Using Local Settings in Works of Horror Well-Received

Tonight authors Daniel G. Keohane (Solomon's Grave), Tracy Carbone (The Man of Mystery Hill), and I participated in a panel discussion on using local settings in works of horror. We talked about how we each handled our fictional towns in our novels. Tracy's got her Bradfield, Dan's got Hillcrest and Ledgewood, and I have Danforth, Fenmore, and Bristleton. We touched on how other writers created their own towns (for example, Stephen King's Castle Rock) and the benefits of creating your own fictional town.

This event was sponsored and organized by the West Boylston Arts Foundation (WBAF), as a celebration of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday. WBAF is a non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to prevent cuts to town school arts and music programs. It was established in June 2007, following budget cuts which threatened to eliminate art and music classes in the West Boylston school system.

The building was beautiful, the library staff was helpful, and WBAF President Mark Baldi and his daughter were gracious hosts and audience members. In general, the audience was very attentive, asked great questions, and made the evening a pure delight.

For more information on WBAF and the great work they're doing, see their web site and the November 2010 Banner article Foundation Plans Winter Events.