David Kempf is a new novelist who we have been following closely over the last few years. We gave him great support and have published many of his great short stories on our sister site Masters Of Horror
Well as David has now published his first novel, which is listed on Amazon, we thought we would catch up with David, we also have a review of his first book and a link to where you can get it.
Review:In David Kempf’s Dark Fiction, we meet literary student Christopher Wisdom and college professor/world famous horror writer Henry David Wells. Christopher would like nothing more than to apprentice under Wells, his favorite author, and begins to send the professor his stories outside of the classroom structure. Soon a mentor/protégé relationship blooms and it seems the famous author cannot read enough of his young student’s work.
The stories are all about the dark side of life and Christopher is fortunate enough to have them read by an experienced, best-selling author. However, the professor offers no suggestions or criticism to his student. Soon a false sense of confidence grows amid his mentor’s praise and Christopher feels anything is possible. Does this master of horror really believe his budding student is so talented, or could he have more sinister plans?
Finally, Wells confesses that he serves a group of omnipotent beings called the Masters, or the Jinn. The Jinn are extremely interested in humanity. However, they can only learn about the human experience through reading fiction. Christopher has been chosen by the Jinn to serve them and their cause. He must continue to write and learn from Wells in order to keep the mysterious Jinn placated. The great power of the Jinn is slowly revealed.
Despite the numerous wishes the Jinn grant to humans, they have no use for us and secretly plot the utter destruction of humans everywhere. Will Christopher give up his old life, including his family and his mortality, to continue his dark apprentiship? Will the Jinn fulfill their wish to destroy us in every dimension or will Christopher conjure his last ounce of humanity to prevail? You’ll just have to read the book to find out.
Dark Fiction is for thinking readers. Author David Kempf handles some deep topics here. He challenges readers to face our fear of death and dying, to revisit our belief in religion, the paranormal, crime and punishment, and he even has us questioning the importance of human existence on earth. He does all this while keeping us thoroughly horrified without relying on slasher film gimmicks of bloody gore and violent sex so common in horror today. He tips his hat to the masters of the macabre without cloning them. I recommend Dark Fiction to fans of Poe and Lovecraft and anyone who enjoys old fashioned horror, but doesn’t need the blood and guts.
By William R. Potter
Interview with David KempfJD You have written over fifty short stories, many of which deal with themes of
horror fiction. Why did you feel the need to put them into novel
form?
DK Well, I used some of the short stories I’ve posted online within my novel,
which is considerably longer than many novels because I wanted to
establish that this character, Christopher is a fiction writer,
specifically, dark fiction.
JD Fair enough, David. Now why did you want to write about a young horror fiction
writer who was still in college?
DK Well, I suppose because one is much filled with hope when one is at that age.
The world hasn’t beaten the hell out of you yet. You don’t
know how vicious life is and you are still holding onto your
idealism. The world is still out there for you to conquer, you know.
That’s the free spirit I wanted for my protagonist.
JD What about your antagonist?
DK That’s a good question, Jon. I never saw Dr. Henry David Wells as the
antagonist of the story per se. I think such black and white terms
are immaterial in what is an essentially an experimental work of
fictions such as this. Still, if you had to put such labels on the
characters I suppose that is the way it comes out in the end.
JD Yes. Why do you love horror so much?
DK Well, I love fiction, of all kinds, horror just happens to be my favorite to read.
JD I see. What other genres do you enjoy?
DK I am very fond of science fiction, history, thriller, mystery and detective
fiction. Still, horror has always been my favorite, just a matter of
personal taste.
JD I see. Why did you call the book Dark Fiction?
DK Both of the main characters write this kind of specific fiction and pay a price
for doing so and short stories of this genre are featured all through
the novel.
JD Is this your first novel?
DK Yes, sir it is.
JD You must feel very proud of that.
DK Indeed, I do, sir.
JD Why would you write it now?
DK I’m at a certain age where I was either going to do it or not. I have many
friends who have talked about writing a novel ever since we were in
college. Some of them never even managed to write a short story or
two for our college literary magazines. These were the folks; I
seriously doubted would ever write a novel later on in life.
JD Who are your favorite authors?
DK There are too many to name but I’ll drop some names from the top of the list.
Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Truman
Capote, James Herbert, Shirley Jackson, Peter Straub, Washington
Irving, Harlan Ellison, Edogawa Rampo and Robert Bloch.
JD You included all of these short stories within your novel, why?
DK Well, you know I’ve read many great novels that had writers as their main
characters or protagonists/heroes or what have you. They never went
into detail about what the hell they wrote. There were only vague
recollections of the fictional endeavors of our heroes as they fought
vampires, zombies, maniacs and other forces of darkness.
JD I see.
DK The writer’s job is to always tell the truth and I think that includes letting the
readers in on their fiction and fictional characters.
JD What drove you to write this book?
DK I am a storyteller who loves horror and thrillers and I simply wanted to
tell a story.
JD Why did you choose to have the book published originally in the e-book form?
DK Well, Jon, it wasn’t just to save some trees. I believe the future is with me
in saving trees and time by allowing folks to choose from the Kindle
to the Sony so they can download a lifetime’s worth of books
without carrying much weight.
JD What inspires you in your writing?
DK Well, I was paying tribute to old fashioned thrillers but also to some of the B
horror movies I grew up watching on late night TV. I wanted to create
kind of a fusion of the two. Making the B movie into something else,
something with depth and philosophical meaning is what I was
interested in doing. I enjoyed writing in college; my paper on
Dracula was featured at the student research conference. I also won
first place in my college’s fiction magazine’s short
story contest. That was very validating for me. Writing for your
website has also meant a great deal to me over the past two years.
It’s allowed me to use my imagination and experience
constructive criticism at the same time.
JD You are the only American on my site. How does that make you feel?
DK Honored. I majored in English in college because I have a great respect for the
literature of the United Kingdom. I also write for an American horror
site and it features some damn good writing. What it lacks is an
opportunity to learn your craft and improve upon your writing. I know
the English take their writing very seriously that’s why they
have what I consider to be the best literature in the history of the
world. No one has touched upon the human condition like Shakespeare
or Dickens. The people who stem from that culture are the people who
I want to judge my writing and help me be the best author that I can
be.
JD How challenging was it to find a publisher?
DK It’s a great challenge. It took me some considerable time to finally find
one that suited my needs and would publish a book that I did not want
to compromise on. It was a take it or leave it deal because I really
believed in this project. The E Book Sale or RealTime Publishing in
Limerick Ireland is a great publisher and I’m glad that I chose
them.
JD What is dark fiction?
DK That’s a great question, Jon. I think that’s a complex question. Most
folks think that it’s generally a form of horror fiction but I
think that the real definition if far more broad. It’s a form
of fiction that takes great risks and avoids categories. It is
horror, it is thriller, it is suspense but ultimately it disturbs us
and makes us realize that life is not what we think that it is. It
makes us question the nature of reality. When it’s done
exceptionally well it tells us something about ourselves that we wish
we didn’t know.
