MEMENTO MORI INK’S AUTHOR SPOLIGHT: THOMAS R CLARK

Savannah and the other Evilings at Memento Mori Ink decided to honor their blog manager on his birthday.

In conjunction with Darren “Ninetoes” Perdue, we present a man who needs no introduction, the heartbeat of the Memento Mori Ink Blog himself: Thomas R. Clark! Tommy is affectionately known as BBoB, our Beared Beacon of Bullshit because don’t you dare call him boss. It’s his birthday today so sit down and enjoy hearing from the modern master of splatterfolk.

P.S. This blends an old interview with popular Tommy-isms, this is not our usual interview format.

Q: What do you want readers to know about you as an author?

A: I’m technically a “Speculative Fiction author” which means I blend genres together. With me it’s always some sort of extreme horror mixed in with something not typically extreme. Splatterfolk blends aspects of folk horror and splatterpunk under one aegis.  The best visual representation of this subgenre would be An American Werewolf in London.

The phrase was coined in reference to me by a reviewer, but I am by no means the only person to blend these genres together, so I can’t say I am. Wesley Southard, Somer Canon, and Wile E. Young, for example—many of their books court the same themes I use.

Q: If someone wants to start reading your books, the best one to start with is? Why?

A: SummerHome—It truly sets the scene for my folk horror world (which includes most all of Upstate/Central New York), expanding upon ideas I’d planted in earlier books (Bella’s Boys, The Death List, and The God Provides) and introduces you to some of its major players, including my new darlings, the ghost hunters Ted and Elaine Buffet.

Q: What works do you currently have available (solo and anthologies)?

(As this was compiled by my evilings without my knowledge, this is not an extensive list.)

Standalones and collections: The Death List, A Prayer From the Dead, We are 13, Immoral Dilemmas, The God Provides, SummerHome, Bella’s Boy, and Good Boy.

Anthologies: The Joke is on Mankind (which features the sequel to Bella’s Boys!), Books of Horror Vol. 2, Harvested, The Clubhouse Vol. 1, II  & VOl. 4, and I am in an upcoming Iron Maiden anthology from Jyl Glenn. There are a bunch more, I’ve lost count.

Q: What would you recommend someone to drink while reading your books?

A: Jameson and ginger with a splash of lime…or Liquid Death. Or lime Kool-Aid, cos it rules.

Q: The best horror novel to read to better know you is?

A: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, Pet Sematary by Stephen King, or The Scream from Skipp & Spector.

Q: What’s on your TBR? Anything coming out soon that you’re looking forward to?

Anything my evilings write so Darren, Jyl, Savannah, and Julia…write faster.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: As Jyl would say….CHAOS. I’ve got Whirlwind and The Curse of Katie Elder in the pipeline getting tweaked. Also, a sequel to The Death List with a working title called The Devil’s Clutch, and the sequel to The God Provides, The Witch of November.

Q: Where can readers follow you and find your books?

A: Website: https://thomasrclark.com/

Instagram: @Thomas_r_clark

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TokenTom

TikTok: @token_tom

Savannah R. Fischer is the permanently exhausted pigeon in charge of two well-loved chaos gremlins. When not with her family, she can usually be found in her cave, wrapped in an oversized blanket and dreaming of spinach puffs. She wants to show her gremlins that they can do hard things, even when it’s scary, like pulling the wrong lever and ending up in a pit of alligators. No llamas were harmed in the making of her works of horror.