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‘Alien: The Cold Forge’ Author Alex White Takes On the Xenomorph [Interview]

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It’s no easy task taking the reigns of a beloved franchise and spinning a tale, even contained, that will please fans. But Alex White, author the most recent Alien tie-in novel, “Alien: The Cold Forge” which is out today from the mighty Titan Books, is confident his unique spin will take readers on an unexpected journey.

I sat down with White to talk about his new book and our mutual love of all things Alien.

Tell us how you got into writing?

I’ve always been a big movie buff and when I was in high school I used to complain to my friends about every movie we went to go see. So, understandably, one day they told me, “If you think you can do so well why don’t you write a movie.”

So I started writing movies in my study periods, went to college and did some independent screenwriting studies and found out I don’t really like the movie industry very much so I turned to writing novels.

Before we talk “Alien: The Cold Forge”, do you have a genre of choice? Or is your writing driven by an idea first, genre considerations second?

I always start with an idea first. That usually results in world that’s described as “genre-bending” when the intent was just to stay true to the original idea.

“Alien: The Cold Forge” is actually a perfect example.  The idea came from a user experience conference I was at. Double came in with their latest telepresence robot and presented through it. It was essentially an iPad on a Segway with a face, where the face was the presenter.  I thought that was so cool for an Alien novel, the idea of having a character  go through a contaminated area in a telepresence robot and help other survivors and see how the other survivors would deal with that person and feel about that person when they didn’t have actual skin in the game, so to speak.  So everything for the book sort of coalesced around that idea.

So when it comes to presenting this idea to Titan Books – who has a lot of these extended universe “Alien” books going back to the nineties – how much do you need to line up with what’s come before? Is there a story bible, do you need to connect to the cannon films? 

Yes, I had to pitch to Titan and the idea needed to fit into the canon books they’re currently putting out. So I couldn’t just pitch any old thing, I had to really workshop the idea with the editor, Steve Saffel,  before sending the pitch to FOX who have to give final approval.

Do you reach out the previous authors to let them know you’ll be continuing on in the world? Do you use their characters?

Oh yeah, though I was not allowed to use their characters. I could use movie canon characters if I wanted to, but they didn’t end up being very useful to the plot, so there are some passing references but that’s it. It’s mostly a self-contained story with some far-reaching, broader implications to the world.

I should say that only the five books that Titan have commissioned are considered canonical. The older, nineties books, belonged to Dark Horse all those years back.  And they were extended universe cannon with their Earth War series where essentially Alien 3 never happened and Hicks and Newt were the main characters.  So luckily I didn’t really have to compete with the whole back catalog of 20-some novels and all comics thankfully.

Some passionate Alien fans have felt, let’s say, underwhelmed by Scott’s recent Prometheus and Covenant and can get pretty vocal about their opinions. Does that translate to the book world? Dipping your toes into a big franchise, do you worry about Alien fans coming after you if they’re not happy with what you do in the world?

Well, I’ll tell you, surprisingly enough it can get pretty ugly. I was on a panel with an author who writes a Robin Hood series and I mentioned she mentioned getting death threats. I was shocked. Then the writer next to me who writes Arrow books said he’s gotten five for six and so on.

But if you think about it, the fans who read tie-in novels are really the super fans. They are the ones who care most about the franchise and that’s why I do appreciate them. Most of the feedback so far has been very positive… well, there was someone on Bloody Disgusting (yes, I read the comments!) who was saying the book would suck because it was the same plot as Alien: Resurrection.

But I want to say, here now, if you, commentor on Bloody Disgusting, are reading this, I promise you this is not the same as Alien 4, which I would also strike from the cannon if I could. That and the AVP movies.

Whoa, wait. Alien: Resurrection‘s got a lot to love! That production design is worth the return, love the cast, and that underwater scene is conceptually strong!

It’s got Michael Wincott doing what he does best!

Yes! That was when they were really starting to push the CG alien hard to mixed effect. And it seems like Scott’s been going down that road. 

Watch the making of Covenant. There’s a lot more practical work going on then you might think. Go find the Adam Savage Tested stuff and see everything there. A lot of that set was real. It’s pretty amazing.

Alright, most important question time. Are you an Alien guy, or an Aliens guy?

Complicated question, complicated answer involving growing up. When I was a kid we weren’t allowed to have horror movies or action movies in the house. I lived in the middle of nowhere in Alabama where all the other kids around me were watching the most insane, violent, awesome stuff, and I wasn’t really allowed to. Then, finally, Terminator 2 came out and it won Oscars for its special FX so my parents took me to the video store and we rented it with some family friends and we watched it and my parents were like, “oh my god, if your mind ruined?”. No. It was amazing, I loved it and I wanted more.

That was when a friend of the family revealed he had a treasure trove of 80’s action movies, Predator, Alien, Aliens, Warlock… we watched Alien. I enjoyed it, I was scared, but Aliens was where it was at for me. It was easy to grasp the concepts, gives you a rush.

What makes Aliens so accessible is that all the stuff that was so subtle in Alien is turned up to 11 in Aliens. The evil corporation, Ripley, everything. It’s what Cameron does. Of course, now that I’m older I love Alien just as much. Especially after joining the corporate workforce, it really speaks to me.

Me too, man. Alex, thanks for your time and thanks for doing your part to keep the Alien franchise alive.

You got it, man.

Alien: The Cold Forge” is available now.

Books

‘The Angel of Indian Lake’ Book Review – Stephen Graham Jones Wraps Horror Lit’s Greatest Slasher Trilogy

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Angel of Indian Lake Slasher novel

With The Angel of Indian Lake, author Stephen Graham Jones tackles one of the most daunting tasks in horror: bringing a trilogy to a satisfying close. Making it even more challenging is that the final entry in Jones’ slasher trilogy endcaps two perfect entries in horror lit, with 2021’s My Heart is a Chainsaw recontextualizing the slasher formula and last year’s Don’t Fear the Reaper appropriately escalating the lore and carnage in a way that only an uber-slasher fan like Jones could.

It’s been four years since Jade Daniels stepped foot in Proofrock, Idaho. After saving the town once again and thwarting another deranged killer, Jade took the fall for her best friend and final girl, Letha. She already has a track record, after all, and Letha’s a family woman. Through Letha, Jade winds up in a place she least expected: teaching high school under the judging eyes of Proofrockers, who still blame Jade for not one but two waves of catastrophic slaughter. It doesn’t help that Jade’s return to town heralds a new reign of terror that threatens to destroy Proofrock for good. Between long-running grudges, serial killer cultists, mysterious disappearances, another wave of bizarre deaths, and that pesky Lake Witch, Jade’s return to Proofrock becomes a final stand for the town’s soul.

When the trilogy began, Jade was a troubled, lonely teen who clung to slashers like a life raft. She wore her encyclopedic knowledge of them like armor. But surviving two slashers herself, followed by two separate stints in prison and the stigma that followed, Jade returns to town a woman still navigating past traumas while trying to outgrow her adolescent defense mechanisms. But this is Proofrock, and that horror knowledge quickly proves to be necessary when one of her students goes missing, and the bodies start piling up from there. It helps that Jade’s best friend Letha won’t let her forget her horror roots or that she’s given Jade something to live for, especially where Letha’s daughter and final-girl-in-the-making Adie is concerned. While Jones’ extensive love of horror infuses every page, his heroine takes a bit to reacclimate, especially thanks to the horror she’s missed while serving time. 

The previous two novels have packed in quite a bit of supernatural and reality-based slasher terror and presented a robust suspect list from the outset. Moreover, two novels deep into Proofrock’s history and present means a lot of loose ends to tie up when it comes to its characters. Jones finds ways to deepen character arcs and flesh out Proofrock’s denizens further through nonstop horror action. Here, the red herrings can be as deadly and unhinged as the actual killer. Rampaging bears, forest fires, and supernatural happenings intercut the slasher carnage, and Jones finds creative ways to carve up an even bigger body count than before, complete with narrative twists and breezy, dialectical prose. It’s nonstop horror. Fans of the previous entries will know that’s saying a lot. Taboos get broken straightaway, and Jones continues his streak of killing his darlings; many of the deaths in this novel are devastating.

It’s impressive how Jones wields the horror as connective tissue, juggling so much Proofrock history and horror at once. But it pales in comparison to his final girl, Jade. Letha remains a force of nature, even more so considering her personal stakes here, but it’s Jade’s story. Now three novels deep, Jade has always struggled to see herself as a final girl. It’s a title she’s eager to bestow on women she deems worthy or more fitting of the archetypical role. As savvy and resilient as she is, Proofrock always had a way of blinding Jade to her own potential. The selfless way she’s saved the town over and over while taking all of the bodily damage and blowback with none of the credit is of course inherent to the final girls Jade loves so much. 

The Angel of Indian Lake’s greatest triumph isn’t its satisfying slasher mayhem but the way it proves that Jade was right all along. She’s a scrappy survivor, which by definition puts her in that coveted category of final girls. But she’s so much more than that. Jones closes the loop on so many facets of Proofrock and its characters, evolving Jade’s penchant to crown those she deems worthy of final girl status, reshaping the concept of a final girl in the process. Jade is more than just a final girl. She’s a symbolic mother of final girls, putting her life and body on the line to support others, arming them with the strength and knowledge to unleash their inner final girls. Proofrock has seen a copious amount of bloodshed over three novels, but thanks to Jade, an unprecedented number of final girls have risen to fight back in various ways. The way that The Angel of Indian Lake closes that loop is masterful, solidifying Jade Daniels’ poignant, profound legacy in the slasher realm.

Through Jade, Stephen Graham Jones delivers horror lit’s greatest slasher trilogy of all time.

The Angel of Indian Lake publishes on March 26, 2024.

4.5 out of 5 skulls

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