THE ROOTS RUN DEEP
C.M. Forest
GENRE: Horror Short Story Collection
BLURB:
Dug from the twisted mind of C.M. Forest, the acclaimed author of Infested, comes a collection of 15 horror stories that will drag you into the abyss of fear and despair.
A fast-food playland with a nightmarish secret, a greenhouse with a bug problem, a busload of kids lost in the woods, a trip through the solar system to investigate a strange comet, and many more.
Brace yourself for an unrelenting journey through a world where evil knows no bounds, and darkness consumes all.
Excerpt:
The truck door swung open with a painful groan. Gordon kept his gaze locked on the barn as he climbed out. A cool breeze wafted across the field to grab and tussle his long, unkempt hair. Ahead, the barn door swayed as if in anticipation.
In the bed of the truck were two gas cans. The fuel sloshed as he pulled the red, plastic containers free. The weight of the cans felt comforting as he approached the structure.
He caught the barn door with his foot and kicked it open enough to enter. He thought he might feel a twinge of nostalgia, or maybe even horror, at returning to the old building, but the truth was, it looked just like every other barn he had ever been in. Spinning the caps off one of the cans, he began dumping the gasoline.
A low, creaking sound pulled him away from his work. He stared around the darkened structure, trying damn hard to convince himself it was just the wind, but failing. Despite his darkest imaginings, he could not wrap his head around what could be living within the old, warped walls of the barn. What malevolent force was animating the ancient boards and struts?
When nothing materialized from the gloom, he returned to his business.
With both cans empty, Gordon stood in the door and fished around in his pocket for his lighter. As soon as it was free, he began thumbing the flint wheel. A few angry sparks jumped from the end, but the flame was stubbornly absent. Once again, he heard the creaking. This time, it seemed to come from everywhere all at once. With his lighter forgotten, Gordon stared ahead as something started moving, opening, along the floor. A spike of cold fear chilled him to the bone. He turned to run.
Interview with C.M. Forest
Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?
Many things! But, to name a couple, I would go with the comic book series Planetary, and the novel House of Leaves. Both those works changed how I viewed storytelling.
How do you select the names of your characters?
Okay, so, I’m not gonna lie, my secret for naming characters is as simple (or as lazy) as opening social media and going through my friends list. Sometimes I need something with a bit more pizzazz, in which case I usually Google search something like “unique names”.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
Yes, I do! Admittedly, these secrets rarely are discovered, but I like to add them in. I had a story some years back about doppelgangers. I thought it would be clever to add a bunch of palindromes into the story. Nobody noticed! Still, despite the past failures, I still do it.
What was your hardest scene to write?
The Roots Run Deep is a short story collection, so it’s hard to pull a specific scene. I will say, the hardest story to write was the title story. It’s a story about grief, and how it plagues us. The setting for the story is a real place that is both special, and heartbreaking for me, due to my own connections to the place. Because of that, there was an added weight while writing.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I tend to write stand-alone stories, but enjoy the small easter egg here and there.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
Being a short story collection, I wanted The Roots Run Deep to showcase different facets of my writing. Yes, it is all horror, but the book features many subgenres of horror. Sci-fi, folk, grief, comedic, and cosmic. As a whole, I think I did manage to achieve what I set out to do with the collection.
What inspired you to write The Roots Run Deep?
I love short fiction. I cut my teeth writing short stories. I’ve spent the last few years writing novels, which I also adore, but it was time to return to the short stuff.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in The Roots Run Deep?
Short story collections are unique in that the characters are usually very boiled down compared to what you would get in a novel. You have such a limited amount of time to establish them and the plot, that you need to pick one or two traits and go with it. With this book, I tried to insert a bit of myself in each character.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Weirdly enough, my favourite part was putting the book together. I love writing, but with a collection, there was the added element of where do the stories get placed in the larger picture of the book. I spent many nights arranging and rearranging the order of the stories. It was strangely satisfying.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
C.M. Forest, also known as Christian Laforet, is the author of the novel Infested, the novella We All Fall Before the Harvest, the short story collection The Space Between Houses, as well as the co-author of the short-story collection No Light Tomorrow. His short fiction has been featured in several anthologies across multiple genres. A self-proclaimed horror movie expert, he spent an embarrassing amount of his youth watching scary movies. When not writing, he lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife, kids, three cats and a pandemic dog named Sully who has an ongoing love affair with a blanket.
Connect with C.M. Forest
Website ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Twitter ~ TikTok
5 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Sounds like a good collection.
This sounds like a very interesting book.
looks like a fun one
I liked the excerpt.
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