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Author Interview

The Legendary Joe R. Lansdale

Joe R. Lansdale is an award-winning American author who has written in several genres, including western, horror, science fiction, suspense and mystery. Lansdale has written and co-written several excellent comic books: including Jonah Hex, Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four and graphic novels such as Zombie Tales.

He’s been called "an immense talent" by Booklist; "a born storyteller" by Robert Bloch; and The New York Times Book Review declares he has "a folklorist’s eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur’s sense of pace." Lansdale is the recipient of 5 Bram Stoker horror awards, a British Fantasy Award, the American Mystery Award, the Horror Critics Award, and a New York Times Notable Book award.

Join us for an interview with the Legendary Joe R. Lansdale!

You've been referred to as one of the top horror writer's of all time, alongside names such as King, Lovecraft and Poe. How does that impact you?

That's heavy company. I grew up on the ones I thought were great, Poe, Robert Bloch, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Ray Bradbury, and many others. The key is they wrote all kinds of things, not just horror. I learned from them, so whatever I do, where ever my place is in literature, small l or large L, I'm just glad I've had the opportunity to work in the field, as well as a lot of other fields. When you have interests outside horror, or whatever field you're writing in, you can then bring elements from the others into your work. It keeps it fresher. As for where I belong in the ratings, I leave that to other people.

Who were your earliest influences?

Of the early ones besides the forenamed were Mark Twain, Jack London, and especially Edgar Rice Burroughs. He's the one that seals my fate. I already wanted to write, but when I found him, I knew I had to write. No choice. Later, Hemingway, and Faulkner, and Fitzgerald and Flannery O'Conner, Carson McCullers and Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett and James Cain and of more recent vintage, William Goldman, Pete Hamil, and so on and so on.

You seem to enjoy writing about unlikely pairings. Your Hap and Leonard novels are a perfect example of this, as was the novella which inspired the movie, Bubba Ho Tep. What is it about unlikely pairings that you enjoy writing about the most?

I like to deal with contrasts because we're all a mixture of one thing or another. We usually become more dominant in one direction or another, but no one is just one way all the time. It's why good writers can write about both bad people and good people and what makes them that way, and all of the positions in between.

The movie Bubba Ho Tep was based on a novella which originally appeared in the anthology The King Is Dead: Tales of Elvis Post-Mortem. This movie has since become a cult hit. What inspired the novella?

I actually came up with the title first, as a joke, but it stayed with me. I was subconsciously looking for a story to fit it. I had always liked Elvis, and my brother, who is seventeen years older than me actually met him a couple of times in Memphis, in passing, before he became The King. My brother was trying to cut records at Sun records at the time. John Kennedy, when I was a kid, was an inspiring president, youthful looking and youthful minded. Someone who was well educated and respected education, science, the whole nine yards. And, I of course, remember his assassination. It had the similar impact that 9/11 had back then. The country was in shock for a long time. My mother was in a rest home for a while, due to an injury that required twenty-four hour attention. I spent a lot of time there. All of these things came together when I was asked to write a story about Elvis, that and the fact I had always been a fan of Mummy movies, especially when I was a kid.

Do you feel the movie did the novella justice?

I loved the movie. There are some different scenes, some added things and changes, but I really liked the film a lot. I was proud of it.

You write in many genre's: Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense? What genre do you enjoy the most?

The Lansdale genre, which is what I think I really write in. I don't really try to follow any conventions, but I don't dodge them either. I let the story dictate the direction.

Much of your work is based in various locales in the state of Texas. You live in Nacogdoches, Texas and you've been quoted as saying "The bottom line is, Texas and its people are pretty much what most people mean when they use the broader term ‘America.’ No state better represents the independent spirit, the can-do attitude of America, better than Texas." Would you expand on this?

I think the myth of Texas is strong. An independent minded bunch of people who are part of America and somehow outside of it. A kind of frontier can do spirit that I think is what most of America thinks it is. I'm not sure Texas is that way, but that's how it's thought of. I like it here, in spite of the fact, politically, I'm a duck out of water. But I really like the people and find the area of East Texas to be especially unique.

You've written several excellent comic books. How does working in this medium compare with short story or book writing?

Yes, I've written several comic books, but I didn't do the illustrations. I co-wrote three with my brother, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, and some of my stories were adapted by different people. I love comics. They were my first love as a kid, taught me to read, taught me about story.

The word "mojo" writing has been used when reference is made to your work. How did this come about?

Mojo is an African based word meaning magic. It also has sexual meanings. I got my mojo working. I lost my mojo. I can't get my mojo back. It also means power or ability.

In the documentary about your life and career "Once We Were Children", you say "life is like a walking dream." What do you mean by that?

Life for me has been pretty wonderful, even the hard parts, and it's very dream-like to me. For me, the past, the present, and sometimes, and I speak metaphorically here, the future seems to flow around me as well, all a'swirl.

You've mentioned several of your favorite writers, however, what are some of your favorite novels of all time?

My sentimental favorite book is A PRINCESS OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs. My favorite novel now and has been since I was in my early twenties, is TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD. It's also my favorite film.

Would you introduce us to any upcoming work?

Currently I have THE PORTABLE LANSDALE, SANCTIFIED AND CHICKEN FRIED, out from THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS. There aren't a lot of these, so if you want one, jump on it. It's a short story collection, and a good one I like to think. It's part of their SOUTHWESTERN WRITERS SERIES. Forthcoming in June is VANILLA RIDE, the latest Hap and Leonard novel. A new Hap and Leonard novel follows next year.

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