Author Interview: Ophelia in the Underworld by Stephen Howard
- Fiction Fans
- Mar 8, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 16
Thank you so much for joining us for this Q&A! We’ll start off with one of our standard podcast opening questions–tell us something great that’s happened recently.
I actually just went to watch My Neighbour Totoro on stage at the Barbican in London and it was genuinely magical.
What are you currently reading or what’s up next on your TBR? What made you pick up this book?
I’m reading The Fisherman by John Langan currently and really liking it. I’d heard John on a couple of podcasts lately and was tempted to pick the book up. Next read will be The Night Library of Sternendach by Jessica Levai, billed as a ‘vampire opera in verse’, which sounds so intriguing!
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to start writing?
I actually started writing around age 20 and it was mostly borne from a love of reading and stories. I’m a big fan of the Discworld series and, somewhere in amongst working through those novels, I decided maybe I could write something that people might enjoy. That little spark of an idea led to my first novel; a comic fantasy called Beyond Misty Mountain. Since then, I’ve devoured craft books, completed a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing, and written two more novels, two novellas, and a whole heap of short stories across fantasy, sci-fi, and horror.
How do you spend your free time when you’re not reading or writing? Do you have any hobbies or interests that you can talk to us about?
I’ve always been very active and still go running and play football, though at 34 my legs don’t respond as quickly as they once did! I also love trivia and pub quizzes and I’ve been on a couple of TV quiz shows – Mastermind back in 2017, and The 1% Club, which will be airing this year.
Who are your favorite current writers and who are your greatest influences?
My biggest influences have been Terry Pratchett, Haruki Murakami, and Kazuo Ishiguro – especially with the juxtaposition of the fantastical and the mundane. Though more recently I would say Ai Jiang’s short fiction and novella, Linghun, and the work of Stephen Graham Jones have influenced the direction my work has taken.
What do you think characterizes your writing style?
I’ve always been a lover of great prose, so I try to focus on rhythm and flow, the right word choice at the right moment, but I try to strike a balance between pragmatic and poetic, too. I like to think my prose is therefore very readable, the sort that might lend itself to not wanting to put the book down.
Genre definitions vary broadly from person to person, would you tell our readers what genre(s) you consider Ophelia in the Underworld and Other Melancholy Tales and why?
There’s a really broad spectrum of horror in the collection. The title story is probably modern gothic, but there are creature features, folk horror, the supernatural, and eco-horror. I like to try and explore different areas of horror and try to put my own twists on different tropes and sub genres, and hopefully my enjoyment of that comes across in the collection.
How did you choose which story to title the collection after?
While the collection doesn’t necessarily have a significant factor tying things together, there is definitely a tendency towards melancholy (hence the ‘and Other Melancholy Tales’!) and Ophelia in the Underworld seemed to encapsulate that word the most. It’s also the joint longest story alongside Loomis Creek, but there’s perhaps a grandiosity to the events in Ophelia that leant it towards being the flagship story for the collection.
Do you have a favorite story in the collection?
My favourite story is probably The Potential of Strangers, which is an epistolary story told using MSN conversations and diary and book snippets. I love the style of it, not to mention the MSN parts remind me of being online as a teenager. To try and mix the supernatural into that format was great fun to write.
Can you give us an elevator pitch for your book?
Ophelia in the Underworld and Other Melancholy Tales is a veritable smorgasbord for horror fans, with stories touching on all sorts of tropes and sub genres, offering many a terror to feast upon!
Can you tell us a little bit about your characters? What are your favorite kinds of characters to write?
I’m a big fan of relatively ordinary people caught up in bizarre or extraordinary circumstances. I think it makes for more interesting choices in-story and brings more relatability to the characters. I have recently started writing slightly more abrasive characters to try and amp up the conflict, particularly in longer works (I’ve just completed my second novella and am hoping to see it find a publisher).
If you could choose one worldbuilding detail (a place, ability, or creature, for example) from any of these stories to exist in the real world, what would it be (if any, given that Ophelia in the Underworld and Other Melancholy Tales is a horror collection haha) and why?
Haha! This is a tough one, but I guess perhaps the existence of magical creatures such as the troll from Pay the Toll could make life interesting. In that story, the troll is taken from obscurity and into a ‘better life’, eventually becoming a reluctant a mob enforcer, raising questions about what ‘gratitude’ looks like and the type of person who requires it.
Do you have a favorite quote from any of these stories that you can share with us? What about this quote in particular makes it your favorite?
I think a line from the story, Widow, would be up there. ‘Katherine climbed out of the husk of her former self and saw with different eyes.’ It’s one of the more hopeful endings in the collection and this quote really sums up the moment of transformation for the character.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few questions for us! Do you have any parting thoughts or comments you’d like to leave for our readers?
Other than urging everyone to check out my book haha! I’d just say that the indie horror scene is absolutely thriving right now, so I’d encourage anyone to check out authors like Ai Jiang, Suzan Palumbo, Jonathan Louis Duckworth, Jacob Steven Mohr, and to look at presses like Lost Boys Press, Tenebrous Press, Journalstone Publishing, Ghost Orchid Press, Dark Matter, Crystal Lake Publishing, (and my publisher Alien Buddha Press!) plus so many more.
And finally, where can you be found on the internet if our readers want to hear more from you?
I’m predominantly on Twitter at SteJHoward and Instagram at steh917. I’m also dabbling with TikTok at SteJHoward too.
About the book:
Ophelia in the Underworld and Other Melancholy Tales is a collection of horror stories exploring the macabre and the strange, grief and loss, all while playing with different tropes and sub genres of horror.
With poetic prose and a penchant for the otherworldly, author Stephen Howard's stories transport readers to realms where love and loss intertwine, and where the supernatural dances with the worldly.
Each tale is a haunting melody, a symphony of emotions that lingers long after the last page is turned. The title story, Ophelia in the Underworld, is a modern day retelling of the Orpheus myth.
This collection is a testament to Howard's talent in evoking powerful emotions and his ability to craft enchanting narratives that leave an indelible mark on the soul.
Ophelia in the Underworld is a must-read for lovers of dark and imaginative fiction.
