Friday 18 May 2012

Review: Lisa McCourt Hollar's 'Monsters!', wicked fun with sex, death and demon babies

The wonderful thing about indie self-publishing is that an author does not have to tone down to suit the widest possible demographic. Lisa McCourt Hollar's 'Monsters' is an example of this in practice. 'Monsters' is a collection of 13 short, visceral stories that immediately grabbed me by ignoring two of the major mass market horror taboos: horrifying sex and demon babies.

The result is a quick, very satisfying read that caters to the sort of tastes that make enthusiastic horror readers look so suspicious to people who believe that fairy tales should have happy endings and that 'stay-at-home' moms should only think nice thoughts.


I wanted to know a bit more, and Lisa McCourt Hollar gave me answers.

Your book depicts disturbing babies. Do infants frighten you?
If you have ever been around a screaming baby, you know they can be quite intimidating. I remember babysitting for my sister with her first child. He woke up screaming and he looked like a little red faced demon. That aside, I do love babies, I have four kids myself, but Children of the Corn is one of the most frightening films I’ve seen. Children of all ages make great horror creatures.

Most of the stories have a fairy tale quality to them. What is your favourite fairy tale and why?
I think Beauty and the Beast because it shows that we should look past the physical appearance.

What are the frightening aspects of sex?
When you submit yourself to someone, you are putting yourself at risk. Sex is very personal and each person enjoys it in a different way. Sometimes those differences can be quite frightening.

Which authors or stories unsettle you the most?
The most disturbing story I’ve read came from Stephen King. In general I’m not a huge fan because I think he gets too wordy, but I read a collection of short stories he wrote and there was one called The Library Policeman. There were aspects to the story that left me feeling sick to my stomach and wondering what kind of a mind could write like that. Now I am proud to say that some of my work is on that level of disturbing... at least according to my daughter.

Who is Jezri?
My muse. I named her. Actually, it was my online name when I first started writing Star Trek fan fiction, a long time ago. It is a combination of Jadzia and Ezri, the two Dax hosts.

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