Horror Writer Robert C. Eccles Grants His First Interview

Robert C. Eccles is new to writing horror fiction, but he's made quite a splash in a very short time. With nearly two-dozen published stories in his first six months writing, Robert C. Eccles is quickly becoming a recognizable name in the field of horror fiction. The hardest step of writing fiction is getting your first few publications, but Robert C. Eccles has clawed his way through the front door with remarkable tenacity and even more remarkable talent.

You started your career in Radio and Broadcasting, but what eventually led you to decide to write fiction?

Broadcasting is what I do for a living, and I enjoy it very much. The writing is more of a hobby at this point.

The first fiction I wrote was so-called fanfic for the TV show "Moonlight". I had a wonderful time putting the characters from the show into various situations one might or might not expect to find them in. Fans of the show seemed to enjoy reading my stories, so I kept writing 'em. It helped me work on dialogue and other writing elements.

I decided to try my hand at writing short horror stories after reading Stephen King's collection of short stories, "Just After Sunset". I have a pretty good imagination, and (hopefully) a decent grasp of the English language, so I thought I'd give writing short fiction a try.

How did you get your first horror story published?

The first horror story I wrote is still making the rounds of the publishers. It's longer than most of the stories I've written since. I think it's pretty good, but so far it appears I'm the only one who thinks so.

The first story I had published was "The Man in the Toilet". I think I Googled short horror story publishers and came up with a bunch of places I could submit it. I sent it to MicroHorror, and that's where you can find it today.

Almost all your work is horror fiction. Why horror specifically?

I've always enjoyed reading horror more than anything else, so when it came to writing, horror was the logical choice. It's what I love, and I hope some of that love shows through in the stories I write. I've had a sci-fi story published, too, but it was pretty horrific.

You've become a real specialist in Flash Fiction - stories under 1,000 words - what is it about flash fiction that intrigues you?

It seems to be my niche, doesn't it? I have a short attention span, so I enjoy reading very short stories that pack a lot into a few words. If I'm reading a story on my computer and I have to scroll down very far, I lose interest. In fact, that's the first thing I do - check and see how long the story is. Not that I won't read a longer short story (or a novel - "The Stand" is one of my favorites), but I seem drawn to the short-short stuff. Those also tend to be my favorite kinds of stories to write. The shorter the better.

Do you have any interest in writing longer works? A novel maybe?

I have written the first chapter or so of what could someday be a novel. I think the story idea is a good one, and I know I could write it. It's just the idea of writing a novel seems so huge to me. Most of the short stories I write only take a day (or an afternoon) to go from the idea stage to finished product. With a short story, you write it and it's not long before you know whether it's going to be published. It's almost instant gratification (assuming it's accepted, of course). Spending months and months on a novel seems to me like a massive investment of time and effort. I suspect I'll do it someday, but at the moment the idea of writing a novel seems bigger than me.

You recently combined your experience with radio and your love of horror by narrating a fiction podcast for Transmission 13: from Transmissions From Beyond and you're working on another for Pseudopod. How did that come about? Is that an avenue you want to explore further?

My ideal job would be doing a voice for a cartoon. Narrating stories for podcasts isn't quite the same, but you do get to try some different voices. I think I discovered the various horror and sci-fi podcasts through that same Google search I did for publishers. I thought to myself, I could do that, so I offered my services. It's a lot more work than I figured it'd be, and it's not a paying job. I suppose I could try to move on to narrating novels, but for now I think I'll stick with the occasional short story podcast.

What are your future plans and goals as a writer?

I plan to keep writing, and I plan to keep focusing on short stories. There's a never-ending supply of story ideas in this wacky brain of mine. I might try the novel thing someday, too.

I would very much like to join the Horror Writers Association.

I wouldn't mind having a story published in a book as part of an anthology. My only excursion so far into that arena didn't pan out.

I'd also like to publish a collection of my short stories. I have the title picked out and everything.

I don't have any plans to earn a living writing, but if the opportunity presented itself it'd be hard not to take it.

To read some of Robert C. Eccles' spine-tingling tales, please visit the Resources section of this article.