What is The Shadow Storytellers?
Like many genre authors, we forged a lot of our understanding of how great anthology fiction can be via classic episodes of The Twilight Zone, and as we grew and our tastes evolved, we came to take in the strange and twisted delights offered by programs like Tales from the Crypt and films like Creepshow. There’s something fun about the dark wonders that can be wrought in the short story format, and The Shadow Storytellers as a podcast is our way of sharing our love for the genre.
Who are we?
We are Fiona J.R. Titchenell and Matt Carter, authors of the macabre and magical, the weird and wondrous, partners in crime, frequent co-authors, and married for going on 10 years now. Between us we’ve got more than 25 years of experience writing across the genre fiction spectrum, from horror to sci-fi to fantasy and YA. Between the two of us, we have published 13 novels and had short stories appear in 15 separate anthologies. For more information, check out our author’s bios below, or browse our published works in the Shadow Storytellers store.
What kinds of stories should we expect from you?
Fiona: Almost every story I write is “about” something, whether it’s a heavy issue of justice or a trivial personal anxiety. Sometimes I’ll wear my Serling fandom on my sleeve and come in swinging with a sledgehammer of a monologue, and sometimes the themes are buried under a corpse pile or two. I love throwing people into the kinds of scenarios and dilemmas which are only accessible through genre fiction, but which have just as much bearing on who we really are as the ones we face in present day reality. You can definitely expect plenty of overt, unabashed feminism (an underrecognized strength of the best of the horror genre) and queerness (something horror can always use more of).
Matt: You’ll find a lot of dark comedy in my stories, as well as a fair bit of lingering on grief and nostalgia (even if the nostalgia may not always be a good thing). Monsters of various sorts are a common sight in my twisted tales, as is body horror and cosmic horror. Even with these in mind, I like to dabble a lot in various genres and see how I can twist them to my ends, so, it’s difficult to say what you’ll see for sure.
Matt: You’ll find a lot of dark comedy in my stories, as well as a fair bit of lingering on grief and nostalgia (even if the nostalgia may not always be a good thing). Monsters of various sorts are a common sight in my twisted tales, as is body horror and cosmic horror. Even with these in mind, I like to dabble a lot in various genres and see how I can twist them to my ends, so, it’s difficult to say what you’ll see for sure.
What do you think makes a great scary story?
Fiona: I think an adequate scary story lands its scares. It has thrills and shocks, maybe some gross-outs. A good scary story does that and also subverts your expectations in some way. Either the setup is different from the typical off-the-shelf rotation, or it takes the execution in a new direction. It makes you jump when you think you’re safe, or deal with a different kind of input when you’re expecting to jump. A great scary story, though, has to make you care, like any other kind of great story. Whether it’s because you’ve bonded with the characters or just because the horror itself really hits home, a great scary story makes the page or screen or speaker feel like not quite the impermeable barrier of emotional safety you thought it was.
Matt: For me, a great scary story has to hit my emotions in some way. Monsters and killers and ghosts are well trodden territory, and while keeping things simple with stories like that can be fun, to really elevate it, for me it has to elicit an emotional response. It doesn’t just have to be fear, either… no, it can be a good laugh, or something heartwarming, or something that tugs at the heartstrings and threatens tears… make me feel, and I think you have a great story.
Matt: For me, a great scary story has to hit my emotions in some way. Monsters and killers and ghosts are well trodden territory, and while keeping things simple with stories like that can be fun, to really elevate it, for me it has to elicit an emotional response. It doesn’t just have to be fear, either… no, it can be a good laugh, or something heartwarming, or something that tugs at the heartstrings and threatens tears… make me feel, and I think you have a great story.
And of course, what’s your favorite scary movie?
Fiona: This one is painfully difficult, because there are so many subgenres I love and can’t fairly compare with each other, but I’m going to go with the admittedly odd choice of Unfriended. I’m not normally a fan of the “horrible people get what’s coming to them” style of horror, but Unfriended really goes beyond the basic coding of horror characters you’re supposed to hate and gets deep into the wrongdoings and rationalizations and coping mechanisms of that twisted little clique in a way that feels so familiar and human. I also love its one-continuous-scene pacing and how effectively it winds you up for the escalating train wreck that is the second half.
Matt: The Thing, 1982. Back when I was 11 and horror was still the stuff of nightmares for me, I’d just seen Independence Day with my father and, in spite of the good summer fun, found myself quite frightened by the aliens. Dad offered to show me an older movie that he enjoyed, saying the aliens weren’t that much worse, and since I enjoyed Independence Day, I said “okay” to a viewing of The Thing. Needless to say, these aliens were much worse, and much, much scarier, but the movie stuck with me and has metamorphosed into my favorite horror film over time. Ah, the many fond memories I had introducing unsuspecting high school friends to it, knowing they would lose it during the defibrillation and blood test scenes…
Matt: The Thing, 1982. Back when I was 11 and horror was still the stuff of nightmares for me, I’d just seen Independence Day with my father and, in spite of the good summer fun, found myself quite frightened by the aliens. Dad offered to show me an older movie that he enjoyed, saying the aliens weren’t that much worse, and since I enjoyed Independence Day, I said “okay” to a viewing of The Thing. Needless to say, these aliens were much worse, and much, much scarier, but the movie stuck with me and has metamorphosed into my favorite horror film over time. Ah, the many fond memories I had introducing unsuspecting high school friends to it, knowing they would lose it during the defibrillation and blood test scenes…
About Fiona J.R. Titchenell
Fiona J.R. Titchenell primarily writes Sci-Fi and Horror for teens and adults, though she has dabbled in other genres and loves to play in the gray areas between them. She graduated with a B.A in English from California State University, Los Angeles, in 2009 at the age of twenty. Her work has been featured by Feminist Book of the Month and the Harvard Book Store’s Microchondria. She is represented by Fran Black of Literary Counsel and currently lives in San Gabriel, California with her husband and frequent writing partner, Matt Carter. On the rare occasions when she can be pried away from her keyboard, Fi can usually be found playing board games, sighing over her ever-expanding list of fictional crushes (all genders), over-analyzing the inner workings of various Sci-Fi/Fantasy universes, or checking out interactive Horror theater in the L.A area. To learn more about her work, check out her website at fjrtitchenell.weebly.com |
About Matt Carter
Matt Carter is an author of Horror, Sci-Fi, and Superhero fiction. He has used his lifelong love for writing, history and the bizarre to bring novels like Bennytown, Almost Infamous: A Supervillain Novel, Pinnacle City: A Superhero Noir (co-authored by his wife, Fiona J.R. Titchenell) and the Prospero Chronicles young adult horror series (also co-authored by Titchenell) to life. He is represented by Fran Black of Literary Counsel and lives in the usually sunny town of San Gabriel, CA with his wife, his increasingly impressive quarantine beard, and the myriad of strange fictional characters and worlds that live in his head. To learn more about his work, check out his website at mattcarterauthor.weebly.com |
