Gareth with James Herbert
Gareth James - Pieces of Mary
In the 1980's there was a small fanzine that managed to land all the big named authors of the day: Herbert, Hutson, Laws, Campbell among others. Armed only with a typewriter and access to a photocopier, Gareth James produced Pieces of Mary - a fanzine dedicated to horror fiction and is still fondly remembered by authors and fans alike.
JOHNNY: What first inspired you to start your own fanzine?
GARETH: The first issue of PIECES came out in ’86, about 23 years ago, while Stephen King’s IT, Herberts MOON and Hutsons SHADOWS were just hot of the presses. Wandering through WH Smith at that time (pointy boots optional) and the bookshelves would have been creaking under the weight of new horror novels and writers. Horror fiction seemed very healthy then, but despite this there was very little in the way of reviews/interviews in the media. I’d been putting pen to paper for gig reviews in the small press so why not do the same for horror novels and their authors? As far as I’m aware it was the first zine to deal mainly with horror fiction.
JOHNNY: Did you have the title before you started the magazine - or did the title come afterwards?
GARETH: The title was a headache and I’d spent ages combing over ever more obscure album track listings for inspiration. Hell, New Order got their name from an old UK Subs record so I figured it could work for me! In the end, and by chance, I read the 12th book Of Pan Horror Stories and came across PIECES OF MARY by Robert Astley. I knew that was it. Robert, if your reading this, I hope you didn’t mind!
JOHNNY: How long did it take you to put together the first issue - and what were its contents?
GARETH: The first issue (1986) included an interview with James Herbert, who was good enough to send me a very encouraging letter as well, while the back page had a non fictional account of the haunting of Glamis Castle in Scotland – I know, don’t ask me why either. Sandwiched in the middle were book reviews. The cover was that iconic shot from the EXORCIST which appeared on all the posters. However the photocopier toner wasn’t up to the job (lots of black needed) and the result was the same scene… but snowing instead.
JOHNNY: How did you manage to attract so many 'big' names? Did you actively write to them asking for interviews?
GARETH: I was very lucky in the fact that the authors I corresponded and spoke to were very supportive of PIECES. Most would go out of their way to send books, press articles, etc- not to boost their book sales ( the zine’s circulation just wasn’t big enough) but to support the small press and encourage horror fiction full stop. After the initial issue the book companies would be regularly in touch to arrange interviews while review books arrived daily…I got to know our postman real, real well. The rest of the fanzine community supported each other considerably as well, John Hill, John Martin, Paul 'Bleeders' Higson, Pam Crieas, Mark Hockley, to name just a few.
JOHNNY: How big were the initial print runs of the magazines? Did you get funding help in any way or was it all out of your own pocket?
GARETH: The cover price was 50p, come to think of it, I should really of rounded it up to a quid! While the average run for each issue was probably about 300 each, maybe a bit more for issue 6, that’s a lot of photocopies and staples! Occaisonally book companies would run an ad and what little money would go back into PIECES. Ask anyone who writes, produces and sells a fanzine, be it films, books, music or whatever, they will tell you its certainly not for the money as there isn’t any! At end of the day it's purely for the love of the subject at hand.
JOHNNY: The magazine itself ended after 6 issues. Why did you decide to call it a day?
GARETH: Six issues saw the light of day, a 7th half completed, which, I think, had interviews with Robert R McCammon and Steve Harris (Adventureland/Wulf), but didn’t come to fruition. Issue 6 was out in 89 so PIECES was pretty much a child of the 80’s. I didn’t make a conscious decision to finish it, but the tail end of that decade heralded the arrival of glossier mags, home computers and the general ‘dampening down’ of that subversive small press thing.
JOHNNY: Did your friendship with Shaun Hutson come from your work on Pieces of Mary? And is it true he dedicated a book to you?
GARETH: Yeah, Shaun really helped PIECES OF MARY and general fandom in raising its profile during those years - Iron Maiden and rock in general were very popular - horror combined with his musical references and the heavy metal crossover proved appealing to many fans - he even contributed some unpublished short fiction to the zine and insisted on paying for his own PIECES T shirt! LUCY’S CHILD carried an inscription to me a couple of pages in as I’d provided some factual background regarding working in a hospital. Very humbling, a real one off. I was always a better drummer than he was though…..!
JOHNNY: What are your feelings on the state of horror books today? Do you read any and are they as good as they were back in the day?
GARETH: I still read a lot of ‘horror’ novels, but the genre has fragmented over the years and ‘horror’ just can’t be pigeonholed or tied down to any one writing style. Certainly ‘pure’ horror novels no longer exist and publishers shy away from describing their particular novels as ‘horror’ per se. I’ve noticed that Stephen King is no longer marketed as a ‘America’s number 1 horror writer’ although some of his newer novels retain that edge of terror, it’s viewed as very much a minority market. The only books comfortable with that label are ‘POINT HORROR’ etc, aimed at young teens. It's certainly at odds with a film industry who openly tag their movies quite happily as out and out horror or ‘the most terrifying film of the year’. Who knows, things have a habit of turning full circle….
JOHNNY: What would be your favourite authors and books?
GARETH: Stephen King obviously - finally getting the well overdue accolades he deserves from the bookworld - SALEMS LOT still stands the test of time beautifully. James Herbert, McCammon, Masterton, Hutson, the list goes on. Steve Harris ADVENTURELAND is massively underrated, one of the cult novels of the 80’s. I also read a lot outside the genre, but I won’t bore you with that here.
JOHNNY: Interviews you did that you are most proud of?
GARETH: I’m proud of all the interviews I did, lesser known and bigger names. I’m particularly pleased that PIECES OF MARY is remembered by both the fan and author community. It's only taken 23 years for someone to interview me!
JOHNNY: Would you ever bring back Pieces of Mary?
GARETH: Will there be a SLUGS III, THE RATS IV? Probably not, the originals were products of the time, but never say never- stranger things have happened. The time could be right for a ‘best of’ who knows, but it would need a careful re-vamp and a decent photocopier this time round!
