1: What made you become a writer?
EL 1: Impossible to pinpoint but I do recall walking guard duty in a 1st Armored Division tank park one night, in Germany, 1978. Very creepy night, dead silent save for my boots crunching the gravel. Around that time, I’d read Lovecraft’s “Rats in the Wall” and a copy of Heavy Metal magazine, and the imagery of both of these works made my eyes bloom as I walked my post, and I thought, “Damn, it would be so cool to be a writer!”
S: I never thought of that movies always hit me that way, but I would love to write my own novel someday.
2: After your first novel, under pen name Richard Kinion, how did the decision arise to be more graphic and sexual?
EL 2: My first pen name was Philip Straker, which I used for my first two novels in 1982: Night Bait and Nightlust. These books aren’t very good but they were essential because they got my foot in the publishing door. Richard Kinion came in the 90s after there had already been 6 Edward Lee novels. The publisher insisted I use a pen name because the midlist horror market crashed, but I still had a book under contract. They got the idea to use a non-horror pen name, and make that last book like a “suspense” novel. Still can’t quite figure it, because the book, renamed SACRIFICE, was very much gothic-erotic horror, a haunted house story!
EL 2: My first pen name was Philip Straker, which I used for my first two novels in 1982: Night Bait and Nightlust. These books aren’t very good but they were essential because they got my foot in the publishing door. Richard Kinion came in the 90s after there had already been 6 Edward Lee novels. The publisher insisted I use a pen name because the midlist horror market crashed, but I still had a book under contract. They got the idea to use a non-horror pen name, and make that last book like a “suspense” novel. Still can’t quite figure it, because the book, renamed SACRIFICE, was very much gothic-erotic horror, a haunted house story!
S: Damn but me to shame, but I found a Philip Straker novel, Night Bait, in my Ed Lee collection, I must've been confused on dates of publishing, thanks for clearing that up.
3. In your life was there an influential person who turned you towards horror?
EL 3: Foremost, H.P. Lovecraft. Also, in the 70s I’d begun reading what horror was available beyond Stephen King–mainly the late Charles L. Grant, the late Brian McNauhgton, and Ramsey Campbell (a HUGE influence) and it occurred to me, “If I’m gonna write, it’s GOT to be horror. Why should these guys have all the fun!” Now, if you meant a person I’d actually met, no–er, at least I wouldn’t meet him till decades later. That would be Dick Dyszel aka Count Gore De Vol, the late-night horror movie host on Channel 20 in the Washington D.C. area. I started watching him in the late 60s, through most of the 70s, and into early 80s. In the 60s I’d have to sneak out of bed at night to watch him. The schlock horror movies he showed were all magnificent, and they all had a striking impact on my young brain. I would describe the Count’s influence on me as career-shaping; he planted seeds that would, years later, sprout as Edward Lee. I finally met him in the early 2000s, and let him know the paramount impact he had on me. I fact, I saw him a few months ago at Scares That Care. What a great guy! And he still looks the same. He IS the Count! Man, those were the good ole days...
S: Lovecraft was my first foray into horror novels, with his imagery and imagination, he astounded my mind, I read King but it didn't have much effect on me books were too long for a attention span of a teen.
4: When did you feel that writing was your ultimate calling?
EL 4: Now that I CAN pinpoint. It was 1980. I was in college to be an English teacher, and I was sitting in a class called “History of the English Language.” Suddenly I stiffened in my seat, stared ahead, closed my school book, got up, nodded to the teacher, and walked out of the classroom and off the campus. That was the moment when I was struck by the Writer Lightning Bolt. (I regret not finishing the class, though, because it was fascinating. We learned where the word “fuck” came from and, no, it never meant For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge or Fornication Under the Court of the King. It’s from an Old English transitive verb FOK, which meant to strike and/or to penetrate.)
S: Wow, the feeling must've been overwhelming to up and leave, I will keep FOK in my vocabulary now.
5: Around what age do you remember writing your first story for yourself?
E: I was in junior high in Sligo Creek, Maryland, and we were supposed to write a short story based on a song we liked–kind of a dumb exercise. I wrote “After Forever,” based on a Black Sabbath song about spaceships looking for other planets to live on because we’d ecologically trashed earth. But, lo, my story wasn’t about spaceships, it was about a submarine and World War III. Go figure. I think I still have it. But it might suggest that even then I must’ve been marching to the beat of a different drummer: 12 or 13 years old listening to Black Sabbath!
S: That's classic listening to Black Sabbath at 12 or 13, but where ever we find inspiration we should run with it.
6: Did you have any college or formal training in writing literature?
EL: Formal training, no. I don’t believe in Writing Classes much. Fiction writing is subjective; you can’t teach what isn’t concrete. But I did go to college, University of Maryland, and got a great background in literature. That’s VERY important for wannabe writers.
S: I didn't have any inspiration to write other than books and film, and now I feel I'm to old to go to college for a writing class, trial and error is what I'm trying.
7: Do you prefer writing short stories, novellas, or full length novels?
EL: Novellas! (Or is it Novellae?) The perfect length seems to be anything between an 80,000 word novel and a 5000 word story. Restricting or expanding your story to fit length guidelines isn’t very creative, but in the pre-digital age it was mandatory. Now, not so, thanks to Kindle!
S: That's excellent advise, why restrict yourself but guidelines are good.
8: What novel/short you wrote do you feel represents your best/favorite work?
EL: I’ve often thought of my favorite novel as Infernal Angel but I don’t know. I really like my story “The Ushers,” but I also really like my latest novel White Trash Gothic, but that’s not really a novel, it’s the first part of a series which I suppose will be my magnum opus. Hell, I like all of them, even the turds!
S: Infernal Angel is my favorite, I advise everybody to start there if interested in reading your stuff. White Trash Gothic I received a couple of days ago can't wait to get started.
9: What novel/short do you feel was the hardest to write?
EL: Dunwich Romance, not because of the complexity of imitating Lovecraft’s style, because I was off and on caring for my mother who’d become invalidized and was slowly dying. Such is life (and God rest her soul.)
S: Sorry for your loss, but understandably so.
10: As a kid growing up what authors influenced you down this path to writing?
EL: As a kid, Poe, of course, especially “Tell-Tale Heart,” “Thus I Refute Beelzy” by John Collier, and I distinctly remember being blown away in junior high by Arthur Clark’s “The Star.”
S: Never heard of John Collier, but you put him in great company so research time for me.
11: Are there authors today you actually enjoy reading?
EL: Indubitably. Most nights before bed I reread either M.R. James or Lovecraft, and I mean EVERY night. Also, some August Derleth. It’s always old stuff, and I don’t know why (maybe because I’M getting old!) As for modern horror, I mainly only read stuff by friends: Ketchum, Harding, Keene. Man, I WISH I had time to read everything that appealed to me but then I’d never get my own work done!
S: Sorry to hear Ketchum died, he was a great writer, Keene is another of my favs, Harding I have some and all of your collaborations.
12: You've mentioned that H.P. Lovecraft as one of your writing influences. How is that? He (Lovecraft) never really described the monsters much and you use extremely graphic detail in everything you write.
EL: Lovecraft is the best there was, the best there is, the best there will ever be. He never described the monsters? Read the description of Wilbur Whateley’s body after it was mauled by the guard dog in Dunwich Horror! Or Nahum Gardner’s wife in “Color Out of Space.” Lovecraft, like M.R. James, was the master of reader manipulation. There are times when it’s more effective to leave imagery to the reader’s imagination, and other times when it’s necessary to push the reader’s face and open mouth right into it. Best example is HPL’s Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Also James’ “Lost Hearts” with its corpse-girl in the bathtub which long pre-dates Clouzat’s 1955 flick Diabolique and King’s infamous bathtub corpse in The Shining. Also read Lovecraft’s “Horror of Red Hook” if you can ignore the few racist paragraphs, and you’ll find it as gory, graphic, and gross as anything I’ve done.
S: Agreed I started reading Lovecraft, it never occurred to me about those few hints. You mention M.R. James another person I have never heard off...….more research.
EL: Well, of course, I was thrilled, but even after I got paid, I didn’t think they’d actually make the movie. I thought they were nuts. How were they gonna raise funds for a movie about rednecks humping people’s brains? Well, I was wrong, they were right, they did it, and it was a dynamite job. Better than the book.
S: It was classic, surprised the hell out of me also it was able to be filmed, your cameo with Ketchum (RIP) was great.
14: You got to be an actor in Header with Jack Ketchum, was that a great influence on you making your own films?
EL: That was a great time and a great scene, and it taught me that acting is HARD, and I’m not cut out for it. Ketchum’s a good actor and so is the guy, Jake Suffian, who was in our scene. They’re pros. Me, not so much. The reason I often put myself into my own movies is because it’s one less person I have to convey instructions to, and one last person to pay!
S: Good to know that's why I am doing my best to be behind the scenes lol.
15: Are you in the process of doing more films of your own?
EL: Oh, yes, in fact I’ve only just started, and I’m actually beginning to make some money at it–always a good thing! After 35 years of writing, I wanted to do something different on the side, a hobby more or less. I’d been very interested in film making when I was in junior high, and since that time the technology has changed so significantly that anyone can make movies, anyone can sell DVD’s, and anyone can release film rentals on Amazon, Vimeo, etc. So why not? I have BIG plans! The biggest stumbling block, of course, is money. It costs a fuckin’ fortune to hire nude models (I’ve hired, so far, 109 such women at $100 per hour–ouch!) And Edward Lee’s Rule #1 for horror movies is thus: There Must Be Female Nudity In A Horror Flick. Without that element, it’s candyass BS. A horror movie without nudity ain’t worth squat, it’s fake, it’s fussy, it’s poo-poo with a pinky in the air. Hence, an expensive hobby! But I’ll be doing it for a while. My Muse makes constant demands on me!
S: Great hobby, I own a few of your films strange and devilish.
16: How did they approach you with the concept of turning one of your stories, (Grubgirl) into a porn film?
EL: Long story kind of. In the mid-90s my friend the late Rex Miller, author of SLOB, called me up and gave me a contact address for an attorney who was looking for short horror stories to adapt into comic books. As it turned out, the company doing the comics was Verotik, Inc., owned by Glenn Danzig. Cool! They bought Grub Girl and Mr. Torso, which was thrilling because I’d never had anything adapted into comics before, then they hired me to script Header and another Grub Girl–hence, I learned how to write comic scripts. But it was actually Glenn who got the Grub Girl movie contract, and of course I was all about it. So what if it was porn? It’s MY character! The movie was a hoot. In all, my experience with Glenn Danzig and Verotik was great as well as a great privilege.
S: I own Grub Girl, and have been trying to get my hands on Verotik comics, but that isn't easy.
17: Has anyone "in the biz" ever told you that's a bad idea?
EL: Hmm, I don’t think so, unless you count critics for Publishers’ Weekly!
S: Critics are the harshest but looking at your resale value is ridiculous, I will never give up my collection.
18: How did Dahmer's Not Dead and The Deaths of The Cold War Kings come about? In your library of novels they seem out of place.
EL: I had some other itches to scratch, had to try some other avenues, which was a good exercise and good experience. But I’ll always go back to horror!
S: I also own those, but prefer your horror better.
19: What novel of yours would you like, to represent you as your best work, to see filmed without any constraints on budget, blood, or sexual?
EL: Well, City Infernal is the most marketable, and I got multiple film options on it for years but, alas, they went the way of most options; they withered and died. I can’t imagine a more spectacular visual event. Operator B would make a great tv series, and years ago I had a New York agent who liked the idea, told me to write up a treatment and, well, I didn’t. I said to hell with it. Smart move, huh? I simply dreaded the idea of a treatment and didn’t want to stop writing my current project, Minotauress. In truth, ALL of my books would make great movies, if only there were companies with the balls to make them. In the meantime, I’ll make my own movies! I’ll show ‘em!
S: Well you own your property, and you know how most options and treatments go in Hollywood. Without a trace, sad but true, I wish you all the best writing.
20: Your novels are the sickest most twisted sexually depraved stories I have ever encountered, I love them. Where do the ideas dwell when you seem to become sicker and more twisted with each novel I read?
EL: It’s either some odd idea that’s been cooking in my head a while, or some spur of the moment event where I see or hear something, then POW! the idea hits me like a fast ball in the face. Dritiphilist was like that. I was waiting for a No. 16 bus on 5th and Jackson in Seattle (the “bum” district). Naturally it was raining. Some guy just threw up in the bus shelter, so I vacated. The vomiter staggers away, and then in rushes this guy wearing a hoodie that says KING STREET HOMELESS SHELTER on the back. He produces a plastic bag and piece of cardboard, bends over, and scrapes the vomit into the plastic bag, then he trots guiltily away. I just stood there, eyes wide, mouth open, chuckling, because the whole story fell into my head from witnessing that. Wrote the story in a day or two, shaking my head the whole time, absolutely ASHAMED of myself for endeavoring to writer such a thing, but...still chuckling. I’ll always wonder: “What did that guy do with the vomit?”
S: We surely know what he did with it, but life goes on. That's very creative from your mindset, explains a lot of weird happenings. Truth is stranger than fiction!
SHAMELESS PLUG SECTION: If I may I’d like to put you all in possession of crucial, life-changing information about my On Demand movies. They are...
1) The ABC’s of Nude Horror: My version of The ABC’s of Death, which I didn’t think too much of. Here is my answer. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/theabcsofnudehorror2) The Walking Woman: a feature-length abstraction about an alien/occult influence compelling naked women to do atrocious things and bring forth its progeny of evil! Starring 72 naked women! (No lie!) https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thewalkingwoman3) The Andalusian Tadpole: my tribute to the 1928 masterpiece by Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel, The Andalusian Dog. Now, mine’s not a masterpiece but it’s cool as shit and it’s got–will you be surprised to hear it?–lots of female nudity! https://vimeo.com/ondemand/andalusiantadpole4) Nude In The Haunted House #1: The first of my cool new series. A shapely woman is paid to spend the night in a haunted house, but there’s a catch: she must be naked! Then she discovers that there’s ANOTHER catch... This short movie stars co-stars none other than Edward Lee (but, don’t worry, I’m NOT naked in it)! https://vimeo.com/ondemand/nudeinthehauntedhouse
I wish to thank Edward Lee for his time and patience on this project of mine, he is still my favorite writer. I am hopeful this does his legacy justice. And a special shout-out to D. Barnett for giving me this opportunity with my legend.
