DEATHSCRIBE 2010 Author - Jude Mire interview

We thought you would like to hear from our DEATHSCRIBE 2010 Festival selections authors. Let's talk to Jude Mire, whose piece in the show will be Monitor Spectare, directed by Lance Baker.

JUDE MIRE

1) Where horror is concerned, what does radio give us that visual media cannot?

Radio has a lot of the same great advantages that traditional writing has. Both require the participation of the audience to fill out the story. I can toss a character, creature, or setting into a story or radio play and every member of the audience is going to visualize their own version, personalize it. In film, there is a definitive version. You can’t come up with your own ideas because everything is right there on the screen. Stories and radio plays allow you to participate. Also, radio isn’t limited by a special effects budget; it doesn’t cost more to set the story in an exotic location or have massive scale events taking place. This gives more freedom to the author.

2) "Monitor Spectare" creeped us out. What is it about "Monitor Spectare" that creeps you out?

I think the creepiest things are the concepts behind the character. Sure, events may be gory, creepy, and unsettling, but unless it has something to do with the point of the story, it doesn’t connect with me. In Monitor Spectare the thing that really creeps me out is that the main character really is a good guy who does everything right and it doesn’t matter, horrible things still happen.

3) What's the sound cue in your piece that you're excited to hear in foley?

There are some lines spoken in Latin. Latin is creepy. After all, it’s a dead language.

4) What actor, from any time, has the best voice for horror?

Hard to say. It’s difficult to separate the voice from the movies. If by “best” you mean actually scary, chilling, I’m going to have to go with Anthony Hopkins’, Hannibal Lechter. Vincent Price is up there, but he’s got just a little too much cheese at times to be truly frightening.

5) What difficulties does a 10-minute constraint present when writing, especially where horror and/or radio are concerned?

It’s all about fitting everything in. There are a lot of components to a good horror story. You’ve got about three minutes to introduce the setting, the characters, and what their goals are. Another three to establish the problem so the audience knows exactly what’s going on and how that conflicts with what the characters want. Then you’ve got about three minutes to ruin everything and, hopefully, kill a bunch of characters. Oh, and at some point you should have made sure your audience cares about the characters you’re killing. Few people cry over road kill, unless it’s your pet. Emotional investment matters in horror.
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The DEATHSCRIBE 2010 Jury will be dining at the Morseland.