Ask the Author: Jack Hands
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Jack Hands
My idea for "The Throne of Pandaemonium" came from a few different places.
As a frequent watcher of horror movies, something which has always bugged me are the shallow or stagnant characters (think dumb teenagers getting picked off by the monster one-by-one). I wanted to tell a horror story where the characters felt like real people with real lives and flaws. I thought this would lead to a story with more emotional resonance and more investment from the readers. (This is why I think Stephen King's stories have much more impact with mainstream audiences than most horror novels - he is first and foremost an author who focuses on character. The horror elements of the story have much more significance if there is a character at the center of it all who's journey we are invested in.)
Secondly, I am indebted to Clive Barker's novella "The Hellbound Heart" (later turned into the movie "Hellraiser," considered an eighties classic) for providing me the creative spark to write. Watching the movie and reading the book, I loved how character driven and atmospheric Barker's world was. The characters were dramatic and life-like, the "monsters" were mysterious and engaging, and the writing was creepy as hell. Part of the reason I set my story in the 1930s was because I wanted to replicate the grimy, noir feel of "The Hellbound Heart."
As a frequent watcher of horror movies, something which has always bugged me are the shallow or stagnant characters (think dumb teenagers getting picked off by the monster one-by-one). I wanted to tell a horror story where the characters felt like real people with real lives and flaws. I thought this would lead to a story with more emotional resonance and more investment from the readers. (This is why I think Stephen King's stories have much more impact with mainstream audiences than most horror novels - he is first and foremost an author who focuses on character. The horror elements of the story have much more significance if there is a character at the center of it all who's journey we are invested in.)
Secondly, I am indebted to Clive Barker's novella "The Hellbound Heart" (later turned into the movie "Hellraiser," considered an eighties classic) for providing me the creative spark to write. Watching the movie and reading the book, I loved how character driven and atmospheric Barker's world was. The characters were dramatic and life-like, the "monsters" were mysterious and engaging, and the writing was creepy as hell. Part of the reason I set my story in the 1930s was because I wanted to replicate the grimy, noir feel of "The Hellbound Heart."
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