GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Horror Author Joe M Solomon: Why I like Horror (The Darkness: Giger, Texas) + giveaway | I Smell Sheep

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Horror Author Joe M Solomon: Why I like Horror (The Darkness: Giger, Texas) + giveaway

Why I Like Horror

When I was a little boy, weekends meant horror when it came to television. The kids and parents would pile in front of the TV and enjoy Friday and Saturday cheesy B-movies. Inevitably, something would come on that scared me. But my father would always say, “Don’t worry. It’s make-believe.” That helped, since I was about five years old, a kept me glued to the screen. By the time I was a teenager, I was hooked. On weekends, certain scary movies would replay regularly. Psycho and The Birds were particular favorites and never grew old. But when I saw Night of the Living Dead . . . Wow! My world was turned upside down.


George Romero and John Russo wrote the screenplay. And, for me, the biggest attraction of the film was that the plague infected almost the entire world. Loved it! Then the film brought together a mixture of people who probably would not have engaged in very much interaction were it not for the plague. But circumstances forced them to listen to each other regardless of age, race or gender. Because the zombies were ecumenical when it came to killing.

That was when I started to think: I want to do that. And off I went. In high school, I wrote a lot of short stories and poetry that were lost over the years. Then in college, I was stuck in L.A. one day, waiting for a flight that was six hours away. I needed entertainment, but I had no money. So I began to write what ultimately became my first full-length story. (It’s a trunk novel that I plan to revisit and rewrite.) After that, I wrote stories like mad. After studying playwriting and screenwriting in college, I would write the same story as both a novel and a screenplay. Sometimes as a play. I wrote long hand, on the computer. It didn’t matter.

Most of what I wrote was horror. I just love the way you can use horror as a metaphor for life and, at the same time, be completely entertained. But I also enjoy placing normal nine-to-five people in extraordinary situations and seeing how they react after the initial shock. I know character growth isn’t always vital to the enjoyment of the story, but I like seeing who changes and who doesn’t and the metamorphosis some undergo. Horror can draw a character into the most private part of him- or herself, or show them that that something much more ominous lurks outdoors.

And, of course, I can’t get enough of the adrenaline-spurring action scenes. You’ll find plenty of those in The Darkness: Giger, Texas.

by Joe M. Solomon
October 3, 2017
Genre: Horror/Supernatural
Publisher: NES Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9990024-0-7
ASIN: B07435H5YR
Number of pages: 372
Word Count: 106,029
Cover Artist: Syneca Featherstone
When night falls in Giger, Texas, shadows gather as they always do in dim corners and other areas bereft of light. But this time they consolidate and attack any who tread too close. Michael Warren, a twenty-four-year-old resident of Giger, finds himself at the epicenter of this horror and is stunned by the losses suffered overnight. Then the sun sets and the shadows again coalesce, growing more aggressive, the darkness eviscerating anyone it touches.

His only weapon light, Michael struggles to survive and searches frantically for his girlfriend, aiding friends along the way. When Hurricane Daniel roars ashore, wind gusts shred trees and tear down power lines, plunging all of Southeastern Texas into blackness that only feeds and strengthens the encroaching darkness. Rising floodwater provides easy thoroughfares from which the darkness can strike as Michael and his friends contend with the elements, clash with criminals, and battle their way to his residence where they will stand against the darkness and fight to surviv
e. Excerpt:
Startled, Eddie blinked and wiped at his own eyes. “What was…? Hello?”

No answer.
His pulse picked up. “C-Curt, you in here… you a-a-a-asshole?”

A box fell behind him.

Eddie spun around, body tight as a knot, eyes wide as their sockets would allow. “Wh-h-h-h-who the hell’s that?” he demanded with as much sternness as he could inject into his quivering voice.

Soft whispers trickled out of a minuscule pocket of emptiness near the back door on the farthest wall. There, amid the gloom, something progressed toward him. At first, its movements appeared mechanical, inelastic. Then it evolved into a smooth flow. A soft ripple. A consolidated wave of darkness.


About the Author:
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Joe M. Solomon earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of St. Thomas, followed by both master’s and doctoral degrees from Rice University. Joe’s supernatural thriller The Darkness: Giger, Texas released in 2017. A second novel—The Light: Houston, Texas—and a collection of short stories that arise from the macabre will soon follow.


Bonus Pre-Order Giveaway Ends October 3

Tour giveaway 
1 $50 Amazon gift card 
1 $25 Amazon gift card 
3 prize packs featuring The Darkness: Giger, Texas swag packs which include: a coffee mug, a pen, a postcard, bookmark, and a trading card. Open to US Shipping.

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7 comments:

  1. How cool that you were watching weekend horror too! As a kid, every Saturday afternoon found me glued to the TV for a double-feature. Lots of B-movies, and some choice classics too. It's left me with a permanent fondness for monsters... And as a writer, I agree, the best part of a scary story is how people react to the impossible, and how they grow and change to meet the challenge.

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  2. I have not read this book yet but after reading the review, I guess that this will be really worth to read.
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  3. Thank you very much for helping me celebrate the release of The Darkness: Giger, Texas. Again, thank you!

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. These Horror can draw a character into the most private part of him- or herself, or show them that that something much more ominous lurks outdoors are so reactive as well, but there are also very valuable and highly motivated Dissertations Writing Services UK available in all the way to London city respectively.

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  6. The best thing about horror movies is the story. Horror movie stories never disappoint us. Some of their stories are bad but most of them are fantastic. Horror movies always maintain interest till the end.

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