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It’s time for our 8th creator spotlight! This week with author Pippa Bailey. Previously we’ve interviewed Kevin T. Rogers, Michela Cicconi,Erika Price, Allan MacRitchie, Clare Thompson and Matt Smith. We originally met Pippa while she was running her Youtube channel Ghoul Guides, and she wrote some awesome articles for our early issues of Knock Knock, it became apparent though that she is a talented writer and soon started sending in her unique stories.
What got you into writing horror?
Initially it was reading, I was an avid horror reader as a child; I loved Goosebumps and Shivers books, I loved Clive Barker. The first thing I began writing was a fantasy story, but slowly drifted into the world of horror where I have firmly stayed in place.
Are there any creators who influence your work and how?
Oh definitely, Clive Barker had a huge impact on my writing, I was given Cabal as a child and loved all the little elements of how Barker uses description. I also apparently appear to be heavily influenced by Lovecraft, although I’ve only very recently began reading his works. I’m very much in the way of strange monsters and guts.
Do you have a favourite piece of horror media?
I’d have to say it’s currently the tv show Stranger Things, I’m hooked, I can’t wait for the next season. Come on July 4th, mamma needs her Demogorgon.
Do you have any projects coming up?
So so many, we’re working on two patreon, one for our writing which is Pugnacious Press and one for our Horror podcast and videos called Deadflicks; which can also be found on YouTube. We have Halloween, Christmas, and other books due out this year. It’s gonna be awesome!
You and Myk Pilgrim have been producing horror anthologies through Pugnacious Press, what is it about horror that lends itself to short fiction?
Horror and comedy are intertwined, they both rely heavily on the ability to deliver a twist, a punch, or an overwhelming sense of disgust. Short stories are perfect for this format, you line up your punchline almost and build the story around that. It’s all about cramming as much entertainment into the smallest space.
You’ve often challenged yourself to experimenting with different ways of writing, what has been your favourite experiment?
My favourite experiment was our first book Poisoned Candy, it’s 100 stories of exactly 100 words in length; which was a hell of a challenge. I’m so glad we did it, it set us up for our following books, as we knew, if we could pull off something so complex we could certainly release some fun short story books. It’s been a hell of a ride, but I’m loving it.
What scares you the most?
Nihilism, in fact it’s the only thing I am truly scared of. The fact I have to accept that some day I won’t exist, my consciousness will vanish. I’m actually having heart palpitations writing this line
What is your favourite piece that you’ve submitted to Knock Knock?
This week we’ve spoken to prolific comic creator Matt Smith. Matt has been a regular contributor to our zines since our Summer of Love issue (where he teamed up with the amazing Nate Bennett) and since then has regularly written and lettered several awesome comics for our zines and worked alongside many talented artists.
What got you into creating comics?
My background is in film, but making movies requires a lot of time, money, expensive equipment and a large team of people… and I don’t always have access to those resources.
So, in college, I started making comics. I submitted my autobiographical Smith vs Smith series to the University of Victoria’s Martlet student newspaper and put those strips online and when I had enough, I collected, printed and sold them as my first comic book!
Are there any creators who influence your work and how?
When I write dialogue I try to emulate Brian Michael Bendis’ ear for natural speech.
I really admire how Alan Moore is constantly breaking apart the structure of comics and pushing the limits of what this art form is capable of. I’ve tried a few different formal experiments in Knock Knock, like Survival (illustrated by Nate Bennett) which consists of three one-page splash pages.
Do you have a favourite piece of horror media? I’m a huge fan of horror films. The original Halloween scared the crap out of me and is still one of my favourite movies of all time. I love George A Romero’s original Dead trilogy, especially Dawn of the Dead. The idea that you can use an over-the-top horror film to comment on society was revelatory.
Do you have any projects coming up?
Currently, I’m working with Frisson Comics artists James Francis and Jake Hainey on two stories for a Kraken Komiks anthology. As soon as we finish In the Valley of Stone, James will begin drawing our submission for Frisson’s Myths issue, about the curse of King Tut’s tomb.
I’m also working with Canadian artist Justin Shauf on three short vignettes about my Last Woman on Earth character surviving a zombie-apocalypse in Victoria, British Columbia. This story will be included in the third issue of Monsterellaby Hangman Comics.
Even outside of Knock Knock you collaborate with a wide range of artists, how do you go about finding creators to bring your stories to life?
I’ve been VERY lucky to work with a wide range of amazing artists on a number of stories over the past few years. I’ve met them in different ways. Some I’ve met in person, like Nate Bennett whom I attended college with, or Kuwaiti artist Bader Al-Ramadan who is a friend-of-a-friend, or Jake Hainey, whom I met at the Glasgow ComicCon.
There are two artists I’ve worked with more than anyone else: James Francis and Jhonesbas Craneo and I’ve never met either of them in person! We met in a Facebook group and have only texted and e-mailed. Two fantastic artistic relationships that could only exist in the 21st century!
Side note: If you are an artist looking to collaborate, please e-mail me at matt@smithvssmith.com. I’m always looking for new artists to work with!
Your role as a comic creator is extremely varied, not only do you write your own comics but you sometimes you draw and letter your work as well. What aspect of making comics do you enjoy the most and which do you find the most challenging?I believe the art style should serve the story. My art style is very cartoony, so that limits the types of stories I can tell as an artist.
I enjoy teaming up with other artists because that opens up so many more storytelling possibilities. And my writing process is still very visual. I think in terms of images and often sketch and thumbnail while I write. Not often, but sometimes, I will share the sketches with an artist, but I am always blown away when an artist sends back art that is infinitely better than anything I could have drawn or even imagined in my mind! These collaborations are my favourite method of creating comics.
I enjoy lettering my own stories because it gives me one last chance to re-write and the power of lettering is often overlooked. You have so much control over the reading experience and great lettering can enhance the storytelling.
What scares you the most?
I don’t find supernatural things scary. I’m really scared of real threats. The hurt that regular people can inflict on others, without warning. I think the scariest piece I’ve ever written is Home Late, which really shows what scares me.
What’s your favourite piece that you’ve submitted to Knock Knock?
With Containment, Jhonesbas and I achieved something that could only be achieved in comics. We have one central image, but the panels jump back and forward in time. The image works as a whole, but it keeps your eye moving from one piece of information to the next. Jhonesbas did FANTASTIC work with Containment. And that’s why I keep teaming up with Jhonesbas again and again.
We’re onto our fifth week of creator spotlights! We’ve previously interviewed Kevin T. Rogers, Michela Cicconi,Erika Price and Allan MacRitchie to celebrate 3 years of Knock Knock zines (hurrah) This week we’re speaking to long time contributor and Frisson Comics collaborator Clare Thompson about her painterly approach to making comics and her love of mixing the organic with the synthetic.
Clare has been contributing to Knock Knock ever since way back in our second issue!
What got you into creating art?
I didn’t start with the intention of trying to be “good” at art, it was more a natural urge that I had to observe and document things. Later I started taking drawing more seriously in the sense that I wanted to practice to improve my skills. Portraiture interested me most and I’d draw people from life whenever I could. My friends at school would give me magazine cuttings of their favourite celebrities to draw for them. I studied fine art at A-level and this was when I began creating observational paintings, usually in oils. This interest meant I started life drawing quite early, from the age of 16. At college, myself and a friend who was also interested in painting would go back and use the space to practice in free periods and after lessons, we would stay and practice most nights for an extra two or three hours until the cleaners finally kicked us out. Observational painting of a range of subject matter is an on-going practice that has been part of my creative work since.
Are there any creators who influence your work and
how?
When I started out I began looking at approaches to portraiture. I didn’t know anyone personally who painted or made artwork professionally and art wasn’t as accessible online as it is now. I’d mainly see artwork by reading illustrated books or visiting galleries. Rembrandt’s work stood out to me mainly because of his amazing ability to use lighting and tone to capture expression. I was also influenced by some 20th century portrait painters, admiring the way artists such as Lucian Freud and Jenny Saville used directional marks combined with tonal work to add life to their paintings. I later took inspiration from the expressive portraits of post war artists Egon Schiele and Kath Kollwitz.
I grew up in Liverpool
and at 18 I took a year out from education and worked in a warehouse to save up to travel. During this time I
continued to paint and became interested in the idea of depicting urban
realism, of finding stories, characters and compositions within the manmade
textures and decay of the urban environment. At this point the artwork I was
creating was quite strict and tight with a focus aiming towards realism. Over
time I developed a more fluid experimental approach to creating illustrations
but also continued to practice observational drawing and painting. I think this
grounding in realism still forms the basis of most of the work I make now as
well as incorporating other ideas.
Part of a university project, modern adaptation of “A Harlot’s Progress”:
When studying for my
illustration degree I came across the work of urban painter Jock McFadyen, I
really liked the way he chose to find interest in unlikely subject matter and
admired his painting style and compositions. I also liked the work of
Manchester painter Liam Spencer and learned a lot about painting from looking
at his use of marks. I have friends who are also painters and I always find it
interesting to find out about their creative process and watch them work.
The first graphic
novel I read was the wordless book The Arrival by Shaun Tan and I have followed
his work and collected his books since then. I love the fact that Tan can
create imagery that is ridiculously ambitious in terms of the scale of his
imagination but it never quite falls over the boundary into out and out
surrealism, fantasy or sci-fi. It stays grounded with touches of the mundane
and familiar, inviting the reader to question what the fantasy or surreal
elements might be representative of in the real world. I also like that he is
now showing all the observational painting studies that underpin his practice,
I find it reassuring that people whose work I admire also consider observational
painting an integral part of their creative practice. It was the imaginative and
experimental work of creators such as Shaun Tan, David Weisner and Dave McKean
that made me realise that it wasn’t always necessary to conform to conventional
methods of creating books or to stick within a genre. It was because of this
desire to experiment that the idea of self-publishing appealed to me.
Stormcaller illustrations:
The first book I published
in 2017 was Stormcaller, a graphic novel which started life as a short story. It
soon became clear when I was designing the book that the story would lose its
impact if it was fully converted to dialogue and imagery as a traditional comic
layout. I wanted to keep the text and use it as an additional mode of
communication but was worried that people might think I was somehow cheating by
not conveying every part of the story through imagery. It was reading hybrid
books such as The Savage by David Almond and Dave McKean and later discovering
the diverse range of experimental comics and zines being made by independent
creators and having conversations with them (including you at Frisson!) that
gave me the confidence to make my own creative decisions based on what I
thought was the best way of telling the story.
Do you have a favourite piece of horror media?
For
me, horror works best when elements related to fear, fantasy or the paranormal
are used as metaphors or to provoke an emotional response that deepens the
impact of the narrative’s context. I think some of the films by Guillermo del
Toro do this really well and The Devil’s Backbone is a personal favourite. Not
sure whether it would be technically classed as horror or comedy but I also
loved the originality of the Inside Number 9 series’ from Reece Shearsmith and
Steve Pemberton.
Do you have any projects coming up?
I’m working on a few different things including a long-term solo graphic novel project, a set of printed collections of painting studies documenting treasures from the natural world and a drawing project exploring spaces within the architecture of Chester where I live. I’m also interested in the possibility of starting up a zine that focuses on the approaches and processes of different artists but I’m still working out the logistics of that! The project I’m closest to finishing is illustrations for Blue Collars Issue Two. This is a collaboration comic series written by Tom from Frisson. It is a story set in an alternate dystopian future, a new industrial revolution where totalitarianism reigns under the guise of philanthropy. Issue 2 begins by following the story of Katja and Marek, immigrants to this society who are struggling to help someone in need. Issue Two will be available to order on Kickstarter from the end of May.
Your work has a very painterly style more reminiscent
of a fine arts background, what materials do you enjoy using the most?
I suppose it depends
on the piece and the look I’m trying to achieve really. I will probably always
enjoy pencil drawings and painting in oil because it was what I did most early
on and training this way has given me a practical and tactile understanding of
colour mixing and tone that feels quite natural now though I am always
practicing and trying to improve. I’d say I’m most comfortable with my images
when they look like they are made of something real whether that’s paint or
paper or objects so it’s rare that I’ll produce a fully digital image.
Watercolour and ink
give a beautiful translucency and atmosphere that you can’t achieve in any
other medium. There is a sense of handing over control when it comes to these
materials that doesn’t happen with opaque paints unless you dilute them. It’s
never possible to know exactly what the finished piece will look like so it is
the perfect medium for experimentation. For my illustrative work I mainly use
ink and watercolour. Collaging fragments together is something that I started
exploring a couple of years ago and have gradually been experimenting with more
and more. I find that contrast between organic, fluid marks and the controlled,
sharp edges and structure created through collage visually interesting and it
also has the potential to add another layer of meaning or expression to a piece.
I enjoy playing with surface layers in my painting studies and using collage is
an extension of this.
It is usually the case that any interesting elements that I choose to add into my illustration work have started life either in painting studies or pieces I created for no purpose. When you take away the focus of the end product and just make art for it’s own sake I think it becomes easier to have new stylistic ideas that can then be used in narratives. That’s why I find it so important to do both.
Your work tends to focus on the interplay between the
organic and the synthetic who or what inspires these themes in your work?
Yes! I’d say that is a
contrast I often use. I think as creators we are always looking for shorthand or
symbolic ways to describe and represent the experiences we are having and the
world we are living in. We are organic beings but the majority of us in the
West live in synthetic, manufactured environments that are more fragile than we
choose to believe. I often wonder how many times in history civilisations have
risen and fallen again.
As a child I was
intrigued by the industrial revolution initially because of the imagery and
artefacts I’d seen. I am visually interested in technology from this time
because it was still possible to see how things worked through normal observation.
Growing up in North-west England there were plenty of places to go and learn
about this era and I was interested in finding out what it was like for people
then. I knew that Liverpool was the birthplace of the first steam engine which
was the seed of industry, manufacturing and of Western civilisation and
capitalism as we know it. It was also a major port and point of trade during
this period and was home to some of the wealthiest families in the world. But
it was the realisation that this was also built on the exploitation of others; the
slave trade and the children and labourers in the textile industry, that made
me realise there was another side to the story. I read personal accounts
written by people at the time and I think that this was the first time I became
aware that to some, often those in positions of power, people are a resource to
be used. The fusing of the mechanical with the biological, human form can be
seen as symbolic of this.
Illustrations from my ‘Man and Machine’ series:
What scares you the most?
I have a recurring nightmare
of standing in front of an open window at night. Instead of a night sky dimmed
by light pollution and clouds I can see the planets looming as gigantic orbs in
the sky and every detail and crater on them is visible. I can see huge chunks
of rock flying around them and through the sky. It’s like there is no distance
or visual barrier between the Earth and space and I feel overwhelmed with a
sense of being tiny, vulnerable and subject to the elements. The panic usually
wakes me up and I tell myself it was just a dream but what scares me the most
is that I know deep down that it isn’t. Living in modern society lulls us into
a false sense of security that we are safe and detached from the reality of
nature. A reality we haven’t even come close to understanding.
What’s your favourite piece that you’ve submitted to
Knock Knock? ‘
One of the positive challenges of creating work for Knock Knock has been the format, creating something to say that is meaningful in a short form. (As you can probably tell from the length of my answers, I don’t find that easy!) This forces me to think creatively and edit down thoughts to the essence of what I want to express. I also see it as an opportunity to experiment with stylistic ideas.
I have always found it useful to use loose parts (small objects, cut out paper etc) as reference and to build compositions for story-boarding, but recently I’ve been focusing on the idea that this transient process can actually be expressed as the final illustration or be incorporated into it in some way. My recent wordless book Junk DNA was an expression of this idea amongst other things! Junk DNA was composed purely through the arrangement of objects so it may look visually like a completely different process from the rest of my illustration work but the pieces I have created subsequently including the one-page comic for the recent Pestilence issue have followed on directly from the same line of thinking. The idea was to compose the images by collaging ink drawings together as I mentioned earlier. Rather than drafting and re-drafting the editing occurs in the removal and replacement of component parts and so the working process is revealed in the image itself. I would say that this idea of showing creative play and process is a thread that runs through most of my work. Visually, I don’t like things to be too finished or perfect and I think that stems from the enjoyment in being able to see how something has been made. So I’d say the piece for the Pestilence issue would be my favourite as it represents a culmination of ideas that I intend to carry on using in future work.
You can keep up with Clare’s work and projects through her website here.You can also follow Clare’s process on her Instagram and Facebook Page.
Frisson Comics in conjunction with Erika Price are organising a Mr Blobby horror zine. We’re taking submissions consisting of the most horrific Mr Blobby themed comics you can create.
All submissions should be A5 in size, black and white and at least 300 DPI. Comics should be a maximum of 4/5 pages in length. The finished zine will be available as a PDF for all successful contributors to print themselves, but we will also be doing a short run of risograph printed zines to be launched at Thought Bubble in November.
The deadline for submissions is the 20th September and all submissions should be sent to FrissonComics@gmail.com along with contributor names and social media details!
We’re coming up to week 4 of our artist spotlights celebrating 3 years of Knock Knock zines! We’ve previously spoken to some of our regular contributors to Knock Knock including Kevin T. Rogers,Michela Cicconi and Erika Price, this week we’re turning our spotlight onto macabre comic maker Allan MacRitchie. Allan has been contributing to Knock Knock since issue 4, and has experimented with comics, strips and even a fake film review. Read forth to catch a glimpse of Allan’s creative process and influences!
What got you into creating art?
My parents are both creative and they
encouraged me to start drawing. I also loved telling stories so comics became
the perfect way for me to combine words and pictures. It’s only been in the
last five years that I started making comics seriously and I’ve been
self-publishing and tabling at conventions since 2016.
Are there any creators who influence your work and how?
Mike Mignola and Charles Burns use a lot of black ink and I do too- mainly to hide all the mistakes in my drawing. Also you can’t make horror comics without admiring/fearing Junji Ito.
Do you have a favourite piece of horror media?
Too many to list but off the top of
my head: The League of Gentlemen, And Then Emily Was Gone by
John Lees and Iain Laurie and Ari Aster’s Hereditary.
Do you have any projects coming up?
I’m three pages into the second volume of Grave Wax– a supernatural mystery written by Heather Palmer and drawn by myself. Volume 1 was set in an isolated Highland town surrounded by creatures from the darkest corners of Scottish folklore. Now we’re moving the action to Glasgow where there’ll be murder, conspiracy and cults. If you’re a fan of Hellblazer check it out!
Your work has a very distinctive style, is there anything in particular which inspires your creative process?
I like to adapt how I draw to fit the tone of each story. Every time I make something I usually learn something from it that I can use for the next project. And the more I make the more I’m inspired to create new stuff.
Your stories tend to be very influenced by folklore, what is it that draws you to these types of tales?
I love monsters and mythology is full of them. Nothing fires up my brain more than great creature design.
What scares you the most?
Opening up to people and exposing the horrible, blackened being that lives inside me. And yet here I am doing this interview.
What’s your favourite piece that you’ve submitted to Knock Knock?
The Adventures of Billy from the Nightmare Issue– I was trying to emulate the style of Winsor McCay’s Dream of the Rarebit Fiend and it’s possibly the darkest thing I’ve written so far. Also Family Dinner, from the Gourmet Edition, which Heather wrote about an aristocratic cannibal family. It’s gross. So much so that I look at the art and think, “I can’t believe we did that.”
You can follow more of Allan’s twisted works and artistic process through Twitter and Instagram.
As a celebration of the fact that we’ve been making our Knock Knock zines for 3 years, we have been doing a creator spotlight on some of our most regular contributors. So far we’ve interviewed Kevin T. Rogers and Michela Cicconi, this week we’re shining the spotlight on comic maker Erika Price. Erika started submitting work in our 6th issue of Knock Knock- Creature Feature and her distinctive art style and story telling method has stuck out to us since.
What got you into creating art?
I’d always enjoyed painting but I think really it was when I started my
GCSEs and I had art teachers who could see I had potential, but didn’t have the
physical skills, and so pushed me to keep trying to reach slightly higher than
where I was skill-wise and never let me give up and fail. then when I studied
fashion I had a fashion illustration teacher who encouraged me to keep
developing stylistically via repetition of the same idea over and over. I think
that those teachers all sort of instilled a work ethic in me that made me
suited to what I do now. As for getting interested in comics in particular,
that came when I was very ill in my early 20s and I started to read some comics
and very quickly wanted to make my own somehow, the idea of working on stuff that
lasts longer than fashion does and tells stories was appealing.
Are there any creators who influence your work and how?
German expressionist art is a big influence, especially Kathe Kollwitz, Egon Schiele is another huge influence, Tsutomu Nihei’s books, Kieron Gillen has profoundly influenced the way I approach making comics too.
Do you have a favourite piece of horror media?
The Leopard by Sarah Horrocks, it’s just a beautifully made revenge
slasher comic, it’s just gorgeous.
Do you have any projects coming up?
I’m working on a webcomic called Disorder at the moment, it’s a stream of consciousness horror comic, that I create as art therapy. it’s kind of like if William Burroughs and Junji Ito made a diary comic together
Your work has an extremely unique style, is there anything in particular which inspires your creative process?
I’m pretty into formalism, so how I layout my pages is something that I think about a lot. with Knock Knock I try to take it as an exercise in thinking of a story in as short a time as possible, also more recently I’ve been trying to use them as a place to switch up my art style and try new things out.
How do you come up with the content of your stories?
My Knock Knock pieces tend to be about either people going somewhere they shouldn’t/reaching too far and getting destroyed as a consequence, or people who are monstrous and have been abandoned to their self-destruction. this isn’t intentional though, just the pattern that’s emerged, I’m very psychoanalytical about my own work though, and both those story archetypes absolutely can apply to past parts of my life.
What scares you the most?
not being able to be who I am. Dying. also, insects crawling into my
ear.
What’s your favourite piece that you’ve submitted to Knock Knock?
probably the one I did for the disease issue, though I’m quite fond of the piece for tech noir too.
You can keep up to date with Erika’s work on Twitter and Instagram
Disorder is an ongoing series and you can read issues here.
All past issues of Knock Knock are available to read in our zine archive!
Week 2 of our continuing creator spotlights, last week we spoke to Kevin T. Rogers, this week we are interviewing Italian artist Michela Cicconi. Michela has been contributing stories, comics and illustrations to our Knock Knock horror zines since issue 2 in 2016. We instantly fell in love with her dark humour and unique style.
What got you into creating art?
You know when you’re a kid, you draw a lot, especially before learning to write? I basically kept that up (I can read and write). There wasn’t a time in my life when I haven’t been drawing or painting. Growing up, that proclivity towards drawing evolved as my interests changed, incorporating art and comics, but what remains is the will to create something with my hands.
Are there any creators who influence your work and how?
That has actually always been one of my weaknesses. I appreciate art in different styles and means of expressions, but there isn’t one specific artist that mainly influenced me. I look at different ones, from time to time, looking for inspiration. I love the works of Alphonse Mucha, just to give you a name. I find ideas in books and music, when I work, I often listen to the CDs of Caparezza (Italian musician) on repeat, that keeps me focused.
Do you have a favourite piece of horror media?
I love horror movies, especially those involving malefic presences, devils, anything related to demonic possession and Satan toying with humanity. I basically consume every piece of crap with a slight resemblance to Omen. In comics, I love the work of Ted Naifeh, that combines a dark atmosphere with a beautifully crafted sense of wonder. One of the books that really made an impression on me as a kid was Vinegar Street by Philip Ridley, a bit claustrophobic, apocalyptic and distressing. Just my type. Add years of reading Bram Stoker and Anne Rice, of course.
Do you have any projects coming up?
I’m going to bring my art prints (mainly linocuts) and comics to an independent maker’s fair in a short while. I hope to be able to finish a new series of four prints inspired by an early project I made on fantastic places. I am currently exhibiting only in Italy but I would love to go overseas, maybe to fairs, when I get the chance! Other than that I’m really only hoping to get out of allergy season with my sanity intact.
Is there anything specific to growing up in Italy that has inspired your work or the horror comics you have contributed to Knock Knock?
You might have noticed that I didn’t mention any Italian book or movie answering about my favourite piece of media. I love Italian comics but mostly comedic and adventure ones, and they really are great. Growing up in Italy, you hear many stories, very often. They go from ancient history to modern narrative but there is always a common need for recording what happened, what has been told or even just imagined. Anecdotes are told, re-told and changed to please the audience, it isn’t really important that they fit the truth. Considering the history of Italian theatre, the oral tradition of telling stories to amuse people around us isn’t that surprising. That also connects to the sense of lost grandeur, of the good old days, of an empire dissolved (you might relate to that). In short, we look at the past. That directly influences me when I imagine a story, classic myths and fairy tales mix with the fun of imagining infinite what-ifs and my own fears. All the stories I’ve done for Knock Knock are based on legends or real places. Italian fairy tales, with their repeated stereotypes, the woods, the devil (as in evil being trying to outsmart you) are also part of my set of references.
You have a penchant for print making, what is it you like about that medium?
First, my BA is in Graphic Arts, as printmaking, that is my background. Printmaking, of course, allows you to make several originals of your artwork, that allows for larger distribution. Also, I’m kind of obsessive, I love spending hours carving a tiny piece of wood or linoleum and the all process (almost magical) of inking up, printing and finding out if you created a masterpiece or wasted good paper. I seldom know in advance.
What scares you the most?
I’m easily scared. I fainted when they tried to take a drop of blood to check glycemia, I see shadows moving when I’m alone, I’m scared of people’s judgement (and of my judgement of them), I’m scared of dying, of meaninglessness, and I really, really dislike wasps. That being said, I love horror, I love reading and telling stories about all the above, I think it’s the same for most people. (They really had to work hard to get that drop of blood; my veins are under my control).
What’s your favourite piece that you’ve submitted to Knock Knock?
I have to say it’s Il Corvo e la Strega (The Witch and the Crow) from summer issue 2018. It was fun to draw and fun to write, and, even if it’s not strictly horror (it suggests horrors to come), it’s the comic in which I was able to convey the mood I wanted.
You can see more of Michela’s work as well as her process on instagram: @MichelaCicconiGraffica
You can also check out her original Lino prints, labels and other beautiful artworks on her Etsy.
With issue 12 of our horror zine series Knock Knock, we’re coming up to the 3rd year anniversary of creating horror zines. to celebrate we thought we’d do a weekly creators spotlight with some of our zine regulars. For our first week we thought it fitting to feature Kevin T. Rogers, the only contributor who has been in every issue of Knock Knock to the date of this article. Kevin’s darkly humoured stories are always a pleasure to receive. His work strikes the balance of horror and humour perfectly and there is always a clever surprise at the end. Kevin has recently had his screenplay Once Bitten adapted into a short film currently touring various film festivals around the world.
Below we have an interview with Kevin, exploring his writing habits and influences.
How did you first get into writing?
I was given a copy of Richmal Crompton’s Just William, for my fifth birthday & reading it was so fantastic, that I wanted to know how it was done! How did people actually write such enthralling and entertaining stuff? And I’ve been trying to find out ever since!
Are there any creators who influence your work and how?
Too many to get anywhere near naming all of them – and from all sorts of different genres and fields. But sticking to Horror/Fantasy/ Sci-fi, I’d have to mention the specifically Gothic writers of the nineteenth century – from Mary Shelley (and Jane Austen’s satire, Northanger Abbey) through to the fin-de-siècle masterpieces by Stoker, Stevenson, Wilde. Plus of course the ‘three weird sisters’, the Brontes, with particular attention to Emily (novel & selected poems.) And a whole host of others of the period who were fellow travellers or dabblers – like Poe, Conan Doyle, H.G.Wells, Dickens, etc.
In terms of 20th/21st Century work, I tend – though by no means exclusively – towards performance media – particularly screen. I’ll watch – and enjoy – almost anything from Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s, to all of the post-war ‘biggies’ – Carpenter, Cronenberg, Craven, Romero – and lots more in between.
I suppose the influence of all of the above, manifests itself in my interest in what I guess are general things like structure, humour, characterisation – and overall great storytelling. Whether I’m a competent student of their example though, is another matter entirely!
Do you have a favourite piece of horror media?
Not really – just anything that I think is great in whatever form it takes.
Do you have any projects coming up?
I’m always trying to work on something or other – some of which might see the light of day, most probably won’t. But practice is never wasted. I’m currently revising my comic/Fantasy e-book, Carol Starr & The Dump of Discarded Charactersand thinking about a possible follow-up.
You’re the writer of the award-winning short film ‘Once Bitten’, how different is it writing for film compared to short stories?
Well, for me, there is a certain amount of cross-over – most specifically, efficient three-act-structure, getting the characterisation right, and hopefully a story that draws the audience in.Then with a finished script it’s over to the director – in the case of Once Bitten . . . , Pete Tomkies of Punk Duck who is brilliant! Pete also assembled a fantastic cast – Lauren Ashley Carter, Garth Maunders & Sir Dickie Benson, and an award-nominated-and-winning crew. So I was incredibly lucky with that script. With short stories, I suppose I work more as writer and director.
Which medium is your favourite?
Whichever of my work that is liked and has any success!
What scares you the most?
EVERYTHING – I’m the most phobic person you could ever meet! But especially politicians – they actually think they’re doing us a favour. In terms of horror fiction, though – I’ve been terrified both by film and the written word equally.
What’s your favourite story that you’ve submitted to Knock Knock?
I have a certain soft spot for, A TASTE OF HIS OWN MEDICINE – because there’s a sort of extra, almost hidden, twist-in-the-tail that comes after the main one. The trick is in the switching from third-person to first in the very last line!