Interview with Noel O'Regan

As the editor and creator of the Late Night Horror Review literary and review magazine, I knew from the get-go that I wanted to feature an exclusive interview with the talented Irish author, Noel O’Regan. I had the privilege of meeting Noel this past June during a study abroad trip to Ireland. For the trip, I had been assigned to read Noel O’Regan’s debut novel, Though the Bodies Fall, among many other novels, stories, and poems relevant to the trip’s focus on literature. Noel’s novel stuck out the most to me—which says a lot about him as a prominent Irish writer since myself and the rest of the group on the trip were also reading novels by the well-known Sally Rooney and Claire Keegan.  

Though the Bodies Fall offers a harrowing look into how place—in this novel, the Irish clifftops of Kerry Head in Ireland—affects the individual, especially regarding the feelings of grief and despair. Many elements of Noel’s novel are rooted in the sense of how a place shapes a person, which is also a common theme in the subgenre of Gothic Horror. I sent an email out to Noel back in September on the off chance that he would be willing to let me interview him for the first issue of my magazine, Late Night Horror Review. Much to my eternal appreciation, I was fortunate enough to interview Noel and have a conversation with him about his career as a writer, how he incorporates elements of the horror genre into his writing, especially in his debut novel, and what he thinks of various horror media.  

The interview is transcribed by as follows: 

Rettig: How do you battle writer's block, more so, what pushed you to finish writing your novel, Though the Bodies Fall?

O’Regan: Good question, writer's block is not something I've had to deal with in the traditional sense, as I'm quite a slow writer, so a strange benefit about is that I'll always have a backlog of ideas waiting for me. But, something that I think is related is procrastination. I do think that ties in to the idea of writer's block and I was thinking about it recently, with my own work, and how I think it has to do almost with a fear of exposure or a fear of failure. So, there is this like grandstanding fear that the work is not going to work. And so, it's almost more bearable to deal with the small shame of procrastination as opposed to the giant shame of a work you've put so much time into falling apart. I think that even acknowledging that helped me, like, when I had that realization and it's also true that every writer has their own pace. So, it's okay if you are a writer that takes time and you need to sit with an idea; accepting that is a really useful thing. And, with my novel, I did learn those things and, yeah, it ultimately just came down to a discipline and finding a routine that worked for me, but also finding an acceptance that it would take as long as it would take.

Rettig: I like that response a lot, that's very well-put. I get it, I also struggle with writing sometimes, too, and I always want to put out the best possible version of what I can do; and I would also say that I am slow at writing. 

O'Regan: I think it can be tied to that perfectionist psychology, as well, it's like, people want it to be perfect, which is a good thing, it's obviously a good thing to be, but it can often create a barrier between you and the work; a mental barrier. It's an interesting thing to navigate.

Rettig: My next question is; "What techniques or rituals do you follow in creating characters for your novel and in your other writings?"

O'Regan: Creating characters. So, I have this document that I came across years ago by a writer, I really admire her, called Clare Wigfall; she’s an English short story writer and she has this thing called the “Character Booklet.” It’s really just questions, quite a basic document, but I’ve always found it really useful as a starting box for thinking about characters. It really allows me to step into that person’s skin and figure out who they really are. So, that’s certainly a good starting point for me. It’s thinking about their place in time and their place in space. Like, I’m a firm believer in environmental determinism—the idea that we’re shaped, shaped by our places. There’s a quote by Annie Proulx I love which is that “If you get the landscape right, characters will step out of it.”  

Rettig: That’s beautiful. I feel like that’s something I struggle with and that I know a lot of my peers in school struggle with is definitely character creation and I like that term, “environmental determinism.” I’ve never really thought about character creation that way.  

O’Regan: Yeah, it’s a great way for even, you know if you think about it, think about landscape and environment and what it means for stories’ characters and their feelings.  

Rettig: My next question is “How important are book reviews to you? And, how would you say you handle criticism regarding your writing?” 

Noel chuckles. 

O’Regan: You want the honest answer? 

Rettig: Yes, of course! 

O’Regan: Yeah, like, it’s a bit strange, that’s a strange thing, isn’t it? Criticism is baked into the writing journey from a very early point, so, I was in a workshop setting in college—in university—with a particularly tough writer in charge. He was quite brutally honest, and, I very quickly learned to develop a tough skin, I suppose, and that has helped along the way. It’s also important, as well, that you develop your own sense of what’s true when you get criticism; what feels true to you and what feels false. I think Hemingway used to call book reviews, “shock-proof.” When criticism comes your way, it’s still ultimately down to you; like, if it feels—if it rings true for you, then it’s a valuable thing, but also, if you know that it’s not quite right from what you’re trying to do, then you can discard it. So, that would be how I feel about criticism, but since the book came out, now of course, I’ve had to deal with reviews. So, it took me years to build a tough exterior and I felt quite exposed when the first reviews for the novel came out. I remember the night before the Irish Times review came out, which is like the big one in Ireland as a paper and record, as they say. I didn’t sleep, I did not sleep, and the shop near my house opened at six in the morning, so, I got out of bed at like 5:45am and just drove down to the shop and waited for it to open. I was just telling myself that “whatever happens didn’t really matter.” It’s okay to be that way. Now that it’s been a year since the book, I guess it doesn’t take up that much space, really. But, you know, ask me that question when the next book comes out. 

We share a laugh.  

O’Regan: See how I’m doing, then. 

Rettig: Yeah, I think criticism really helps to shape writing—when it’s good criticism—constructive criticism. 

O’Regan: Yes, yes, constructive criticism, you know, I really do believe that and, you know, I’ll always value my readers, and I think that’s really important for a writer to have—readers that are going to give honest feedback. Ultimately, it’s about constructive criticism. 

Rettig: Yeah, I agree. My next question is more specific to what the magazine’s about. Are there elements of the horror genre that you drew influence from in your novel? 

O’Regan: Good question, um, I don’t know if it would be directly the horror genre, I would say the Gothic genre. Which is, you know, horror-adjacent. 

Rettig: Yes, I got that, too, when I was reading. 

O’Regan: Irish Gothic fiction has a really interesting tradition, so, the origins of it would be the likes of, you know, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 

Rettig: I just watched that for the first time, actually. In my film class.  

O’Regan: The Coppola one? 

Rettig: Yes, the Coppola one.  

O’Regan: Yeah, it’s interesting. I love that, but yeah, to get back to my point—there's a strong tradition of the Gothic in Irish literature, all the way back to Bram Stoker. You know, Melmoth’s Wanderer is another one and even Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu—it has a lot of vampires in it. And, I believe that a lot of that has to do with landscape, again, like I think certain moods, certain atmospheres are drawn out of the landscape and suit a certain literary mood. So certainly, for the West of Ireland, you know, windy, rainy, semi-ruined place—it's authentically Gothic, I would say. So, when you’re writing a story in that space, you can’t help, even if I consider my novel to be a work of realism, but I’m also aware that it probably has one foot in that other Gothic-type state, as well. That’s just true to the space in which I grew up in; the space in which I live. There’s a writer I love called Alistair MacLeod, he’s a Canadian writer, and he talks about how certain stories are inherent to certain spaces. So, for example, his example was that Wuthering Heights couldn’t have been written anywhere else but Yorkshire. And, I’m fascinated; like that’s part of my mission as a writer is to like capture stories that feel authentic and the Gothic seems to be certainly a part of that. 

Rettig: I like that a lot, actually. I mean, I’m so ingrained into this horror genre, like it’s always been my main focus of study. I definitely agree with that Wuthering Heights in Yorkshire point. I never really thought of it that way. It makes sense; it’s fascinating. 

O’Regan: Kind of coming back to what interests you and what excites you—in terms of stories. For me, I like to throw ideas around that sort of stuff.  

Rettig: That’s really nice. My last question; this is just for fun. Do you have a favorite horror novel, movie, or show? If yes, what are they? 

O’Regan: My favorite horror novel—again I’m kinda leaning more into Gothic. For me, personally, I’ve always had a hard time with body horror in horror—slashers. I’m just too squeamish. 

Rettig: I get it. 

O’Regan: The certain horror that works for me is the stuff that leans into suspense and Gothic atmosphere, typically. So for favorite horror that’s Gothic, I would say Picture of Dorian Gray.  

Rettig: That one is so good! 

O’Regan: Yeah, a classic. Irish, more importantly. I go back to it quite a bit because it’s beautifully written, so interesting, and philosophical. In terms of film, Let the Right One In. 

Rettig: I’m not familiar with that. 

O’Regan: An old Swedish film. Came out in the 2010s, vampire film. Fantastic! I highly recommend it. There was also an American remake a bit after, but search out the original. 

Rettig: Yeah, of course, always.  

O’Regan: Exactly, and tv show, does Buffy count? 

Rettig: Yes! I think Buffy would definitely count. 

O’Regan: I mean, I grew up with Buffy and it was one of my favorite shows as a teenager, so, it has—it's more complicated. It has an incredible cast and is just so much fun.  

Rettig: It was so much fun. 

O’Regan: In a rainy, overcast West of Ireland living room, growing up, it was an interesting escape. 

Rettig: There’s a lot of those early 1990s, 2000s shows that just really captured the moody, sort of, teenage experience in conjunction with supernatural fears and I was always fascinated with that era of media.  

O’Regan: There’s a movie that came out this year, an A24 film, it’s called I Saw the TV Glow. I actually haven’t seen that film, but it’s supposed to capture that time of those sort of shows and that kind of relationship that teenagers have with it really well. So, I’m very excited to watch it. 

Rettig: They just put it on some sort of streaming platform here in America and I am probably going to watch it with my roommate soon.  

O’Regan: So, that, and Let the Right One In. 

Rettig: Yes, I’ll put it on my list. I really appreciate you being able to do this. 

O’Regan: It’s no trouble. I hope you had a nice time in Ireland over the summer. 

Rettig: I did, I loved Ireland. I need to go back.  

O’Regan: That’s all an Irish person ever needs to hear is that—I loved Ireland. I’m basically working for the Irish tourist board now, full propaganda.  

Noel and I shared a bit more conservation about my plans for the future and about how thankful I am that he was able to join me for an interview.