Withersin’s Damned Interview with:

Kevin James Hurtack

Kevin was born and raised in the wilds of Western New York. In the Spring of 1997 he earned a Bachelors degree in the Fine Arts from Buffalo State College, mainly focusing on printmaking, painting, and photography. After college he stayed in Buffalo, NY and had his artwork in several group shows and solo shows in the metro area. Although he has never attempted to imitate the style of anyone else, his personal artistic ‘heroes’ are Pushead, and Salvadore Dali. Although his interest in the Arts extend well beyond the Horror/Surreal movements.

In the Spring of 2005 Kevin moved to Colorado. In his spare time he enjoys trail riding on his mountain bicycle in the Rocky Mountains, and also plans on taking up snow shoeing this winter.

When not in the high country, he enjoys taking jaunts downtown.

List published works

A staff artist for Static Movement Online, A staff artist for RAZAR magazine, reoccuring illustration work for Theatre of Decay, reoccuring illustration work for Night To Dawn. Cover art for Midnight Street, short story illustration for Mysterical-E. And etc. Short stories published at Static Movement Online and Night To Dawn.

List website www.eternalnightmare.com - www.eternalnightmarestudio.blogger.com

How can we contact you? admin@eternalnightmare.com

In your own words, define Withersin.

Wither always reminds me of rot, death, decay. Sin is taboo, temptation and forbidden. So to me Withersin encompasses that which both holds a horrendous repugance and also a primordial and unresistable allure. Things we shouldn’t do or witness, but cannot restrain ourselves from indulging in.

If you were a sideshow act, what would you be?

I’d be some kind of crazed half-man, half beast incarnation that would escape to kill the men and ravage their women. Only to die in some blaze of glory.

What is your greatest non-literary influence?

A wide variety of things really. Right now I’d say the human body. Not really the flesh, but the muscle-skeleton system. How it is all put together. The texture and detail of tendons and sinew, and joints.

Describe your most irrational fear.

I’ve always disliked being in the water, in regards to swimming pools and such. Just very insecure/unstable and uncomfortable. Never took much pleasure from it. Not sure why. Maybe that lack of control, and the sensation of water going up your nose.

Name the most disturbing nursery rhyme/fairy tale you can recall.

I think all the fairy tales are rather disturbing. They’re really meant to teach about handling death for kids, but they’re wrapped around cartoonish characters like the Three Little Pigs. The wolf wearing the grandmother’s clothes is rather bizarre. I mean Little Red Riding Hood doesn’t know the difference? Is she on crack? I mean c’mon it’s a WOLF in woman’s clothing. Hello?!

Do you really need to ask it questions about its ears, teeth and etc to figure that out? Either she was really stupid or her grandma was really ugly.

Do you eat meat?

Absolutely, although it doesn’t make up my whole diet. I believe in healthy diet, and do eat some vegeterian meals, although not exclusively. Moderation in all things is a good path to follow for me.

What were the skies like when you were young?

Overcast and grey mainly. Although in the summer there were brillant orange sunsets/sunrises. Brilliant colors. I remember sitting outside at night in the summer and the sky just being filled to the proverbial brim with stars. So so clear. I had a telescope my parents gave me for Christmas and a star chart too.

Looking at the moon through it was wild, and figuring out the constellations was great. Being able to show other family members the moon through it was something I took pride in too. Something we could all share and enjoy. I used to sit out there and really dream and wonder about the rest of the galaxy/universe. It was great to sit out there and just take it all in. The night sky still does hold that appeal to me, like no matter how jacked up our world is all I gotta do is look up and see the splendor of the stars. Luckily I can still see it well despite living in a large city.

Name your least favorite color, first job and worst job.

I really don’t have a least favorite. I love all colors, it’s just that within a certain context some colors simply don’t work.

My first job was working in the kitchen at McDonald’s. That was back when I was like a junior or senior in high school, and I worked there straight through until I went to Buffalo State.

My worst job, probably working at this warehouse for an appliance store. Lots of heavy lifting, and had to work on weekends. Plus, after like noon there wasn’t much to do so you had to scrounge for work. Pay was low, too. The workers were nice people, but the management didn’t know what was going on half the time. That made it rather confusing. So yeah, I didn’t stay there too long.

Favorite: Author, Movie, Music Group, Song, and Quote.

Favorite Author? I can’t pick just one but I would say Hunter S. Thompson, Henry Miller, Richard Matheson, Jodi Lee, Louise Bohmer, John Irvine, Poppi Z. Brite, and myself.

Favorite Band? Again can’t pick just one. I’d say Arch Enemy, Graphite Symphony, Order of Nine, M. Ward, Pete Yorn, lots of old school punk and European death/black/gloom/doom metal bands. Like contemporary folk/country like Wilco, Los Lonely Boys, Los Lobos too.

Quote? ‘Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.’ - Jules de Gaultier

If you were a loaf of bread what kind would you be?

A dry crusty stale loaf that has flies swarming over it. Moldy too.

Weirdest news you have read in your local newspaper:

I’d say the time they found marjuana plants growing in the flower garden of a shopping mall in Boulder. Although not that weird considering it is Boulder.

Why horror?

Horror, in particular supernatural horror, is an escape from the everyday. It also proposes the idea that there’s another level of existence paralell to our own. That perhaps that the world we live in is not the only reality. It challenges what is real.

It also address the fears and desires we all have. I feel there’s a primordial appeal to being disturbed or scared. To feel insecure by something coming into our reality. It address death, sexual taboos, and fears which other genres or society as a whole tries to sweep under the proverbial karmic carpet. Plus, the escapism of a good horror story, movie, or piece of art is like a great roller coaster, it gives you a serious jolt and makes you want to come back for more. Perhaps it even makes you look at the world around you a bit differently.

Here's a photo. (seen on Interview main page)

“INEDIBLE NOT INTENDED FOR HUMAN FOOD”

You have 112 words. Go.

Commuting to work late at night, I’ve always wondered what they did with the road kill. Gone too quickly I would think, when the carcasses were no where to be seen the next morning.

Now, I know.

Ominous tanker trucks moving through towns and boroughs, at odd hours of night. Hoses that suck down fetid roadside delicacies. Tanks full of liquified bones and writhing maggots.

I follow the tanker to the burial grounds. Watch the work men drag the hose to a crypt door. Hear the lustful lapping coming from within.

A government plot to keep the Undead at bay. Now I run over a squirrel every day.

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