DoT EP103: Horror Author and Editor Scott Goudsward on Zombies, Vampires, and Indie Publishing, plus New Music from Reverse

The Department of Tangents Podcast

This is the second interview I recorded at this year’s NECON conference, which is part horror author’s conference and part summer camp. It is with Scott Goudsward, a very busy fellow. I’ve been trying to catch up with him for months, but as you are about to find out, Scott has a lot of jobs. He has written two novels -- Fountain of the Dead and Trailer Trash -- and many short stories, co-edited a series of guidebooks based on horror landmarks with his brother, David Goudsward, and is editor or co-editor of many horror anthologies. The latest anthology is hot off the presses as of August, and it is called Wicked Weird, weird, Lovecraftian fiction from the New England Horror Writers Press. That is available as an ebook and in print as of August 23, and includes a short from J. Edwin Buja, whom I also interviewed at NECON for EP100 of the podcast.

It isn’t easy being an indie writer, or an indie publisher. Scott talks a bit about the perils of the independent publishing world, having to jump from one house to another with a project, and publishers folding before a book can get published. But we also talk about a lot more positive things, like how welcoming the New England writing community can be, especially at NECON. And we also talk about how to approach zombies and vampires without retreading all the old tropes, The Walking Dead, Midsommer, musical inspiration, and more.

Find out more about Scott and buy his works at Goudsward.com. The new anthology is called Wicked Weird and is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble online, and other retailers, and you can find this and other compilations at NewEnglandHorror.org.

This week’s featured track is “Red Drum” by Boston rockers Reverse from their new album What’s Your Problem. If you like dark, muscular guitar riffs and a creeping sense that the world is about to fall apart, this album is for you. The chorus to this one is, “Way up high/Windows in the sky/And the sun’s gonna fall out/Wave goodbye/And I don’t know why/There’s a name I call out.” There’s a terseness to the riffs that reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age. These songs just move. Sadly, this will be the last album by the band, as we lost singer/guitarist Ian Kennedy last year. If you buy the vinyl of What’s You Problem, all of the proceeds go to Kennedy’s wife and daughter. You can find the music on BandCamp under reverse6.bandcamp.com or search for the band name and the album title on CDBaby and other sources.