Tag: M Ennenbach

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: M Ennenbach

megHan

Meghan: Hey, Mike! Welcome back to our annual Halloween Extravaganza. Thanks for joining us on this very special day, birthday boy! What is your favorite part of Halloween?

Mike: My favorite part is promise of winter carried on the cool breeze. Where the beauty in nature falling comes out in colorful leaves ground into the mud.

Meghan: Do you get scared easily?

Mike: Not scared, but I am always anxious. Electrified bees stinging.

Meghan: What is the scariest movie you’ve ever seen and why?

Mike: I am a fan of hint but don’t show. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is probably my favorite with that raining bell and the promise of horror.

Meghan: Which horror movie murder did you find the most disturbing?  

Mike: I don’t know if it is the most disturbing, but when the man is cut into pieces that slowly fall apart in Cube, that stayed with me.

Meghan: Is there a horror movie you refused to watch because the commercials scared you too much?

Mike: No, but the ads for Blair Witch promised something they didn’t manage. I was too ready to be screaming.

Meghan: If you got trapped in one scary movie, which would you choose?

Mike: Nightbreed. I would find my place in Mideon among the monsters in the graveyard.

Meghan: If you were stuck as the protagonist in any horror movie, which would you choose?

Mike: How do you not pick Ash from Evil Dead? He knew no fear because he had no sense. And always managed to prevail despite himself.

Meghan: What is your all-time favorite scary monster or creature of the night?

Mike: I adore Baba Yaga. The hut with chicken legs. She is a culmination of different terrors.

Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween tradition?

Mike: Remembering being excited for my birthday, when it was a special day. The anticipation. For a moment, remembering when the world was at our fingertips.

Meghan: What is your favorite horror or Halloween-themed song?

Mike: Right now it is Dead Skin Mask by Slayer, a sweet song about Ed Gein. Code Blue by The Damned is another classic.

Meghan: Which horror novel unsettled you the most?

Mike: The first half of Heart Shaped Box. The tension and fear were cranked up. It lost it all in the back half, but the beginning was amazing.

Meghan: What is the creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?

Mike: I was watching Hereditary for the first time and right when the infamous car scene happened, someone banged on my door. I nearly needed to change.

Meghan: Which unsolved mystery fascinates you the most?

Mike: What happened at Roanoke to all those people?

Meghan: What is the spookiest ghost story that you have ever heard?

Mike: My friend, Lin, and I would listen to Art Bell every Halloween for the Ghost to Ghost show and every now and then a caller would believe their story so much you couldn’t help but feel it.

Meghan: In a zombie apocalypse, what is your weapon of choice?

Mike: Solitude. I would just vanish.

Meghan: Let’s have some fun – Would you rather get bitten by a vampire or a werewolf?

Mike: Werewolf

Meghan: Would you rather fight a zombie apocalypse or an alien invasion?

Mike: Zombies. Man has always been most proficient at killing one another. Aliens would have to have tech we couldn’t fathom.

Meghan: Would you rather drink zombie juice or eat dead bodies from the graveyard?

Mike: Eat dead bodies.

Meghan: Would you rather stay at the Poltergeist house or the Amityville house for a week?

Mike: Amityville. I’ve been by it, middle of a populated neighborhood with access to the water.

Meghan: Would you rather chew on a bitter melon with chilies or maggot-infested cheese?

Mike: I’d take either. The cheese is supposed to be a delicacy.

Meghan: Would you rather drink from a witch’s cauldron or lick cotton candy made of spider webs?

Mike: Spider webs. Who knows what’s been in that cauldron.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Patrick C. Harrison III

megHan

Meghan: Hey, III. Welcome to Meghan’s House of Books. Thanks for joining us today. Let’s get started: What is your favorite part of Halloween?

Patrick: The answer to this question has changed over the years. Obviously, as a kid I loved suiting up and running from house to house collecting goodies. Then in my teens Halloween became more about wreaking havoc with friends, playing pranks and whatnot. That was long before Netflix and Tubi, so during those years I was always excited about the horror movies running on TV for the weeks prior to Halloween. Once I had kids, I loved watching them go door to door dressed in their costumes. Now, my youngest is eleven and isn’t sure she still wants to go trick-or-treating. So, what I’ll probably be doing is watching scary movies and dishing out candy at the door. Geez, this is a long first answer, so let me stop and come up with something…I guess my favorite thing is that Halloween is the time of year when the entire country embraces the horrors that I love year-round.

Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween tradition?

Patrick: The last few years as I’ve driven the kids around trick-or-treating, we’ve played a Halloween soundtrack in the car, with Halloween themed songs and songs from various horror movies. I really like that. Going to haunted houses is also fun.

Meghan: If Halloween is your favorite holiday (or even second favorite holiday), why?

Patrick: Christmas is probably my favorite, but Halloween is right there. As I said in the first answer, the whole world kind of embraces my loves. You see spooks and witches and jack-o’-lanterns everywhere. The air is just starting to cool and fallen leaves crunch under your feet as you run from one house to the next. For kids, it’s like a night that never ends.

Meghan: What are you superstitious about?

Patrick: Hmmm. When I played baseball, I would never step on the baseline when going on and off the field. When I worked in the emergency room and it was suspiciously slow night, I would never mention it. (If you ever work in healthcare and you say ‘It sure is quiet today,’ be prepared for an avalanche of medical emergencies. And be ready for your coworkers to kill you.)

Meghan: What/who is your favorite horror monster or villain?

Patrick: In cinema, probably either Freddy Krueger or Art the Clown. In fiction, probably Pennywise. Yes, I know, very cliché. How about Patrick Bateman then? Does he even count as a villain since the entire story is told from his perspective?

Meghan: Which unsolved murder fascinates you the most?

Patrick: The Elisa Lam case. She’s the lady that went missing in the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. She was on camera acting very bizarre, like maybe she was being followed. Then she just disappeared. Footage of the hotel’s entrance showed that she never left the Cecil. Like three weeks after she disappeared, her body was found in the hotel’s water tank on the roof. People had been drinking and taking showers in that water—containing her decomposing body—the entire time. I love missing person stories too. Check out the Dennis Martin case. Very bizarre!

Meghan: Which urban legend scares you the most?

Patrick: When I worked in the ER, there was this urban legend about a patient coming in complaining of a severe headache. Upon assessment, it was discovered that the patient had a nest of spiders in her tangled, matted hair. They’d been biting her head, which caused the headaches. Given the things I saw during my years in healthcare, I bet that’s based on a true story. Yikes!

Meghan: Who is your favorite serial killer and why?

Patrick: That’s an odd question. I guess H.H. Holmes. I mean, he made a fucking (am I allowed to say ‘fucking’?) murder hotel! He killed people and then sold their skeletons to medical schools. He was pretty damn wicked. By the way, if anyone answering this question says Charles Manson, they need to be fired from the horror community. Charles Manson is overrated and far more cliché than me answering Pennywise to the villain question.

Meghan: How old were you when you saw your first horror movie? How old were you when you read your first horror book?

Patrick: Movie: I have no idea what my first horror movie was or when I saw it. The first one I remember being terrified of was Silver Bullet. I think I was maybe seven or eight when I saw it. Book: Again, hard to say. Three early books of horror I remember reading are Alfred Hitchcock’s Haunted Houseful, Ghost Stories of Old Texas by Zinita Fowler, and Spine Chillers by Jim Razzi. I still have all three of these books.

Meghan: Which horror novel unsettled you the most?

Patrick: Oooo, tough one. Pet Sematary is terrifying and really punches you in the gut, especially if you’re a parent. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks and American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis are two books that are brilliantly written and yet soooo fucked up. They really dig at your soul.

Meghan: Which horror movie scarred you for life?

Patrick: My tolerance for crazy, fucked up horror movies is pretty high. I don’t think anything has scarred me. But…there were some scenes in The Human Centipede 2 and Nekromantic that made my jaw hit the floor. The scariest movie I’ve ever seen would probably be The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Close second goes to the often-overlooked Vacancy.

Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween costume?

Patrick: I don’t think I ever watched an actual episode of The Lone Ranger, but I sure did go trick-or-treating as the masked hero. And I loved it! Thought I super cool.

Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween-themed song?

Patrick: “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers. This song leads off the Halloween playlist I mentioned earlier.

Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween candy or treat? What is your most disappointing?

Patrick: Reese’s Pieces have to be number one, right? They naturally come in Halloween colors. The worst are those little candies that come in either black or orange wrappers. No name or label or anything on them. Just crappy candy on the inside. I know most people probably shit on candy corn, but I’ve been known to consume candy corn from time to time.

Meghan: Before you go, what are your top 3 Halloween movies and books?

Patrick:
Movies:
House of 1000 Corpses
Terrifier
Halloween 3

Books:
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury is October’s author. No one else quite encapsulates the nostalgia of the season.

Boo-graphy:
Patrick C. Harrison III (PC3, if you prefer) is the author of A Savage Breed, Inferno Bound and the Hell Hounds, 5 Tales That Will Land You in Hell, 5 Tales of Tantalizing Terror, Visceral: Collected Flesh (with Christine Morgan), and Cerberus Rising (with Chris Miller and M. Ennenbach); and his works can be found in numerous anthologies.

PC3 is also the co-owner (with Jarod Barbee) and editor-in-chief of Death’s Head Press, a Texas-based publisher of dark fiction. Follow PC3’s website/blog for frequent horror movie reviews and updates on forthcoming fiction.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: M. Ennenbach

megHan

Our next author, as long as he takes part in our annual Halloween Extravaganzas, will always be on November 1st. Why? Because today is his birthday – and what better way to celebrate than to have him on to share more about the awesomeness that is he.

Meghan: Hey, Mike!! Welcome back! It’s always a pleasure to have you on the blog. Thanks for stopping by. Now that all the niceties are out of the way, let’s get started. What is your favorite part of Halloween?

Mike: It is different in Texas, less a spectacle, but that may be because I have gotten old and lost the joy. As a kid it was the cool autumn air, the threat of snow lingering, and of course, my birthday being the next day. Most kids just get candy, bit I got paraded to relatives’ houses and showered with gifts as well in my scratchy plastic Spiderman costume.

Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween tradition?

Mike: I grew up poor, so we didn’t do pumpkins or decorations. Halloween was always a rush to get ready and then stomp through the leaves as my parents sat smoking in the rusted red Chevy Nova down the block. I try to read one horror book in October, time permitting. I am lame. I don’t do holidays.

Meghan: If Halloween is your favorite holiday (or even second favorite holiday), why?

Mike: It would definitely be my favorite because I am a child of Autumn. The pressure isn’t there like other holidays to scrabble together a meal or buy gifts. An excuse to dress up and get wasted.

Meghan: What are you superstitious about?

Mike: So much. My anxiety is fierce. I don’t know if I am superstitious, or just so used to things going badly. I toss salt over my shoulder and avoid going under ladders. But I love black kitties and go out of my way be in one’s path.

Meghan: What/who is your favorite horror monster or villain?

Mike: I like it when man is the villain. Dr. Decker from Nightbreed. Hannibal Lecter. Though I have a great affection for the Universal Monsters, the tragedy of them resonates.

Meghan: Which unsolved murder fascinates you the most?

Mike: Black Dahlia or Jack the Ripper.

Meghan: Which urban legend scares you the most?

Mike: Any of them with a siren luring men to their doom. I know just how much of a hopeless romantic I am, and that I would for sure heed the call.

Meghan: Who is your favorite serial killer and why?

Mike: HH Holmes. He built a murder house in the middle of the World’s Fair.

Meghan: How old were you when you saw your first horror movie? How old were you when you read your first horror book?

Mike: First movie was The Hand with Sir Michael Caine. I was so young. Every shadow was that effing hand scurrying in the darkness for weeks after. First book was a collection of Poe in first grade. It didn’t scare me, but it opened my eyes to a whole new world.

Meghan: Which horror novel unsettled you the most?

Mike: The first half of Heart Shaped Box, when it was still a ghost story. It went to crap when he over explained everything and it turned into one of his dad’s books. But that first half was amazing.

Meghan: Which horror movie scarred you for life?

Mike: I grew up with Faces of Death, so nothing really affected me after. I think The Autopsy of Jane Doe might have scared me the most.

Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween costume?

Mike: One year I got a zoot suit and that was pretty awesome.

Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween-themed song?

Mike: I don’t know really. I guess anything by the Misfits.

Meghan: What is your favorite Halloween candy or treat? What is your most disappointing?

Mike: I like sour fruity candy. Anything else is just gross.

Meghan: This has been great fun, as usual. Before you go, what are your go-to Halloween movies?

Mike: Halloween 1 and 2 (original) are the best.

Boo-graphy:
M Ennenbach. Poet. Author. Member of Cerberus. Mike has four collections of poetry, two chapbooks, a collection of shorts, a Splatter Western, the debut by Cerberus, and thirty some anthology appearances in his three years of writing. He writes a lot of horror, but depressing and absurd literature is his sweet spot. He writes on his blog on a daily basis, mostly poetry with a smattering of fiction and news. He works with Eleanor Merry at Macabre Ladies Publishing, and they have exciting things on the horizon.

(un)poetic —
Unscaled highs, perilous lows; this is a journey filled with both. A free form dance in the form of poetry; tended with loving care that drips sorrow. Darkness tinged with hope, forged in the fires of life. Of the sea, of the stars, of the night air as the sun breaks on the horizon. A desperate love, in the guise of loving desperation.

(un)poetic is anything but.

No rules. Just pure expression poured on the page with shaking hands and envisioned through tear-filled eyes. This is different, this is new. Raw. This is poetry, here and now.

(un)fettered —
to soar free of inhibition. a collection of poetry that skims the surface of fathomless emotion, leaving waves across the placid sea. m ennenbach plumbs these ripples in search of connection. sometimes the only answer is to tear down everything and examine it in its basest form. (un)fettered.

(un)requited —
unwanted. unfulfilled. unworthy. in the moment you offer every bit of yourself, mind body and soul, only to find you were not enough. broken hearted and alone. (un)requited.