...a book to read with the lights on and its engaging author...

“Words have no power

to impress the mind

without the exquisite horror

of their reality.”

~ Edgar Allan Poe *

Thanks to the RVA Horror Book Club and horror author Thomas Olde Heuvelt for posting on the book group’s page, last night I headed to Fountain Bookstore  to see Olde Heuvelt, whose novel HEX was published on April 26, 2016. The event was part of the author’s US book tour. And while he’s in his early 30s, Olde Heuvelt’s debut novel came out when he was just sixteen.

I’m actually going to start referring to him as Thomas in this post since he went around and greeted everyone who attended his reading/book signing last night. For starters, Fountain is a small indie bookstore in Richmond so with fewer than two dozen folks in the room, he had time; yet, his gesture was so genuine that I was a little taken aback and wanted to point it out here.

He IS a story teller. I was captivated just by listening to him discuss his ideas about the book and his early inspirations. He began by talking a bit about his upbringing in the Netherlands. He’s from the same hometown as the famous painter Hieronymus Bosch, which I’ll come back to in a moment. 

Thomas’s uncle, whom I believe he said is named Manis but I didn’t write this down because frankly I was a bit mesmerized with this guy; anyway, his uncle was the type who read a 7-year-old Thomas stories such as Dracula and Frankenstein. I recall Thomas stating that the stories came alive when his uncle would share them. This uncle also shared urban legends with a young Thomas while the two took walks in the woods. Basically, he was one of those amazing uncles with a ton of creativity whom influenced a young boy. Keep that in mind the next time you’re around little children. They still believe in magic; make sure that everything that you do keeps that going, or at the very least, doesn’t destroy it.  

Thomas also shared that being from the same town, he grew up around images of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. He recounted a story about taking a small raft with a friend when they were younger and going through the tunnel canal known as Hell Gate which has life-size figurines modeled after the painter’s monsters from his work The Garden of Earthly Delights and how in the darkest hours of the night, moments like these are when horror really gets under one’s skin. 

Thomas then read from part of HEX, which completely sold me on the story. 

Blogger-imposed political statement: I have to admit that I feel a bit sad for the author and uncomfortable about being American considering that HEX was originally published in Dutch. Thomas spent time in the US reworking parts of his novel to alter the setting, names, and a bit of the story line in order for it to "work" with an American audience. While I found the explanation and the steps one must take to translate a story into another language fascinating from an academic perspective, I'm a bit appalled and much more embarrassed that THAT is what one must do to reach an American audience. Don't get me wrong, I love my country but sometimes I'm not so sure about the people, especially in this election year. Meeting people from other countries and traveling to other countries broaden our understanding of the world and ourselves.  

Thomas tackled the question from an audience member about the translation process with great tact and even noted that knowing a location helps one feel more disturbed when reading a story about the place. Okay, fine, I agree with that but if a place becomes real in my head I'm not sure I have to see it with my eyes. 

My last point about the process... while he's fluent in English, he did work with a translator to make sure that his English voice would be able to terrorize us all.

There are so many posting on social media about how this novel is forcing folks to sleep with the lights on since it’s apparently that scary. Even Stephen King tweeted about HEX and called it "totally, brilliantly original".

Thomas's story, "The Day the World Turned Upside Down” won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2015.

With all the comments and accolades, and meeting the author, I’m looking forward to reading HEX. I'll be honest; I'm getting a little freaked out before even opening the book especially since it came with this Eye Sewing Kit card with an actual needle and thread. Ummm, okay. 

I need to finish the novel that I’m reading and then it’s up next. 

* I specifically selected a Poe quote since Thomas visited the Edgar Allan Poe museum during his short visit in Richmond.