Cold Flesh: Ask Kevin A. Christinat, Dec 5–10

[hugonian]

Session: Kevin A. Christinat, Dec 5–10

Instructions: Post a question for the author and wait for a reply. From Monday to Saturday, the author will peek in periodically to answer questions. If the author cannot answer your question before time expires, feel free to PM the author with your question.

This week’s author: Kevin A. Christinat “Deliver Unto Me, Oh Lord” is twenty-seven years old and lives in Wichita, Kansas with his wife, Emily. He teaches high school English at Northeast Magnet and is currently attending Wichita State University for his Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing. Kevin has been writing for sixteen years, and while this is his first professional sale, it also marks his twelfth story published.

Q&A Schedule: See when other authors will be available--schedule of authors

Cold Flesh info: For more info regarding Cold Flesh, such as reviews and updates, please visit the official thread or the official website.

[HOO-HAA]

Hey Kevin,

What do you think are the essential ingrediants for *effective* horror?

How far would be *too* far for you to go as a horror writer?

[hugonian]

Kevin, tell us how you came up with your story, “Deliver Unto Me, Oh Lord.” Did you write it specifically for Cold Flesh? Also, is there anything you would change now that the story is published?

Have you written any other zombie or horror stories? Do you have anything else awaiting publication? Did I use semicolons properly in my review of your story in the main Cold Flesh forum?

I can never keep rules of punctuation straight. It irks me.

Hi, all. I've never done this before, so bear with me, k? First things first:

Spiral:

Effective ingredients? I know of only one: sicken or frighten yourself. If that is successful, everything else follows. Of course there is no magic equation or element that scares everyone, but if you're affected, more often than not, your audience will be, as well. As for going too far, HELL NO! I once wrote a story about a demon convincing a woman to partial-birth abort her child (I seem to have some hang-up about babies, don't I?), and while my family wouldn't talk to me for a while, I thought not, "Oops, I've gone too far," but rather, "Wow, that really worked!"

Hugonian:

Well, I guess I came up with the idea when I was watching some show on The Learning Channel or something about childbirth. These ladies were screaming in pain (as well they might), and I got to thinking, "Man, if that baby was angry at its mom, the damage it could do!" Everything else kind of fell into place after that. As for changes, I'm a one-draft kind of man, so no, it's good how it is.

Collin:

Yes, I've written many other horror stories, though few other zombie stories. Nothing else is awaiting publication at this time, but it's getting down to the end of the semester, so once I get all of my student papers graded, I'll probably send out some more stuff. I haven't read the other review yet, but I wouldn't worry too much about semicolons. Remember: it goes between two independant clauses that are closely related. Sorry, the teacher in me.

[shamblingstepzombie]

At the end of Deliver Unto Me, Oh Lord I couldn't help but wonder who was going to have the feast-Zombie Marla or her zombie baby? Kind of an ironic ending, very clever!

Shamblingstepzombie:

Yes, I suppose it will be something of a battle, the kind of thing the Fox network might put on Pay-Per-View.

shamblingstepzombie: Any chance you might be willing to modify your comment so that you don't give away the ending to the story? As you pointed out, it's a good ending so it's a shame to ruin it for anyone who hasn't read the story yet.

[hugonian]

Which are scarier: shambler zombies or sprinter zombies? Why? Also, have you ever thought about rewriting the “Tortoise and the Hare,” replacing the traditional animals with a shambler and a sprinter? Who would win, and how?

Hugonian:
Well, no, I can't say that I have considered that, but I suppose it would be a short race, and not much fun at all for the spectators. Anyway, I'm quite a bit more frightened of sprinters, especially the categorical "zombies" from _28 Days Later_. Anything running after me that wants to eat me puts me in an anxious mood. Shamblers, however, evoke Stephen King's famous line from _Desperation_: "Oh no, it's the [zombie]! Let's walk a little faster!"