Hour by hour we creep closer to All Hallow’s Eve. Closer to darker and colder nights when the wind whistles and calls down the chimney. Nights made for company and firelight, for the telling of ghost stories and long tales.
This Hallowe’en I’m very happy to host several fellow authors and creatives from the Horror community. I’m especially delighted to welcome back the wonderful Caroline Farrell to Unusual Fiction. Caroline is an award winning writer, screenwriter, director and horror aficionado.
Caroline Farrell is a writer from Dublin, Ireland. Awarded the Stowe Launch
Fellowship [2023] she is also the recipient of a Screen Ireland / Stowe Story Labs
Screenwriting Fellowship [2022] and was a BBC Writers Room Top 3% Finalist
[2022]
During lockdown, Caroline made an experimental short film on grief and isolation,
HEART(h) [2020] which screened at The Little Cinema, Galway. She is the writer and
director of the award-winning gothic horror inspired short film, FRAMED [2018]
selected for screening at over 30 festivals worldwide and winner of Best Short Horror
Film at the Underground Cinema Film Festival, Ireland [2019]
Caroline is the writer and co-producer of the award-winning, autobiographical IN
RIBBONS [2015]. Screening worldwide, it was the only Irish short film to feature at
the Women Deliver Global Conference, Copenhagen [2016]
She wrote and co-produced the short film ADAM [2013] a study of how domestic
violence affects the development of a young boy, and Caroline also wrote the
award-winning novel, LADY BETH [2017]. She was recently invited to Stowe,
Vermont, to work on a TV pilot of her novel, LADY BETH, and was mentored by,
amongst others, Derek Simonds, creator of the Netflix series, The Sinner.
Tell us about your horror journey
It started in early childhood, with my vivid imagination and the iconography of
institutional religion (a story for another day!). I was, from a very early age, drawn to
the old black and white movies like PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1945) THE
INNOCENTS (1961), NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) and horror classics like
CARRIE (1976) and INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE (1994)… I could go on and on,
but being influenced by these films and the scarier elements of early childhood
experiences certainly gifted me a gothic sensibility and a third eye for getting under
the skin of pain.
What’s your favourite sub-genre and why?
I’m drawn to the psychological elements of storytelling, the horror that comes from
within, and in terms of sub-genres – supernatural, ghosts, isolation, paranoia, good
old fashioned haunted houses – and most importantly, haunted people!
What has been your inspiration?
The movies I mentioned above are all adapted from brilliant novels, and I would say reading has been my strongest inspiration. As a small child, I read ‘WHEN MARNIE
WAS THERE’ by Joan G Robinson, a fantasy novel that enthralled me. As a teen,
novels like DRACULA, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, THE SHINING and GHOST STORY
(Peter Straub) set me up for a lifelong fascination with the genre.
How do you begin a project/your process?
I am reminded of a quote by Rick Rubin, from his book THE CREATIVE ACT: A WAY
OF BEING, which I highly recommend. “No one in the creative process, other than
the maker, truly understands the process. And often, even the maker doesn’t.”
It takes time for an idea to develop in my head before I’ll put anything to paper, and I
have no idea why, but I often begin with an ending – usually a powerful image. I don’t
plan – it will write itself organically, and I have learned not to force it, so when the
words are ready to flow, I simply go with it.
What excites you about your next challenge?
Writing is something we do alone, and as a bit of an introvert, getting my name, and
my work out there has always been a challenge for me. However, I’ve had the most
amazing couple of years, both challenging and mind-blowingly inspirational. In 2022,
I won a ‘Stowe Story Labs Fellowship’, funded by Screen Ireland, to work on my
script, IONA’S HOUSE, a ghost story. Following on from that, I was awarded the
honour of ‘Stowe Launch Fellow’ and was invited to attend a writer’s retreat Vermont.
The Stowe Team do incredibly important work in elevating the careers of
screenwriters and filmmakers from all over the world, and have been consistently
supportive and encouraging of my work. They have also enabled me to avail of
mentoring from some of the best and most generous professionals working in the
business, hence, I am very excited by the projects I am currently working on – two of
which are supernaturally themed. I’ve also started work on another novel, probably
my most personally inspired work to date, but it’s too early in the game to say any
more about that.
What are your Hallowe’en plans?
I’ve just seen DRACULA: A JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS at the Abbey Theatre, a
wonderful production, featuring the first four chapters of the novel, from the ‘Bram
Stoker Festival’. On Hallowe’en night, we’ll dress up and scare the neighbourhood
kids who come trick or treating. We do it every year. It is, after all, my favourite night.
Unusual Fiction 