The Holocaust Engine

The Holocaust Engine by David Rike and Stephen Patrick

Month: October 2020

What dreams may come?

October 14, 2020 /

For many writers, the ethereal landscape of the dreaming mind has generated countless wonders that amaze the dreamer and the reader alike.

Coleridge’s Kubla Khan sprang forth from an opium-influenced dream. Mary Shelley first met Frankenstein  while she was dreaming. Mr. Hyde (and Dr. Jekyl) crept up on a feverish Robert Louis Stevenson in a dream. Edgar Allen Poe was the master of dream-mining, putting the quickly evaporating tales into print to share with the rest of us (and cause a few nightmares, too).

Today’s question: do you take inspiration from your dreams? Ever woke up, scribbled down the nonsense and tried to decipher it? Nuggets of wisdom? Puzzles to unlock? or just gibberish? If so, tell us about the experience and the result.

Writing Wednesday #4

October 7, 2020 /

Who sits in your co-pilot’s chair?

When you set down to create at a desk, laptop, easel or workbench, do you have a partner? We’ll share ours below, but we’d love to see yours in the comments section, including any suggestions for keeping that co-pilot happy.

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David Rike and I write as a team; brainstorming, plotting and scheming across a variety of mediums. However, when it’s time to set down the story in ink, our writing practices diverge quite a bit. See below for a bit of insight on who sits beside us when we create.

STEPHEN PATRICK:

“There’s always a furry friend beside me. Curled up in my lap, on my feet, on the couch beside me, somewhere close by. My current muse, Ash, a silver/smoke Maine Coon, always keeps a close watch. I’m pretty sure he’s hunting for any words that try to escape.”

DAVID RIKE:

“no partners. minimal distractions.”

What’s that sound?

October 5, 2020 /

One of the scariest elements of a good horror story is the anticipation, the furious flight of an imagination trying to explain what is to come. Fireside ghost stories are full of these experiences as the storyteller builds to a reveal.

Today’s question. What horror story (novel, TV, movie or campfire tale) built the best suspense for you? Was it satisfying to discover what was causing the “tap, tap, tap” sound coming from the roof of the car? Or did it fall flat, far from the terror of your own imagination.

Drop your comments below and and feel free to tell your own scary story.

Books that go bump in the night?

October 1, 2020 /

It’s the first day of October. As we turn closer to Halloween, its time for a horror thought experiment.

What is the scariest book you’ve ever read?

After you read ours, drop yours in the comments. Hopefully, we’ll all find some new recommendations to help guide our Halloween reading!

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DAVID RIKE— it’s hard to feel true, visceral fear while reading. About as close as I’ve ever come as an adult was reading Dan Simmon’s “Carrion Comfort”.

STEPHEN PATRICK – I’ve loved horror for a long time, but for scary, the one that gets me, hit all the right notes and had a creepy silver cover. Kubrick’s movie aside, “The Shining” is atmospheric, isolating and squeezes so much terror from the nature of men. Also one of my prettiest books, the printing on top of the silver seemed to wear off at regular intervals, slowly replacing the tiny picture of Danny with another image (the reflection of the reader on the cover)

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