Horror Legends with Inigo Mort
The life and times of horror’s greatest living fiction writers. Weekly interviews with Inigo Mort and your favourite spooky scribes!
Horror Legends with Inigo Mort
Aron Beauregard (Archive)
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Welcome to a look back at a classic episode of Horror Legends! One of the most controversial authors of Extreme Horror and Splatterpunk in the 21st Century: Aron Beauregard. We talk childhood, gruesome inspiration and being an indie author at the top of his game.
Welcome to another episode of Horror Legends with me, Inigo Mores, an interview podcast dedicated to exploring the life and times of horror's greatest living fiction writers. Thank you very much for joining me. We're going to continue on uh down this kind of retrospective path. Um interviews from the vault, if you will. This week I uh want to share with you one of my favourite interviews with uh the one and only Aaron Beauregard. He is probably you know uh on the on the far end of the spectrum for me when it comes to the type of horror that I enjoy. Um and that is you know he's a really nice guy, very funny guy, intelligent guy, he's a great businessman, and of course he's one of the you know, if not the king of extreme horror. Um but I I kind of you know uh let's I'll put it like this I enjoy sore, I enjoy hostile, and beyond there, I I kind of uh struggle to stay interested. Because the problem for me with a lot of um extreme horror stuff is that once you've raised my threshold to you know the the worst kind of stuff, you have to work so hard to keep me shocked that I actually just get bored and kind of numbed to it. Um and that's just my personal experience, you know. That's why probably the type of horror that I you know enjoy the most is usually has kind of quite a range. So you know, there might be one scene or moment in uh a book or a film which is horrifying and truly extreme. Uh and it's the kind of I guess the the light and shade, uh you know, the deep black and the blinding light, you know, that that kind of creates that contrast that I enjoy. Whereas, you know, you'll know that if you read any of Aaron Beaugaard's stuff that it's um that it's often just you know obscenely grotesque and and almost like uh cosmically laughably horrendous, which is a skill, you know, and I think that's why people love reading him, is because he's he's got a skill at pushing the envelope and the boat out. And um yeah, I think this is a really enlightening interview for anyone who's kind of wants to find out more about extreme horror or loves extreme horror. Um, and you know, I am not someone who's just gonna be like going, oh my god, Erin, you're so cool and so great. Like I I I challenge him a bit as well. So it's um but I challenge him with respect because I do think he's a he's a real legend. So yeah, sit back, relax, um, and have a good time with me and uh Erin Beauregard. I would like to start by asking you about your childhood and what it was like and you know where you grew up and all that kind of stuff, if that's alright. Sure, sure.
SPEAKER_01We're gonna begin right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go for it. We're we're recording. Well, absolutely. So, um, so I grew up in Central Falls, Rhode Island, which is a one square mile city. Um in the 80s, it was known for cocaine. It used to be called Sparkle City. Uh cocaine because they made that like imported it a lot, or everyone took it. There was just a lot of it, there's a lot of it going through the city, so it got like a nickname of Sparkle City. Um, so yeah, it's kind of like it, it's a great, I love it. It's a great area, it's a melting pot of like at least like when I was growing up, you know, and it's it still is now, even more so, really. But when I was growing up, it's just a melting pot of all different cultures. So I got to learn about, you know, I have a lot of friends who are Colombian. Most of my friends are Colombian, Puerto Rican, Cape Verdean, Guatemalan, like literally any, you know, culture or nationality you could think of. Uh, I got to experience that. And I got to experience some of the cooking too. Like a lot of my friends, I got to, you know, taste uh those different cultures, which is really cool. Um, and yeah, and I mean, you know, probably the city has a really cool old clock tower in the center of it, too.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but yeah, I mean, it's like I guess it's a pretty, pretty normal city, a little bit, a little bit rough at times growing up, you know. Um, I bounced through a few different school systems. Um, but I think that actually like kind of helped me a little bit in my writing, like experiencing all these kind of you know di diverse cultures and also uh just like different being put into different situations. Like I actually didn't realize it until I wrote a introduction for the slob collection where I was kind of talking about the inspir some of the inspiration for it. And when I was writing it, I realized that I went into three different school systems in three in a three-year period from like I believe it was the fourth to sixth grade. Um so that was you know, that was actually looking back on it, you know, a great source of inspiration, just just experiencing all those different things and different people, you know. Uh and I think it also toughens you to some extent, too, you know.
SPEAKER_00Because I was a pretty yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I was I was definitely like it's weird with me when I was a kid, I was kind of like a little outspoken early on, but then I feel like as I grew, I got more shy, and then it and then towards the end of it, like when I was like, you know, 11th, 12th grade, getting ready to go out into the world, it kind of swung back the other way again, and I became like more outspoken. So it's like this weird kind of ebb and flow. Uh, do you mind me asking why you changed schools so much? Uh well, so there's a school, actually, St. Leo's is what I use. It was a Catholic school I went to for a couple of years as a kid that was in Pawtucket. It's no longer there. Um, there were some incidents where me and my brother kind of uh got into some altercations with nuns. Um I think one of the nuns like slapped my brother in the face, too. And I got into like an argument with one of them, and then my mom was like, you know, do you guys want to keep doing this? Like, you don't have to. So she was on your side.
SPEAKER_02Your mom wasn't like a random Catholic. She wasn't like, your mom wasn't like, get you out. No, like you should be funny.
SPEAKER_03No, no, go ahead.
SPEAKER_01No, no, funny enough, um, not that we were like angels or anything, she knew we were like kind of you know, we had our own issues, but uh she also went to that school um when she was a kid, and she knew some of the nuns that were there when she was a kid were there when we went were there, so she like knew some of them were like jerks and shit. Um so uh so that was one part of it. And then this the second time was for uh my parents' divorce, and so I think that was around like '92 or '93 or something. And that's actually like a big topic. And that that's actually a big inspiration for the second playground book. It's called Child of Divorce. Um, and I realized I explored a lot of elements that were important to me in the first playground book uh as a child, you know, just like little things that you sort of went through or you saw people go through close to you. Um, but one of the things I overlooked was that like divorce and like what it what a kid feels like at the age of about seven or eight years old when the family's kind of breaking apart. Um, and and people react to it different ways, you know. Um, some people it really can fuck with them, other people they can kind of take it in in stride and move past it. But regardless, it was something I really wanted to talk about in the chat. Obviously, that's why I named it the subtitle Child of Divorce.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So uh how did you respond to a parents' divorce? Did you take it in your stride, or was it or was that the cause of you having to leave your school because you acted out as a consequence?
SPEAKER_01Uh well, it was I I think I think overall I took it in stride. Yeah. Um, of course, there was like, you know, things where you get depressed. Like I had very good, I had good parents, though. I was very lucky, like my mom, you know, she's an incredible woman. Uh, you know, me and my dad's relationship a little bit fractured, but uh before he passed away, you know, we're able to come back together and uh, you know, kind of make things right. But um, but yeah, my mom was incredible, uh, is incredible. And uh, you know, she helped me get get through that, I think. And uh also my stepfather at the time, too. Uh, that's another thing, right? The step parent coming into the picture. So yeah, uh, that's something I also explored in the book because I could remember the way I acted toward my stepfather in the beginning versus toward the end, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very abrasive, uh, and then to a point where like, wow, this man is like so important in my life, and you know, I love him. And uh, so you know, and that's that's the thing. Like, you could write extreme horror, bringing it to writing a little bit, like you could write extreme horror, uh, but you know, as many readers have said on like social apps and stuff, it becomes very boring if there's not like sort of something grounded that people can relate to in it, you know. And I and that's why I just think um, you know, I love going back and being a kid again and like thinking about that time when there wasn't so many daunting issues and things to think about, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_02No, it does. And I think that especially with let's call it extreme horror, um, splatterpunk, there is something quite childlock like about it. There is something quite playful, and I think that it's immersive to the point that when people read it, they the whole point is you forget about your problems, right? It's like it's overwhelming and it's totally just like, yeah, it's just it's just a sensory overload. So I think that I can see where the playfulness of like that, you know, I'm not saying that it's immature, but there is something very kind of like it's like splashing around in a muddy puddle, you know, some of some of that kind of stuff. It's very like raucous and and kind of carefree in a way. That's how I see it anyway.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I think I I think you're right, you know, like some not all of it is immature. Maybe there's a some of it that's immature, yeah. But but it but uh but you know what I mean, you can have well-written immature stuff, or you can have really poorly written immature stuff, you know. Uh, but but I get what you're saying too. Yeah, I think I think it's I like both of it, you know.
SPEAKER_02Both no, yeah, no, and I don't I guess I don't I mean immature in like the best way, is in like I think I think the problem, like you said, those daunting things that come into your life, that loss of innocence and childhood. I mean, I think we're all kind of trying to get back to that kind of like, wow, let's just go crazy, which like your books are they are a riot, like you know, they are they are just like let's go. And obviously there are some serious themes in there, but I think like you said, that that thing of bringing it back to like, you know, it's good to have heart in there as well. It's good to have things that ground it that people can relate to, so it's not just gore and kind of violence or whatever it is, um, and a and a plot ultimately something for people to kind of like hang on to, which I think you do really well. I think your books do have like good plots, and um, they're not just you know a window into some kind of like horrendous scenario, and you just get kind of like this snapshot view of it, and then it's like, oh, that was fun, let's go. Like you you do have stories and you do have arcs. Um, and I want to talk about uh like when you started writing and if you when you started writing, if you started writing horror at the beginning.
SPEAKER_01Yes, uh, I was always drawn to horror. I had uh what I call just a general morbid curiosity. Um, I was always interested. Well, at first as a very young child, I was primarily frightened by death. Uh, I can remember just like learning about death and being like, I remember there was like a short period where I was just like, I'm gonna die someday. You know what I mean? And as a kid, you're just like, what the fuck, you know? Uh but then as it, yeah, it's it's like it's scary, you know. Well, to some, I mean to some kids, to me it was. I was yeah, but then over time, it I don't know, you just sort of, you know, you accept it like anything else. And then to me, it became a fascination of like, you know, what does death mean? What what comes next? Um, and I'm sort of one of those people who believes, you know, anything is possible. Um, you know, I'm not someone who's going to be like yay or nay, or really have take a leap of faith, I guess. I'm just sort of open, open to ideas, you know, and I find it interesting to explore them. And I do that in some of my work. But going back to being a kid, um, I think the first actual like story that I wrote that was a horror story was in sixth grade. Um, and it was called House of Illusions. And it was a pretty like it was a pretty um messed up. There was like murders in it and stuff, and for probably for like that age, yeah, it was a little shocking to them, but it did actually like win an award at the school, which was which was kind of cool.
SPEAKER_02So when you wrote it, did you write it uh and submit it in school? Like, so was this part of a school? Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_01It was some kind of school contest, exactly. Um, and then I wrote a separate story called Zombie Child, where uh a woman is impregnated after this guy murders her, and the baby comes out and tries to like hunt the guy down, kind of thing.
SPEAKER_02How old are you when you wrote that?
SPEAKER_01So that was sixth grade as well. Um, and um I it's funny enough, my mom actually gave me she found a photocopied thing of the story, like and everything. And I was I wrote it with this other kid, Josh Pendergrass, I think was his name. And we were kind of going just back and forth, just like writing sections of it, bouncing back and forth. And uh, but anyway, so they found that in my pants, just like all the sheets of paper in my pants. They they were not happy about that. I can remember my dad, like he was fucking like pissed because it's not it was was he worried for you? I don't know what he was, you know. Uh yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I think I think they yeah, I think it was worry. I think it's like, oh man, is this kid a fucking whack job? You know what I mean? Maybe potentially, but uh yeah, but no, they they obviously over time saw that it's just uh you know whatever it was, it was just imagination, but a darker side of imagination. Um, I wasn't like killing animals on the side or anything, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02So this wasn't forming part of a yeah, a pattern. Like, do you know do you remember? Do you have like any sense of why, apart from the morbid kind of fascination, which I think a lot of people have, whether they acknowledge it or not, and some people kind of like you know get scared out of it, but like it's quite normal, I think, to to kind of have these things. Do you do you remember like because these stories that they sound, especially the zombie one, it's there's something quite deep about that. Like it's it's not something which I think would, I mean, no, it naturally comes up in in like imagination and stuff. But do you remember why, like, particularly something like that, which is quite disturbing, like quite graphic, you know, what why that was the thing that you were drawn to? Because I mean, you know, I've just to clarify, like, there are scary stories, right? There are fairy stories, and there's the you know, the bad character, but like, and it's continued throughout your work, obviously, is like that kind of quite upfront brutality. Like, what were your influences around when you were writing this stuff?
SPEAKER_01That that's the weird part. I don't think at that time that there was any like major extreme influence. Maybe like I know my uncle Paul did show me like the Stepfather Three, yeah, and pet cemetery like movies when I was pretty young. Um, it might uh it's hard for me to pinpoint. I don't know if it was before that, yeah. Um, but it could have been that because I'm trying to think of like any any stuff like media that I would have consumed, and I'm not sure. I mean, I was playing some pretty violent video games. I remember like Doom around that time was a really big like the OG Doom, yeah. Yeah, uh so yeah, so there was like you know, an idea of some violent stuff, but I wasn't like reading like adult literature or anything like that. Um so yeah, it is kind of odd that that happened, but interestingly enough, it's funny because like years later, I was watching, I was probably like 20 or 21, and I was watching some kind of anthology horror film, yeah, where it's just like several stories. I can't even remember what the name of the film was, but then in the movie, that's literally a plot point in it, yeah. Um, where the guy bangs a dead corpse of a girl and the zombie baby comes to kill him, and I'm like, holy shit! I was like, that was my idea, you know, like when like many years ago, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I hadn't really like written much, like very sparsely. I was mostly writing like music. Uh yeah, it was very dark music though. Um, it was kind of like horror music essentially.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But uh, but yeah, I remember having kind of an aha moment there, like, oh, maybe that was a good idea. So it was validation. You kind of validation, yeah.
SPEAKER_02No, I get that, and I think it's usually kind of what happens, especially with a lot of the writers that I've spoken to, is like you're kind of when you're a child, you write, and then there's a kind of a fallow period when you're a teenager and you grow up and like you don't want to be indoors, like writing, like you're out messing around and whatever. And then you kind of like reconnect with it some way. So was that your yeah, that aha moment? Did that kind of make you go? Or can you pinpoint you and go? Oh, after that, I actually started picking it up again and thinking I could do this.
SPEAKER_01After that, I wrote, I know I did write a story after that. Um, I believe it was called The Nameless. And it was like about I never even I don't even think I finished the story. Yeah, uh, but it was about uh a guy who picks up a girl at a porno store. She's very eager to hang out with him, oddly.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um and then she's like, Yeah, you know, we'll go to my house or whatever. And they keep driving and the radio starts fading out. Now you're getting into like a dead zone. And then she it like brings her, she brings him inside, gives him something to drink, and like cracks him in the face with a hammer. And like I remember I had like this thing of like a nose bone sticking out through his eye, and like he could see it. Uh, and then she brings her mom out, and her mom's like this wormy kind of woman, and like she just like ties him to the bed and has her mom fuck him. And I'm just like, I don't know where it was going or anything, it's just an old story that I started, yeah. And and then again, like I probably stopped finishing that story uh and went on to like continue to uh you know do like write songs and stuff like that. Uh took me a while, you know. I went through until I became clo more serious, it was probably in my early 30s. Yeah. Um, because I I found I was still reading books, even at like I went through this whole music period that was over a decade. Yeah, yeah. Drugs part, drugs partying non-stop, you know. Yeah, yeah. And uh, and then you get a little bit older, and uh kind of like found this kid that I worked with. And at the time I was reading this book, How Not to Write a Screenplay. I was trying to uh write a screenplay, and I found this kid that was great, you know. He's very interested in writing screenplays. We wrote a couple screenplays together, um, but he was more into like drama, and I was like dragging him down this really dark fucking path, and and like the the collaborations we were doing, I could tell it was like this isn't what Joe wants to do, you know what I mean? Like, and then the nose bone comes out the eye. Yeah, Joe wants to write a movie about a hockey guy who's sad, you know what I mean? Like, and uh I want to write, you know, something extremely graphic, and um and so we ended up kind of parting ways, and uh it was sometime after that that I started doing a podcast, yeah, and I had uh an idea on this podcast where I would remember, I don't know, you're kind of young, so you might not remember this, but there was a show called Fact or Fiction. Um Beyond Belief, and like you'd have to choose like they'd show you four stories, and you gotta be like, Well, that one's true, that one's not, and then they reveal it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, and so like I did that in a podcast form. I was gonna do like I did a few episodes of it, and it was like basically like doing an audiobook uh with acting and shit like that, and then the podcast people would vote if they thought it was real or not, and we'd reveal it the following week or whatever. Wow, that's cool. Um and I did about four of those. Um and then I realized I was like, wow, I got like enough to um, you know, maybe I should just write 10 of them, yeah, and I could release a collection, you know.
SPEAKER_02So you kind of tricked yourself into into writing in a way that you kind of yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and because because that and that's why I tell people, like, you know, if you've gone so long without going all in on something, you should really like if it if it's a resurfacing theme in your life, yeah, and you'd never go all in on it, you should really pick your spot to go all in on it because um it does sometimes it doesn't happen early, you know. And even even before that story collection, me and my wife, at the time she wasn't my wife, but we went to the Lizzie Borden house to spend a night. Uh oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course, of course, you know, like one does, but uh we went to the Lizzie Borden house to spend a night, and you know, you stay in that Lizzie Borden house just with random people, so there's like eight people and everybody has a room. We of course pay a little extra for the murder room, and uh and so but I'm looking at this kid that's there, there's a cast of characters staying in there, and one kid's just covered in serial killer tattoos, like fucking a beautiful portrait of Ed Gean. And I'm like, man, didn't just any whack job walks in here, you know what I mean? Like yeah, and so I got to thinking, and I was like, Oh, that'd be a cool story. Yeah, and it ended up being like something I wrote about that experience that I never finished. I think it was like a half a book, maybe. And then I wrote a separate book a little bit after that, which would be Die Tommy, uh, that was based off a story a friend told me where his dad the story was just so incredible that I was like, I want to write something about this. Yeah, where his dad was pick up dead bodies in the Arizona heat, it's like fucking 120 degrees, and they said they picked up this big, big overweight dude, and uh the like one of them grabbed the arms and the other grabbed the legs, and when they lifted him up, he just ripped through the skin, and like his body just land, and they're just holding a skin suit. Um, and I was like, that's fucking incredible. So I wrote a body about a story about these dudes that pick up dead bodies, and one of the bodies has something wrong with it, so it's kind of like an infection tale, yeah. Um obviously not my best work, the first thing I wrote, but um, you know, as part of the process. But but even that, I wrote that, I sat on that, did absolutely nothing with it for like over a year or something like that. Yeah, uh, maybe two years. Um, and it wasn't until my wife bought a uh Digi, Digipod's a printing company, a sample book from Digipod, and she sent me that sample, she gave me that sample book, and she was like, Look, this is what it would look like. Like, if you tried printing one of your own. Wow. And she basically like pushed me to do it. So, like, if anybody enjoys my work, you thank my wife, because she's she's the one it's usually the case, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02The wives usually find their way into the origin story. I I think that's really interesting, and I also think that with writing specifically, there's a reason why people come to writing probably not in their twenties and teens in terms of like really focusing to it. Because I think you do also need some life experience, you know. You kind of you kind of need to writing is is is a very kind of it's a it's a complex way of communicating with people and people know if you're faking. So it's like you kind of not only do you need the confidence, but you I think you also just need yeah, just need that experience. So I get that, and also like the idea of like finishing things or not finishing things. And so, would you say that this first book was the first thing that you finished and you sat on it? Like a full proper thing that you finished to the end, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and by finished, I mean like I wrote the end, I don't mean like um somebody edited it and said, Aaron, you've got a lot of problems here, you know. Avoid that so yeah, it's not like even my first four books were not properly edited. Uh I had a big learning curve, and I I shared this a lot on my podcast. You know, I try to tell people my mistakes, so hopefully they don't uh go down the same path. But yeah, the sooner you can get a good editor, because I ended up having to re-release four of my books. In a way, it was a blessing though. Um, because when I re-released the slob with the with the edits and I added some more material to it, I also gave them all new covers. Yeah, that was really that cover out of my first out of my books that really kind of took off for whatever reason.
SPEAKER_02I know what cover you're talking about. It's it's insanely cool. What's the name of the artist? Uh Anton Rozovsky. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Insane. Yep.
SPEAKER_01It's an absolute like riot of a book cover. Like it's amazing. Um, yeah, so I was very fortunate with that. And in a weird way, my fuck up spelled my success. So it's kind of weird to tell people like, don't do it, but I don't know if that would happen for everyone.
SPEAKER_02I think no, but I think that's the thing, is I think that well, first the editor, it's like there's a resources thing if you're paying someone, but also like who do I ask, where do I find them? But I think I think you're right. You probably all writers end up finding out that you it's good to have an editor, right? It's like it's good to have objectivity as well, and it's not right, you know, just because it helps you develop and like otherwise you are just kind of, and it's true in any creative form, I think. Otherwise, you're kind of just repeating the same patterns again. And then it's crucial to differentiate, I think, between the patterns that make your voice unique and the patterns that are just you doing the same thing over and over again, and it's just not quite working. And you kind of know deep down that it's not working, but you're like, ah, it's good enough, it's fine. So I think I think that that's fair. It's it's good to give advice, but people find out if they're serious enough, they find out for themselves anyway, don't they?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and like you said, just the objective voice. Um, and it's not to say that like you have to take every opinion, you know. No, like you, but it's good to have it, it's good to think through it to force your brain to look the other way. Yeah, so you can because sometimes you'll be like, yeah, no, that that is the path that makes more sense. Other times, you know, you could be like, Well, I don't, you know, I don't really agree with that, but you know what, I can tweak it maybe slightly. Yeah, or sometimes you just be like, that, you know, that's just not the vision I had, but at least I thought through it. And you don't go with it, you know.
SPEAKER_02So and let's talk about because I mean your work is, you know, I would say, you know, in terms of extreme horror and spy punk, like pretty commercial, like, you know, you have a very wide readership, and it's obviously the end product needs to be good for the reader. Like, I mean, you know, you go through that phase, I think, of being a writer, of being like you do it for yourself and then you start doing it for other people. And I think that's probably the point at which you go. I kind of need someone to yeah, help me prepare this for a wide audience because you know, people need you don't want people tripping over sentences and all that kind of stuff. So tell me about when it kind of all started getting quite serious for you, like in terms of maybe the first time you kind of realized, oh, people actually like reading what I'm writing. You know, what was that like moment like?
SPEAKER_01That was crazy. Um I it I made twelve thousand dollars in one month. It's insane, and it just kind of like came out of nowhere. And I'm working a full-time job at this point, yeah. Um, probably like 50 hours a week. Very nice people at the job. Look, people are great, people weren't the problem. The job very stressful, you know. What were you doing? Um uh it was like systems testing for a bank, yeah. So like yeah, yeah, there's really like strict timelines, and like they need to get tests run and defects and bugs fixed quickly. Yeah, so they were long weekends. Um, but I was doing this simultaneously, like, and I was going fucking hard. I looked at my release schedule, and I think there was one early year that I had where I released like seven books or something in a year, dude. And I'm working 50 hour. That's what I'm saying. Like, yeah, if you if like the switch flips and you like want this shit, you know what I mean? Like, no, no, that's that's that's like where it can take you. It's also the cost of it, you know. Um, yeah, but yeah, it was that moment when the slob went viral. There was a book talk reviewer who blurred out the picture with like a piece of paper, but you could still see my name and the title, uh, which was great because it created this sort of this sense of like I need to know like what's under there, and like yeah, yeah. And um, and the great part was like he also said he's like, I can't like faithfully uh recommend this book to you, you know. So it was like a non-recomm on the book on his list of most disturbing books, yeah. And I was like, you know, that really like got a lot of intrigue from people. Um, I was doing very well even before that. I was starting to like, you know, I had I it took me about, I tell people it took me honestly like about seven or eight book releases to really get any kind of traction. It was tried, yeah. But I wasn't saddened by it, you know. I was like because you loved it, doing it for me. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02And I think yeah, and I think especially when you work in a hard job, uh you know, there's this you know the idea of like the struggling artist and this idea of like someone who like you know it doesn't do anything apart from their art, and they're just like they don't have any money. Like the reality is, I think, is people who are working really hard jobs that they find stressful and they need a way to break out and they find that time around these very stressful jobs that we're because they need to earn money and they don't want to live like a starving person, you know. And it's like I think that that's the pressure, you know, it's not the pressure of being yeah, the starving artist, it's the pressure of like, I need money, but I also want to satisfy this other side of myself. So I think that makes a lot of sense because it's your escape from the mundanity of all of all of it. So the slob was the first thing, and and so let's talk about a little bit about um book talk and just like was that so so it's but you think I think because playground as well is very much like a book talk fueled kind of hype behind it, right? So book talk's amazing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01Oh, it's great. Um, it's an insane vehicle. Uh, there are great people on there, yeah. Obviously, like anything, you have your trolls, you're gonna deal with that. Uh comes with the territory. Um, but as long as you don't get caught up in that and you focus on the good, um, it's it's incredible. And yeah, and when we talk about the playground virality, you know, the slob has had many little viralities, and it's a very, very good selling book. So is the second one, but there was just like a whole nother level of virality that was achieved with the playground thing that was just it's it was pure insanity, you know. I think it was like 20, 21 or 22 million views on Jiggy Saw Girls video. Wow. Um which yeah, and then from there, it's weird though, because it had like little viral things before that, just like readers of mine that I got hold of the book, and uh, you know, like there was a girl, she's come to visit me at a few signings, Amaya Royal, and she had a million view video, and she wasn't even really like book talking like that. Yeah, she was just kind of like just sharing stuff she read, you know, just like little videos. The algorithm did it, its thing, yeah, yeah. It it just it somehow connected with the algorithm. Um but yeah, that's the thing too. It's like you I I this is a very important part for anyone who's watching this that might be an author. Um I was not prepared for virality when the slob came out. Um, meaning that like business-wise, I wasn't prepared. Yeah, and I I missed out on a lot of uh capital because of that, you know. Like I didn't have an audio book, for example, at the time when the slob went viral. Um, and I had a feeling about playground. And so one thing I was like, I'm gonna make sure I have all my ducks in line. You know, I had my store set up in the books, I was promoting the store, right? Telling people, so yeah, 2021 million, see it, however many, you know, that book sold over a hundred and thirty thousand copies now. So the amount of the amount of people that have seen my store as a result uh of that book, you know what I mean? Like of being smart and learning from your mistake, right? Being like, oh, let's make sure people know where to go to get directly to me. Yeah, you know, that's so important in books, you know.
SPEAKER_02It is, it is, and I think though it's it's also probably important to say that it's like from your first release, you don't necessarily have to have everything sorted out because it is you can't take on all of that responsibility, you know, and and also it might it takes a lot of time. So it's like you know, obviously you built up your kind of yeah, business acumen. You kind of realize if I'm not doing an audiobook, then I'm cutting out the market, like I can make money that way, and you know, and and also some people don't like reading, some people find it easier to listen to stuff. So it's like finding I think it's very smart, and I think the business of books is massively fascinating. Um, I love it, yeah. It's one of my favorite things. So, did you start um completely like what self-publishing with Amazon KDP? What was what was the vibe?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was just basically uh self-pub. First several of my first books, I wasn't even online, so they weren't being promoted at all. It was really just like you know, a few friends and family reading them, nothing crazy. Um, and then maybe about the time when I released, I think it was Scary Bastard. I started to, I was like, well, I kind of got to go online, even though I hadn't been online for like eight years. I didn't really want to be online. That's painful, yeah. I know. You know, I mean there's good things about it too, but it's just like yeah.
SPEAKER_02I I mean I love it, but I think when you haven't been in it, it's kind of like, oh, what the fuck? Yeah, it's a bit of a shock, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but yeah, you know, um, it was it was that, and slowly over time, I kind of started finding uh some book groups out there, you know, like Books of Horror is a great group on Facebook. Um, that was an early one. Um yeah, and just kind of everything that I did really be cut like I didn't know anybody in horror, you know what I mean? I was just like doing it myself, and slowly over time, you make a few friends online, and then eventually you start like doing events and stuff, you know? And that's that's kind of when you start networking a little more, yeah. Um, I think, but but yeah, it was very bare bones, nothing too crazy, um, until stuff started to kind of slowly bark, I guess. You know.
SPEAKER_02So what's your setup now? Do you do do you work with an independent press? I mean, you must have worked with independent impresses here and there, like you know, Anthology and stuff like that. But do you kind of own all of the rights of your of the releases that you put out now? Yes.
SPEAKER_01That's I'm a big advocate of that. Um, I think in part, here's the thing though, I guess you kind of have to be a control freak uh to to want to do that because you are like managing every angle of it, you know. Um, but you can have a team in place of people that you trust to help with things like editing. Um, you know, I used to obviously your artists, I used to have people also help me do cover raps and stuff, but over time, I also taught myself how to like use Adobe and shit. So like now I can get the art from my guy, yeah. And instead of kind of going back and forth with somebody on, oh, this font I don't like, it's it's tweaking, you do it yourself. Same thing with formatting of interior books. Um it's a learning curve, a little bit of a learning curve to do it. Um, but once you have it mastered, um, I now I write, I format as I write now. Yeah. So like I'm building the book out, and as I'm writing it, I'm seeing what it looks like as a book, you know. Yeah, and I know how many pages it's gonna be, and I know, you know what I mean? Like I do, I do. No, I think that's I like that, you know.
SPEAKER_02No, and I think it is all part of the creative process as well. And I think what the more because I I think horror often has a very independent spirit, and I think that you're you know, like you said, I think a lot of people start out in horror, and which is why social media is great, not knowing people who also like it, they don't know where readers are. If you're a writer, you don't know how to find your readers. Because, like, let's be honest, I mean, especially in the UK, you go to it's better now, but you go to like most bookstores, and it's crime, fantasy of like you know, billion shelves, and then horrors like a bookcase. And it's like, yeah, so it's like you don't necessarily have that representation. But like you saying that like you sell over like a hundred thousand like copies or units, whatever, like that is the kind of thing that a traditional publisher would like, you know, like salivate over, you know, and most I would probably say 90%, at least 90% of traditionally published books don't even get a percentage of that. People something, you know, traditionally published books don't even sell over a thousand copies. So, like, what do you think the benefit then is of having that control versus giving up to maybe the a shot at the big time? Let's say you get a kind of a Simon Schuster, whatever, whatever you're into, like that kind of imprint. Like, what are the what are the pros and cons do you think between the two?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think the pros are the stress levels low. I create my release dates. I don't have deadlines unless I like, unless, you know, the last deadlines I have really had, I do a secondary uh side project called The Obituaries with Christopher Triana and Daniel Volpe. It's yeah, an underground horror series. That's something, you know, I have a bit of a deadline for my story for that, you know, because we want to be respectful to the guests and all of our careers as we release them, you know. Um, but with a novel, especially, or something that's a longer work, I don't want to be on a time crunch. Uh, there there are books that I've uh taken years to write because I didn't want to put the idea out and give readers a half-assed version of what I thought it should be, just because I've been working on it for so long, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. Um, and I think like also what you write about is huge. Um, because that could be tweaked. They could want you to add a subplot or something to your book that you you don't really find necessary. Um, artwork, right? You don't know what cover you're gonna get. Some of these companies are using AI covers now, even these bigger publishers, which that's uh fucking shocking, disgusting too, you know. Um, so all of those elements, obviously the royalties, right? I think when when people think about royalties, they say, oh well, like you're not gonna like 50% royalties from a indie press, that's a high margin, you know. Yeah, um, a lot of places are gonna give you much lower than that. Um the thing is when people think about royalties, they don't think about it from like the distribution uh viewpoint. So think of it this way, right? I upload my book, uh, I upload playground to Amazon. Amazon takes, they give you a 70% royalty, 70 30. Yeah, right. Now, okay, so now think of a publisher going in between you and Amazon, and now of that 70%, they're take they're taking 60, 65. You're left with fucking peanuts. Like, how are you gonna make if you're if your goal is to like make a living out of this? I I I would strongly say find people in the community that you can trust as far as artwork and editing and learn the little things, they're they're doable, you know. I I I did have periods of big time stress, asked my wife. I would be here fucking swearing at my laptop, yeah, yeah, page numbers formatting, you know. Yeah, um, you know, like because you're you're learning, but yeah, but in the long run to own own your IP, you know, keep control of your IP, uh, because that could really be what takes you out of that nine to five job if that's your goal. Some people are okay working nine to five, and yeah, and they have security, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, or they might have a family too, and they might be like, Well, I don't I don't have time to do all these other things, I gotta take the kids somewhere. That so I get it for that. But I mean, if you're just like trying to go all in and just do it and you don't have a ton of responsibilities tied to it, oh man, there's no gatekeepers anymore, there's no shame on it anymore. You know, music does it, right? You got SoundCloud kids, you got movies that are doing it on YouTube and short videos, it's everywhere.
SPEAKER_02No, it's true, and I think that we're seeing like a receding of like the big gatekeepers. I mean, I know in the UK, like terrestrial cheat TV, like the big four channels, like you'd have like. Like just that you know that you'd switch on. They, you know, advertising revenue is different because people watching things online, they're on YouTube, they're on TikTok. So it's like those the power of those things, and I think with the big companies as well, it's like you know, you you're a you're a testament to this. Like virality online is what all of these big institutions are looking for ultimately. And now you don't need to have their backing. I mean, sure, like for some people, it's good to have the validation, it's good to have that kind of sense of power. But I think like the idea of taking creatively your destiny into your own hands is a very freeing and liberating thing if you're if you're brave enough to do it. I'm not saying that people who don't do it aren't brave, like you're saying there are obviously so many reasons, but yeah, yeah, I think it's um, and I think like you said, the shame of it, like self-publishing and stuff, used to be like the idea was like self-publishing just means you're not good enough to get a book deal, you know. Right. And especially that is the reason why that's problematic, I think, is because if you take things like horror, which is has, you know, and and then those these kind of like smaller niches in them which are growing, like splatterpunk and extreme horror, like those those aren't necessarily niches that publishers understand. They don't understand the market, they don't understand the audience. Um, so I'd like to ask you about, yeah, like splatterpunk specifically, and you know, uh, you know, I think a rightly kind of controversial genre, and it's becoming more and more extreme as it as it grows. Because I think when you're talking about this, you know, dealing with the subject matter that you deal with, on the one hand, you have, yeah, that like I said before, this kind of playful, kind of uh just like life kind of life-giving experience of just like, wow, this is so brutal, it's so intense, like watching a uh one of those horror B movies where it's like, you know, getting like shredded and stuff like it. It's great fun. But then there's something quite personal, I think, about reading where it's you and the book, and your mind is actually kind of like making the movie, and you're making associations that are very personal to you. And you know, I don't want to use the word triggering because you know it, but you know what I mean. Like there's this sense with extreme horror that there is a danger to it. And how have you found with your success the kind of accompanying accompanying kind of criticism of writers like you and the kind of themes that you're writing? Like, how do you deal with that?
SPEAKER_01Well, I I think it's great, you know. I did a a little piece on this on Facebook the other day, um that is just kind of like it was kind of talking about, you know, you can't whine about this shit, you know what I mean? Like, if you're if you're gonna get recognized and people are and people are gonna give you the time of day, you can't complain when somebody gets upset, you know. Is some of it ridiculous, you know what I mean, to say like, oh, you know, I these are things that have been said about me. Oh, Aaron should be uh executed, Aaron should be put in jail. Oh, yeah, put in jail for life. I've had tons of death threats over it when it went when it went viral, you know. Um, and uh, you know, people people feel really strongly about it. Some of them I think are a little whacked out, you know, and then some are just trolling, but there's there's both, there's definitely both. Um but you if you can't stand the heat, you get out the kitchen, you have to have thick skin in this business. When I see people crying about um, you know, uh somebody gave them a three-star review and they didn't explain why it wasn't a five-star. To me, it's go fuck yourself. Yeah, go fuck yourself because the readers and the reviewers they are not entitled to give you anything. Zero. You should be grateful that they're picking up your book and reading it, yeah, you know, or even going online or wherever they're reviewing it and clicking the stars.
SPEAKER_02I mean, that's that's a whole exactly that's huge.
SPEAKER_01The starring is huge, yeah. And and um, as far as the criticism goes, uh, how do you deal with it? I've I've been through some very difficult things in my life, and some of that comes out of my work, some horror, some true horror, some real life horror, yeah. Like things that uh make my books seem, you know, it sounds ridiculous in comparison to some of the books. But so for someone to attack me on the internet, that doesn't it just rolls off, dude. Like it's it's literally nothing. It's like throwing a fucking peanut against my shoulder or something. It's not yeah, you know, and and I'm not saying everybody has to be like that or everyone's experienced what I have, but I think if you're looking for success in writing incendiary literature, yeah, you have to kind of be ready for that, you know. Um definitely and I like some of the bad reviews, they are great, some of them are great, some of them sell books, they work for you, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02So I know I get I get that, and I mean I mean no, I obviously I don't want you to, you don't uh definitely don't need to tell me about these kind of horrible things that have happened to you, but I think that's something that probably people miss about extreme horror or or critics of extreme horror miss is that for writers and for readers, it's quite an in an a good way of exploring in a therapeutic way, right? Come sorry, my dog's messing around, therapeutic kind of way of of dealing with very difficult feelings. And some people would go, well, why, how could you know something that's really graphic and obscene kind of be good for you? Surely it's traumatizing. But what do you think about that? Like this idea of like pro using your writing or reading extreme horror and stuff like that to process these difficult feelings.
SPEAKER_01I think it's huge, and I think it's like when anyone goes, Oh, the people who read this are are sick, they're freaks, they're not part of society. Yeah, um that is most likely a person that hasn't dealt with any real struggle, potentially, like at least to the level of, and I'm not saying some people just read this stuff for fun, too. There's nothing wrong with that either. But but to your point, I've I've interacted with uh a large subset of people um who have been through some awful things. Some of the some of them that have shared these things with me personally and said, Hey, you know, your book got me through this. Yeah, um, and the re I think one of the major reasons is that the escapism of being able to read about something that is so fantastically more awful than your own life, yeah, help helps you somehow palette maybe some of the things that you've gone through and and and distract you slightly, you know. At least that's what people have told me.
SPEAKER_02No, I agree, I agree with you. I think I hear it all the time as well. I think that it's like that idea of a lot of people who read horror weirdly are quite can be quite anxious people as well. And it's like you kind of go, well, why would an anxious person want to read something that could be potentially quite traumatic and stuff? But it's it's actually like this process of anxious people want to worry as well, like it's just part of your brain. And so when you kind of give like this a book or a movie or whatever, it it allows you to exercise that anxiety in a way that isn't about yourself, like so. You're still like using it, but you're not kind of like you're not like necessarily engaging and the book and the book finishes, and it's like you can put down the book, it's not your life, like you know, if you don't like it, you know, with the triggering stuff, like you know, if it's not for you that you put it down, like no one's like forcing you to read it, you know.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, and go going back to your point of like manufacturing the movie in your head, that's that's the intimate thing, right? Like, and that's why people tend to get maybe a little more upset on this scale. But but I notice a lot of the people really getting upset, they're not getting upset for themselves, they haven't read it, they're getting upset for it's outrage. Yeah, it's yeah, it's outrage.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and so what what is the deal with you in terms of because obviously you you you know, and I think the whole nature of Splatpunk and now extreme horror is to push boundaries, you know, it is about outdoing, you know, you you're the kind of like the depravity. Um, that's a level to it anyway. Like, uh do you when you're writing or at least in the edge sitting process, are there some things where you're like, I'm not gonna do that? Like, do you do you have like lines that you don't cross? Again, you don't have to tell me what they are, but like do you do you have yeah?
SPEAKER_01I I don't have lines, but I have um I have like refined the way I approach things. Um, you know, because there's certain things where you could just be gratuitous for the sake of being gratuitous, and it's actually not as effective as if you approach it a different way, a more thoughtful way, and and bring it out in a different manner, if that if that makes sense without being too specific. But yeah, yeah, um, but it's like I don't have any lines, but I also don't want to be redundant either. I don't I don't want to be that guy that writes, you know, uh the same thing over and over just because it's fucked up, you know. And I think the the more books you write, the more you have to think about that as well, and be like, okay, let me let me explore some uncharted territory, uh, let me start thinking more about the psychology of it, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Um and and not to say eliminate, you know, this the physical realm. You we still have that, but just be a little more thoughtful, uh and and use other ways to disturb the reader, you know. Um, and and going back to uh dealing just for one second, dealing with uh criticism and outrage. Yeah, it's like we talked about how there's people who you know just use the books cathar as a as like catharsis or whatever. Yeah, but then here's another crazy idea. There's there's also a subset of people who realize it's just a fictional story and it's not real. That's fucking nuts, huh?
SPEAKER_02I know it's so mad. I think it's like it's really weird how because obviously that is that is logically the baseline, like none of this happened, but I think that's there's not even any actors involved, and you can't even be like, oh, it affected you know what I mean? Like no, I do, but I I think that that is in itself quite interesting because it it just shows how powerful it is that people fear their own minds as well. Like, I think like you know, someone might say to you, you know, and I I know that people say about some extreme horror writers, and let's be fair, there are some extreme horror writers where I personally think, like, actually, I think that that's that's not I don't like that. And that's just personal to me. I'm not gonna go around everyone else, but like that, you know, people will say it should be illegal or it's that's like like immoral. Like, you know, they really attach these very um kind of like yeah, really kind of yeah, moral judgments to it. And I wonder whether you think that's because of the subject matter, you know, horror does deal with like really kind of heavy stuff, but it's important stuff, isn't it? To deal with like going back to what I was saying before, like you know, the the the sometimes the things that we don't talk about, the taboos, that there's we should talk about them, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I think to your point, it here's the thing you could argue that some people fetishize certain things in writing, and that's that's when people are kind of gonna call that out. But the tough part, and and to me, it might not even be a writer that knowingly understands it looks like I'm fetishizing this, right? To them, it could just be that they haven't developed to a certain point in their writing career where they understand a little more about character arcs and plot and like development, and they're kind of just being redundant. So don't get me wrong, there may be people who are fetishizing it, but it's a it's it's a leap to accuse somebody of that when you don't know uh who how that all came to be, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I I I do, I do understand, and um just to be a little specific, like let's say if someone was to say that like the content of your writing or extreme horror writing um in general, let's say is like misogynistic against women or like dealing with like maybe a kind of a victim and doing terrible things to them, etc. Like, do you when you hear that, do is there any part of you that feels a bit, I want to use the word hurt because I presume you're you know you've got a wife, you're not a misogynistic person. So, like, and but you also understand that there are tropes in these things and like just like any genre. So, like, is there any part of you when you hear those kind of things where you're like, oh man, that's really that's really not what I'm going for here, you know?
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, you know, you never want to hear somebody accuse you of that, you know what I mean? Um, so I'm not gonna say it hurts me though, just because I'm so at this point, like if you just look at like my good reads, for example, there's literally it's like it's like libelous stuff, you know? Yeah, uh yeah, but I I kind of stop like reading reviews in general, you know. Um, unless someone tags me in it, you know. And that goes for the good ones and the bad ones, um, yeah, because you don't want to inflate your ego too much and you don't want to beat yourself down too much. Um let the readers say what they want, you know. If that's truly the way they see it, they're in I'm not saying they're not entitled to that opinion, like but it but but I think there's a difference between accusing the author of being misogynistic and accusing the work of being misogynistic. Um, and are there things that uh are there ways that we can approach certain topics uh better? I think of course, yeah. You know, especially like I was nowhere near as thoughtful in my earlier work, or uh, you know, what do you how do you want to say like I've evolved as we were talking about a little earlier as a writer, and uh but that's not to say that um I apologize for any of that either, you know? It's like no, it's just as many men die in my books as women, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02No, no, no, of course. No, I think that yeah, yeah. No, but it's the it's I think it's more with because these I mean, I know like splash punk has been around for quite a while now, like as a as a thing, and it's been around in movies and stuff. And I think extreme horror is is slightly an evolution of that still. And I think that it's absolutely fine for the community to go on that journey and you'll learn along the way. There's some things that maybe like you realize, yeah, I didn't approach that the way that I would approach it now in the past, but that's fine. That's just that's just the way it goes, you know. Um, I want to just I want to ask, because I want to like wrap it up soon, but like about like the things that actually scare you, because your your books are horrendous. Like, you know, it's like you know, when you're reading them, it's like you were in a nightmare, like it's grotesque, it's you can smell it, you can, you know, it's like sensory like bombardment. Um, do you do do you include the things that scare you in your in your writing, like you know, the kind of the actual things that scare you, or is it just more a kind of outlet, you know, I think I think some of it is stuff that scares me.
SPEAKER_01Um, I think, okay, as an overall, um I tend to write less supernatural horror um because that hasn't affected me much in my life, you know what I mean? Um, and I think the idea of someone breaking in through your window, uh you know, grounded in reality is a lot scarier. Um, however, I strangely find religious horror movies to be really scary for some reason. Something about them, I don't know. It's not that I'm an overly religious person or anything, it's just just some weird, unexplicable, inexplicable thing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but yeah, I would say like I I would say uh that is probably it's it's like the grounded stuff. Um, but there's one thing that actually that I think is probably one of the scariest things that people can relate to that I've yet to really broach uh in writing that I want to. Um, and it is just like the idea of aging. Um the idea that your mind you at some point indefinitely you're you will not be in control of your mind or your body at some point, and that will be someone else's responsibility. And to me, that is a truly scary thing because everyone faces that, and it's a long road to get to it, you know. Yeah, well, for some, obviously, but uh, but yeah, I think that's uh and and to go along with that is obviously this is kind of a classic one, but the fear of the unknown is great, you know. Yeah, yeah. Um fear of the unknown, and then I think there are also like if you can find tap into like universal dread, you know, like dreads, fears that everyone can relate to, you know, and it it doesn't take you so you're you're not writing to a subset, you're writing to something everyone can relate to, and that that kind of goes back to the aging one, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like uh no, I've been I've read a few dementia horror novels, which are because obviously it's the classic kind of descent into madness, not a very nice way of describing dementia, but I mean it is it is a similar thing, and it and it's very and it's something that affects people because we're we're living longer, and it's inevitable the longer you live, like you said, your mind is gonna fail you, and dementia and losing your identity is horrendous. I mean, it's like it's genuinely profoundly scary. And I think that, like you said, when you're talking about the unknown and uh religious horror, there's a lot of symbolism in religious horror of good and evil, things that like we all grapple with, you know, it's not you know something kind of grotesque or like you know, body horror, even though that the mind is body horror, but I think it's these things of like, yeah, these universal things. And like, would you ever consider because obviously your books are you know, yeah, they're extreme and stuff. Would you ever like consider writing like a classic, you know, a classic down the middle kind of you know, horror, horror book? Like, you know, I'm not expecting you to say yes or no, but have you ever thought about it?
SPEAKER_01Um, I don't I just get ideas and I I sort of just like run with whatever idea it is that I get. Um, I think some can be more traditional than others. There is an idea for a book that like if it if I was to do like a mainstream book with like a like a Simon and Schuster or something like that, not saying that I would even entertain that um or or that they would entertain me.
SPEAKER_02Um entertain the money, you never know.
SPEAKER_01You never know, but but uh I would say like there is one story that I haven't really announced yet, uh, because it's like it's it's in the early stages, but it's it's just a very broad and strange idea that I think like when people hear it, they'll get it. Yeah, and and it's like it's just so basic, yet it hasn't been done, and it's just like right in front of you, and it's like you're gonna want to, you're gonna want to under like know it, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02That sounds like goal because I I I like um you know, like, you know, like Nick Roberts did that, uh his book, like The Exorcist House. I really like books. It tells you what it is, and you know, you like you look at it and you're like, I know what this book is, and it's gonna be about Exas House. Like, and I already kind of know the territory, and so it's kind of like for me, like with horror movies, you know, like the conjuring franchise and stuff like that, which horror movies where you're just like, I this is just comfy, like you know, this is my comfy horror, like I can just get it. So I do think that there is a place for that because extreme horror, I think ultimately the bottleneck, weirdly, is people's imagination before they read it. You know, a lot of people will go, I don't know whether I can read that, it's gonna be too much. But that's the only bottleneck that you know, it's not you know, mainstream or kind of these more traditional, like universal ideas that it lets everyone in. And and I mean, you know, you you've done very well to kind of manage the bottleneck, you know. But I think it's I'm sure people would be interested to see what your take was on something a bit broader. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think I have a maybe a couple stories that are kind of broad, but there's always like that one moment, you know, where somebody eats poop or something, you know.
SPEAKER_02You just you just drinks his own piss, you know, like you can't help yourself. And I but I think that that's your DNA, and I think that's like like as as I've heard, like this is what you've been doing since you were a child, and it's like that's what makes you the writer that people want to read. So it's like no suggestion of like, yeah, dumb yourself down or anything. I think I think there should be horror that appeals to everyone, but then also has that DNA and very kind of hardcore element of who you are. So uh final questions. I want to just ask like quickly, like, what are you reading right now?
SPEAKER_01Um, I well, I want to take a look at uh Nick Roberts mean spirited. He offered me an arc of that a while ago, and I didn't get a chance to read it. I was supposed to blurb it for him. I feel really bad about it. I didn't have a chance to. Everyone's busy, but he's fucking popular enough. So you know he's fine. I think I think he's gonna be fine. I think he's gonna be all right. Yeah, you know, no, he's great. No, he's he's great though. Uh he's a great guy, and he's he's a he's a cool dude. I've got to meet him a few times at uh some cons and stuff, and his family's really nice too. So he's he's a legend. I really like it.
SPEAKER_02I just I think he's got just like perfect and he's got a great story as well, his personal story. Like I think he's I don't know, he's just got that, he's just he's just got it made as a guy that you want to know and you want to like and you want to read. And I think I think you've got that vibe as well, except obviously Nick Roberts isn't writing kind of uh the kind of stuff that you are writing, but that's what's so great about horror is it's a broad church, and all people are welcome, you know. Um Yeah, oh yeah, for sure it is. For me, it's like the metal community. I like metal, and it's it's one of the few things I think horror and metal and things like that. You can actually call it a community, like in a way that you don't call other things a community. Like it's like there's an example of acceptance, I think. Um, so you're gonna try and read Mean Spirited, which is a very good book. I really enjoyed it. Um, what you said you um you make you still make music?
SPEAKER_01Um, not really. I I made I made it a song when Playground dropped.
SPEAKER_02Um I think I listened to that. So is it kind of like hip hop inspired slightly? Kind of like that kind of um horror hip-hop vibe.
SPEAKER_01Is that what it is? Some of it was like that. I was in a band, like a like a full-on band, kind of a rage against the machine sort of sound. It kind of kind of had that vibe to it. Um, but yeah, later on in my career, I cut like I could once in a while I'll make a song now. At one point, I was like, oh, I'm gonna try and make a song for each book.
SPEAKER_02A concept concept song, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but then I was just like, man, there's so much work into like doing a release and everything. I was just like, I don't think I I can do it, you know?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. But maybe, maybe at some point. So what kind of stuff do you listen to? Do you do are you a kind of like all kinds of stuff, or are you a specific thing?
SPEAKER_01If I yeah, I like everything, dude. Um, I listen to like if I'm writing, I listen to a lot of like old horror movie soundtracks or like um synth wave techno like techno wave kind of weird shit. Yeah, yeah. Um, I listen to but but yeah, I listen to metal, like I listen to like old dance Chris Triana got me like a couple dancing records recently. So some of those I'll listen to, but we have a a wide variety. Uh I like to listen to vinyl. Yeah, yeah, because it just force you to listen to the whole album and shit. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02As it as it as it was, you know, playlists are great. I mean, I I think you know, playlists are great and all that, but um, yeah, the albums are art and there's they should be listened. It's like you wouldn't for me sometimes with some albums that I love, it's the equivalent of like, well, I'm not gonna go to the end of a book and read the ending before I, you know, as some albums that journey, you know. Um, what about TV? Do you watch TV?
SPEAKER_01I do, yeah. Um, I mean, I watch a lot of like horror movies and stuff like that. Uh, I'll watch just like stupid series.
SPEAKER_02Like sometimes I'll watch like Gordon Ramsay shit while he I'm I'm a big uh I'm a big like trash, I like trash TV. I don't call it trash, it's just good. Yeah, it's like junk junk food TV. Yeah, it's it feels good. Um, but yeah, no, that's that's great. Um, but yeah, thank you so much for talking to me. Oh, there you have it. My chat with uh Aaron Beauregard, who is just such a good time. Uh he is a smiler, you know, he takes such joy and pride and he has passionate and he stands up for what he believes in. And I respect that because in horror, you know, we're often on the fringes. You know, our opinions or the way that we choose to live or the things that we're attracted to are not mainstream. So he's one of those people who's really not ashamed to be who he is and to promote the things that he enjoys and to uh create great stuff for other people who are like him. Um and I think that's a very noble thing to do. But uh thank you very much for hanging out with us and I'll see you next week for a bit more Horror Legends.