Have you written any other books?
 
Lydia:
No. But I have written many short stories and I plan on writing Fright House II in the near future.
 

The stories in the book seem to share the same mystery/horror that many of the old radio shows such as Quiet Please, Suspense and Lights Out gave to their listeners, have you listened to such media? Was this the approach that you had for the reader?
 
Lydia:
Yes, when I was a child my family had very little. We couldn’t afford a television at that time, so we relied on our radio for entertainment. My siblings and me would gather around the radio and listen to the tales of mystery and suspense and couldn’t wait until the next airing that would fill our young hearts with adventure.
 
 
You have accomplished the difficult task of thoroughly immersing the listener into the story. By speaking directly to the audience, by giving the reader a role in the unfolding plot, this is a wonderful way to get you idea into the mind of the reader. Why did you choose the format in which the reader is one of the subjects?
 
Lydia:
Thank you so much for your kind words. When I write it’s like therapy. It’s like I’m seated in a dark theater watching my imagination come alive on stage. As I watch the characters interact with the other characters and their surroundings I can learn from their faults, mistakes, and their strengths. In other words, I write as if I’m observing therefore if I can feel and become a part of my characters so can those who read my stories. The reader can take a seat in the audience and safely watch and learn from the horrors that reveal themselves on stage.
 

The characters all in the book seem to share similar qualities with each other both psychological and types of location. Do they have relevance to places or people that you have known?
 
Lydia:
The characters in Fright House are fictional except for the ones in Night of the witch, Drummer, and in the bonus book Evil walls. All of these characters, although fictional, are based on my own experiences.
 

In your “Morals” section of the book you point out that characters that looked forward to something bad happening does, and that we can all basically create whatever we believe to become a truth. This is represented by physical manifestations of hopes and fears. Do you feel that it will help people by understanding that their perspective can change some of the fears that they have?
 
Lydia:
Yes, absolutely. I’m not fearless. No one is fearless. We live in a world of horrors so how can we claim to be fearless? We can’t. But I believe we can eliminate some of our fears if we try, as hard as it may be to face our fears and see them for what they truly are. I don’t know what your fears look like and you don’t know what mines appear to be. But fear is fear. If you believe that a fear can harm you or those you love than you give it power to do so. If you believe that your fear can be overcome then you will rid yourself of its devastating affects.
 
 
In “The Epitaph” you changed to writing in a very poetic style. When you suggest to people that they write to confront their own fears you also suggest writing as a poem. Do you think that this will help a person discover their fears more easily?
 
Lydia:
I’d like to believe that most people are very poetic. I also believe that writing in this way has a spiritual healing to it. Poems for me have a mystical quality that allows me to tell or experience a story in astral way. It’s almost as if I leave my body behind when I read poetry. If we can separate ourselves even for a moment away from the physical it’s possible to see our fears for what they truly are.
 
Do you have any background in Psychological study, the stories are very psychological in natures and almost feel like they have been written to show examples of different types of “dealing with fear”?
 
Lydia:
Yes, I took some college classes in Psychology. I adored and respected my professor and you can imagine how horrified he was when he discovered that I wasn’t majoring in this field. Computer Programming was my major.  My psychology professor even gave me a copy of his manuscript before it even went into print. He believed I had a promising future in this field. Who knows, maybe it will be in my future. I would love to be able to offer some small amount of help to those who suffer from psychological problems.
 

 
In the bonus book the woman is being tormented by something “Evil” and the outcome is very interesting, do you feel that this is something that most people face?
 
Lydia:
I faced it! This section of the book was based on actual events in my life during the past few years. I believe that we can manifest our fears into reality and these manifestations are REAL!