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eSpec Books interviews Gordon Linzner, contributor to Even in the Grave, edited by James Chambers and Carol Gyzander.
eSB: Even in the Grave is a collection of ghost stories, without spoilers, is your story a part of a greater universe stemming from other stories you have written, or does it stand alone? Whichever your answer, can you tell us about what makes that universe unique?
GL: This story is one of several I set in ancient Japan, all of which are stand alone, but of course they do share a common folklore, one which I found fascinating. Every culture has its ghosts and demons, but in the lore of this island nation in particular they felt to me more intrinsic than, for example, in that of the western world.
eSB: Okay, first, off the top of your head, who is your favorite ghost and why?
GL: My favorite fictional ghosts vary depending on my mood and what I’ve read (or watched) most recently. I greatly enjoy most of the spirits, particularly the scout leader, in the original British version of “Ghosts” – the U.S. version is okay, but not as good. As for real ghosts…one of my side jobs involves giving ghost tours here in New York, and much of the appeal of those spirits depends greatly on their back story. One of my favorite stories involves an unreal ghost, that is, not the spirit of a dead person but one created by a mind obsessed with a certain character. There’s a house on Gay Street in Greenwich Village said to be haunted by a figure in formal dress and a cloak which a pulp writer who lived there in the 1940s claimed he created with his mind, being so invested in the character. That writer was Walter Gibson, and it was in that building that he wrote his final adventure of The Shadow…the mysterious figure who haunted the place for years afterward.
eSB: Do you believe in ghosts, and why? Is there an experience in your life you can share with us that strengthened that belief?
GL: Despite a few eerie experiences, and as mentioned leading the occasional ghost tour here in New York, I am not a firm believer in ghosts. Rather, I think what we perceive as the dead returning as things we interpret as such simply because we don’t have a real-world explanation, and therefore are interpreting as best we can (sometimes even if we don’t believe our own idea). That said, I can’t resist mentioning the time, over a decade ago, when a group of us (including the late Lisa Manetti) decided to extend our NeCon weekend at the Lizzie Borden house. Some of us were more aware of paranormal activity than others; I, for instance, only realized the next morning we may have been re-enacting some events from more than a century earlier. Without the bloodshed, of course.
eSB: Other than horror, what genres do you write in? Tell us something about your other works and what makes those genres different from writing horror.
GL: I actually started out doing more sword & sorcery than horror. That genre also has its share of horrific elements but allowed me much more flexibility in world-building. The market is somewhat limited these days, alas! I’ve done more than a few urban fantasy and historical fantasy tales, and dabbled a bit in (soft) science fiction and mysteries. In the latter area, to my own amazement, I sold four Sherlock Holmes stories last year!
eSB: What is your least favorite aspect of being an author, and why?
GL: Staring at a blank computer screen for hours, trying to come up with a new story. To some extent I miss the typewritten sheets I started out with, last century. It’s easier to simply delete a paragraph that isn’t working than to throw the page away and start over, although I can’t help feeling the latter helped one concentrate more, gave more thought to what you plan to put on the page before your fingers hit that keyboard.
eSB: What are some of your other works readers can look for?
GL: I have a variety of short stories scattered all over the place right now, but Crossroads Press has kindly reprinted all three of my novels from the late ‘80s: The Troupe, The Oni, and The Spy Who Drank Blood.
eSB: What advice would you give aspiring horror writers?
GL: The same advice I’d give any genre writer; sit down and do it, and keep doing it until you get it right. Read and analyze, figure out why something works in a story and something else doesn’t. If you can, join a group of similar interests and don’t be afraid to give or take criticism. I was fortunate to meet a group with some very talented writers but before that, I learned a lot from publishing a small press magazine: in seeing why a certain submission didn’t work, I’d often realize a story of mine had similar flaws.
eSB: How can readers find out more about you?
GL: In addition to my occasional postings on FaceBook the isfbd site has a fairly complete list of my shorter work, though it’s a bit behind on my recent publications (2021 was, happily, a busy year for me).
Gordon Linzner is founder and former editor of Space and Time Magazine, and author of three published novels and scores of short stories in F&SF, Twilight Zone, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, and numerous other magazines and anthologies, including Footprints in the Stars (eSpec Books). He is a member of the Horror Writers Association and a lifetime member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America.
Learn more about Gordon Linzner:
ISFDB * GoodReads * Amazon * BookBub
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AB: The Roswell Protocols was my first novel. I wanted to do a realistic take on what would happen if the incident at Roswell repeated itself in our current day and age and what would happen if the ship did NOT crash in the United States. Even though the book was published over a decade ago, it’s still my best seller. My most recent novel is Hellion, a YA romp that features monsters, magic, and mayhem all firmly grounded in the suburbs of fictional Westville. This one I consider my best written. 
Allan Burd is a science fiction author hailing from Long Island, New York that loves penning exciting stories about the supernatural and aliens. He also occasionally dabbles in children’s books and short stories. His first novel, The Roswell Protocols, about a second crashed UFO, published in 2009 got the ball rolling and he’s been writing ever since. He is a contributor to The New York State of Fright.
Time for another recap! 
AG: Two teenagers walked up to me at the HWA booth at Comic Con and said their teacher recommended to his students to read the anthologies I produce. I thought at first someone was pulling my leg. I was deeply touched that I was helping young people become fans not just of horror movies but also short stories.
April Grey’s short stories are collected in The Fairy Cake Bakeshop and in I’ll Love You Forever. She is also the author of urban fantasy novels: Finding Perdita, Chasing the Trickster and it’s sequel, St. Nick’s Favor.
In addition to over a decade of creating strategies and video series for outlets ranging from Complex Media to TIDAL, Jonathan Lees has also spent twenty years championing filmmakers through his programming work with the New York Underground Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, TromaDance, and now, Final Frame hosted by StokerCon.
James Chambers is an award-winning author of horror, crime, fantasy, science fiction, and other genres. He wrote the Bram Stoker Award®-winning graphic novel, Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Lore of Edgar Allan Poe and was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for his story, “A Song Left Behind in the Aztakea Hills.” Booklist described his collection On the Night Border as “…a haunting exploration of the space where the real world and nightmares collide,” and, in a starred review, said of his collection On the Hierophant Road: “For fans of the new breed of dark-speculative-fiction writers who actively play with genre confines to create reads that are inventive, thought-provoking, and creepily fun.” Publisher’s Weekly gave his collection of four Lovecraftian-inspired novellas, The Engines of Sacrifice, a starred review and described it as “…chillingly evocative….”
TF: My novella, Usual Monsters was published by Crossroad Press and is out now. It is the story of a woman who is suffering from a tumor that makes her hallucinate monsters that she believes aren’t really there… until her husband is viciously torn apart and her niece goes missing.
Trevor Firetog writes out of Long Island, New York. He is the author of the horror-thriller novella, Usual Monsters. His short fiction has appeared in various magazines and anthologies. Aside from writing, Trevor collects and restores vintage typewriters. When he’s not reading on the beaches of LI, or scavenging used bookstores, he’s usually holed up in his office, working on his next project. 
RD: I’ve got a bunch of short stories out in anthologies, plus I’m the co-writer of The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion, which has a foreword by show creator Dick Wolf – he gave us total access to the show and the cast. And finally, Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles was my first opportunity to co-edit an anthology, and it was a huge learning experience. Plus, the book has some amazing riffs on other jobs the Fab Four might have taken on, or lives they might have led. 
AB: You can find my short stories:
Alp Beck lives in New York City. She writes in all genres but prefers horror. Her essays have been featured in the NY Times and the NY Blade. She is a big fan of the short story format and believes “Only when you master the art of the short story, are you ready to tackle novels.” Therefore, she will continue to writer in the format until “she gets it right”. You can find her story, TO THINE SELF BE TRUE, in Hell’s Grannies: Kickass Tales of the Crone, by Lafcadio Press, HEELS, in A New York State of Fright, by Hippocampus Press and DEADMALL, in the anthology, Hell’s Mall by Lafcadio Press. She is hard at work on a series of stories, including EYEWITNESS and THE UNDERRIDE.
OB: I write dark poetry, only some of which is horror, and have written essays as well as theatrical reviews. My book of poetry and photographs, Baer Soul, is laid out so that the poems can be read individually or together as an abstracted story. The photographs were created to be stills from a film that was never made so they also tell a story of sorts. The two stories are only tangentially connected, yet are presented together. In some of my poetry, words are together because of how they sound. In others, I’m thinking of an image or scenario in the abstract and then trying to convey that. This may not be that different from what we find terrifying in some stories. I have cowritten a history of the martial arts school I attend, Wu Tang Physical Culture Association. This was pretty straightforward factual writing whereas the theatrical reviews tended to be more subjective.
OB: Cthulhu Sex Magazine, Horror Between the Sheets, Letters to the Editor of Cthulhu Sex Magazine, Baer Soul, Gathering Souls by A Conclave of Baer. 
eSB: What projects of your own do you have coming up? 
Oliver Baer was the editor of Cthulhu Sex Magazine and Two Backed Books. His epistolary novel, Letters to the Editor of Cthulhu Sex Magazine, was published in October 2019. His short stories have appeared in April Grey’s anthologies as well as others. His essays have been on blogs as well as books. His poetry has appeared in Goodreads Best Poems 2020, Paper Teller Diorama, Hell’s Mall: Sinister Shops, Cursed Items and Maddening Crowds, Birds Fall Silent in the Mechanical Sea, Cthulhu Sex Magazine, Horror Between the Sheets, Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase Vol. II and other publications. His book of poetry and photographs, Baer Soul, came out in 2011. His CD of poetry set to music, Gathering Souls, which came out in 2013, spawned the show A Conclave of Baer. The band Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost, released an EP, Dreams in the Witch House, that is inspired both by HP Lovecraft and his poems. He has appeared as an indescribable horror from the depths, sometimes with a light saber, and his likeness has appeared on tv and film while his voice has been heard on internet radio as well as a podcast or two. There have also been various artistic renditions created of him. 
CG: With Writerpunk Press, I’ve edited a series of anthologies that are ’punk stories inspired by classics, including Edgar Allan Poe (Merely This and Nothing More: Poe Goes Punk) and classic horror tales (Hideous Progeny: Classic Horror Goes Punk). Our latest is punk tales inspired by myth, folklore, and legend (Taught by Time: Myth Goes Punk). Easiest to find these on my 
I have a story, “The Yellow Crown,” in 
Carol Gyzander writes and edits horror, dark fiction, and science fiction. Her stories are in over a dozen anthologies, including a dark fantasy story, “Deal With the Devil” in the alternative Beatles anthology, Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles, edited by Michael Ventrella and Randee Dawn.
eSpec Books 