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Wednesday Photo: Cemetery Statue

September 01, 2010

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INTERVIEW WITH HEADSTONES AUTHOR RAYNE HALL Do you ever wander around cemeteries, read the inscriptions on strangers’ headstones, and wonder what their lives were like, how they died, what families they left behind ? Wandering around graveyards is one of my favourite activities when I’m travelling in foreign countries. It’s a great way to learn about the region’s history, culture and people in quiet, peaceful surroundings,. And the admission is free. In my home country, Germany, headstones are often glossy fake marble, inscribed with conventional phrases, and the cemeteries are surrounded by thick hedges of dark yew. In rural England, where I lived for many years, graveyards often surround medieval churches. A giant ancient yew-tree towers over the graves. Headstones tend to be old and grey, encrusted with yellow, white, green and orange lichen, and the chiselled inscriptions – those that haven’t eroded yet – reveal dates from the 1700s and 1800s, some of them

Greetings and Happy New Year! Today, I'm interviewing Cameron Trost, author of "The Shortcut" in the upcoming anthology Among the Headstones: Creepy Tales from the Graveyard . What are cemeteries like in the country where you live ? As an Australian living in France, what strikes me is that cemeteries here are usually surrounded by a high wall with a gate that’s locked at night and they’re generally quite small. Australian cemeteries tend to be more open, perhaps with only a low wall or wrought-iron fence and they’re quite large and leafy. Other than that, I’m not sure Australian cemeteries have any particularly distinct characteristics. There are usually different sections for different religions or denominations, such as Catholic or Anglican. Crypts are perhaps less common here than in other countries. Most Australian cemeteries generally consist of simple headstones and slabs, often in the form of a cross or with an angel statue. Wherever possible, they’re situated

Tuesday Guest Post: Rayne Hall

“Keep Out - Danger!” Creating Suspense Suspense is a feeling - the feeling of excitement, of tension, of fear, the feeling of needing to know what happens next. As writers, we aim to create suspense, because our readers love it. Here's a quick trick for increasing the suspense: Let your protagonist walk through a doorway on her way to danger. Film makers use this technique frequently. Next time you watch a thriller, cop drama or horror movie, observe how the camera lingers on the door before the hero enters. Subconsciously, the viewer perceives the door as a barrier: if the protagonist crosses it, she is entering a danger zone. The viewer screams inwardly 'Don't open that door!'. Of course, the protagonist opens it and enters. By now, the viewer is sitting on the edge of her chair, frightened on the hero's behalf, needing to find out what happens next. You can use the same trick in your writing: Put a door between your protagonist and the danger, and l

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