Ghost Writer

Vic Kerry is a paradox. Say the words “Southern gothic/horror writer,” and you’re probably picturing a weird hybrid of Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King; a sallow-faced gent with pale yellow parchment skin and a hacking cough, raven hair greying at the temples, rail-thin shoulders draped in a faded red velvet smoking jacket, hunched over an old Royal typewriter, a cigarette holder dangling from two fingers in one hand, clutching a glass of bourbon in the other. If so, the sight of the sandy blonde haired young fellow in the black and green bowling shirt and dark pants, casually leaning against a gazebo post on the Bevill State campus might be a bit of a shock. Indeed, Vic Kerry is proof positive you can’t judge a book by its cover.Kerry’s first novel, The Children of Lot, was published in 2013 by Montag Press, and is set in a fictional version of Fayette, Alabama, called Marquisville. “I call it a ‘thrillbilly.’ It’s about a group of hillbillies who basically take people hostage for evil, religious purposes,” he explains. His novella, the Lovecraftian Decoration Day, was released in 2014, followed by a second novel, Revels Ending, both under Samhain Publishing. His newest book, a collection of short stories titled Thorazine Dreams, is due out later this month.Ironically, Kerry almost followed a different path. “Originally I wanted to be a cartoonist, but then I came to the realization that I couldn’t draw,” he quips.Turning to writing, Kerry penned his first short story while in the third grade at Oakman Elementary School. “It was a monster story about ghosts that ate people’s heads,” he says. He sold his first story, “Blue Day” in 2007. “It was for ten whole dollars, to a website that went out of business three months later,” he laughs. The plot involves a therapist working a “blue day,” (a term referring to assigned days a therapist is required to work crisis cases) who encounters a meth addict claiming he was bitten by a zombie.Kerry admits he wasn't always a big reader. “I didn’t like to read when I was a kid,” he says. “As a teenager I started reading a lot more, and always liked Bradbury, although I’m not a huge science fiction fan. Then I got into the classics of the horror genre. Even before I was thinking of being a horror writer, I liked Dracula and Frankenstein, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, War of the Worlds. I loved the old Universal horror movies with Bela Lugosi and those guys. I’ve always loved monsters, loved Ghostbusters [movies and cartoons]. Then I just went from there and started watching slasher movies.”Thorazine Dreams, a new collection of short stories including “Blue Day”, will be released just in time for Halloween by Pint Bottle Press. Although Kerry’s writing tends to fall into the horror genre, his dark humor sometimes weaves its way into a story. “Humor and horror run on the same emotional base,” Kerry says. “You build something up and then give a release; the laugh or the gasp. Wes Craven movies have horror, but they also have a lot of humor in them.”It’s good to know that even Freddie Krueger won’t let you go without a laugh.Thorazine Dreams is available at Amazon.com and bn.com. 78You can follow Vic Kerry on his Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/vic.kerry.37?fref=tsEmail: vickerry@rocketmail.comVisit his website: http://www.vickerry.wordpress.com.