Withersin’s Damned Interview with:
David Sakmyster
A
native of upstate NY, I traveled a bit and worked in other cities before moving
back to a house two blocks from the one I was born in 37 years ago. I live with my wife and three-year old
daughter, who has finally discovered the benefits of
sleeping longer than two hours in a row (thus allowing daddy to get some sleep
now and then – and also to work on those three novels I've been meaning to
finish). I work as a financial
manager at a telecom firm where I spend most of the day dreaming up far more
sinister accounting errors.
List published works:
A
novel - Twilight of the Fifth Sun,
Dragon Moon Press, (think Sixth-Sense meets Indiana Jones), and I've had
stories appearing in Writers of the Future Vol. XXII, Best New Paranormal
Romance (2007), Paradox, Black Moon, Mythos Collector and many others. And a non-fiction book (The Belhurst Story), delving into the
mysteries of a haunted castle in upstate
List website: www.sakmyster.com
How can we contact you?
You
can try dream projection, remote viewing or ESP, but email might be more
practical. Sakman70@hotmail.com.
In your own words, define Withersin.
What I
hope will be a rising star in the current void of horror publications.
If you were a sideshow act, what would you be?
An inept juggler trying to catch flaming daggers… with my teeth.
What is your greatest non-literary influence?
Alcohol. (You did
say 'what', right? Not
'who'?)
Describe your most irrational fear.
Getting
stuck while crawling in a narrow tunnel underground, unable to turn around or
go forward. Flashlight battery just
died, cell phone won't work. Oh - and
there are hordes of starving rats scurrying toward me from both directions.
How about your most guilty pleasure?
Watching
my DVD collection of the X-Files on a plasma tv (with no lights on).
Name the most disturbing nursery rhyme/fairy tale you can recall.
That one about the Pied Piper. Rats again.
And come on – how stingy do you have to be? This guy saves your town from an army of rats
and you renege on your promise and don't pay him? Then have the hypocritical gall to spend all
day in church and leave no one watching your kids so he can lure them away and
do god-knows-what to them in a dark cave somewhere?
Do you eat meat?
Only if it's been at least partially-cooked.
What were the skies like when you were young?
Full of airships and dragons.
Name your favorite garden tool.
Has
someone (other than Imus) already said, 'Hoe'?
Name your least favorite color, first job and worst job.
Mauve. Puree
server at a nursing home. Ditto.
Favorite: Author, Movie, Music Group, Song, and Quote.
Peter
Straub (I have to re-read about
If you were a loaf of bread what kind would you be?
One
that's been left out of the bag for a week, turned stale and green, then thrown
outside where the birds and rodents won't even come near it. -Or some nice cinnamon-raisin bread fresh
from the oven, depending on my mood.
Weirdest news you have read in your local newspaper:
"Foot
washes up on beach at
Why horror?
My
Dad's fault for reading me Edgar Allen Poe stories at bedtime. And - besides fear, what other emotion so
powerfully defines our humanity and brings out the best and worst in people?
Here's a photo. (seen on Interview main
page)
“INEDIBLE NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN FOOD”
You have 112 words. Go.
I've always had a weakness – a fault, if you will
– for disobedience, especially when it comes to warnings. 'No Trespassing', 'Keep off the Grass'… I defied them all. So when I saw this truck at a rest stop, I
had to stop. I lurked about in the
shadows behind the back wheels until I heard the driver snoring, then I took
out my bolt-cutters, opened the rear door, and climbed up into the cargo
hold. I brought along a fork, a big
spoon, and a lot of antacid.