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Tag Archives: Episode #210
Chilling Chat: Episode #210 – Garth von Buchholz
July 8, 2022 by Naching T. Kassa in BOOKS, NEWS and tagged Books, Chilling Chat, Episode #210, Garth Von Buchholz, horror anthology, Kill Switch, short stories, tech horror, writing | 1 Comment
Garth von Buchholz is an author of dark poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, and drama. His poetry books include Mad Shadows and his fiction has been published in various anthologies. Garth is also the founder of the International Edgar Allan Poe Society. He lives in Canada on Vancouver Island.
NTK: Hello, Garth! Welcome back to Chilling Chat! What did you do during the pandemic?
GVB: During the pandemic, I was working from home instead of in my office, as many of my colleagues were as well. The pandemic was one of those shared social experiences of a disaster, similar to a flood or other natural disaster, where your immediate instincts are survival and you really don't do a lot of reflection until you're past that. I remember the first weeks of the pandemic when people were afraid to touch surfaces that might have Covid, and I was washing down my groceries after buying them from the store. The fear was palpable because no one knew how easily the virus could be spread or what it would do to you. It reminded me of Poe's Masque of the Red Death. Another eerie experience was seeing wild animals walking in the streets when people were staying in their homes. Once I saw a stag trotting down the centre of a main road because there were no cars anywhere. It felt as though the human race could be nearing its end.
NTK: How old were you when you first discovered horror?
GVB: Probably about six years old. I had a book of Grimm's Fairy Tales, some of which were pretty disturbing for a young mind. But they were so profound and compelling because they spoke the truth about good and evil and death and tragedy, so I loved them. Later I was enamored with some of the classic horror films I saw on TV as well as reruns of old horror shows such as The Twilight Zone.
NTK: What author has influenced you most?
GVB: Edgar Allan Poe is my muse. I've written scholarly articles about Poe's work, was interviewed about Poe for the Washington Post and was the founder of the International Edgar All Poe Society in 2009, the 200th anniversary of his birthday. But back in college, I realized that I couldn't just mimic him, I didn't want to try to write like a 19th-century author—I needed to find my own 20th-century voice.
NTK: What is your favorite Edgar Allan Poe story?
That's so difficult to choose because I am a Poe aficionado, so I feel as though I have to choose one of his more obscure stories that fewer people have read. However, I love the revenge themes in stories such as "The Cask of Amontillado" and "Hop Frog," which I think were cathartic for Poe to write because he probably fantasized revenge on the many enemies he had made in his lifetime. However, my favorite story may be "The Oval Portrait," because it's about an artist trying so hard to portray his beloved perfectly in his art that he neglects her, and she dies. I've been guilty of that, in a way, because writing is such a solitary craft, and it can isolate you from the people you love.
NTK: What inspired you to write your piece, "HAÜS?"
GVB: "HAÜS" is about the coldness and ruthlessness of technology. I've been working in digital media since the 1990s. A relative of mine owns a wireless security camera company, and after we talked about his work installing security systems in homes and businesses, I wondered if there would ever be a home security system so diabolically deadly that not even a group of skilled home invaders could penetrate it.
NTK: How much control do you exert over your characters? Do they have free will?
GVB: I'm like God—my characters can do what they want while they're still alive, but ultimately, I know when they will die and how.
NTK: Where do you find inspiration?
GVB: Many times, my inspiration is from some news story I've read. Fact often converts into fiction very seamlessly.
GVB: How can I decide on one? Legion by William Peter Blatty or The Stand by Stephen King.
NTK: Favorite horror movie?
GVB: The Exorcist III (based on the novel Legion)
NTK: What do you like most about The Exorcist III?
GVB: The 1990 film The Exorcist III, based on William Peter Blatty's novel Legion (1983) is my fave horror film for several reasons. First, it's written by Blatty, one of my favorite horror novelists. It stars SIX of my all-time favorite male actors, George C. Scott, Ed Flanders (who committed suicide years ago!), Jason Miller, Scott Wilson, Brad Dourif and Nicol Williamson. And I love the weird, Blatty-ian blend of dark humor and supernatural horror with underlying religious themes. I can almost recite the dialogue between Scott and Flanders where they talk about the carp in Detective Kinderman's bathtub. And the startling and grotesque image of the old lady creeping along the ceiling like a spider still haunts me.
NTK: Favorite horror television show?
GVB: The Stand (miniseries, 1994.)
NTK: What did you think of The Stand miniseries with Whoopi Goldberg?
GVB: Overall, I thought The Stand 2020 miniseries was quite an accomplishment because it did justice to most of the characters, expanded the pandemic world that we had only seen fully in Stephen King's novel, and brought the story to a more satisfying finale. The casting was unusual for some characters but seemed to be successful. For example, a black Larry Underwood made more sense than a white one in many ways because of the kind of singer he was. But Amber Heard as Nadine? Omg, that was so jarring and disappointing. They didn't even have her dye her hair black so we could watch her transition from black hair to gray and then white. Her acting was abysmal, and she was neither sympathetic nor mysterious. As for Whoopi Goldberg, I was glad to see that she took the role seriously rather than trying to re-interpret Mother Abagail. We forget that she's actually a fine actress when she does dramatic roles.
GVB: Well, I do hope to actually give HorrorAddicts.net something to look forward to because it has been supportive of my work over the years. I have a horror novel on the backburner and now that I'm apparently not going to die of Covid, I will start working on it again. Here's a preview. It's tentatively titled Thy Fearful Symmetry and it's about a young girl who tries to commit suicide on a mountain, survives her attempt, then has an encounter with a two-headed mountain lion (or cougar as we usually call them in Canada). She takes this as a sign from the universe and starts blogging about it, which creates a huge sensation on the Internet about the two-headed beast. Is it real? Or was it something she imagined or fabricated? I have the entire outline of the novel written as well as the first few chapters.
Addicts, you can find Garth on his Blog.


Safaricom Limited is a telecommunications company, the largest mobile operator in Kenya, serving over 20 million customers and occupying two-thirds of the market share in the industry. The company strives to push the boundaries of conventional ways of doing business by focusing on value creation to the society, economy, and environment of Kenya by incorporating the top-down, bottom-up approach to integrate the SDGs into its corporate strategy and its corporate social responsibility projects. The mission of the company is transforming lives, and this is evident from its operations and investing resources in sustainable projects.
Safaricom Limited is a telecommunications company, the largest mobile operator in Kenya, serving over 20 million customers, and occupying two thirds (67%) of the market share in the industry. The company was started in the year 2000, and it seeks to enrich the welfare of not only Kenyans, but also its other clients around the continent, through services that add value and constant support for community projects. It not only operates in Kenya, but across Africa. The company provides converged communications, financial services and broadband internet. Safaricom Limited is also one of the companies (400 companies) across Africa, whose annual revenue is more than $1 billion dollars (Safaricom Limited, 2018). The company has 4,245 permanent employees, 825 employees on contract, however, the number of the permanent employees decreased by 1% in 2017. The company's workforce is evenly split between men and women; although there are fewer women in the senior management positions, only 31% (Safaricom Limited, 2018).
The mission or the statement purpose of the company is Transforming Lives, and this is evident through its efforts to upgrade the livelihoods of Kenyans through support for community projects. The company invests a unique way through this purpose to enrich, create opportunities and empower Kenyans, by providing them the tools for economic growth. One of the first innovations of the company was the 'Simu ya Jamii'. This enabled Kenyans to earn money by operating the small mobile pay phones. Many lives were transformed, and there was a significant economic growth and freedom witnessed in the country.
M-PESA is possibly one of the most successful innovations for Safaricom ltd yet. This service has more than 17 million subscribers (Safaricom Limited, 2010), which is supported by an agent network across the country and even beyond (Safaricom Website). Recent reports show that the network agents have more than 79,000 M-PESA outlets in the country. The M-PESA service provides mobile banking services to its clients whereby; customers send and receive money and make money payments. This service is the world's largest and most developed mobile payment system. M-SHWARI is the latest product which allows customers to gets loans and savings options, while earning an interest. All of this is done at the comfort of mobile phones.
The business model of Safaricom Limited does not only rely on its provision of network services, but also through relationships with its customers, M-PESA agents, business partners, dealers and stakeholders, who, together, bring about the processes of consumer business, financial services, regional sales and operations, enterprise business and support services. Through these processes, there is an output of pre-paid and post paid voice call plans, mobile money transfer (M-PESA), mobile data, fixed services, messaging and devices (Sustainability Report, 2017). All these outputs ensure that there is value for shareholders, through the annual revenue, value for the Kenyan society-through its CSR projects and finally the integration of the sustainable goals in its business and corporate strategy.
There is a paradigm shift on how businesses impact the society. CSR has been at the side-lines of decision making, not until recently, when shifts in governance, behaviors of investors and consumers are forcing companies to integrate CSR as the core of their decision making. This is evident by the fact that most businesses are embracing the methodology of impact management and evaluation, with regards to how a product or service that they provide impacts the society positively or negatively. The shift is moving towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's), which are used as a framework to understand and report on the impact of the products and services.
M-PESA: M stands for mobile, and pesa is a Swahili word that means money. It is a mobile application, where Safaricom's subscribers can do money transactions between themselves or with the bank.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Projects or initiatives undertaken by an organization, for the benefit of the society.
Afya: This is a Swahili word that translates to "health" in English.
Sustainable Development Goals: Commonly referred to as SDG's, this is an agenda by the United Nations, in an effort to end poverty and ensure equal opportunities for everyone, in terms of health, education, justice among others.
M-Tiba: A mobile application, where subscribers can save and borrow money for health purposes. It mostly targets people who cannot afford health insurance in Kenya.
Sustainability Framework: A planning theory in the activity of an organization, involving the management, so as to have a positive impact in the wellbeing and health of people and the environment.
m-Health: This is a mobile application that provides various health solutions, like information, savings and credit options, among others, by use of mobile phones.
Simu ya Jamii: One of the first products of Safaricom Limited, which was a community phone, used by those who could not afford a mobile at the time.


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Hi Lindsay, Ive trawled the net , teal is such a gorgeous colour for the bedroom… this one particular is somewhat comparable in that it has the colors and mixed prints -/mizone-chloe-tea… but if you form teal bedspread with black and white trim into google it should bring up numerous unique selections for you that you may well like. Sometimes bedroom decorating suggestions for females basically never match into a set style, as private taste definitely plays a part in the room that you generate. You can go in for sand colored floors, ocean blue walls and ceilings painted like the clouds.


The following video represents Boka Kotorska or Bay of Kotor. A little village called Krtoli is placed there and this is one of the places where I regularly spend some time each year. Why so it will be explained over the time.
Bay of Kotor is located in Montenegro close to Croatian border, just 45 km far from Dubrovnik. It is often referred as Europe's most southern fjord which is listed as one of the ten most beautiful bays in the world. The Boka Kotorska coastline is like a string of pearls, harboring towns like Herceg-Novi, often called a wild flower, the Unesco protected Kotor, with its one of Europe's best preserved mediaeval Old Town and historical seafaring monuments like the Gospa from Skrpjela. Simply to say the bay is a true master work of nature. Astonishing and beautiful blend of mountains and sea.
It is a bay where I have spent all my childhood because my grandfather, my mother's father lived there. Today, in the house of my grandfather, that my husband and me reconstructed and adapted for our family, we go few times in year to pick oranges or olives, to be in that old house and see some friends. Naturally when I am there, all my childhood memories are with me, images of meals on my grandfather's terrace, eating seashell on Bjelila coast, where my grandfather used to have his wine cave. My children spent their summer holidays there too and love that place. For the time being it is not as frequently visited as it used to be; only my husband and I go to spend some time there. Next week on Sunday I shall travel there. After turning back, I shall report here the newest impression from the south coast of Adriatic Sea.
As I mentioned Bjelila, where we actually spent our summers, here is the map of Boka Kotorska so that you can see where it is.
Around 0:24 you can see KRTOLE, on the map it is right form Bjelila. That is the village where I shall go. In the time of my childhood my grandfather's house was there and his wine cave down on the coast, at Bjelila, which is 15 min. walk from the house.
This photo shows the coast that belongs to Krtoli. I am very excited because of my next visit to Krtole which will be next week.
This island on the right is called The Flowers' Island. There are some sacred monuments there that tourists like to visit.
On the left you can see a little part of another island whichis called St. Marko Island. It is also known as a Paradise Island.
This is a photo of St. Marko Island in the evening.
This time during my visit to Krtoli will be olive harvest and we shall take part in this too. It is a kind of sacred ritual for me.
dermot wrote: Looks really beautiful Mirjana!
Thank you Dermot. It is really beautiful and still in a certain wild way. But if it touched you who lives in a kind of a paradise, then it means a lot.
Tomorrow we travel to Boka Kotorska and Krtoli. Whenever I travel to Krtoli it is an emotional trip for me connected with beautiful memories from my childhood, over my youth days and those when I,as a parent ,took my kids there.And today too this place has a charismatic meaning for me.
This time of the year there will be lot of fugues there, beautiful lemons in our garden that have not been treated and in October we shall pick our olives there. I love all these little garden rituals.
Next few days I shall not be at DS, but as soon as I settle down, I shall come again and write about light, smells and sounds from Krtoli.
Perhaps you could post a few pictures from your trip too?
Either way, bon voyage and... this song came to mind.
Thank you for this music. It fits very nicely to the atmosphere here.
I am still here in Krtoli. Aside the fact that my internet connection is not the very best for the time being, everything else is great. My husband and I work very hard but I enjoy every moment of that. The old house and the garden seem to be very thankful for the time and care we give to them and there is serenity atmosphere around us.
The sad thing is that we lost our cat Nestor who died few days ago. It has been a hard time for me. He was our companion for 15 years always travelling with us. I used to call him by many names, beside his name, so he was my majesty, sultan, my king, as he was so special in every possible way. He went away slowly like a candle, dying on my hands. Although it was not easy for my husband and me, I am happy that we were beside him in that moment. I was deeply touched with the way our other little cat treated him in his last hours. She was cleaning him for a long time like never before, and then lying beside him like trying to warm him. And she stayed by him until he went away. Then she went on her place.
We buried him in our garden here and I put some flowers over the grave so that the place stays marked for ever.
Mirjana, Nestor was a lucky cat.