Horror World Interview with Mark Justice
By Steven E. Wedel

The Internet has completely changed modern communication in a way not seen since the invention of radio. Millions of people now get their news from online sites as diverse as the Web sites of established, traditional media, to blogs, to something called podcasts.

Mark Justice is the man behind one of the horror genre’s most popular podcasts. We pulled him away from his microphone for a while and turned the questions on him so that you can find out why he does what he does … and just what exactly it is that he does.

Horror World: Mark, Pod of Horror is a fantastic program that allows fans to get news, but more importantly lets them hear their favorite authors, something that just didn’t happen very often a decade or so ago. But let’s start at the beginning. What, exactly, is a podcast?

Mark Justice: A podcast is simply any sort of audio program offered on the internet. There seems to be a podcast for any interest or hobby, from comic books to religion to weird sexual fetishes.

HW: What is your professional background, and how did it lead you to horror podcasting?

MJ: I’ve been in radio since 1976, when I was in high school. In that time I’ve worked in virtually every format and handled every job on the programming side of the business. Currently I’m program director and host the morning show on a country music station in Kentucky, though the morning show is comedy-focused and plays very little music.

Before I went to my first Horrorfind convention, Jonathan Williams at Horror Reader was looking for someone to phone in reports from the con. It seemed like it was right up my alley, so I volunteered. The reports were well-received, and Dave Wilbanks and I were looking for a vehicle to promote our collaborative writing, so we created Pod of Horror. It debuted in September 2005.

HW: How is podcasting different than radio?

MJ: The freedom. There are little if no commercial considerations. Language is not a problem, except when Nanci Kalanta starts spouting profanity. She must have been a sailor in a past life. What a potty mouth ... Kidding!

HW: How many listeners does Pod of Horror have? How do you determine that?

MJ: Between direct downloads from Horror World and i-Tunes and file-sharing, my guess would be a couple of thousand. But that’s only a guess

HW: I know you travel to some conventions to cover the event and interview some guests. What other methods do you use to create your show?

MJ: When I go to a con I usually travel with a min-disc recorder and a mic. Back at the studio, just give me a microphone, a telephone and Cool Edit Pro, and I’m a happy guy.

HW: Who makes a good guest for a podcast? Are authors generally good behind the mic, or should they stay behind the keyboard?

MJ: While there have be occasional clunkers, most writers I talk to are excellent guests. It’s my job to try to bring out the best in a subject. If the interview falls flat or is boring, then it’s my failure, not the writer’s. The prefect guest is someone like Tom Monteleone or John Skipp, where all I have to do is offer a couple of questions, and they create a funny, enlightening, profane and thoroughly entertaining monologue.

Other guests may require slightly more effort on my part, but they’re all worth it.

HW: How do you determine who to put on the show? Do people come to you, or do you seek out guests?

MJ: Both. Now that the show has been around for a couple of years, more and more authors approach me. The hardest thing I have to do is to turn down some guests simply because I can’t fit everyone in. That’s why you haven’t heard Joe hill or Stephen King on the show. Yessir. They won’t leave me alone. *ahem*

HW: Now, there’s more to Mark Justice than being the voice of Pod of Horror. You’re also an author, yourself. How long have you been writing?

MJ: I’ve toyed with writing since I was a child. I tried selling a science fiction novel when I was in high school. Then I got caught up in radio. The career left little time for writing. A few years ago I decided to start pursuing writing more seriously. My first professional sale was when Steve Gerlach bought a story for IN LAYMON’S TERMS in February of 2003.

Hey, did that book ever come out?

HW: You’ve published a number of short stories. Is that the format you’re most comfortable with, or is there a novel ratting around inside there somewhere?

MJ: I’m always working on a novel. I have two that I hope to complete this year, REAPER ROAD and THE LAZARUS MAN. Or maybe I’ll finish the one about the haunted amusement park, shadowy government agencies and Nazis. Or the one with the poor schlub who’s the prize in a tug of war between the mafia and the government over his power to talk to dead people. Or THE DAY AFTER THE END OF THE WORLD, my apocalyptic novel. Doesn’t every horror writer have an apocalyptic novel?

I love writing short stories. There’s something about telling a succinct tale, along with the immediate gratification of completing something, that will never get old.

HW: Why horror? You write it, you podcast it, even co-host a message board devoted to it. You obviously love the genre. What drew you to it and what keeps you working in it?

MJ: Blame it on Dark Shadows, Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Chiller Theater, CREEPY and EERIE magazines, Marvel’s horror comics, Bradbury, King, Koontz and McCammon.

Reading (or writing) a good horror story still gives me the same thrill I got when I was ten years old and strapped into the haunted house ride at Camden Park in Huntington, WVA, only without the corn dogs that made me throw up.

HW: What’s coming up in the near future from Pod of Horror and your writing career?

MJ: From the podcast, more great writers. More excellent reviews from Scott Bradley, editor of the upcoming HORROR BOOK OF LISTS. More abuse from Nanci and her potty mouth.

Actually, there would be no Pod of Horror without Nanci. No one can match her sheer love for the horror genre. She saved the show when it became homeless, and her continued effort and money keeps PoH afloat. I really don’t deserve the exorbitant salary she pays me, but don’t tell her that.

On the writing front, Delirium Books will release BONE SONGS, my first story collection, this year. It’s a mix of reprints and originals, including an unpublished novella.

David T. Wilbanks and I have written a sequel to DEAD EARTH: THE GREEN DAWN, and hope to have news on that soon.

I have a few short stories in the pipeline, including a recent sale to LEGENDS OF THE MOUNTAIN STATE 2, edited by Michael Knost. I am also one of the contributors to the aforementioned HORROR BOOK OF LISTS, along with Stephen King. I hope King knows this doesn’t mean he gets a free pass to be on Pod of Horror.

HW: What should I have asked and didn’t? What would you like to add?

MJ: Babylon 5 is better than Star Trek. Superman could beat up Hulk, but Popeye could kick both of their asses. I won dozens of beer chugging contests in college. Rachael Ray doesn’t know it yet, but she is in love with me.

That’s it. Thanks, Steve.

HW: Thank YOU, Mark. When Rachel figures that out, you two can double date with me and Salma Hayek. We’ll get Nanci to drive the limo.

*Editors Note: Funeral services for both Mark and Steve will be held when, erm, if the bodies are found