What it's like to write horror stories: Nightmare was my inspiration

But instead of forgetting a recurring scary dream he had as a child, author Colin Hopson used the experience to inspire his first horror book.

“They say you should face your demons so I did. I think the dream came from when my friend and I were told off by this man for pinching damsons from a tree in the alleyway at the back of my garden.

“I don’t know if they were his damsons or not but in my dream there was a dark figure that would chase me. It taught me not to pinch damsons,” says the 49-year-old.

Colin, who uses the pen name Colin Martin, believes the dream which he experienced four times may have been inspired by his love of Hammer Horror films.

“As I watched a lot of Hammer Horror films as a child, the double-bills on Saturday nights and having a good imagination, I guess after my friend stole damsons from the top of the field and the man shouted at us, this bought on a dream based in the alley and fields accessible at the top of our garden.

“After playing in the treehouse and collecting damsons, the dream was that my friend ran down the hill after we saw a dark figure on a horse which turned out to be the Angel of Death and I tried to follow as I was scared of the dark figure.

“The dark figure gave chase so I ran to the top of my garden where there was a stile. As I mounted the stile and turned back to see if this Angel of Death was galloping to me, he had suddenly disappeared. It was then, as I looked down the alleyway which resembled a arch-like tunnel, a fire demon started to flare in the distance and reveal itself as it sped towards me.

“As I was obviously petrified I shot through my gate and tried to run for the safety of my garden and then house. But as in only dreams my feet were slow as the ground seemed to be like deep mud and I struggled to get to the safety of my back door.

“On each occasion more has happened at the end of the dream as it has repeated four times. The last time I had this dream, I got inside but saw the demon glaring at me through the kitchen window as the house shook and vibrated to shatter the window,” explains Colin, whose favourite authors include James Herbert, Stephen King and Gary Brandner.

He began to write his story when he was a student at Dudley College and also created a board game based on his dream.

Colin wrote the first eight chapters but never got any further until he started studying at the University of Wolverhampton as a mature student.

After earning his master’s degree in computer science Colin, who now works as a library support assistant at the university, decided it was time to make his dream of writing a book come true. “I wrote 12 chapters and asked a friend to read it and they were really positive about it so I carried on writing and re-editing. The book is made up of three parts with 12 chapters in each part,” he says.

Self-publishing his book, the first in a trilogy, was a ‘learning curve’, says Colin who has also painted all of the artwork for the covers himself.

“I wasn’t really doing it to make money, I wanted to write the book for me and have something to be proud of. When it came to self-publishing, I was out of my depth because I didn’t really know what I was doing. I think a lot of people have ideas but they don’t know what to do or fear they will be rejected.

“I chose Authorhouse and was really pleased with the quality of the book and the print. When I recieved the first copies of my book, I tore the package open. It was brilliant to have my book.

Dream Master is described as a tense, psychological novel of demonic horror centred around a journalist named Carl, who connects recent deaths to that of his horrific nightmares.

Disturbed that he cannot control his dreams, he researches his family history, only to find the past torn between good and evil.

“You’ll find my dream portrayed in the very first chapter of Dream Master although somewhat different for the plot and to grasp the reader’s interest. I think the first chapter has got to do this to make the reader inquisitive enough to want to read,” says Colin, who published Dream Master in 2012.

He says a good horror novel needs to capture the imagination and keep readers on the edge of their seats.

“I don’t mind a bit of gore but there needs to be a good plot and it needs to be scary,” says Colin.

Although it was his first novel, Colin, who has since published the two other books – Rainmaker in 2014 and Dream Daughters in 2016 says it’s the middle story of the trilogy.

Colin is now working on his fourth book – a standalone tale inspired by Vlad the Impaler, who is believed to be the inspiration beyond Dracula.

Despite his fear of flying, he travelled to Romania to research ideas and visit locations such as Bran Castle near Braşov.

He has already drafted out the storyline for Vlad: The Dark Prince and completed the artwork for the front cover of the book. He hopes to publish the book in about 18 months time.

“Vlad is battling to protect his realm and he wanders to the dark side and becomes this Dracula-type figure. I’m hoping it’s going to be like bringing Game of Thrones and Dracula together.”

• Colin will be appearing at Wolverhampton Literature Festival in February. See colinmartinbooks.wordpress.com