INTERVIEW: Clay McLeod Chapman is ready to have a ‘Séance in the Asylum’
Image courtesy of Dark Horse / Provided with permission.
Clay McLeod Chapman is a designer of doom, a generator of gore, a seller of scares. His chosen trade is the written word, and he expresses his love of all things spooky in many different literary realms. For example, this past October, one could catch the world premiere of Chapman’s latest play, Feejee Mermaid, at The Flea in New York City. This January, readers can delight at the publication of his new book from Quirk, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes. Heck, there are even his in-person and Zoom appearances that happen almost every other day.
This writer caught him in New Jersey at an intimate event hosted by a public library with his writing buddy Nat Cassidy. For an hour, they regaled the crowd with scary stories for the horror-filled season of Halloween before making one of the funniest library videos to hit the internet. The serious headshot on his book jacket shouldn’t fool his fans; Chapman is all about frightening his readers and then making them laugh with delight.
Hollywood Soapbox has always been a fan. His novel Whisper Down the Lane engaged readers with its Satanic Panic setting, and his horror film The Boy was an underrated gem from a decade ago.
And now Dark Horse has joined with Chapman on a new four-part miniseries entitled Séance in the Asylum. Issue #2 was recently released, with two more on the horizon. In the comic book, which features art by Leonardo Marcello Grassi, readers meet the spiritual medium Alicia Wilkinson, who is invited to the Ashcroft Hospital to perform a séance within its haunted walls and amongst its unique clientele, according to press notes. She uncovers some deep secrets about the Civil War and why these patients find themselves in the asylum, but the weird thing is that Alicia thought she was a fake. Maybe there’s some real powers at her fingertips.
Recently Chapman exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox to talk about the inspiration behind Séance in the Asylum. The author has been quoted that one of his motivations for the story came after reading The Homeopathic Principle Applied to Insanity: A Proposal to Treat Lunacy by Spiritualism by Dr. James John Garth Wilkinson, which was published in 1857. Also, Chapman is a self-described acolyte of the Fox Sisters, who are well known in the history books and amongst the spiritual crowd. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How did you first stumble on the work of Dr. James John Garth Wilkinson?
It’s the funniest thing. He was a footnote in a book I was reading for research I was tackling at the time. I was digging into research for my novel Ghost Eaters, and I was reading this book titled Common Phantoms: An American History of Psychic Science by Alicia Puglionesi. And she mentioned — and I mean just the briefest blip here — Wilkinson’s studies of spiritualism as therapy, which got me extremely curious. So I hunted down his pamphlet — The Homeopathic Principle Applied to Insanity: A Proposal to Treat Lunacy by Spiritualism — all the way back from 1857, and once I dove in to his theories, I was all like, “Whaaaaaaat is happening here?” I was floored — instant inspiration. I loved it. A story was born.
Have you always been fascinated by the age of spiritualism and stories of the Fox Sisters?
Always — always and forever. I’ve written short stories about the Fox Sisters. I’ve developed — and lost — two separate feature film screenplays about Kate and Maggie. I’ve written about them in other books I’ve been writing. Basically, I’m the biggest Fox Sisters fanboy around. I’ve got a t-shirt of them. I’ve visited their graves here in New York. I can’t help myself. Their story is utterly fascinating. Even though I’m an utter nonbeliever, I will always be there for my sisters. KATE + MAGGIE 4-EVA.
Are you a believer in the powers of mediums? Do you believe séances are an example of charlatanism or can be invitations to another realm?
Here’s the rub, I don’t believe, but I love that other people believe. The world is just a far more interesting place where we can imagine these ethereal connections to the world beyond. I don’t know, the world is kind of a lonely, dull place when you don’t believe in spirits. I wish they were real. I wish we could do this interview with a Ouija board. I just sadly don’t buy into it — not really. I’m agnostic that way, I guess, just a fuddy duddy.
Is your writing process for a comic book similar in any way to your writing process for novels?
It’s similar to screenwriting in some respects, but for the most part it’s a completely separate beast. I love that I get to lean in on the artwork. Giving that comics are a visual medium, I know my blueprinting of the story won’t be the end result, but that I get to be the architect of narrative. I’m finding the flow of the story. Then, it’s onto the rendering of the story itself. That’s where the true magic happens, and for that to really take effect, I lean on the artist.
How did you develop a working relationship with Leonardo Marcello Grassi? What was the collaboration like?
Working with Leonardo has been an absolute dream come true. If I was a spiritualist, and writing this script was my séance, I feel like Leo is the spirit from beyond the veil, answering my call. His work has been absolutely beautiful. We’ve spoken throughout the process, but I try to not impose. It’s the alchemy between us, the fusion of story and image, that blows my mind. The fact that you’re telling a story through images, I don’t know. Leo’s the true channeler here.
At a recent library event, you asked the audience why the horror genre is so strong right now. Only 10 years ago, horror was disrespected, with hardly a dedicated rack in bookstores. Could you explain your thoughts on why horror has become one of the cornerstones of modern literature?
Well, the world is a pretty, pretty scary place right now. I think, on some level, the more our anxieties percolate, the more there may be a need for our literature — or any art — to reflect that. I don’t know if it’s a one-to-one correlative, but I do think it’s interesting how, when the world itself is confronted with so many fears, our culture finds a way to filter them through its output of art. Films, literature, music — you name it. Whether it’s specifically horror or not, our artwork becomes the mirror. Horror is having a boon because, well, because there’s a lot of horror out there. We can escape into our books about vampires and zombies because those metaphors help us reflect and understand, perhaps even escape, from the horrors right outside our window.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The first two issues of Séance in the Asylum by Clay McLeod Chapman, featuring art by Leonardo Marcello Grassi, are now available from Dark Horse. Issues #3 and #4 will be released in December and January. Click here for more information on the comic book. Click here for more information on Chapman.
