Local author shares her method behind the monster madness
HILARY MATHESON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 5 months AGO
<p>Local author Angela Townsend outside the Conrad Mansion Museum in Kalispell.</p>
EDUCATION REPORTER Hilary Matheson covers education for the Daily Inter Lake. Her reporting focuses on schools, students, and the policies that shape public education across Northwest Montana. Matheson regularly reports on school boards, district decisions and issues affecting teachers and families. Her work examines how funding, enrollment and state policy influence local school systems. She helps readers understand how education decisions affect students and communities throughout the region. IMPACT: Hilary’s work provides transparency and insight into the schools that serve thousands of local families. | October 29, 2015 12:15 PM
"Fact one: Monsters do exist.”
There is a dark side to Kalispell author Angela Townsend’s books, where demons creep, ghosts haunt and monsters dwell. And while Townsend’s stories strive to combine fantasy and history, the supernatural lurks in many of her fictional works.
The existence of monsters is one realization the main character in Townsend’s book “Moonflower” comes to, and one which her fans just may find after reading Townsend’s other novels: “The Forlorned,” which recently received the gold award in Young Adult Fiction — Horror/Mystery from the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards; and “River of Bones.”
Both horror novels are being turned into movies. Townsend is currently writing “The Awakened,” which will be the second book of “The Forlorned” series.
Townsend recently talked with This Week in the Flathead to discuss things of a monstrous nature.
Q. Some sort of monstrosity appear in all of your books, whether they are classified as fantasy or horror. You have mythological dragons and sea hags, supernatural ghosts, vengeful spirits and terrifying demons. What is fun about adding this touch of evil to your stories?
A. What is fun about it is the research. I’m someone who enjoys studying and learning new things. I enjoy studying ancient myths and legends from long ago and far away places. For example, my novel “Moonflower” is a Russian horror story based on a young artist who was adopted at birth and raised in America. When this young woman returns to her homeland she discovers that she is descended from a long line of artists that must restore a mural with demons sealed inside in order to keep them from entering and destroying our world.
Q. Why do you enjoy writing about monsters?
A. I was born very close to Halloween so maybe that is why I love monsters, ghosts and ghouls so much. My favorite creatures are sea creatures. Things that could exist deep within the ocean — things that humankind may not know about.
Q. How do you come up with ideas for monsters? What inspires you?
A. I am inspired by a longing for something new. I’m very tired of all the creatures that have been done literally to death. I love “Dracula” by the Irish genius Bram Stoker. In my mind, Stoker was a master storyteller and his version is the only one I really care to read. I like creating new creatures based on myth that haven’t saturated the horror market.
Q. What is the scariest monster you’ve conjured?
A. The scariest of all of my creatures would be a demon from “The Forlorned.” The Warder is a pig-like demon that holds hostage the souls of American soldiers from the War of 1812. The eerie clomping of cloven feet and the grunting-snorting sounds the creature makes adds an extra element of terror to the story of a young man alone on a desolate island.
Q. Out of all your monsters, which one is your favorite and why?
A. My favorite monster would be from my Angus MacBain series — a terrifying cephalopod by the name of Ferock. This creature guards pillaged treasure at the bottom of the sea and attacks at random with spiked tentacles and rotating hooks.
Q. What monsters do you think are the scariest — ones that take on a grotesque physical form, ghosts that terrify by their seeming absence, or the demons within a person?
A. The scariest to me are the supernatural ones such as the Warder in “The Forlorned,” something that you cannot see. Something that can watch you and yet you are unaware of the danger.
Q. What’s more terrifying, monsters that are calculating or impulsive?
A. Calculating is the worst. Something that plots a death, disease or dismemberment.
Q. What kind of monsters can your readers look forward to in your upcoming book “The Awakened?”
A. “The Awakened” deals with a hideous sea vulture that serves as a bad omen. Its appearance at your window is never a good thing.
For more information about Townsend’s work, visit www.angelatownsendbooks.blogspot.com. For more information about “The Forlorned” movie project, visit www.theforlorned.com or www.theforlorned.blogspot.com.
Reporter Hilary Matheson can be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].
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