MF Wahl Talks Zombies and 'Disease'

Today author M.F. Wahl talks about writing gore and her new serialized novel, DISEASE - (Disease: Serial 1,) being released in six parts. (See Amazon author page.) (#1 releases Sept. 18)

About the book:

SYNOPSIS FOR THE ENTIRE NOVEL:

Humanity's war against the living dead has been lost. In the wake of the apocalypse, the living fight fiercely for what little they have.

In this hell-on-earth Casey, armed with a baseball bat, and joined by a mute boy named Alex, struggles to survive. When a man named Danny stumbles upon them, it's mistrust at first sight – but times are desperate. Danny leads them to a thriving settlement where danger lurks beneath the guise of kindness.

It's kill or be killed in a world where power is life, and the earth is overrun by walking dead.

 A Couple Questions:

What's different about the book?

Most zombie stories rely on the zombies to carry the plot line. While DISEASE still has plenty enough gore and zombies to satisfy, there is a deeper plot that is even more terrifying than the living dead could ever be.

What led her to write it?

First of all I'm a zombie enthusiast. I love the zombie genre as a whole. Secondly, I had a story to tell. DISEASE is a very dark and socially poignant tale that is perfectly highlighted against the background of a zombie apocalypse

THE ART OF GORE

 By M.F. Wahl

Writing horror is a passion of mine, and zombies are a deep love. Delving into the darker side of life (and there’s few things darker than a zombie apocalypse) helps me to exorcise many of my own demons. Nothing quite relieves the stress of a long day like destroying a character mentally and physically, but you might be surprised to learn that I’m not really all that into torture porn.

Although I understand that many zombie fans love a good book or movie that goes out of it’s way to be crazy, next level gross with the gore, it just doesn’t do it for me. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not an anti-gore writer, in fact my work often features vividly described scenes of death and dismemberment, but in order for me to enjoy the gore it has to be part of a deeper plot.

When I was writing my serialized novel DISEASE, the first installment of which is due out September 18^th, 2014, I wanted to make sure to bridge the gap artfully between my taste for blood, and my taste for a good story. I couldn’t write something that would ultimately just be different set-ups for characters to find suffering. I had to write something that was meaningful and well thought out.

DISEASE takes place three years after the living dead have overrun the earth. In this world an easy pitfall for a writer is to become addicted to the goregasm. A goregasm is easy to write, and easy for the fans love. A zombie novel just isn’t a zombie novel without disgusting rotting corpses, spilled entrails, and horrifying flesh eaters en masse. Plus, nothing quite satisfies like seeing a man’s arms ripped slowly from their sockets and his blood misting over a mass of zombies, as they gorge on his flesh. I had to make sure when I was writing to let the story shine through all the caked and clotted blood and guts.

The thing about gore, to me anyway, is that gore is like a good slice of cake. A few pieces here and there are amazing, but if you eat only cake your entire life you’ll end up missing out on the vital nutrients in other foods. If I had focused too keenly on the gore in DISEASE, character development would have suffered, and the story would have fallen apart.

That’s not to say that DISEASE doesn’t contain any gore. On the contrary, the gore in DISEASE is plentiful and just as delicious as that aforementioned slice of cake, but the novel is a heady mixture of ingredients.  Each one of them enhances the reader’s experience. I made sure that every single bloody, grisly death came about organically, that it’s not just there for the sake of being there. This attention to detail makes the novel much more scary than if I had written scenes just for their shock value.

To me the use of gore is an art form. It should disgust the reader to a point, it should make the reader uncomfortable, and it should be used as a device on the characters to further along the plot. Gore for gore’s sake has its place, but in DISEASE I make it work for me, and in the end that means it’s working for you.

How do you feel about gore? Do you love it, can’t get enough of it, or do you reside in the less-is-more camp? Let me know in the comments below. And, if you’re interested in my book DISEASE it’s available as an eBook on Amazon, iBooks, Smashwords, and more, and soon to be available in paperback. Head on over to www.mfwahl.com for more information.

About the Author: As a child M.F. Wahl quickly ate through the local library’s entire sections on the paranormal, true crime, serial killers, magic, and hypnosis. By the age of 11  “IT” by Stephen King was the reading material of choice, hidden in a school desk (much to the dismay of one math teacher who wrote home that Wahl “read too much!”).

As an adult M.F. Wahl spends as much time writing as possible. Days are spent funneling creative energies into penning dark tales. Nights are spent watching horror movies and TV curled under a blanket with the family. At the end of the day when eyes finally close other people’s nightmares are fuel for M.F. Wahl’s dreams.