Confessions of my Past, Present and Future
by
J.R. Park
The Past
As a kid I read a lot, and throughout my life I was
always obsessed with the dark, forbidden fruits that lurked in the horror
section of the local library and book shops. The joy about books is there is no
classification, so unlike the video shop, where I could only look at the covers
and imagine the lurid delights within, I was able to fully explore the darkness
in the written word.
By the time I was thirteen/fourteen, I was already
reading Clive Barker, and began exploring other authors that frequented the
shelves of the horror section. Shaun Hutson was a writer I’d seen mentioned a
few times and so opening to the first page of Renegades, I was blown away by the sample paragraph at the front of
the book. In graphic, gory detail it described someone being shot in the head.
The detail was disgusting with lines like ‘confetti of brain and pulverised
bone’. I needed to know more.
As I read the book, the early promise did not wane, and I
was assaulted by an explosion of violence and sex. This was pushing my
boundaries and I loved it. Put simply, the book rocked. It felt like the
literary equivalent of a heavy metal song.
When I sat down to write my first book, Terror Byte, my memories of Renegades and its lasting impressions
was the first thing I drew upon when describing the gore and sex scenes. I
wanted that tone. That feeling like the book was slapping you in the face. I
was so pleased when a few reviewers picked up on the Hutson-esque vibe. A great
testament to the power of his writing, that it left such a mark on me for all
those years.
