Mayo writer makes publishing debut with book of horror stories inspired by Stephen King

Shane McHugh, a young Claremorris author, writing under the pen name Shawn B. Tennyson, has just released his debut collection entitled ‘Tales From Beyond The Dark: A Short Horror Anthology Volume 1’.

The book has 17 short horror stories, each one distinctively different from the last.

It has been a long process for the self-published author, and he said that it was an interesting process from the moment he thought of writing a book.

“It has been rather revealing, and it has also been interesting to see the process behind it. When I began writing it, I didn't think the editing would take anywhere near as long.

"However, there was a lot of editing to work on such as the tiny details, etc. Overall, I spent a year writing the book and then another year editing it and then there is author copy to check as well.

"I initially thought of the concept for the book three years ago when I wrote one or two of the stories.”

Those initial couple of stories snowballed to many more.

He explained: “There are 17 stories in the actual collection itself. I'd written one or two of them offhand, not knowing that I was going to fully make the short story collection or what I was going to do with them.

"It was two years ago when I decided to actually put them all into a singular collection and started mixing them together.

“When I was writing up the initial concepts, they were kind of solitary stories on their own and I would take little notes with regards to each story as they developed.”

Most debut authors might start off with one story, so Tennyson starting off with 17 short stories is a different path in a way.

However, he enjoyed the process.

“It was interesting because I initially had two ideas. I wanted to start with a novel and then maybe write the short stories in the background, and when I had enough of them, I'd release the collection after a novel.

"But as I was working on that initial idea, I just found that I was altering it too much and having to rewrite things and change the concept.

"It was much easier to pump out a few new stories and try new ideas and get them done. I actually found it a lot easier to write the short stories and there wasn’t this big pressure about writing a long manuscript.

“I also found that I could bounce between ideas with the short stories, whereas with a novel it’s something that you’re consistently sticking to.

“The one thing I noticed is that when you are trying to write a novel it feels like you are making constant progression, whereas with the short stories I would write one and then start on the next story – which was a whole new process again.”

Tennyson draws his inspiration from the likes of Stephen King, as he explained.

“I've always loved reading Stephen King novels, as well as H.P. Lovecraft. Both of them are quite involved with horror novels and also the short story collection.

"I know Stephen King does a lot of novels as well, but he does have a lot of short stories. With his stories he always gives background information to the people, and this really makes his stories feel lived in and there is a lot happening with the story.”

The south Mayo author said his debut collection gave him the opportunity to experiment with stories about the different types of horror genre.

“I found that I could experiment with different kind of genres under horror. For example, one of my stories is a nautical kind of tale. So, it's based on the ships and it's out at sea and everything. And then another story is completely based in one room on its own, which is more of a psychological horror.”

Another of his stories is based on Irish folklore.

“One of them in particular is based on Irish folklore when it comes to fairies. It was thought in a lot of western countries that fairies are kind of seen as a very positive influence. Whereas other countries tell different stories about fairies. It's a shorter story, but you don't really need to fully expand on a lot when it comes to horror.

“I think the mind does a lot of the storytelling for you when you give an outline of the area, a little bit of context of what's happening. And then everyone who reads the story comes to a different conclusion of what the true meaning is behind it.”

Tennyson said he was under no illusions as to the workload that he would have to encounter when self-publishing his first book.

“There was a lot of work behind it, with the writing and the concept development and everything like that. I saved a lot of money in terms of not getting editors. But I can definitely see when you're a couple of books or a couple of collections through, having an editor can be an advantage.

"I think it's important that I completed this work. I've always loved horror books, and I've always loved writing in general and being creative.”

The talented writer hopes that his collection of stories can inspire other young people to seek their creative side.

“When you're reading something, you're actively partaking in it, and your mind is coming up with the images and you're picking up the vocabulary when you're reading as well. I thought the collection was the best way to go with that because you'd be hard pressed to not find at least one story that you like within 17 stories.”

What can people expect from the book?

“There are a good few page turners and, I won't lie, some of the stories can be graphic, so they are aimed at the older readers.

“With regard to the content of the stories, I think it was just kind of looking at different situations and different ideas from a psychological or philosophical lens.”

Tennyson is hoping that people will like his debut book, and he plans to continue writing short stories.

“My idea was just to get this one book out and I wanted to sell 10 copies, and I managed to do that. If anyone wants to check out the book, then I would be more than happy with that. As is said, there are 17 stories in the book, so I feel that there is something in there for everyone. I would also like to focus on writing a novel.

"I will keep writing down ideas and eventually will start writing short storeis again until I have enough for another collection.”

* The book can be purchased by visiting shawnbtennysonofficial.com.