Most of the interviews on the website, admittedly fem-light, are with writers, so I thought it would make a nice change to question the wonderful broadcaster and reader of horror tales Morgan Scorpion. You can find her work on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MorganScorpion

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Who is Morgan Scorpion and what does she do?

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Morgan Scorpion is Julia Morgan, a 63 year old woman who hangs about on social media trying to promote horror in all its fictional forms, and occasionally records for a YouTube channel.

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Favourite writers and/or inspirations?

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My favourite writers are H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and Edith Wharton. Other authors that I like include H. R. Wakefield, M. R. James, Terry Pratchett, Amy Cross, and Agatha Christie.

 

I would like to learn about how you came to horror literature and what it is about the writers you love that attracted you to their work.

 

I think my first brush with horror literature was one of the Armada Ghost Books, which were aimed at children. Then, I read J S LeFanu's Carmilla, countless times, at age 9. My Aunt Margaret gave me a book called Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, which not only turned me on to Lovecraft, but to M. R. James, E. F. Benson, Arthur Machen, and many others.

 

What inspired you to first begin broadcasting?

 

It was Wilum H. Pugmire who got me to start a YouTube channel, a chap by the nickname of Dr. Bantry on the Thomas Ligotti Online group introduced us, and suggested I record his sequel to Lovecraft's "The Hound", called "Some Distant Baying Sound". Though my first recording for that was a Lovecraft poem. Before that I had recorded quite a bit for Librivox, mostly academic stuff, including large segments of Spenser's Faerie Queene and Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. For some reason the thought of YouTube was very daunting to me.

 

I think anyone who wants to do anything well is at first daunted by YouTube, as most people are with new endeavours, although it sounds as though you're quite familiar with the workings of a mic.

 

What do you think of the idea that horror has to be graphic to be labelled "horror"?

 

I don't think horror has to be graphic to be horror, otherwise Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum" wouldn't count. There isn't a single drop of blood spilled in that, and yet, it is most definitely a horror story. Consider also "The Beckoning Fair One"; very little actually happens in this tale. We do see a dead body wrapped in cloth at the end, but it isn't described in detail, and yet it is one of the most horrifying tales I've read. Because of its slow creeping horror, we realise the protagonist is being tricked by the invisible ghost who has killed before. There's nothing wrong with gore in horror, but it can be used as a lazy way to create sensation, and as such it can have a numbing effect. Mood is everything, and it's the most difficult thing to create.

 

How do you go about fashioning one of your story and/or interview recordings?

 

I just find a text I like and record it. I generally avoid texts with too much dialogue, and I can't do accents, so I avoid anything which requires me to do an accent. The exception is "The Dunwich Horror", where inexplicably the inhabitants of Dunwich all have a Devonshire accent.

 

Probably to do with Lovecraft being an Anglophile who never travelled to England, perhaps why he remained an Anglophile.

 

I'm from Devon originally, but lost my accent when I came to London, and I'm not even confident of getting that right! When I'm interviewing someone, I do like to research them as thoroughly as I can, and prepare some questions that I think aren't usually asked. I want them to have fun when they are interviewed, I don't want to do any confrontational stuff, but I would like them to give me something original.

 

Plus we get to hear the voices of authors we've admired from afar such as the fabulous Thomas Tessier, so thank you for that. Can you tell us which writers are in the pipeline for new shows?

 

Well I'll be recording more stories from classic authors like Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, E. F. Benson, and possibly Algernon Blackwood, definitely more by H. R. Wakefield. I've just recorded a story by Joseph Payne Brennan, and I intend to do another by him. Robert M. Price has given me permission to record one of his Lovecraft pastiches, which I am looking forward to doing. Up soon will be a horror story by Henry Kuttner, and another by Robert A. W. Lowndes. Hopefully I'll be able to record some more modern authors, but we'll see about that. I'm also digging through a list of public domain stories originally published in magazines. The list was provided to me by SFFAudio, who is a mine of information. I like digging out the more obscure authors. Regretfully I don't have any interviews lined up. I'm not ruling out doing more, but I've nothing planned for now.

 

It would be great to also hear "Blind Man's Buff" by Wakefield, one of the scariest ghost stories going, with very little dialogue; what there is, a Devonshire accent would work. Or one of Peter H. Cannon's hilarious tales - he published a mashup of Wodehouse and Lovecraft, a collection called Scream For Jeeves (Ash-Tree Press). Though there might be a bit too much dialogue in the latter.

 

What do you think of AI used for writing? (let me guess)

 

I do not like AI used for writing, the moment I suspect it's AI I stop reading/listening. On the few occasions that I have listened to an AI generated documentary on YouTube I have regretted it. I am OK with AI used for art, but I do think it should be clearly labelled as such. Otherwise it can be misleading.

 

What are your favourite movies/documentaries/inspirations?

 

Ooh now, on favourite movies I could be here all day! In the horror genre my favourite movie is Argento's Inferno. It's beautiful as well as scary, the colours are just amazing and so is the soundtrack. I'm also in love with Suspiria and Profundo Rosso. The Others is one of my favourite films, being genuinely haunting. As for favourite movies that are not labelled horror, one is Apocalypse Now, and another is Sunset Boulevard. I also love Hitchcock's Vertigo, and while I like some of his films and not others, Vertigo is his most haunting. I do like history documentaries, and audiobooks; history is my secondary passion.

 

Do you enjoy reading in different disciplines, e.g. non-fiction, plays (The King in Yellow - maybe not), or poetry?

 

Outside of horror I read history and biographies of dead people. When it comes to history, military history is my main passion; in fact I read about Napoleon's Moscow campaign whenever I need an emotional lift. I probably know an unhealthy amount about Nazi Germany too. Then I enjoy reading about mould-breaking women, and about how some women managed to lead happy and useful lives even though the times and circumstances were against them. And I think about Rome once or twice a day, but that's mainly because I follow accounts on Twitter that post about it. I have recorded a bit of Julius Caesar for Librivox, in English and in Latin, though I can't vouch for the authenticity of my Latin. As for poetry, I have a liking for Tennyson, but my favourite poet is predictably, Edgar Allan Poe.

 

What would you say to new writers looking for readers?

 

Good luck!

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Thank you again for your time, Julia, and we wish you the best of luck in everything you do.