What fresh horror is this? Publisher starts new magazine
Weird Horror brings forth a retro pulp vibe, contemporary outlook
Of all the things that might scare a guy, starting up a new magazine in the middle of a pandemic might be near the top of the list. But Pickering’s Michael Kelly, who has made a name for his small, award-winning Undertow Publications, has an eye for weird fiction that sells. His latest venture Weird Horror sold out its first run within weeks of publication and he’s planning two new issues for next year. We asked him why now was the time, and what it is that he finds truly frightful.
Starting up a new magazine in the middle of a pandemic seems a rather optimistic endeavour. Why do it now?
I like the old EC comics, and Weird Tales magazine, which started in the 1930s. They recently said they were coming back and published an issue last year. I was looking forward to it because I love that retro pulp vibe. And the issue was a disappointment. There was one good story in it. I had been thinking of doing a magazine like that anyway. So when the pandemic hit in March, I had a little bit of time on my hands and decided I was going to do it. It was basically sort of as a trial run; I would do one issue and, if things went well, I would commit to a couple more next year.
How are you modernizing this old magazine style?
It’s a contemporary magazine that has sort of a retro feel to it. But the issues in the magazine are more contemporary and more modern than some of the sexist tropes that used to proliferate.
We’re going make an effort to get marginalized and more diverse voices … I am starting to see a little more diversity in our slush pile. So that’s a good sign.
Horror is getting much more respect than it ever has before, showing up on bestsellers lists. Why do you think that is?
You’re seeing writers like Stephen Graham Jones, Alan Tremblay, Craig Davidson/ Nick Cutter, Naben Ruthnum, who are quite polished stylists and can write in any genre. Vancouver’s Silvia Moreno-Garcia has a new horror book out called “Mexican Gothic” and it’s doing well (it’s currently on the Star’s bestsellers list).
They’re literary writers first and foremost. Those books are being seen by the big five publishers, and they’re being pushed and marketed because they’re actually quite good.
What trends are you seeing in horror right now?
I’m seeing a lot of stories about isolation and loneliness. And, you know, I have seen the odd story about a pandemic. So I’m thinking we’re going to see a lot of that.
What we’re seeing, too, are stories about the reconstruction of societal norms. I’m seeing a lot of stories about urban decay and isolation, depression, loneliness — I guess it’s reflective of people’s current lives. There’s not a lot of good going on.
What do you think horror is giving to us now? You’d think, perhaps, that people would want to read more cheerful things.
Some of my friends are actually avoiding horror at the moment because they think we’re living the horror. It will shock you and scare you and make you think — someone described it as being more about emotion than maybe a lot of writing is. I think people are just sort of trying to make sense of the crazy world that’s going on. I think it takes the fractured reality that we live in and it tries to explain it a bit.
What scares you?
The thing that scares me is probably the same thing that scares a lot of people: It’s abandonment, being alone in a world that sort of is seemingly uncaring, and loss, the loss of children. A lot of the fiction I read, and a lot of the stuff I write, is very grounded in the sense that this is a very fragile world. We can take it for granted, but you can lose your loved ones just like that. That’s the thing that frightens me the most.