Have you ever wondered what scares a horror writer? For this interview, Mark Morris, winner of the 2007 British Fantasy Award discussed that, time travel, and his new release, “The Wolves of London.”
“The Wolves of London” came about while Morris was researching what he calls the murky, occult underbelly of London. He said, “I like writing about damaged characters, so that was a starting point. I also like writing about London, even though I live up north. It’s such a rich, fecund environment, full of history and weirdness. Quite often I get a feel for the kind of book I want to write, and in this instance I decided I was in the mood to do something very dark, but very fantastical, and also something that sprawled across different time zones.”
Time zones, in this case, didn’t mean Greenwich Mean Time vs. Pacific Daylight. No, Morris was referring to something far deeper. “I wanted in particular to try and delve into the intricacies and implications of time travel as much as I could—which, let me tell you, when you really start thinking about it, ties you in so many knots that you soon realize how utterly unfeasible time travel would be in real life.”
The implications for what might happen if time travel were a real possibility could create historical changes that would have frightening effects. That, however, doesn’t worry Morris. When asked what did scare him, he said, “Oh, blimey, so many things! I’m terrified of heights and closed-in spaces. I’m terrified, as we all are, of illness and violence and pain and death—and not only of such things happening to me, but to my loved ones.”
In fact, it was one of those everyday occurrences that had a dramatic effect on Morris’s life. “My dad died very suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 49, so the idea that life—which we take so much for granted—can just end abruptly is, to me, a particularly terrifying prospect. I suppose it’s the mundane things, the real things, that I’m frightened of. I spend a lot of my time writing about the supernatural, but that doesn’t scare me—or at least not in the same way.”
Morris describes a fear of the supernatural as a “delicious fear.” He said, “There’s a thrill there; a sense of awe, of the numinous. Although I don’t necessarily believe in the supernatural, I still love the idea that there could be more out there than we currently understand and believe in. I’d love to see a ghost, for instance. It would probably scare the hell out of me, but afterwards I’m pretty sure I’d feel exhilarated, even comforted.”
While writing “The Wolves of London,” Morris’s main objective was to write a good story. He said, “I chose ex-con, single-parent Alex as my main character simply because characters with a lot of baggage are far more interesting to write about. I do go into some pretty murky areas in ‘The Wolves of London’, but I’m simply reflecting society, not passing judgement on it.”
Morris has been a full-time writer since 1988. His novels include “Toady,” “Stitch,” “The Immaculate,” and four original Doctor Who novels for BBC Books. He’s also the editor of Cinema Macabre, a book of horror movie essays, which won the 2007 British Fantasy Award. Morris describes the process of writing a book as “sheer hard work.”
Whereas some writers can pop out a first draft and head to publication, Morris describes himself as obsessive about rewriting and editing to make it as good as possible. He said, “Writing a book is mostly just a case of sitting alone at a desk every day for hours on end.”
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Learn more about Mark Morris on his website at www.markmorriswriter.com.
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