Interview with Robert Ellis from Among the Headstones: Creepy Tales from the Graveyard
For this week’s post, we have an interview with Robert Ellis, the author of the short story “Dead Person Collection” in Among the Headstones: Creepy Tales from the Graveyard, edited by Rayne Hall.
How do you feel about cemeteries? Do find them creepy?
Not at all, I really enjoy cemeteries. Here in the USA where I live, they are peaceful places and usually well looked-after.
They range from the beautiful and elegant, like Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge near where I lived, to the vertical cemetery hill in Homer, NY.
At the Homer Cemetery, on Memorial Day, the young kids put lilacs on the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, the high school fires their Civil War-era cannons, and two F-16s from Syracuse fly low over the hill. Then, a hidden bugler plays “Taps” from behind the hill, where it echoes with muffled resonance.
And, of course, I like the small private burial plots behind many Maine farmhouses. They were the inspiration for my creepy story ‘Dead Person Collection’ in the anthology Among the Headstones: Creepy Tales from the Graveyard.
Do you ever wander around cemeteries, read the inscriptions on strangers’ headstones, and wonder what their lives were like, how they died, what families they left behind?
I like to note the very old dates one finds in New England (USA) and English graveyards, as well as the interesting first and last names one no longer hears today. I really don’t wonder about their lives or how they died. To me, it is more interesting that they just “were.”
How would you like to be buried?
My will requires my cremains to be scattered in “a place of natural beauty.” To require one specific place puts too much difficulty upon my Executor. This seems to me the height of hubris. It is also totally unenforceable; what are you going to do if they just dump you in trash bin?
What kind of headstone would you like on your grave? What inscription would you love
Perhaps a quote from Tom Petty – “Most things I worry about, never happen anyway.” I would underline “Most.”
What’s the creepiest place you’ve ever been to?
Eastern States Penitentiary in Philadelphia on Halloween. It might be America’s most famous haunted/scary place. The things a guy will do to impress a girl!
What scared you when you were a child?
The TV show, Dr. Who. Growing up in England, I was terrified of the Daleks. I would watch the entire show hidden behind the sofa. Don’t ask me how I managed it, I was five at the time.
Describe your writing voice.
My writing voice is definitely “snarky.” I weave in the great locations I have lived, like New Orleans, Maine, and Japan.
What’s the best thing you’ve ever written?
How about the best thing that hasn’t won any external recognition: that would be “How I Lost My Lexus.” It is a story of male lust leading to male stupidity, all the while being oblivious to how others see this comedically-stupid individual. And yes, it is totally autobiographical!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bob Ellis, a retired financial services exec, has lived and worked on three continents and swum in all the oceans of the world. Now living in Florida, he writes quirky short fiction.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Among the Headstones: Creepy Tales from the Graveyard edited by Rayne Hall, presents twenty-seven of the finest – and creepiest – graveyard tales with stories by established writers, classic authors and fresh voices.
Here you’ll find Gothic ghost stories by Robert Ellis, Lee Murray, Greg Chapman, Morgan Pryce, Rayne Hall, Guy de Maupassant, Myk Pilgrim, Zachary Ashford, Amelia Edwards, Nina Wibowo, Krystal Garrett, Tylluan Penry, Ambrose Bierce, Cinderella Lo, Nikki Tait, Arthur Conan Doyle, Priscilla Bettis, Kyla Ward, Edgar Allan Poe, Paul D Dail, Cameron Trost, Pamela Turner, William Meikle and Lord Dunsany who thrill with their eerie, macabre and sometimes quirky visions.
You’ll visit graveyards in Britain, Indonesia, Russia, China, Italy, Bulgaria, Thailand, USA, Australia, South Africa and Japan, and you can marvel at the burial customs of other cultures.
Now let’s open the gate – can you hear it creak on its hinges? – and enter the realm of the dead. Listen to the wind rustling the yew, the grating of footsteps on gravel, the hoo-hoo-hoo of the collared dove. Run your fingers across the tombstones to feel their lichen-rough sandstone or smooth cool marble. Inhale the scents of decaying lilies and freshly dug earth.
But be careful. Someone may be watching your every movement… They may be right behind you.
Purchase Link: mybook.to/Headstones
The ebook is available for pre-order from Amazon at the special offer price of 99 cents until 31 January 2022. (After that date, the price will go up.) A paperback will follow.
25 Comments
Rayne Hall
Are any of those private burial plots still in use?
Bob Ellis
I don’t think that many people are adding to the burial plots alongside their houses. Of course, many of those Maine farmhouses are no longer working farms, having been gentrified by wealthy people living along the southern Maine coast. Occasionally, you will see a working “salt-farm” where the farm runs down to the ocean – those are worth a fortune nowadays to developers and rich people from NYC and Boston. I know they are not allowed to remove the graveyard.
Cas
Great interview. I’d love to hear the Lexus story, maybe from the Daleks perspective (or maybe not). There’s nothing like finding what is fearful in the world when you’re young, and then extrapolating it out into the wider world as we mature.
Marvellous
Me too! I will love to hear/read the lexus story as well.
Bob Ellis
Thanks, Kari. I appreciate your interest in Rayne’s anthology. It is a fun collection by a broad spectrum of talented writers, plus me!
Tudor
Thank you for the interview!
I found “Dead Person Collection” to be a light, fun and extremely well written story, perfect for the modern reader. The style of the tale seems to mirror the author’s personality quite well 🙂
Also, not surprised to see people ignoring signs even beyond the grave.
Bob Ellis
Thanks, Tudor. I appreciate the kind words.
Bob
Marvellous
… it is more interesting that they just were.
In life, Just being is so underrated.
Bob Ellis
I agree wholeheartedly. Thanks for commenting.
Bob
Lana
I’ve heard so much about Daleks and how scary they were, but I’ve never actually got around to watching the show. As far as I remember, they were robots, but I’m definitely missing something here. There must’ve been something to impress even the future horror writer. By the way, do you often write about your past experience? Would be curious to hear more about that visit to the penitentiary, it does sound rather creepy.
Bob Ellis
Lana:
The problem with revisiting scary things from one’s youth is it is hard to understand what you found so scary. Daleks were mostly made of cardboard and styrofoam, I have learned, with a small person inside to steer them and work the arms and ray gun. I think the scariest thing was the mechanized voice going “I will exterminate, exterminate.” Not the thing of happy dreams at 5 years old!
Learn more about Eastern Sate Prison here: https://www.easternstate.org/research/history-eastern-state. It was America’s first modern penitentiary, shaped in the form of a hub and spokes. For Halloween, the place is darkened, visitors are led on a wild path in and out of cells, and actors as inmates, guards and ghosts have many routines to scare visitors. If you plan to be in Philadelphia at the end of October, worth a visit, but get your tickets early – it has become immensly popular.
Do you write scary stories? If so, what do you find scary?
Bob
Jayvel
“Most things I worry about, never happen anyway.” – Jeez, you have no idea how much I needed to hear this quote, I completely relate with this as someone who overthinks so much. I realized, at the end of the day we will all be buried six feet under, and the problems that we keep on thinking each day won’t matter once we’re gone. I’m curious, when did you start writing? Were you originally drawn to writing horror stories right from the start?
Bob Ellis
Jayvel:
I have written consistently since I began my life on planes, around 2000. Short fiction fit pefectly in my time on planes, usually around two hours. I wrote before, but didn’t keep anything. Dead Person Collection isn’t a horror story to me, it is humor. Most of what I write has a humorous or ironic twist.
What do you write?
Bob
Jayvel
That’s nice to know; it adds another touch when humor is mixed with other genres such as horror. As of now, I have temporarily stopped writing my novel. Most of my works have a slice-of-life genre with mixed fantasy. What advice could you give to someone who is experiencing writer’s block?
Bob Ellis
I am not a novelist, so I don’t know how to overcome writer’s block in that form. One thing I would suggest is to write short stories until you are ready to pick up the novel again. Murukami, King, and Vonnegut all used that approach. I write mostly for prompts and contests. I occaissionally start something new without an idea of where I want it to go, a planned arc. The intro and end come to me fast, then I write the second paragraph for pacing. Before you know it, ithe first draft is complete. Then, start paring it down to the essentials.
There are thousands of contests worldwide so dive in.
Marvellous
I mostly get tied up in crafting, getting everything right, finding the right time as well or telling the right story. This explanation is liberating.
Bob Ellis
Perfection is the enemy of the good.
MT
I also look for the dates on the headstones during my graveyard visits. But my primary focus is to calculate the life spans and feel bad for those “names” that lived shorter.
Bob Ellis
Didn’t most everyone live “shorter” than now? Find many that lived longer?
Jayvel
Do you have any writing projects that you are currently working with right now?? Can you tell us more about it?
Bob Ellis
Florida Writers Association contests. One is for the annual collection; this year, the theme is “Thrills & Chills.” I am also writing a short flash fiction for them on “worst nightmares.”
Globe Soup is also running a themed contest on Tokyo bars. That was just submitted.
Talha Efe AY
The title “Dead Person Collection” is enough to get anyone curious, to be honest, it’s so simple yet so tempting.
Bob Ellis
Thank you for yor comment. I think of the title as like the packaging of a nice product. It should get you excited about what’s inside, but not so much that the reader is disappointed with the story. I have also heard the title compared to a beatutiful woman in clothes – to get someone interested and attracted, then want to know more (of her story). Sorry if that seems a bit sexist.
Talha Efe AY
I was scared of watching dr.Who as a child too, but my fear was more about the angels, thinking about them still gives me chills.
Sencer
I don’t know how i wanted to be buried but, being dumped into the trash bin is the worst thing that could happen to dead imo. I wonder if anyone can be that “evil”. Maybe, I’m underestimating people’s potential who knows.