1. When did you first discover fantastic fiction?
Just as soon as I learned to read. Even before I attended school my mother used to read the daily newspaper "comics" to me. Back then many were fantasy adventure serials—Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and so on. I soon learned to read the word balloons for myself. Later, I graduated to the early (and I do mean early) comic books featuring bizarrely captivating freaks like The Human Torch, Plastic Man, the Hangman, and even (I kid you not) The Green Turtle.

HUMAN TORCH COMICS #20

PLASTIC MAN #48

SPECIAL COMICS #1

ALL-AMAZING COMICS #12

I soon gravitated to all the fantasy I could find in local libraries, from H.G. Wells to H. Rider Haggard to early horror anthologies featuring tales by Blackwood, Poe, Bierce, Machen, etc. It was a golden age—before television—when a kid could get lost in reading without the distracting influence of cell phones, computers, electronic games, etc. etc.

2. Can you remember what was the first pulp magazine you bought?
I can only remember the one I didn't buy. I like to think of it as a trade deal. During the early years of World War II my school sponsored a paper drive. We all went around collecting paper for the war effort, depositing said paper in a mammoth pile in the school yard. In examining the newsprint mountain I spotted two copies of a strange-looking magazine entitled WEIRD TALES. Up until then I had no idea that such things existed. It was love at first sight. I simply had to retrieve those issues from destruction, so hid them beneath my sweater and hurried them home after school. Perhaps the war would have ended a day earlier had I not done this, but I never felt regret. Later, I found I could actually buy WEIRD TALES and other magazines like it on the news stands. Eventually I discovered the marvellous Arkham House books with early works by Lovecraft, Smith and Howard, and soon became addicted.

WEIRD TALES (March 1923)

WEIRD TALES (April 1923)

WEIRD TALES (May 1923)

WEIRD TALES (June 1923)

3. What made you want to become an anthology editor?
I have always loved the short story form and regret its loss today. One of the authors I discovered in those wartime WEIRD TALES (before the world did, I must say) was young Ray Bradbury. I thought then, and still think, that he was perhaps the finest horror-story writer of the last century. While being true to himself and his own background, Bradbury worked in the literary tradition of the great ones. I've always believed that the classic horror tale is not some kind of junk-food fiction.

WEIRD TALES (July-August 1923)

WEIRD TALES (September 1923)

WEIRD TALES (October 1923)

WEIRD TALES (November 1923)

In my Introduction to the first volume of NORTHERN FRIGHTS I attempted to inspire would-be contributors by mentioning some of the field's finest short-story practitioners: John Collier, Bradbury, Fritz Leiber and Richard Matheson among others. I wasn't looking for stories that imitated the work of those authors, but simply used their names as a means of announcing standards.

4. How did your NORTHERN FRIGHTS anthologies come about?
NORTHERN FRIGHTS was an attempt to produce a series of books featuring modern stories in modern settings that might be as entertaining and as richly satisfying as the kind of classic horror anthologies that I remembered so fondly from my youth. Frankly, it was the British horror writers who proved inspirational. As a long-time attendee at various World Fantasy Conventions and as a fan of their work, I saw that the Brits had made their own mark on the field and did so while setting their fiction in the world that they knew and lived in.

From the beginning, I wanted NORTHERN FRIGHTS to be a market for original stories written by Canadians, set in and reflecting their own specific milieu. No such a market existed in Canada, so it was a supposition on my part that there were enough writers to fill the book. I have to believe it was an idea waiting to happen, because I was soon deluged by manuscripts. Many of the authors had never written horror before, but found that they had a talent for it and have gone on to much success.

5. Is it more difficult putting together a collection of someone else's work or a non-fiction book than it is editing an anthology?
This is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. My own non-fiction book, THE GREAT PULP HEROES, involved some twenty-five years of research. I won't say it was difficult, but it certainly wasn't a fast-buck endeavour.

As for anthologies, the level of difficulty is directly related to the editor's ambition. Putting together a straight reprint book is fairly easy, because others before you have judged the material worthy. Many original anthologies are produced by soliciting material from name authors and/or friends of the editor. This is also a comparatively simple way of doing it, but all too often makes for uneven results.

The NORTHERN FRIGHTS series was a market open to all. We bought stories, not names. I read every submission, worked with authors to improve their work, and wrote personal replies—often encouraging—to accompany rejected manuscripts. I like to believe that the results proved the effort worthwhile.

6. Who do you admire in the genre and why?
As I indicated, I am a big fan of the Brit authors, particularly Ramsey Campbell, who is happily still very much active in the field. Perhaps I am just out of the loop now, but so many of the writers I still read or re-read date back to the halcyon days of the 1980s, including King, Barker and Straub. (I still rate GHOST STORY as one of the best novels of any kind that I have ever read.) Writers I admired back then included Robert McCammon, Thomas Ligotti, Dean Koontz, Dennis Etchison, Alan Ryan, Dan Simmons, T. M. Wright, Charles Grant, John Farris and Whitley Strieber (before he was abducted).

Michael McDowell was probably the most underrated author of that time. His novels COLD MOON OVER BABYLON and THE ELEMENTALS are genuine classics. But I'm always looking for a scary read. These days I tend to follow the "thriller" writers who feature horror as a routine part of their arsenal. These include John Connolly, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, David Morrell, Thomas Harris, Peter Straub and Joe Lansdale.

7. Who have you been most thrilled at meeting in the genre?
The first World Fantasy Convention I attended was in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1978. I remember that I had no problem approaching and chatting with Stephen King (he's an approachable kind of guy), but remember being too timid to introduce myself to Hugh B. Cave, a legendary name from the pulps of my youth.

Years later, Hugh and I wound up by accident sharing an apartment at the annual Pulpcon in Dayton, Ohio. Another legend, the great Robert Bloch, was also a guest at that Pulpcon. I knew Bob from previous conventions, but he and his fellow WEIRD TALES alumnus had never met. Night after night I was a fortunate third party in our shared apartment as Cave and Bloch—two of the finest human beings who ever pounded a typewriter—reminisced about the great days of the pulps. I should add that Hugh and I became fast friends from that occasion on and remained so until the end of his days. Now that was a thrill.

WEIRD TALES (December 1923)

WEIRD TALES (February 1924)

WEIRD TALES (March 1924)

WEIRD TALES (April 1924)

8. Has your film and television background helped your genre work?
I believe there is continuity to all creative work. As one example, editing the miscellaneous material of documentary films into narrative form helped me structure my non-fiction writing. In addition, my study of old Hollywood films, particularly the lighting style of classic noir, helped me in my work as a director/cinematographer. Val Lewton movies, Hammer Films and Universal horrors of the 1930s undoubtedly influenced my life in ways too numerous to mention.

A clue to my tastes in horror fiction can be judged in film terms by the fact that I'm a big fan of Lewton's work. He proved that even when it comes to horror, less is often more.

9. How does the horror genre now compare with when you first entered the field?
If I say it doesn't appear to be as exciting, I hope I will be forgiven by all the recent authors I have not read and who may well be contributing things new and startling to the field. I may be more than a little out of the loop these days, but promise to do my best to catch up.

10. How do you feel about being Special Editor Guest at the 2007 World Horror Convention in Toronto?
Life is unpredictable, and on top of that you seldom get to write your own epitaph. I was once introduced at a party as "Canada's King of Horror". Assuming they weren't talking about my appearance, I accepted the accolade as a badge of accomplishment.

The NORTHERN FRIGHTS series represented a lot of work but the rewards have been many, chief among them the numbers of friendships fostered and positive feedback from so many sources. Did I ever imagine that one day I would be asked to be special editor guest at a World Horror Convention? No way. Am I thrilled by the honour? You bet!