Eric Miller: Sometimes the Light Is a Train

Screenwriter, publisher, and Horror Writers Association member Eric Miller joins What's Kraken? with Jo Szewczyk to talk about his first novel, Whatever Happened to Uncle Ed? It's a horror-comedy where a washed-up high school basketball star inherits a fortune, a haunted mansion, and a family curse played out in magical games against shapeshifting demons. Eric's spent three decades in Hollywood writing SyFy creature features and running his own small press, and he breaks down why character comes before plot, why horror needs comedy breaks, and why he refuses to leave a reader in the dark without a way out. Key Moments - The Uncle Ed setup: a missing uncle who looks 40 at 90, a nephew named Max, and whatever the hell is going on in that basement - Character first, always: if you don't care who's in the room, the plot doesn't save you - Horror with comedy breaks vs. comedy with horror: cleansing the palate so you can go a step darker - Screenplay vs. novel: in a novel, there's nobody to yell cut The Takeaway Go as dark as the story demands, but always show the reader the path out. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, and yes, sometimes the light is a train. Either way, there's a way through. Guest Links Website: https://www.ericmillerwrites.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ragingeric/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RagingEricMiller Big Time Books: https://www.bigtimebooks.com/ Whatever Happened to Uncle Ed?: https://amzn.to/4hrf6Nx Jo's novel, *Scarlet Shadows*: https://amzn.to/4wJk4cc Empty Hell is an Amazon Associate. Links above may be affiliate links, which means we earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. All our links in one place: https://linktr.ee/Emptyhell