Leading Horror Fiction Anthologist Stephen Jones interviewed by Jay Russell

Stephen Jones is, without a doubt, the leading anthologist of horror fiction working today.  Author/editor of over 50 books, Jones brings to each of his projects a manifest love of the genre tempered by a sharp and discriminating editorial eye.  His BEST NEW HORROR (Volume 8 appears in September from Robinson) is required reading for anyone with an interest in horror fiction, and DARK TERRORS: THE GOLLANCZ BOOK OF HORROR (a continuation of the old PAN BOOK OF HORROR STORIES and DARK VOICES series) is simply *the* showcase annual volume for new writing. Jones has assembled numerous works of non-fiction, as well, including studies of Clive Barker and James Herbert, his delightful ILLUSTRATED MOVIE GUIDES, and (with Kim Newman) the invaluable HORROR: 100 BEST BOOKS. Jones also works as a movie publicist and consultant, and is a partner in Smith & Jones, a film production company. By the end of 1997, Jones will have published an astonishing eight new books, and not a stinker in the lot! He also happens to be an exceedingly nice guy, and generously took some time out of a hectic schedule for the following interview.

Dracula is one of the key icons of the twentieth century. Why do you think this is so?

Stephen Jones: In many ways, Dracula represents the human face of horror -- whereas the Frankenstein Monster, the werewolf, the Mummy, zombies etc. are outwardly horrific, the only outward sign of the vampire's undead existence is the fangs (which can be hidden). This allows Dracula and his kin to also be sexy! Also, we have all probably dreamed of living forever (even if it means drinking blood to survive) or having the ability to transform into other creatures -- to fly like a bat, run like a wolf or become mist.

To what extent can Dracula's status be attributed to Stoker's novel as opposed to various presentations of the character/story in other media?

Personally, I think the popularity of the character has little to do with Stoker's turgid novel. The name "Dracula" is known around the world, but I wonder how many people have actually read the original novel. I'm willing to bet only a small percentage. Most people know the character through his screen portrayal by actors such as Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, or through the sequels, TV shows, cartoons, breakfast cereals etc.

Do you have a favourite version of Dracula?

I grew up with the Hammer Draculas, so I guess Christopher Lee's portrayal had a big impact on me. I also have a soft spot for the Spanish language version filmed simultaneously on the same sets, but with different cast and crew, as Universal's classic 1930 adaptation.

You've scored a real coup in publishing for the first time in THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF DRACULA (see Review) the prologue to Stoker's original version of the play "Dracula: or The Undead." Where has it been and how did you come across it?

My friend Sylvia Starshine has been researching Stoker's theatrical version of the story for several years. To be honest, it is not very good -- Stoker cobbled it together before the book was published to protect the theatrical copyright. It was only performed once, but has remained on public record ever since. I thought the opening scenes of the play, set in Transylvania, would be a perfect place to kick off the anthology from -- after all, I was creating an "alternative history" of Dracula and this was an "alternative" version of Stoker's prose. Sylvia's annotated version of the play is due to be published by a new British small press imprint, Pumpkin Books, and is set to debut at the 1997 World Fantasy Convention in London in October.

THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF DRACULA is slightly unusual in that you've attempted to place the disparate short stories into a cohesive time line. What difficulties did this create for you as an editor?

The biggest problem was to make sure that different authors didn't work in the same time period. I had done the same type of thing a few years ago in SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH, in which I created a new time-line for some of H.P. Lovecraft's horrors. Some stories I had to reject because I already had better examples set around the same period, and I could guide other writers who I knew were more flexible and who I had worked with before. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty pleased with the result. If you read the book in order, I think you really do get a sense of history -- from the late 1800s, through to the New Millennium and beyond.

As in many of your anthologies, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF DRACULA offers a thoughtful mix of mostly new fiction supplemented with a few unusual reprints (e.g., Manley Wade Wellman). Is it important to you to reacquaint readers with the traditions and past masters of the genre?

Absolutely! Too many editors (and publishers) seem only to be interested in publishing new, often mediocre, fiction. I try to supplement my Mammoth books with a scattering of stories that had an impact on me when I was growing up. Otherwise these stories and their authors are destined to disappear forever! Really good fiction will always withstand the test of time, but we have to make sure that it is kept in print for successive generations to discover. My most important credo as an editor is "To know where you are, you have to know where you've been..."

As you point out in your introduction, vampire fiction has become the dominant sub-genre of horror, to the extent that it almost seems to have taken over the field. Why do you think this has happened? Does this say more about the nature of the genre or the nature of publishing?

I'm not a particular fan of vampires -- out of the fifty or so books I've had published, only three or four have been about vampires. For me, vampires are simply part of the bigger genre we call "horror", or whatever. However, for some people, vampires are a genre to themselves. Just like STAR TREK, DOCTOR WHO or THE X-FILES attract followers who would not consider themselves science fiction fans. In our genre there are people who will read every new Stephen King or Anne Rice book as soon as it is published, but they would never consider picking up a "horror" novel by anyone else. There have been far too many bad vampire novels and anthologies published over the past few years. I had to consider very carefully before I agreed to edit THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF DRACULA, and I only decided to do it when I realised I could try something different and have some fun doing it.

Much has been written about the awful state of horror publishing in both the UK and US. To what do you attribute the relative commercial failure of horror fiction in the '90s, especially in a period when horror films, such as SCREAM, are achieving great success?

People have always been interested in horror fiction. It is a genre that has existed for centuries. However, like most things, its popularity is cyclical. After the boom of the late 1980s, it was only inevitable that it would be followed by a slump. Personally, I blame the publishers. When horror fiction was "hot" they couldn't wait to jump on the bandwagon, and they started publishing any piece of crap that they could put a horror label on. And they wasted a great deal of money doing it. It was the publishers themselves who created this so-called "slump" when they began announcing that "horror" wasn't selling anymore. Instead of cutting back their lists to just the superior material and reducing some of the overblown advances they were paying to agents, they panicked and start cutting whole lines. This led to a kind of mass-hysteria on both sides of the Atlantic. Just as publishers had always erroneously maintained that "anthologies don't sell" (oh, yeah?), so now the wail went up, "horror doesn't sell." And to prove it, any horror authors they were still publishing successfully were quickly moved into other categories such as "Dark Fantasy" or "Dark Suspense".

Are writers failing to deliver what readers want?

There will always be some original books being published in the horror genre and, as the wheel turns, the genre will inevitably come back into fashion again -- it may even be helped if there is another horror "boom" in Hollywood following the success of SCREAM (which, unfortunately, I think is just a fluke). There's always good material being written in the field (even if the publishers can't always recognise it), and I'm proud to be one of those people who is keeping the horror flame burning during this dark period for our genre.

In your role as editor of BEST NEW HORROR you read virtually every short story published in the field every year. Have you noted any particular changes in horror fiction over the past decade? Any new or emerging themes?

As I get older, I often find I fall asleep more while reading! But seriously, there is so much material being published these days -- particularly in magazines and the small press -- that it is impossible for anyone to keep up with it all. I try my best with THE BEST NEW HORROR, but although my introductory essay covering the previous year has grown out of all proportion, I still don't get to see a lot of the horror material out there. However, that might be a good thing. I'm also finding it harder to find stories that appeal to me -- that try to do something original in the genre. Of course there's plenty of trash out there, but what bothers me most is the amount of stuff that is simply average -- competent writing, okay characters, but doesn't add up to anything. Far too many stories currently being published -- particularly in American anthologies -- have no point. They simply do not inspire any emotion in the reader whatsoever. And, let's not forget, that as much as we refer to horror as a "genre" it is, first and foremost, an emotion. If a horror story doesn't touch you one way or another, if it doesn't have some sort of emotional impact (either good or bad) on the reader, then it has not succeeded. Of course, that's also true of any good fiction in any genre.

Do you ever get sick of reading it all?

Yeah, I get sick of it now and then (I can no longer just read or watch movies for fun). But there's nothing better than the "highs" -- finishing a book you're proud of, or discovering a new talent like Michael Marshall Smith, Terry Amsley or, dare I mention... Jay Russell!

Unlike certain other genre anthologists, your name on the cover of a book always guarantees a level of quality within. Of your many books, is there any one of which you are particularly proud?

Thank you. I've always tried to make every book I've done "special". No matter how dumb the idea, or how short the deadline, I've tried to put more than 100% into every project. In most cases, I feel I've been able to achieve that (despite every attempt by certain publishers to screw up the end result). I feel I can stand up and defend (if I need to) every project I've worked on. As I've also been lucky to win a few awards during my career, I must be doing something right.

What Stephen Jones projects can we look forward to in the future?

This year I celebrate the publication of my fiftieth book in nine years. Not bad for someone who had no idea this is the way their career would be heading a decade ago. This spring sees the publication of a less-than-perfect edition of CLIVE BARKER'S A-Z OF HORROR in America (supposedly to tie-in with the BBC-TV series that has yet to be shown), THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF DRACULA and the non-fiction anthology DANCING WITH DARK: TRUE ENCOUNTERS WITH THE PARANORMAL BY MASTERS OF THE MACABRE.
They will be followed by EXORCISMS AND ECSTASIES, a final collection of the late Karl Edward Wagner's short fiction with tributes and a bibliography, and the first British edition of SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH. Then to tie-in with the 1997 World Fantasy Convention there is THE VAMPIRE STORIES OF R. CHETWYND-HAYES, a collection honouring one of the guests; my annual anthology THE BEST NEW HORROR VOLUME EIGHT, and two anthologies of new horror fiction: DARK TERRORS 3: THE GOLLANCZ BOOK OF HORROR (co-edited with David Sutton) and DARK OF THE NIGHT. I'm also co-editing the convention souvenir book, SECRET CITY: STRANGE TALES OF LONDON, with Jo Fletcher. As some of these projects aren't even completed yet, you can see that it's been another busy year...