Interview with D.J. Doyle

The Horror Club speaks to Irish writer, D.J. Doyle, whose work includes the novels The Celtic Curse: Banshee (paranormal horror), The Celtic Curse: Newgrange (occult horror), the novelettes Red: An Extreme Horror (extreme horror), Hades’ Gate (mild horror) and the short story Christ on a Bike! (comedy horror). She has also appeared two anthologies – Good Intentions and The Last Confession.

Tell us about yourself?

Firstly, I’d like to say thanks very much for having me on your horror blog. It’s great to meet fellow Irish authors of

I was raised in the suburbs of Dublin but now live in Co. Kildare with my family. I’m an Associate Manager in a large global consultancy company with 400k employees worldwide. Yep, it’s that big. I love going to the cinema, play bowling, and walks. My family have been especially supportive of my writing. I couldn’t have done it without them – I practically have two full-time jobs.

Can you remember what your first piece of work was?

I loved writing poetry and short stories when I was teenager. My morbid sonnets probably are what I would call ‘expressing’ my creative side. After years of social activities, I started writing Banshee and it took quite a while to get to the finish line as I would stop writing for months before having the urge to return. I suppose I was a little inexperienced and lacked drive; I’m the total opposite now.

What inspired you to choose the horror genre?

I’ve been watching and reading horror most of my life. I used to watch the black and white hammer horror movies when I was a kid, and watched some of the classics, too, like An American Werewolf in London. Then moved onto reading Stephen King when I was a young teenager.

How does living in Ireland feature in your work?

My two novels, Banshee & Newgrange, and a short story, Christ on a Bike!, are all set in Ireland. I love our history and heritage sites, which is why I developed fictional stories around them. My 3rd Celtic Curse novel will be very folk horror style about another famous Irish heritage site. As most of my readers are in the US, I hope it opens a new world of the beauty of Ireland and Irish culture.

Authors like to read the work of others, too. Are there any that you are looking forward to?

I mostly read Indie author’s books now. I believe in supporting the Indie community. I have a few Amy Cross books in my kindle. I am also waiting for K.A. Denver’s 2nd in her Guardian series, and the sequel to The Gift by Nikki Landis.

What are your plans for 2018?

I have two projects I want to focus on. The sequel to my extreme horror Red, that every horror fan seems to love and my 3rd Celtic Curse story. I hope I get to finish before the year is out but I never like to push myself as it then becomes a chore and not as enjoyable.

Follow her —》 @djdmar123