Interview with David Kempf - By Jon Donnis
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It’s my new short story collection of ghost stories, sometimes the ghosts are good, sometimes they are bad, but they always seem to frighten us mere mortals.
Why do you think readers are still interested in ghost stories?
I’m actually going to give readers a preview of my new book by publishing the book’s introduction here—
Ghost stories are found in all cultures all around the world. Storytellers have been using the oral tradition to tell these scary tales for many centuries now. The most famous English ghost story is probably A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, although Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad by M.R. James is a strong contender for second. The most famous American ghost stories are The Haunting by Shirley Jackson and, of course, Peter Straub’s Ghost Story. Another signi"cant ghost story novel is Haunted by Tamara Thorne. The most famous American ghost story of all time is, of course, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. I have always loved haunted houses and castles in stories, fairy tales, and live haunted house attractions. I've tried my best to write ten entertaining and diverse stories to frighten you, or at least to entertain you.
I’ve never met Peter Straub, but his novel Ghost Story and the 1981 movie always inspired me to someday write my own ghost tales. I do have the honor of knowing Tamara Thorne, a truly magnificent writer of ghost stories. Sometimes she writes them solo, and sometimes with her writing partner Alistair Cross. We have found much in common with our love of horror and ghost story novels and tales. She and I are also huge fans of John Carpenter’s The Fog, perhaps the best sea-themed modern ghost movie ever made. We also agree that the movie version of Ghost Story with Fred Astaire is magnificent and that perhaps the most underrated ghost story movie of all time is The Changeling, starring George C. Scott. I am deeply honored that she enjoys my short stories and that she has written several short story intros for me over the years, including two in this collection. So please read the tales slowly. Ghosts are not like vampires or witches; they are subtle. They make you question whether something you saw was real or only your mind playing tricks on you. They bend reality for a brief moment. That’s what ghost stories are all about. So dear reader, read on,read aloud if you dare, and above all, read these stories at night. Perhaps you can decide if this is real or all in your mind. Not a bad way to spend an evening.
— David Kempf, September 2024
What would you say is the difference between writing about characters either from mythology, or characters created by other authors, as opposed to writing about characters you yourself have created?
Ghost stories have a long history but for the most part I am inventing almost new characters both living and dead in this new short story set. The one exception, of course, is I touch on the subject of a haunted island and sea monster folklore. In that story, Banshee, I actually borrow from Robert Louis Stevenson from Treasure Island because I mention Long John Silver in an eerie local island legend. This time I don’t blatantly steal like I did in Tales of Monster Madness where I use Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a story. A story mixed with Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray as well. The characters are mostly kindred spirits in that they are created by me in this one. Pun intended.
Why do you think horror and ghost story books remain so popular?
Jon, I think they're something you and I can really enjoy. And we’re far from being alone on this. As you know almost every church has a ghost that haunts it in England, (Yes I know you don't believe in ghosts, but the stories, real or not are told). And of course I feature some characters who claim some type of clairvoyant or psychic ability. That’s something I know is right up your alley, except of course the skeptic can’t always be too sure of his lack of belief in order for the story to move along nicely.
Well, I write about what I want to write about. I wanted to write about the Jinn and the wish gone wrong and then I wrote my Dark Fiction trilogy. When the idea of mashing up these classic monsters popped into my head, I just went with it and wrote TALES OF MONSTER MADNESS. With this new one GHOST STORIES I wanted to touch on all the ghost story lore I liked. I wrote one ghost story and could not stop. I started writing them one by one, and then next thing I knew I had an entire collection of them. Last year I thought "Dracula vs. the Wizard of Oz"? Now who could resist that? Now I’m thinking that I have ten great stories that were well enjoyed by some of the best ghost story authors out there. And if they could not resist then how can you?
What do you think the difference between American horror and British horror is? In this case in terms of ghost stories.
I think that ghost stories are probably more popular in England than here in America. When America was young in the colonial days, ghost stories were probably a much bigger thing. Despite the Andy Williams song It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Americans love the idea of ghosts for ghost tours, older stories, occasional movies, and especially for Halloween. Telling ghost stories is big in England. We had Poe who really only hinted at ghosts but we do have Hell House and The Haunting of Hill House. England still has more ghostly tales. You tell them over Christmas and every church has it’s own famous ghosts. There’s more ghostly characters and legends on the other side of the pond.
Is there an audio-book version of your book?
Sadly not yet. Podcaster Boo Rhodes and my narrator Wesley Critchified have expressed an interest in it but I am busy turning FOUR MURDER MYSTERY PLAYS into audio dramas right now. And I have pretty much a dream cast for the voices.
Why did you sell the stories individually before putting them together in one book?
I did it so that anyone who wanted to get a sample of my work could so so. And usually it’s the remarkable cover art by my cousin Heather Slawecki that gets people to make that one dollar investment in my written word.
Tell us about the various authors you have had write introductions for the stories.
Years ago, I read a book called My Favorite Horror Story, and it featured an introduction before each short story. Usually it was a favorite short story of certain write like Harlan Ellison or Peter Straub. Anyway, it was a great book and I got to be introduced to a number of authors and short stories that I had never previously heard of. I loved the heartfelt introductions idea so I asked some of my writer friends to write intros for me. Gary Raisor, Lorraine Evanoff, Tamara Thorne, Boo Rhodes, Andres Montanez, Michael Baker, and a gentleman by the name of Jon Donnis wrote the intros. I also owe a huge debt to my editor A.L. Sirois, and my cousin Heather Slawecki for covers and formatting. I was very proud of the book that these collaborations produced.
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment as an author?
Wow. Writers always think there current book is there best work but in this case, that might actually be true! But I’m not sure. I really loved TALES OF MONSTER MADNESS last year, and this year GHOST STORIES is my best work. I guess I should just say my greatest accomplishment is always striving to do my best work.
What are your current projects?
I would like to concentrate on writing the short stories. I’ve written ten stories based on classic monster characters but I am not done yet. I just wrote ten ghost stories in a collection and next for me is ten dystopian stories in the future.
And we all know I fully intend to keep writing for Masters of Horror U.K. for as long as I can.
Well it has been a pleasure talking to you David, and I wish you all the best not only for this latest book, but for all your future work. Thank you.
Ghost Stories is out now on Kindle, check it out at
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