The Conversation: Bruce McDonald and Kelley Armstrong on spooky stories and making sequels
The Conversation: Bruce McDonald and Kelley Armstrong on spooky stories and making sequels
The place: Salvador Darling in Parkdale
The people: film director Bruce McDonald and horror writer Kelley Armstrong
The subject: spooky stories and making sequels
The Hunger Games and Twilight hog all the attention, but Kelley Armstrong has been repeatedly landing on the New York Times bestseller lists with her supernatural guilty reads about sexy werewolves, witches and vampires, and kids who can raise the dead. The 13th and final instalment in her Otherworld series for grown-ups hits stores this summer, while the second book in her teen-friendly, necromancy-themed Darkness Rising trilogy is out now. Local indie film legend and cowboy hat enthusiast Bruce McDonald has spent some time at the undead rodeo, most notably for his zombie flick Pontypool, and now in the follow-up to his career-making 1996 film Hard Core Logo, a fake documentary about a punk-rock band’s last hurrah. While most of the original characters are gone, we do get a visit from the spirit of Joe Dick, the disgruntled frontman who famously offed himself at the end of the original.
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- My only trepidation about doing a sequel to <em>Hard Core Logo</em> was that if we covered the same ground, we’d probably be in trouble. It was more for marketing purposes that we even called this one <em>Hard Core Logo II.</em><br /> <br /> (Image: Jess Baumung)
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
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- You’re always going to have those fans who want you to do the same thing over and over again. Thankfully, there are others who are grateful when you introduce new characters and new worlds. For writers, that’s what keeps things fresh.<br /> <br /> (Image: Jess Baumung)
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
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- There’s a misconception that the reason people write horror stories is that they’re not talented enough to write something more literary. Or they need the money, so they’re writing schlock.<br /> <br /> (Image: Jess Baumung)
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
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- With horror or fantasy, you have so many rules, and you have a fanatical fan base that will either embrace what you do or reject it mightily. I think it might be easier to write some high literary thing like “I’m a lonely prairie boy having sex with a goat.”<br /> <br /> (Image: Jess Baumung)
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
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- I’m a big fan of genre stuff. My daughter and I read <em>Frankenstein</em> together when she was five—she loved it. I’d never read it before. I also skimmed the first <em>Twilight</em> book and watched the first movie to see what it was all about. That series seems to be a huge lesson in sexual abstinence.<br /> <br /> (Image: Jess Baumung)
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
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- I haven’t actually read <em>Twilight,</em> even though it’s the industry standard. When the <em>Otherworld</em> series started, I wanted to create a whole supernatural world with no vampires in it. My agent was like, “Really?”<br /> <br /> (Image: Jess Baumung)
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
- The Conversation: Raising Spirits
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FILM
Hardcore Logo II
Directed by
Bruce McDonald
In theatres now
Hardcore Logo II
Directed by
Bruce McDonald
In theatres now
BOOK
Darkness Rising:
The Calling
by Kelly Armstrong
On shelves now
Darkness Rising:
The Calling
by Kelly Armstrong
On shelves now
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/the-conversation-raising-spirits/&title=The Conversation: Bruce McDonald and Kelley Armstrong on spooky stories and making sequels&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/may12Conversation_intro-624x380.jpg&description=The place: Salvador Darling in Parkdale
The people: film director Bruce McDonald and horror writer Kelley Armstrong
The subject: spooky stories and making sequels
By Courtney Shea | Photography by Jess Baumung
The Hunger Games and Twilight hog all the attention, but Kelley Armstrong has been repeatedly landing on the New York Times bestseller lists with her supernatural guilty reads about sexy werewolves, witches and vampires, and kids who can raise the dead. The 13th and final instalment in her Otherworld series for grown-ups hits stores this summer, while the second book in her teen-friendly, necromancy-themed Darkness Rising trilogy is out now. Local indie film legend and cowboy hat enthusiast Bruce McDonald has spent some time at the undead rodeo, most notably for his zombie flick Pontypool, and now in the follow-up to his career-making 1996 film Hard Core Logo, a fake documentary about a punk-rock band’s last hurrah. While most of the original characters are gone, we do get a visit from the spirit of Joe Dick, the disgruntled frontman who famously offed himself at the end of the original.
Follow the conversation »
[gallery columns="6" exclude="140121"]
FILM
Hardcore Logo II
Directed by
Bruce McDonald
In theatres now
BOOK
Darkness Rising:
The Calling
by Kelly Armstrong
On shelves now){kind=link}