Voices from Beyond the Grave: An Interview with Kfir Luzzatto, author of Crossing the Meadow.

Kfir Luzzatto’s novel Crossing the Meadow depicted the ways in which people are able to come to terms with their lives and their deaths. While some are able to pass onto the next stage of existence straight away, others have unfinished business which keeps them tethered to this world, although in the form of a ghost. The novel has won awards in the genre of horror and I asked Kfir whether he thought this was how he wanted his work to be thought of:

KL: “Horror is a multi-faceted vehicle. I have published short horror stories before, ranging from dark fantasy to humorous horror. Because horror is such a difficult genre to work in, if you limit yourself to little or no gore, I am certainly pleased to be included in that category.”

JW: “What do you think are the elements of a successful horror story?”

KL: “Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Queen of Horror, once defined the elements that make a successful horror story: “Horror is found not in content, as is science fiction, nor in method, as is mystery fiction, nor in historic location, as is western fiction; horror is found in atmosphere, in an environment where the unknown outweighs the defined, and where the quality of threat is not as precisely delineated as in other genres, circumstances that can take place in virtually any culture or locale, and impinge upon almost any character… the allure is that air of uncertainty, the abiding sense that all is somehow not right, that something is amiss, and is the more sinister because it is not defined or specific.”

I couldn’t possibly put it any better than that.”

Kfir’s novel considers the idea of life after death and I asked him whether this was an issue that was of particular importance to him.

“Giving and being given second chances is, indeed, something about which I feel very strongly because people make mistakes, which unless rectified may lead to punishment that is altogether incommensurate to the “crime”.

We live in an era in which introspection is seldom practiced. We spend more time planning how to buy a new car than we do preparing for the most important day of our mature life – our departure from this world. As a result, most people are taken by surprise when that fatal day arrives. To my mind the most poignant of all regrets that a dying person may have, is the realization that he could have put things that matter to him right, but simply didn’t get around to doing it. Being given a second chance at peace as in Crossing the Meadow, in a way that doesn’t hurt anybody, would seem to be a just remedy for our earthly shortcomings.”

One of the more interesting characters in the book had the job of an applied historian and it seems to me that he had a sufficiently interesting and sophisticated character as to be a suitable hero in subsequent books as a historical detective. Will he appear again?

KL: “I haven’t made a decision yet in this respect, although I keep an open mind. On the other hand, I have so many new and original projects on my “to do list”, that it may be quite a while before I can go back and revisit past characters.”

Kfir is now living in Israel and is working as a patent office lawyer. Somewhat tongue in cheek, I asked him whether this job provided him with interesting new ideas for fiction.

KL: “Working in patents allows you to see many different people in a variety of unusual situations, to visit different countries and to be in contact with original ideas, all which enriches your baggage of experience. There is no doubt that being constantly in contact with inventors and inventions is very stimulating, and some of my work in the science fiction genre draws heavily from that experience.

Patent work, on the other hand, can often be dry and uninspiring. Every now and then, however, it pays off. My unpublished second novel, ExtraLife, Inc., is a high-tech thriller, based on (a little of) my personal experience blended with (a lot of) fiction.

I have also published a short SF story (“Look-Alike”, Dark Tales Magazine, UK), for which I got my inspiration from biotech research, and the novel on which I am currently working owes a few interesting angles to my involvement in the high-tech world.”

JW: And what are you working on now?

KL: “I am completing my third novel, provisionally titled “Playful Fate”, which is a political science-fiction thriller.”

Based on Crossing the Meadow, Playful Fate should provide another interesting and enjoyable read.