Late Season, Available on Amazon.com; Empire Books in Huntington; Borders Books @ Huntington Mall
In the year’s late season, Hell has come to Jalagee, West Virginia. The town’s dead work alongside the living, filling tenuous business contracts for an energy starved planet. Black magic blankets the land and God has abandoned Jalagee’s people. The pathway between dimensions is opened and the devil no longer waits to walk upon the world…
Excerpt from the novel: When Early Rose passed, Hell embraced him with moronic delight. Blubbering things drew close. Vomitous essences searched the spaces between chaos and chasm to secure a place close to his side. As an infant being unborn, Early Rose was spewed fresh and bawling amongst the familiar comfort of these erstwhile beings’ presence in this forbidden country; and their despair was his for he knew them all.
This is how Late Season begins. This is where the dead live.
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Published Works
Late Season, July 2009 NVH Publishing
Cold Steel, (projected fall of 2009 or spring 2010) Saga Books
Published Short Stories
For Joel, Winter 2009 Champagne Shivers
Boy Troop, Fall 2008 The Edge of Propinquity
Pretty Horses, Spring 2008 Nossa Morte
Winter Solstice, Spring 2008 Blood Moon Rising
Severed Hands, Spring 2006 Black Petals Magazine
End’s Beginning, Fall 2005 All Hallows Magazine
Zebra, Fall 2005 Black Petals Magazine
War of Words, Spring 2005 Black Petals Magazine
A Businessman’s Itinerary, Winter 2005 Black Petals Magazine
Brutal Reality, Fall 2004 Black Petals Magazine
Butterfly Chaser, Summer 2004 Black Petals Magazine
Beauregard-12, Winter 2004 Black Petals Magazine
The Cumberland Pass, Fall 2003 Black Petals Magazine
Praise for Late Season
Late Season is a rural horror tale written in the grand tradition of Jack Finney’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Noah Copley’s writing style is so unsurpassed and individual that it is a pleasure to say that he is one of the finest writers I have ever come across. Late Season is the most imaginative and entertaining novel that I have read in years.
- Horror Writer Glynn Barrass
Stranger Aeons
Interview with NVH Publishing
Greetings and salutations, Noah. Been keeping busy?
Non-stop, it seems, but that’s good. I’ve always dreamed about being this busy doing something I love. Horses and horror stories…my plate is full.
It is really an honor to have you numbered among the special guests represented here. I believe that Joe McGee, the fellow this book is dedicated to, would have really liked you and your book as well. What was the paticular inspiration for this book? Or…should I fear to ask? {Laughs}.
I wanted to write about Appalachia, particularly the southern half of West Virginia. I needed something to write about. Coal mines came to mind. I researched the coal mining industry for six months, trying to learn the procedures and protocols that go with that particular employment. My father was a huge help to me in that regard. He was an underground coal miner for nearly thirty years. I did extensive library research as well. When I knew everything I possibly could about the coal business, I sat down at my computer and stared at the screen for a long time before realizing that I had nothing. I went to work the next day and was finishing up on some business when the story developed in my mind…”of course, zombies as coal miners!” It took another four months to flesh out characters, plotlines, and action. So to make a long story short, my inspiration was West Virginia, coal mines, and monsters.
Late Season, in my opinion, is one of the best horror novels I’ve read in years. Maybe it’s my imagination, but, I get a sort of Ramsey Campbell-Clive-Barker-esque vibe here. You a big fan of their work?
I love Ramsey Campbell, I can honestly say that I don’t think I’ve read enough Ramsey Campbell. What I like most about Campbell is his use of imagery setting up scenes. The prologue in The Parasite made me afraid of shadows for days. The only Clive Barker I have read would be his Books of Blood. I read them as a kid and liked them. I would probably appreciate them more if I went back and re-read them. These guys are some of the best in the business. Anyone who can write that volume of work, coupled with the customers/fans who keep buying their literature is amazing to me.
Who were your major literary influences as a writer? One of mine was Stephen King.
He’s a good one and I can easily say that his writing is where I cut my teeth reading horror. I could say I’m his number one fan, but I won’t. I’d say he’d prefer it that way. I will state here, flat out, that some of his earlier work is among my favorites. Salem’s Lot, The Stand, The Dead Zone, Firestarter…all good stuff. I’ve had many writers who I think have influenced me at different stages in my life. Who among the horror writers couldn’t say Bram Stoker or Mary Shelley didn’t influence their writing? Maybe some can, but not me. Shelley realized the concept that man may be more monster than the monster itself. Stoker’s ability to letter-write scenes was pure genius. For me, Mark Twain made quite the impact too. Not a horror writer per se, but some of his work was real life horror in his day. There are too many others to list here. Maybe a short list: Frank X. Walker, Marilou Awiakta, Denise Giardina (all three Appalachian writers).
Speaking of Stephen, he once stated that ”We create our own horrors in order to deal with the real ones.” Do you agree? Is coming to terms with our own fears a good creative outlet?
Writing is cathartic. It’s easier to kill the good or bad guy on paper than in real life. The real horrors are horrible. The world is a tough place. Evil people are everywhere and death is as constant as is life. Writing about horrors that you can kill is fun.
What was the title of your first story? Go on, tell me, don’t be embarrassed.
Cowboys. It was a short story. I was twelve. I wrote it on Halloween for my grandmother’s birthday. Yes, it was a western. I was reading my grandfather’s collection of Louis L’Amour westerns and took a stab at writing one as a birthday present to her. It was awful. She said she liked it. I didn’t even like it. There was much too much gun-slinging and little storyline. She still made me happy when she said she liked it. I started writing horror stories the next day.
There is alot of horror fiction - vampirism, lychanthropy, ghosts - that have tended to become stale, and cliched over the years. Too much commercialism and not enough TRUE horror. And, now, we have all of these {so-called} ‘’subgenres”. Do you ever miss the old classics, like Poe and Lovecraft? I’d stack them up against Anne Rice clones {Buffy the Vampire Slayer} any day.
Without any trepidation, I heartily admit that I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. Times change, the tastes change…it doesn’t mean that we should quit writing, reading, or viewing ‘classics’. There is a place for work like Buffy the Vampire Slayer in our fiction consciousness. Buffy handled important societal issues during its run as other forms of fiction have during theirs. For me, horror can be fun and thought provoking.
Speaking of cliches, what’s your opinion of all of the {lame} remakes of classic horror films these days? I mean, paying homage is one thing, but literally butchering a film is something else entirely.
I hate the butchering. Stop all remaking of horror, please. Pick a topic, write on it, develop it and create your own horror.
What would you say is your favorite genre film? Or book? I know that may cover a lot of ground.
There are too many great books and films to name here. I’ll name one of each, but certainly not my ultimate favorite. Book: Salem’s Lot. Movie (not horror): No Country for Old Men. If I named my favorite horror film (I’d have to name four): Meet Joe Black, An American Werewolf in London, Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931)
What’s on the horizon for Noah?
I’m going to promote my debut novel, Late Season to the best of my ability and hope that those who read it like it. I know I enjoyed writing it. I also have a short story collection that I’m going to try to get published, and I’m in the process of starting my next novel (like Late Season, it’ll take a while to really get moving, I’m sure). Of course, there’s my farm, the horses, and my cats to keep me busy.
Any last words before you leave us?
Writing something good is not easy. Writing something good that people will take time to read is harder. I have so much respect for people who write for a living. I’ve read so many stories from authors who unknowingly have helped me more fully realize my potential. Hopefully something I write will help someone realize theirs.