Posted by pete in General, Literature, News, Reviews on November 12th, 2008
Hi Mary,
First thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this interview for Famous Monsters Of Filmland and I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your first two books and am looking forward to more sleepless nights because of you…..
Well actually because of your writing.
Mary: Ha ha ha
Thanks. I’m delighted that you enjoyed the books. And I’m looking forward to causing more sleepless nights. 
Famous Monsters: In an email you sent me you said that your father was a big fan of Famous Monsters of Filmland growing up and you have heard about the magazine since you were a little girl. Was that your first introduction to horror and monsters? Or is horror something you were interested in at an early age?
Mary: Well, my father absolutely was an influence in my liking horror, but it took a while. He introduced me to SF classics like I, Robot and Bladerunner, Star Wars and Dune. I got a little older, he told me about the movies of the fifties that blended horror and SF, like Them and The Blob and The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the kinds of monster stories whose props could be found in Forrest Ackerman’s Ackermansion, and whose news and reviews graced the pages of one of his favorite magazines growing up, Famous Monsters of Filmland. That, I think, was the very beginning – alien stories that bridged the gap into horror. I think the monsters in my fiction still have a tinge of the alien to them.
I used to be scared of everything when I was little. Then someone (actually, it might have been my father, come to think of it) gave me the idea that maybe the monsters under my bed or in my closet or waiting to swoop in from outside my window could be tricked into sparing my life if they thought I was “one of them,” if I enjoyed the dark instead of hiding from it, and reveled in the scary stuff instead of avoiding it. So far, it’s worked. (more…)
Posted by pete in General, Interviews, Literature, News, Reviews on November 4th, 2008
“What is the Hollower? At times it can look like a man in a black coat and a black hat. But it’s definitely not a man. It’s not human at all. Its sole purpose is to stalk, to torment and to drive its victims to their deaths. It can sense each victim’s weaknesses, change its appearance and strike however it will hurt the most, physically…and mentally. Dave Kohlar is a man racked with guilt, doubt and worry. The perfect prey. He’s about to learn exactly what the Hollower is—and how it feeds.”
To tell you the truth, I had never heard of Mary SanGiovanni until I received her first novel The Hollower a few months back from Dorchester Publishing, home of Leisure Books. I am a member of their Horror book club and receive two new horror paperbacks every month. It is a great deal and has introduced me to a lot of new authors.
The cover and title of the book were intriguing. When I read the synopsis on the back, I thought…hmm this sounds interesting.
I finished the book in three fright-filled nights.
What jumped out first and really allowed me to live within this story were Mary’s characters. I can’t remember reading a first novel where the characters are so fully realized. The interaction between each other and the fictional world Mary created is engrossing and believable. You really feel for these people and what they are going through. To me that is where a great writer separates themselves from the rest.
Mary’s provocative prose and haunting imagery kept me turning the pages at a furious pace. Her voice is distinctly all her own, yet far beyond her short career as a novelist. She pulls no punches and hits you in the guts with heart wrenching fright, unrelenting images and nightmarish landscapes. Her descriptive language allows you to feel and see the places she writes about, to live in her fictional world and experience the same things her characters are feeling.
She created a creature of immense power that feeds on our insecurities and self-doubts. We all have them and now we know that something can use them to hunt us down.
Just when you think it’s over and it’s safe to be alone again Mary drags you back into her terrifying vision with Found You.
Right out of the gate, she grabs you by the throat with a first chapter that literally left me shaking. She wields words as a blacksmith wields a hammer, with authority and precision. Her storytelling is polished and sharp, evocative and horrifying.
Yet, she summons the power of restraint like a seasoned craftsman. She stays away from the over the top explicit gore and gruel that permeates much of today’s horror. She has enough faith in her talents and in her reader’s perceptions that she does not have to.
Mary SanGiovanni is a writer to watch and has cemented herself as force to be reckoned with in Horror Fiction, she is far too good at such an early stage in her career. The future looks bright for Mary and for those of us who love to lie awake at night wondering if that was really a voice we heard.
If you have not had a chance to read Mary’s books, do yourself a favor buy them, borrow them, or however you get them, read them. You will not be disappointed.
“Found you.” Those two simple words were like a death sentence to Sally. She recognized the voice, straight from her nightmares. The grotesque thing without a face, the creature that thrived on fear and guilt, had nearly killed her, like it had so many others. But it was dead…wasn’t it? Sally is about to find out that nightmares can become real, that your deepest secrets can prey on you, and that there’s nowhere to hide…for long.
In the small town of Lakehaven something has arrived that can’t see you, hear you or touch you, but it can find you just the same. And when it does, your fears will have a name.”
Book covers and text courtesy of Dorchester Publishing
www.marysangiovanni.com
Interview with Mary SanGiovanni
