Thursday, October 7, 2010

Guest Post with Author Scott Nicholson: Hillbilly Horror

Hillbilly Horror
By Scott Nicholson


There’s a little-known oeuvre in the literary world called “hillbilly horror.”

There’s no formal list of practitioners and I’m not sure what the qualifications are, but I suspect it’s the type of club where, if you had to send out applications, it would spoil all the fun. I’m not as widely read as many of my peers, but off the top of my head Mark Justice is one, and Michael Knost has edited a series using Appalachian legends, and the legendary Manly Wade Wellman based his Silver John series on mountain folk magic.

The most common usage of hillbilly horror is to make the hillbillies vile, sinister cannibals or murderers. Authors Jack Ketchum and Richard Laymon, and countless others, have employed this mechanism, and of course it’s the primary depiction in any horror movie set in the wilderness, the rural mountains, or the Deep South, where people are, you know, generally less than human: Deliverance, Wrong Turn, and quite possibly the worst and most pointless horror movie ever made, The Devil’s Rejects.

Author Sharyn McCrumb is on the brainier side of hillbilly horror, exploring Southern Appalachian legends and history without the cheap stereotypes. She often pitches the hillbillies as the heroes, as I tend to do. And, as she likes to say, “Deliverance was not a documentary.”

In my novels, it’s often the “outsiders”—Floridians, Yankees, tourists, wealthy developers, timber corporations—that are the real threats, and one of my favorite subthemes is that pressure of change, as tradition is squeezed out and some rich idiot builds a three-story monstrosity on a clear-cut hill to get buffeted by the cold wind. Of course, the rich idiot is never there to worry about it, because he’s down in Palm Beach showing off pictures of his mountain house and the view he could have if he were only there and a hundred other rich idiots hadn’t clear-cut all the ridges around him for their own second, third, and fourth homes.

When I was a teen, you could find moonshine pretty easily, and it was usually good and safe, not the blinding radiator crud of fiction. Now, there are too many nerds and narcs around and those who have it keep it to themselves. Your average barn dance is more likely to have SUVs and Lexuses parked outside than Ford pick-ups and tractors. Tradition has pretty much been reduced to commodity, with Rebel flag key chains, hillbilly corn-shuck dolls, and corncob pipes sold in roadside stands. Downtown, you can buy “Hillbilly bubble bath,” which is eight dried pinto beans in a plastic bag. Cute.

Rural people are the only folks in modern America who are still open to socially acceptable ridicule. In Monsters. Inc., when the evil lizard gets punished at the end, he drops into a mobile home in a swamp (which might as well been a hillbilly shack for all intents and purposes) and he’s beaten by yodeling trailer trash with a Southern accent. If the lizard had been dropped into Brooklyn’s Boro Park and beaten by Orthodox Jews bearing scrolls, or dropped into East LA and knifed by Hispanics, the uproar would have kept Fox News busy for months. But hillbillies tend to keep to themselves. They don’t organize into political movements.


My novel Forever Never Ends (the revised version of my 2003 paperback The Harvest) is probably the deepest treatment of this clash of changing culture. Years later, I realized the actual invasion and threat (an alien entity landing in the mountains and spreading its infection) was mirrored by the threat of development and change. It’s not just nature that is being subsumed and altered, it is a way of life. Writers shouldn’t sit around looking at their themes, because then they become pompous A-holes like Jonathan Franzen, but that one is now so obvious that it’s hard to deny.

One New York critic said of Forever Never Ends, “This book probably sets the record for small-town Southern stereotypes.” That’s one of the best blurbs I ever received, because those characters weren’t stereotypes, they were based on my relatives.

In Drummer Boy, Solom, and The Red Church, there’s a little nod to tradition, with outsiders either misunderstanding or underestimating mountaineer ingenuity. Even today in the mountains, there’s a strong sense of pride, and it’s not vanity, either, it’s a culture of self-reliance. During a February blizzard with -10 wind chill, you can call the elderly woman down the road and ask if she needs anything, and she’s going to say “I’m fine, thanks,” even if her feet are encased in two big ice cubes and there’s only a shriveled carrot in the cupboard.

In The Skull Ring, where Julia Stone comes to the mountains as an outsider, she’s the one who has to confront the raw brutality of the wild mountains, and nature seems like a harsh and punishing force if you don’t know what you’re dealing with. Which was kind of the point of Deliverance, wasn’t it?

Why not share some of your favorite hillbilly stories, movies, stereotypes, or jokes?

--------------
Scott Nicholson is author of The Skull Ring, Speed Dating with the Dead, The Red Church, Drummer Boy, and nine other novels, five story collections, four comics series, and six screenplays. A journalist and freelance editor in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, he often uses local legends in his work. This tour is sponsored by Amazon, Kindle Nation Daily, and Dellaster Design.

To be eligible for the Kindle DX, simply post a comment below with contact info. Feel free to debate and discuss the topic, but you will only be entered once per blog. Visit all the blogs on the tour and increase your odds. I’m also giving away a Kindle 3 through the tour newsletter and a Pandora’s Box of free ebooks to a follower of “hauntedcomputer” on Twitter. And, hey, buy my books and put me in the Top 100 and I’ll throw in another random Kindle 3 giveaways for each bestseller. Thanks for playing. Complete details at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/blogtour.htm

I just want to add, thank you for being here today, Scott! Love the post! I hope you do garner more readers! Good luck to everyone who is entering the giveaway! 

93 comments:

Mark Justice said...

Scott,

As a fellow hillbilly, I can't argue with any of your points here. I can just point readers to the work of Ronald Kelly, a fellow chronicler of hillbilly horror.

Mark

Douglas Dorow said...

I need more time to read so I can get through more of your books. Reading Drummer Boy now.
dwdorow@gmail.com

ThrillersRus.blogspot.com

Ruth Francisco, author said...

We don't have hillbillies in the Florida Panhandle, but we have plenty of rednecks. One local profession is "worm grunting," where locals go into the woods, drive a stake into the ground, and rock a iron slab over the top, making a grunting sound. It drives the worms to the surface, where the locals pick them up and sell them....over the internet! Times are changing.

Sharon S. said...

What are usually the last words of a redneck/hillbilly?

"Hold my beer and watch this!"

I've lived in NC my whole life and I have met every southern stereotype .

Bibliophile said...

Where I come from, it's the city folk who used to be, and still are to a certain extent, considered stupid and ignorant (and arrogant, a serious sin in these parts). There is less of it now than there was about 25 years ago, but it hasn't swung in the other direction, probably because most city people are only one or two generations away from the farm and everyone know someone who lives in the country.

However, two places in Iceland (my home country) used to be considered the abode of especially many and potent sorcerers and witches, but they were never described as consistently evil.

Jeff said...

Scott, your presentation today brought Lilian Jackson Braun's "The Cat who moved a Mountain" to mind. It seems that the mentality that does not prevail in "the mountains" is the hunger for more. We have it bad and don't understand those "who make do" no matter how admirable that is. Also, I think we plain folk, like western Ohio, and other "yankees" are wary of, or even threatened by, mountain people is because we know that they are always laughing at and shaking their heads about us.

I remember that Earnest T. Bass from the Andy Griffith Show was a comic, stereotypical hillbilly, but he had surprising skills, as did the family who played good music, effortlessly. BTW, did you take up the bass after moving to the mountains, or had you ever lived anywhere else? Do you have a stand-up also?

Ruth - I am going to have to try to herd me some worms now! If only to see that it works, not to go fishin' but to get a healthy population of the critters in my yard of clay. (I guess I got the word "critters" from Grannie Clampett, or most likely, Elly Mae.)

Post on, Scott!
Jeff White whitejw@ameritech.net
P.S. Scott- I would love an iBook but that is not going to happen, I'd really have to go out and get a paying job!

Brenda Wallace said...

The media also likes to make fun of Okies. Yes, there is the occasional stereotypical real live character here, but we think the media puts a lot of effort into finding that toothless dude with the mullet to interview. One recent movie "All About Steve" made Okies appear illiterate and stupid. Just like anywhere, there are some scary people in Oklahoma, the Appalachians, and in New York City. I like that line "Deliverance was not a documentary." varbonoff22 at cox dot net

Bookhound78 said...

Hillbillies are some of my favorite people. I lived in the mountains for a number of years, and now I leave in a rural part of NC. I guess around here we are considered "rednecks," which, to me, are very similar to hillbillies. I'd prefer to be among the "low-class" than the uppers any day. :P

-Neal

Unknown said...

Hillbilly horror? Never heard of it until now, but it makes sense.

Randymir@gmail.com

author Christa Polkinhorn said...

Stereotypes? Hillbillies? My whole home country is one huge stereotype: Switzerland. I gave up a long time ago trying to convince people that the country is not that cutesy place with Heidi and Peter running around milking goats (Scott, that might interest you. LOL), people eating chocolate and cheese all day, hiding everybody's illegal money (there is some truth to that!), yodeling and skiing all day long.
But, we do have hillbillies in the mountains of Switzerland and their way of life is threatened the same way as in other mountain regions in the world by tourism and all the change that brings with it. So, yes, I can relate.
I wish we could get a version of Forever Never Ends here in the U.S. I think it's only available in the U.K. right now, isnt' it?
Christa
cpolkinhorn@msn.com

jessica said...

I never really thought of it that way but you do have a point, if they had chosen a different person or chose a specific ethnicity for monsters inc, it would have been a uproar. Most people are so touchy these days.

chey said...

Great post! I'm learning about stuff I never really thought about.
chey127 at hotmail dot com

Author Scott Nicholson said...

Mark, thanks for mentioning Ronald! He's great.

Ruth, let's hope they never release the "worm-grunting" sex tape!

Sharon, I've actually lived most of the stereotypes--they do contain a kernel of truth (if you are raised in a trailer park...)

Jeff, avoid honest work at all cost! I don't have a stand-up bass, and actually started guitar in the flatlands (at UNC). Mayberry also respected its stereotypes.

Chriusta, Forever Never Ends just reverted to me so it IS available int he US! Free da peoples! Liberate the literatis! Put everything in print!

Scott

JL Bryan said...

My family is all from the South Carolina lowcountry or south Alabama, so I can relate. The stereotypes don't begin to convey the real eccentricities of people in the rural South. I also live in Georgia, in the foothills of the Appalachians, and so far have never been at risk for hillbilly rape (as far as I know).

ylime1981 said...

I'm glad to see someone else who has thought of this. I thought I was the only one. My family is from Appalachia and lately it has bothered me more and more that all these other groups get protection and there are so many that are still left open to ridicule (not just the Appalachians/hillbillies.) I think that there are jokes and good fun and some of what people have started to get all up in arms about is absolutely ridiculous considering I don't get all up in arms about the stereotyping of my own people.

Here's an interesting tidbit, too. I just received my alumni magazine from my college last week. In 1972 when they made their office of student diversity do you know it included Appalachian whites as a category of minorities in the name?

Emily ebdye1(at)gmail(dot)com

anamlgrl said...

thanks for the chance to win!
Lauren F.
anamlgrl@yahoo.com

Cathy M said...

Hillbilly horror is a new one for me, can't say that I've read any books in this genre before.


caity_mack at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

Floridians are outsiders !!! Come on Scott ... geez !!!

monapete said...

Great post. Love your books.


monacart32 at hotmail dot com

Monster A Go-Go said...

OH! Hillbilly HORROR! All of the time that I've known you I thought you were a Hillbilly WHORE! Duh! Well, the mistake was an easy one. I mean, look at how you strut up and down the main street of town, barefoot, in your suggestively tight longjohns and overalls, suggestively chewing on a piece of straw with that 'come hither' look in your eyes that seems to say "Hey fella, I promise to make you squeal like a pig!" I can almost hear the banjos dueling now... And yet, I am soooo disillusioned.

I thought you were workin' it so you could afford to buy yourself a cement pond!!! Did you give up the dream?

"Downtown, you can buy 'Hillbilly bubble bath,' which is eight dried pinto beans in a plastic bag."

Oh, I see you've just down-sized it (the dream, I mean). But it's nice to know you keep yourself clean. Scrub-a-dub-dub! I'm sure you've got one of those big tubs you pull out every Saturday night for a bath, huh? Heating water on the stove and taking turns in it with your kin folk and the neighbors and the dog. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, right?

Well, I am glad your not prostituting yourself (at least not on the streets...on book blogs, is a different matter). That means you are NOT being unfaithful to the goats. Besides, as a hillybilly hooker, you really are kind of scary (in a somehow strangely sexy way)(Photo below):

http://www.myspace.com/hauntedcomputer/photos/23469224

CHEERS!

Riva said...

Living in Texas, we get hit with a lot of those stereotypes as well. I think it's universal - everyone attributes these traits to any group that's "different". I think, in many cases, "different" is better - or at least more interesting!

dulcibelle (at) earthlink (dot) net

Candace said...

I'm not thinking of any hillbilly books or movies for some reason... Interesting post though!
candace_redinger at yahoo dot com

Unknown said...

Growing up in a very rural setting, I do share in the wish that hillbillies had a bit more complimentary stereotype cast on them. Though, I also find truth in Jeff Foxworthy's old joke about not wanting your brain surgeon to have a thick southern accent. :)

therabidfox[at]gmail.com

Unknown said...

I was trying to think of any horror novels in my library that don't generally use hillbillies as monsters or freaks, and the best I could come up with is Brian Keene's "Conqueror Worms."

yoyogod@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Hillbilly Horror - great term and fitting in so many circumstances. :)

calseeor (at) gmail (dot) com

Unknown said...

HAHAHA! I love the picture :D

ashleysbookshelf[at]gmail[dot]com

Ashley @ Ashley's Bookshelf

Anonymous said...

One of my favorite movies is The Songcatcher. It combines two of my favorite things - history and music.

lorraine_lanning[at]yahoo[dot]com

~ Mari said...

Letter from a Kentucky Mother to her son

Dear Son,

Just a few lines to let you know I'm alive. I'm writing this letter slowly cause I know you can't read very fast. You won't know the house when you come because we've moved. I won't be able to send you the address as the last Kentucky family that lived here took the numbers off for their next house to they won't have to change their address. About your fater, he has a new job. He has over 500 men under him. He's cutting the grass at the cemetary. There was a washing machine in the new house when we moved in, but it isn't working too good. Last week, I put 14 shirts in it, pulled the chain, and I haven't seen them since. Your sister Mary had a baby this morning. I haven't found out if it's a boy or girl, so I don't know if you're an aunt or an uncle. Your uncle Dick drowned last week in the distillery. Some of the workers dove in to save him but he fought them off bravely. He had his body creamated and it took three days to put out the fire. Your father didn't have too much to drink this Christmas. I put a bottle of caster oil in a pint of beer. It kept him going until New Years Day. I went to the doctor on Thursday and your father came with me. The doc put a small tube in my mouth and told me not to open it for ten minutes. Your father offered to buy it from him. It only rained twice last week. Three days the first time and four the next. Monday was so windy that one of our chickens laid the same egg four times. We got a letter from the undertaker yesterday - he said that if the last statement isn't paid on your grandmother's funeral within seven days, up she come!

Love,

Mother

P.S. I was going to send you ten dollars but I had already sealed the envelope.

Regge Ridgway said...

Hillbilly horror may include inbreeding and the lack of good oral hygiene. But doesn't have to rely on that. Scott rules.

Shellie said...

So you have relatives that could be considered hillbillies? I can relate to that. My grandfather was what I would consider to be a creative genius. He could play guitar, banjo, fiddle, and piano. He carved a totem pole, birds, and several small objects. I've been told he also painted and wrote poetry, but I've not seen the evidence of those works. I loved to hear hime tale his stories of fox fire and of growing up in the Great Depression, he always spoke with an infectious passion. He passed much of his creativity to his offspring, and though some seem eccentric, they are good and kind folk. My grandmother was one of the best cooks I had ever encountered. I loved her blackberry cobbler and begged her to make it everytime I visited. They are no longer with us, and the older I get, the more I miss them, and I mourn the wisdom that was lost with them. Yes, they would have been considered hillbillies, living in their small dilapidated trailor out in the woods of Morganton North Carolina, but I'm proud to call them mine. Anyone with such ancestory would be proud.

Much Love,
Shellie

Inanna said...

I have a secret love for inbreeding stuff. It's weird, I know. There's a little known movie (on the list of the worst ever made, probably its greatest achievement lol) called "Spider Baby" with Lon Chaney Jr. I LOVE that movie. :)

Estella said...

Have never heard of hillbilly horror until now.

kissinoak at frontier dot com

donnas said...

Great post. While many do picture hillbillys in the sterotypical way, its cool to see authors out there not do that and making them normal.

Andrea I said...

The Dukes of Hazard was another one that portrayed hillbilly's as dumb and clueless. I don't care where you're from;I grew up in NW Flordia in the panhandle and a lot of people considered us Lower Alabamians. The south part of our county was ruined when they came and built condos, etc. across the beach areas. I can't afford to even vacation there any more, too expensive.

andrea.infinger@gmail.com

HODGEPODGESPV said...

about 40 years or so ago, i had some moonshine (i was in kentucky at the time). luckily i was warned to take the smallest sip possible. i now know the route from my mouth to my kidneys! that was also my last taste of moonshine! spvaughan@yahoo.com

author Christa Polkinhorn said...

Mary Adkins, that letter is priceless!
Christa

Katie said...

Thanks for the chance to win!

kt1969 at comcast dot net

Weston Kincade said...

Well, I grew up in Texas, but have spent years in the mountains of Virginia now. When they first came out, I thought Jeff Foxworthy's jokes were funny, but a bit far from the truth. Now that I live in the mountains I know how spot on he really was. I have referred to this in past posts. It is incredible because just down from my place is a house with a couch on the open porch, a car sitting on cement blocks, a washer and dryer sitting in the yard, and to top it off their next door neighbor has a piano sitting on their open porch. I guess most jokes and stereotypes stem from the truth and the ambition to continue playing music is certainly not limited to the indoors, no matter what instrument you play.

One of the most appropruiate jokes I was told recently actually came from one of these so called hillbillies. It goes something like this.

A mountainman came down from the hills and into the city for the first time. Seeing a construction worker pouring something steaming out of an insulated bottle, he asked him what it was. The man replied that it was a thermos.
"What doe3s it do?" asked the hillbilly.
"It keeps cold things cold and hot things hot," answered the worker.
"I'll have to get one of those," he replied.
The worker then proceeded to inform him about wal mart and where the nearest one was. The mountain man followed his directions and got one before heading home. Later that evening, the man's father came in and asked what the bottle on the mantle was.
The son replied, "It's a thermos. It keeps hot things h ot and cold things cold."
"So, what ya got in it?" Asked his father.
The hillbilly son replied, "Two pints of coffe and a popsicle."

I liked that one when I heard it and laughed heartily considering the source, a tall, broad man at work in a professional job wearing his cammo gear because he didn't want to change before going hunting.

Wakincade AT gmail DOT com

Weston Kincade said...

Oh, and I forgot to mention the old dentists chair set up ne3xt to the classic 7o's truck with a wooden shed ten feet tall built onto the btruck bed. It has qa christmas star and lights addorning it that have never been taken down. I think there is enough there to makne up a few knew jokes.

n2france said...

LMAO!! I love, Love, LOVE the fact that you use Monsters, Inc. as an example. That was enough to make me smile for the rest of the day. Thx.

Anonymous said...

:)

Icedream said...

I'm from WV, I take incredible pride in my state's history and culture. But I also enjoy a good hillbilly joke:

Junior and Bubba stop at a convience store so Bubba can run in for some moon pies and RC cola. A couple minutes later Junior runs into the store and yells to
his buddy,
"Bubba, somebody just stole your pickup truck from the
parking lot!"

Bubba replied, "Did you see who it was?"

Junior says, "I couldn't tell, but I got the license
number."

waitmantwillie at hotmail dot com

lingeorge said...

Yes, it obvious that traditions are fading. The clash of cultures is going commercial. I tell younger co-workers who only know big box stores that they do not have a clue as to what is missing in their life. You know, like customer service? Finding just about anything in a stationery or hardware store, not just what the franchise orders to be there. Oh well, you can tell I am old enough to look far back on "the good old days"
troublelore at gmail dot com

bluefrog said...

I love Sharyn McCrumb. Half of her characters could be my relatives. (My mom's people are from North Carolina)


bluefrog62@yahoo.com

doreen lamoureux said...

I've been so busy with painting and packing...I am forgeting to follow this.

dorcontest at gmail dot com

AJC said...

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm "Hillbilly Horror" is just as entertaining as "Zombies". AAAAAH, damn that's a bold statement.
turtletao@gmail.com

jpearson said...

What about redneck I am from the midwest and we do havae lots of rednecks 'round' here!
i (dot) pearson(at) comcast (dot) net

Linda Kish said...

I had never heard of hillbilly horror before.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Onge said...

I haven't read any hillbilly horror books. But I would now like to! Thanks for the awesome post and contest!!
chickenherder@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

interesting point about the monster at the end of monsters, inc!!

hancoci_s at msn dot com

Randy said...

I love your books!
randycrai at yahoo dot com

Melissa said...

I cant wait to start reading your books! I have added them to my wish list on amazon!

couponhuntingchik at gmail dot com

Margay Leah Justice said...

My father was from a very remote area in Virginia, so I kind of empathize with the hillbillies and don't like when they're all portrayed as evil. They are wonderful people who remind us of how life used to be. But I do have to admit that I like Jeff Foxworthy's bit "You might be a redneck if..." because he is celebrating it, not ridiculing it.

Margay1122(at)aol(dot)com

Teawench said...

I have & read a Ronald Kelly book but don't remember hillbillies. Which doesn't mean much because of my steel sieve memory.
teawench at gmail dot com

Pink Panther said...

Thanks for the lovely post! :)
You can reach me at luvpinkpanther@gmail.com

Kate Scott said...

Please enter me!

kate[at]parchmentgirl[dot]com

Cori Westphal said...

I can almost see myself reading on my new Kindle already!

coriwestphal at msn dot com
@coriwestphal

Scooter said...

Scott,

I just wanted to point out a minor spelling error in your post.

It's "Floridiots," not "Floridians."

When the Zombie Apocalypse finally hits, I'm headed for the hills. Those people know everything about self-sufficiency and survival. Plus they are bound to have a bunch of guns.

Nice barn.

Scott, too!

Unknown said...

Great information.

dalelmurphy(at)gravesdetales(dot)com

byonge said...

I guess the movie "Deliverance" is a form of hillbilly horror.

byonge@lonepinetv.com

Stefanie said...

This is another read for my TBR pile, for sure.

"Writers shouldn’t sit around looking at their themes, because then they become pompous A-holes like Jonathan Franzen, but that one is now so obvious that it’s hard to deny."

Can I also add that this is the funniest, most brutally honest blurb I've read in a while? I'm still giggling about it...

booklover0226 said...

I look forward in reading your books.

Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com

Paul McMurray said...

Scott, count me in for the Kindle!
Paul
mrluckyATcharterDOTnet

Nancy said...

Hillbillies are just plain fun and easy to be around!
Nancy

Stacey Smith said...

Sorry I'm from Ca all we have is Trail trash and apart ment trash I've been both and this am a apartment Rong side of the Track type of girl.or there is the Kids That seam to think there from the 60's and the tree Huggers and the Beach Kids if you live closer to the Ocean.
sasluvbooks(at)yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Hope this gets you some more readers. I haven't been disapointed with anything you've written. Glad to see you coming up with more stories.

Julie
pjtansey@hotmail.com

Gail said...

A young city man decided before he went off to college, he should drive up in the hills to see his old grandpa. Grandpa invited him to stay for dinner, so while Grandpa was cooking, the young man set the table. He took a close look at the plates and said, "Grandpa, are you sure these plates are clean?". "Clean as cold water kin get 'em", replied Grandpa. Well, after dinner it was getting pretty late so Grandpa invited him to spend the night. Next morning, while Grandpa was cooking the grits 'n eggs, the young man thought he saw bits of food on the plates from the night before. Again he said, "Grandpa, are you sure these plates are clean?" "Clean as cold water kin get 'em", replied Grandpa. Well, finally it came time to head home, but before he could step off the porch, a raggeddy old dog jumped up and starting barking, blocking him from leaving the porch. Grandpa hollered, "Get outta here Coldwater!"

Hank Brown said...

I didn't know somebody had classified it into a genre, but I can recall a few hillbilly horror flicks I myself have seen.

Twitter: MachineTrooper

EVA SB said...

Hillybilly Horror is a new genre to me but then I've never watched Deliverence!

Jason Fedelem said...

Thanks for the tour, Scott.

web at jasonfedelem.com

Anonymous said...

As a proud hillbilly from Boone, I thank you for avoiding the cheap stereotypes. :-)

Kimberly K. said...

Another interesting post on your tour.

kellysydow@yahoo.com

Mayara Arend said...

Oh my, I'm so late on the tour :s

Must stalk now.

mayarend -at- yahoo.com.br

Wehaf said...

Somehow I can remained completely ignorant of hillbilly horror until now. Maybe that's a good thing?

urchiken at gmail dot com

Kristie said...

I have never seen Deliverance(gasp). Hangs head in shame.
kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

Enjoying the blog tour!

dreamer dot ima at gmail dot com

Author Scott Nicholson said...

@margay I don't know about "how life used to be"--maybe here, but other places had their own cultures. I think the Southern Mountains were for the people who didn't even fit in among the misfit immigrant/ religious dissidents who migrated from Europe!

Deliverance is a purty good movie. I don't know if it's a "must see" but it's certainly a cultural touchstone

@Gail that's a funny story!

Scott

Horror Books said...

Hey Scott,

I read The Harvest, to see how you played against stereotypes as much as to discover the "monster". This was well before I heard of the term "Hillbilly Horror" although knowing what it means, I can say I've seen it in movies and writing all my life.

I'm interested in the revised version of The Harvest -- is it very different from the original or were there only cosmetic changes?


Thanks for the chance to win,
Greg "The Undead Rat" Fisher

theundeadrat (@) gmail (.) com

Unknown said...

Interesting as where I come from the only exposure I get to hillbilly culture is what's on TV and in movies. That's not to say that I believe in the stereotypes, but when you only see one side of a story it's a little difficult picture it any other way.

It's like those movies set in the "hood". I currently reside in the part of a city that you would described as a "ghetto" or the "hood". And the way it's depicted in media mostly centers around stereotypes. That used to frustrate me, but now I just shrug my shoulders and go out and live life. At least we seem to get a little better treatment than you Hillbillys. I feel your pain.

Interesting topic.

michaellmartinjr[at]gmail[dot]com

hendy said...

Who knew how different the idea/concept of a hillbilly would change over the years-a common subject here in the plains of Kansas
hmhenderson At yahoo DOT com

Cathy W said...

That's a new one on me~!!
cjwallace43 at gmail dot com

Joe F. said...

Love the blog... and the free kindle.
Thanks,
Joe

josafisch@yahoo.com

jpearson said...

I love the name hillbilly horror! Its a whole new genre!

pippirose said...

You're a hoot!
:o)
pippirose59 at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

Hi,
I am a new follower to the site and of your Scott..But the more I hear of your books the more I can't wait to read one..
This one sounds very interesting..
Good Luck to you and to all that entered to win..
:)

baby_blackroze@yahoo.com

Jesse said...

Though I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and went to a school for the Deaf in Morganton, I never really had the pleasure of interacting with true mountain people. However I do understand the pain of being misunderstood or underestimated as a community. I as a Deaf person face that on a daily basis.

Great post!

-Jesse
conrad.jd (at) gmail (dot) com

R.S. Hunter said...

I just watched an episode of Supernatural from either season 1 or 2 that was about hillbillies. They liked to hunt people just for sport. It was really cliche and a pretty pointless episode.

Not one of the better ones. One of the characters even said the line "sometimes evil is just people." Because they were so used to battling supernatural enemies. I dunno. The episode felt like it was missing something. Mostly flair and panache I'm guessing.

rshunter88@gmail.com

Matt Caulder said...

Sounds pretty interesting. I'm way more interested in your work than I was before.

matthewcaulder at gmail dot com

Author Scott Nicholson said...

Thanks for entering, everyone, entries here capped at 91. Please join later tour stops!

@Greg the revised version cuts about 15k words at least, maybe 20k. There were some scenes at the beginning that were setting up characters and that stuff didn't have much movement and action. I think I'm a better writer now, a decade later!

@Jesse thanks for following the tour, I lived in Morganton when I was 7 or 8.

Scott

Unknown said...

I'm in Florida...could be a good match. LOL.
....Tiffypoot @ (aol.com)

Heather said...

I would love to be entered!
littlebearries@yahoo.com

sablelexi said...

whenever I hear Hillybillies I always think of the Beverly Hillbillies.

jlynettes @ hotmail . com

Anonymous said...

hufflepuffgrl13@yahoo.com