle it as best I can. I just kind of dive into everything headlong and hope for the best. It's worked so far.

You won “Best Non-Fiction 2009” in the Preditor and Editor awards for your monthly comic book column in Abandoned Towers Magazine. How did you feel when you heard the news?

It was very flattering and I felt very honored. Being a comic book geek my whole life, it was pretty cool to win for writing about them.

Your book, Season of Rot was nominated for a Dead Letter Award for “Best Zombie Collection 2009.” How on earth do you keep up with all these nominations and awards? I didn’t even know when I was nominated “Best Fiction eZine Editor,” until someone informed me that they had voted.

Well the Dead Letter Awards are given out by the Canadian horror/zombie show Mail Order Zombie. They sent emails to all the people chosen to be nominated by their panel of horror judges. It was really cool to hear I was on the list regardless of whether I won or lost.

What is it like knowing that you are adored by many many zombie fans and probably hated by unsuccessful authors? How does one cope with the attention such success brings?

Yeesh, I hope I am not hated! And I certainly don't feel that successful either. I think I have a long way left to go as a writer besides, I am really just a fan with a pen in my hand who can't stop writing. If by the grace of God my work can give a reader or fan something they always wanted to see done in the genre that no one else was crazy enough to try, then I am happy. Take my latest book, Bigfoot War, now available on www.amazon.com, etc. It's a book truly from the heart of my lifelong fandom of horror. I loved Bigfoot movies but always wanted there to be more than one monster. I longed to see a movie or book where there was like a whole pack of Sasquatches just tearing people to shreds so I made it happen. There isn't a lot of hardcore Bigfoot horror out there in book form and certainly not any that feature over five dozen of the creatures descending on one poor, little town to my knowledge. It's a deeply personal book to me on a lot of levels and I really hope that folks give it a shot.

Do you have any advice for those approaching the next rung on the ladder, keeping up-to-date with everything, while trying to balance their fiction life with their real life?

Pray, work hard, and hope for the best. It's what I do.

Thank you so much for coming back to visit us Eric, it is such an honor to have you here. Now, if you’re staying the night, I do charge and if you’re taking one of my zombie girls with you, I charge for that also. Either way, I hope you enjoy your stay.

Thanks, it was great to have a chance to chat again and if any one wants to check out the new release of War of the Worlds Plus Blood Guts and Zombies from Simon and Schuster's Gallery line, www.amazon.com already has it up as a pre-order so you can reserve your copy now.