“A horror writer is the one who is not only willing to look into the darkest of shadows...but to reach into them too.” said the 23 years old Horror Author, Samy Michell, who released a new novel this year in Cairo International Book Fair under the name of “The Great GrandFather”.
Michelle: The novel tool place in the 40s and it tells the story of a fisherman
According to Michelle, the novel took place in the 40s, it was about a fisherman living in Alexandria during World War II, who one day, while out fishing to provide his wife and son with food and money, an air raid from the German forces hit Alexandria and he fell into the sea. After drifting with the waves for a few days, the fisherman would find himself stuck in a strange land that could be in another dimension and here his story begins.
‘The Great GrandFather’ would not be like the rest of Michellle’s work, it would not be a horror novel as much as it could be of a fiction novel, according to the author. “It is a fantasy, fictional criminal journey with big uprising events and mysteries”.
Michelle: my inspiration would usually come from usual everyday events
The inspiration for his novels would usually come from the usual everyday events but “with a little fictional spice”, the author had the flexibility to create a another simulation for our reality but with much interesting details “if i’m bored at word and the time is not running, i could start imagining that there is a world where people never stop working and then i would start creating scenarios for various of events like what if they discovered sleep? What if they create an alternative for themselves?”.
Michelle: Fantasy literature is not very common in Egypt. Limited groups would read it
Michelle also added to “Trendify” that because of the limited ideas in Fantasy Literature, it is not common in Egypt and only a very specific genre of people would read. Pointing out that one of the most important elements for creating a good story or developing one is staying updated with the latest horror series, book or even movies, to know and to understand what attracts people to read about it or watch it, in egypt, according to the author.
“We have limited our horror or fiction side in the average, basic stuff, the horror movies industry in the 60s has the same idea the horror movies has now, so a development could be created if we kept an open mind for new ideas”, Michelle mentioned.
Michelle’s love for fiction and horror writing styles started when he was a child, he started reading novels for Nagieb Mahfouz at a young age which left him with so much scope for a young man’s imagination, it was only few years later when he decided to consider Writing as a career, started working with the radio anchor and horror writer Ahmed Youness as a part of his programme preparation team in 2014.
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