Most horror stories lack the story itself: What the Eyes Dont author Neil DSilva – The New Indian Express

Express News Service

Author Neil DSilvas latest book is a paranormal thriller, What the Eyes Dont See that runs into 31 short and crisp chapters with an epilogue at the end.

The spine-tingling page-turner explores how past actions are never truly in the past as their consequences can come back to haunt you.

DSilva who established himself as one of the most exciting new voices in horror with his debut novel Mayas New Husband in 2015 has 16,000 reads in his short story collection, Desi Horror Stories. Excerpts:

Tell us more about your new book.

It is the story of a young man, Anay Ghosh, who has everything he needs. A job, an apartment, and a girlfriend. Then, suddenly his life is turned upside-down by the presence of an entity who stalks him. Everyone around Anay can see this stalker, but Anay cannot. As Anay finds his life crumbling to pieces, he has to face this paranormal stalker and find out why hes being targeted.Have you experienced any paranormal activity?

I have experienced some things that cannot be really explained. There was a time when my mother, brother and I, saw a man who resembled my departed grandfather, and that vision coincided with a life-changing event - our home loan being passed at the same moment.

To this day, we believe it was my deceased grandfather who came back to somehow facilitate the passing of that difficult loan approval. Some of the hauntings in this book are derived from such experiences that I have had and heard of. But most of them are from my imagination.

Do you think that stories of ghosts and black magic prevalent in Indias rural belt are true?

I have explored this in my previous book, Haunting: Real-life Encounters with Ghosts and Spirits. My co-author on this book was paranormal investigator Jay Alani. His experiences in the haunted locations of India make the book.

From my research on this book, most of the stories of black magic and ghosts in our rural areas are either born out from misinformation, misinterpretation or downright lies.

Having said that, it is still impossible to explain the mysterious occurrences at places like Jatinga, where hundreds of birds drop dead from the sky at once on a particular day, or the village of Mayong in Assam where almost every house practices black magic and can perform feats that are no less than miraculous. The more we learn, the less we know.

Can reading paranormal literature psychologically affect you?

That is a myth. It does require some amount of courage to go through that experience, but once you have done it, you will find that you are not afraid of it anymore. Horror-reading is like experiencing an adventure sport. I was quite a coward child growing up. But I read Dracula, Frankenstein,

The Turn of the Screw, The Picture of Dorian Grey and such horror classics as a teenager. Edgar Allan Poe was my constant companion. Their stories would scare me because I could see my own fears and phobias in them. However, after a while, that fear would go away and leave me bolder.

Do you think that lately the books and movies being made on the subject have repetitive content?

I think a great disservice has been done to the horror genre in India. The movies and shows in particular depend on gimmicks and devices such as jumpscares using shadows and sounds, and various kinds of CGI. You might scream or jump for a moment, but then it does not stay with you. What is really lacking in most horror stories is the story itself!

What is the future of this genre?

Horror is definitely on the upswing in India. I myself have 12 books out now, and three of them have been optioned for screen. The presence of OTT platforms has also helped the genre. They are all looking for content, and horror is liked by many of us. There is also the support from lit fests as unlike before, we now have panels dedicated to the genre of horror.

Available on: Wattpad (free of cost)Reads so far: 16.6K

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Most horror stories lack the story itself: What the Eyes Dont author Neil DSilva - The New Indian Express

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero