Robert Weinberg is a prolific writer and anthologist with more than 16 books and 120 anthologies published in horror, fantasy, and science fiction. He's a 2-time Vice President of the Horror Writers Association, and he's won the World Fantasy Award twice. In addition, he's published over 15 non-fiction and fan-based works, on topics ranging from the Secrets of Spider-Man Revealed to the Science of Stephen King, won numerous writing awards, and is a true historian of the horror genre.

Robert, thanks for taking the time to speak with FearZone. Let's begin with something I find fascinating - your 'Science of' books (co-written by you and Lois Gresh), which cover topics like Stephen King, Superheroes, and Supervillains. Did these come about because you are a big fan, or because you felt there was a big interest for this type of book among the various fan bases?

Actually, the science books I've written came about due to both reasons. Back in 2000, I was approached by several editors at Marvel Comics who asked me if I was interested in writing comics for them. I've been a comic book fan all my life and even served as chairman of the Chicago Comic Book convention for 20 years. So, I said yes, and soon found myself writing one of the X-Men titles. While writing comics, I soon noticed that the science used in the stories wasn't very accurate. Which gave me the idea to write a book about the science in comic books. I asked my friend and sometimes co-author, Lois Gresh, if she was interested in collaborating on such a book and she agree. So we prepared a proposal for The Science of Superheroes and it sold immediately. In publishing, like anywhere else, if you have a good idea, you keep using it. So, we've continued with five more pop-science books since.

You've written several comic books, and have others in the works. How is creating a story for a comic different than the process of creating a short story or novel? What do you like/dislike about the medium?

In writing a comic book story, you need to think of your story in visual terms. You can't have your hero (or villain) thinking to himself a lot. Things need to be happening all the time. Less talk, more action is the basic rule of storytelling. Plus, you've got to trust your artist. Some writers describe everything in a picture in great detail. Others just state "a fight takes place inside the palace" and let their artist go berserk. Writing comics is a collaborative effort and I believe you need to let your artist fill in a lot of the background and look to the story.

I loved writing scripts for comics. It's a fun medium to work in and I only wish I had started writing for it twenty years earlier!

It's no secret that you're a huge Conan fan, with one of the largest Robert Howard collections in the world. Is it only Conan you collect, or are you also into similar titles in the genre, such as Tarzan or Kane?

The first Robert E. Howard book I read was Conan the Conqueror and so, in many ways, Conan has remained my favorite of Howard's creations. I believe that certain Conan stories achieved literary immortality. Those include The Queen of the Black Coast, The Scarlet Citadel, and The Frost Giant's Daughter. Certain sections of other Conan stories also rank very high in terms of literary achievement - Conan's crucifixion in A Witch Shall Be Born, and the conclusion of Beyond the Black River, just to mention two. Still, Conan pushed me to read other swords-and-sorcery heroes and over the years I've come to appreciate other Howard creations as much if not more than Conan. Of all Howard's heroes, I think I like Solomon Kane the best.

Horror, science fiction, fantasy - you work in all these fields. Which one was your first love?

I grew up reading horror, SF, and fantasy, but science fiction was my first love. I've been a fan since I was 11 years old and started collecting SF books and magazines. Unfortunately, though I have two degrees in science, I still do not feel that my science background is strong enough for me to write science fiction. So I mostly write horror and fantasy, which require less science.

You've written several books involving creatures of the night - werewolves, golems, vampires, the spirits of ancient sorcerers. Are you a big fan of 'classic' horror?

I love old monster movies, particularly the Universal classics "Dracula," "Frankenstein," "The Wolfman," and "The Mummy." Having a chance to include such creatures in my books is just too much of a temptation for me to ignore!

Do you see any place in today's writing/publishing environment for a return of old-style horror, like the stories of Weird Tales, Tales from the Crypt, or writers such as Karl Edward Wagner and Manly Wade Wellman?

I think good storytelling always has a price in horror fiction. Manly Wade Wellman was selling fiction right up until his death. Karl Edward Wagner wrote some incredible stories, again, right up until the time of his death. If he hadn't died so young, I think he'd be writing award winning fiction today. Whether the monsters or circumstances are new or old means little. It's the quality of storytelling that matters.

As an editor, you've produced over 130 anthologies. Obviously, this is something you enjoy. Do you have any in the works right now? And do you see the anthology - which is sometimes treated by the industry like the last kid chosen for a team in gym class - as ever growing more successful or popular?

I still do some editing, mostly collections of old and rare stories for the pulp magazines, for a hardcover series titled Lost Treasures of the Pulps, published by the Battered Silicon Dispatch Box Press. We get out around 3-4 volumes a year, and have a list of books for the next 8-10 years already selected. Obviously, there's lots of stuff from the old pulp magazines I'd like to see reprinted.

I love editing and finding old work that I feel should be revived. A good story is worth reading no matter what it was published. Short stories seem to be dying in modern literature. Fewer and fewer people seem to be reading them, and too many stories are worth reading. I think that's a great shame, as a good short story can be as entertaining and meaningful as a novel. I wish anthologies sold better, but in these days of less and less people reading for pleasure, I'm not surprised that they don't.

A while back, you wrote a book on modern horror (Horror of the 20th Century). What do you see as the key points of importance - the turning points, if you will - in the history of horror?

Early horror was melodramatic and gruesome. Then along came M.R. James who transformed the horror story into quiet, subtle, but intensely spooky short fiction. The "English Ghost" story dominated horror for the first third of the 20th century, written by people like James, Wakefield, Benson, and other British writers. Then, along came H.P. Lovecraft, who took horror out of the English manor house and pushed it into the cosmos - Lovecraft's work made the cosmic horror story, the horror of modern science all-important. Then came Matheson, Bloch, and Bradbury who dragged horror kicking and screaming into the modern world. Rosemary's Baby made horror part of everyday life, and then Stephen King parked it in our driveway and in the neighbor's house. And then religious writers moved it back to heaven. What comes next? I don't know, though I suspect horror in outer space will be a big topic in years to come.

You're not just a writer, editor, and historian. You've also been a book publisher and bookstore owner. Tell us a little about those businesses. How did you get into them, and why did you get out?

As a book collector almost all my life, I never could resist a bargain. After a while, having accumulated a large collection, I began selling off some of my duplicates. It soon occurred to me that many of the people buying stuff from me would be interested in buying the same new books and fanzines I was adding to my collection. So I started buying that stuff wholesale, keeping one copy for myself, and selling the rest. After doing that for a while, I realized I would do even better if I expanded my business to sell all sorts of collectible books, not just ones that interested me. Around this time, I got married and my wife began helping with the business. With both of us working, we were able to handle a lot more orders and a lot more stock. Business continued to expand and expand. Being a fan and collector helped a lot, since I knew many of the people who were publishing the material I was selling. And I loved many of the items I sold, so I pushed them because I felt they were worth owning. This part-time business grew and grew until I was publishing a monthly catalog and employed two people as well as my wife to keep the business running smooth.

I got into publishing because I felt there were books that no one else wanted to reprint or publish that I felt deserved to be printed. I started off in 1973 with a tribute to Weird Tales on the 50th anniversary of the magazine's first issue. Over the next seven years, I published another 50 books or so. Then, business grew so busy and took up so much of my time that I no longer had the free time to devote to publishing. So I stopped. Meanwhile, I was serving as Chairman of the Chicago Comicon and also selling rare artwork as a side business. And helping my wife run Weinberg Books, which had grown into a half-million dollar a year mail order book service.

In 1998, after 25 years of running the book business, my wife and I decided we finally wanted to take life a little easier, so we sold the book business. I semi-retired and became a full time writer, and my wife returned to teaching piano, which she had studied in college before marrying me. We loved the book business but don't miss running it a bit. Though we do miss the interaction with our customers and the publishers.

You once mentioned that your love of science fiction began when you read "The Colour Out of Space," by H.P. Lovecraft. Some would argue that's more horror than sci-fi. What do you think?

I still consider "The Colour out of Space" a science fiction story. But it's definitely horrific as well. After reading it when I was 11 years old, I remember I refused to drink tap water for a week!

What is your take on the state of horror today? Is it getting stronger again, in the wake of the 90s downturn? What obstacles do you see in its path?

I think horror is in a down cycle, brought about by the glut of mediocre books published in the late 1990's, and fueled by the huge number of terrible blood and gore movies that have been produced in the past few years. The word horror has come to be associated with flesh-eating zombies or sexy vampires and horror is so much more than those two cliches. I suspect that horror will survive and prosper sooner or later, as more writers abandon the old bad ideas and come up with fresh, frightening new ones.

Do you feel that there is too much blood and guts in today's horror (books and film)?

Yes. Especially films. No question in my mind that's what's hurting our field. Horror by nature involves death and sometimes torture and surely gruesome events, but showing it and describing it in such detail serves no one any good and merely creeps out anyone reading or watching the stories other than those looking for a cheap thrill.

Who are some of your favorite authors today?

Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Angeline Hawkes, Joe Hill, Gary Braunbeck.

What projects do you have coming up in 2008?

I have several novels that I'm working on and a major TV/Movie project I can't talk about at the moment. I intend to stay busy but not too busy. I'm trying to relax a little in life, but I'm finding that's easier said than done!

Ten Quick Questions:

1. Who are your three favorite writers of all time?

Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Dean Koontz.

2. If you could bring a horror writer back from the dead to write one more book, who would it be?

H.P. Lovecraft.

3. Recent trends in horror have included zombies, werewolves, and sorcerer detectives. What would you like to see as the next big trend?

More black magic, less monsters.

4. What is your favorite drink?

Diet caffeine free Pepsi.

5. How large is your book collection right now?

Around 25,000 books, paperbacks, and magazines.

6. If you could change 1 thing in the publishing business, what would it be?

Bigger advances, more publicity for mid-list authors. No more outrageous advances for celebrities' books that inevitably bomb.

7. What superhero/supervillain matchup would you love to see?

Cable (the X-Men character I wrote about) vs. the Hulk. That would be a memorable battle!

8. Name three things you would change if you were the President.

Higher minimum wage, universal health care, better use of science to solve the nation's problems.

9. Star Trek - which series was the best?

Deep Space Nine, particularly the War with the Dominion.

10. Any advice for beginning writers?

Work hard, finish what you start, submit, submit, submit. Never give up. Stories don't get published if they aren't being read by editors. So keep on submitting.

Robert, thanks again for speaking to FearZone, and good luck in the coming year!

Thanks!!

For more information on Robert Weinberg, visit www.robertweinberg.net and www.sff.net/people/r.weinberg

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JG Faherty is a writer of dark fiction. His short stories have appeared in many magazines and ezines, including Cemetery Dance #58, MagusZine, All Possible Worlds, and the Garden State Horror Writers' anthology, Dark Territories. He writes regular columns, book reviews, and interviews for the Horror Writers Association newsletter, FearZone, and several other online and print venues. You can visit him at www.jgfaherty.com.