With a curiosity for dark fiction and folklore, Jason Marc Harris, a Texas A&M University instructional associate professor in the Department of English, has written over 20 short stories. His newest endeavor, “Master of Rods and Strings,” branches out from his typical short story format and becomes a thrilling novella peppered with occult imagery and ideations of childish revenge.
The book centers around Elias, a young kid whose determination to learn the ins-and-outs of occult puppetry is fueled by his jealousy of the attention his sister receives.
“It is a dark sinister tale about someone who starts off relatively innocent and well-meaning and becomes gradually changed over time,” Jason says.
Jason’s most prominent influence for the novella came to him during his Fiction Writing master’s program at Bowling Green State University after writing a paper about a philosophical horror writer who explored the idea of puppets.
“I had been reading short stories by Thomas Ligotti, a weird fiction horror writer,” Jason says. “He was an influence on the first season of True Detective and I had written an article for the Journal of Popular Culture about some of his writing and his use of puppets, mannequins and clowns.”
The book has been in the works since 2013 and has been through lots of changes and developments, he adds.
“The genesis of it took a while,” Jason says. “I tried a shorter version and then it seemed like most feedback I got was that the longer route seemed better for it.”
Focusing on each aspect of the story during revisions, Jason realized that in order for characters to interact and develop well, he would need to make adjustments in the setting.
“There was a time when I had a section where the main character was in different places at one point, but as the story continued to get revised, I decided to keep it all in France,” Jason says. “It made more sense in terms of the kind of concentration in the atmosphere and the interactions there for Elias.” Another meticulous detail in the novella is that the fictional town is named after St. Simeon, the patron saint of puppeteers.
“There is, in fact, a patron saint of puppeteers and I made use of his name when I created the town ... a geographic spot that I thought was plausible,” Jason says. “Funny because it seemed like I snuck that by most people. They didn't realize that the first fantastical aspect of the story was where I located Elias and his family.”
Jason’s affinity for gothic and “weird” horror has existed for many years and grew particularly after he and a peer compiled a book of folklore. The time spent collecting folktales and urban legends of occult occurrences and fantastic tales inspired Jason to continue studying the art of horror fiction. After curating so many tales of the strange and macabre, Jason began to feel the need to share his wealth of knowledge with other enjoyers of the horror genre.
“I’d argue weirder stories are quite imaginative because they offer two different perspectives on the universe and what might exist, sort of intermixed in the everyday — people's beliefs about ghosts, fairiesor trolls” Jason says. “Different cultures have different beliefs. Depending on what you grew up with, or what you've come to believe that's shared to you, you can have a very different perspective on reality and what's possible. There's just so much unknown and I find it intriguing as a writer to explore some of those things.”
Now, he is working on a Master of Rods and Strings sequel where Elias will grapple with his identity as a practitioner of the occult arts while wrestling with the guilt of his actions in the first novella.
“It's going to start off with someone who actually is afraid of puppets, and is looking to find help with that,” Jason says. “Along the way, he's going to encounter Elias, and Elias is actually trying to deal with the guilt over what happened to his sister in the previous book. He's also gained enemies because of the success he experienced in the previous book, so there are new complications that he has to deal with.”
Master of Rods and Strings is now available through Amazon books and is published by Crystal Lake Entertainment. For more information about the author, visit Jason's website at jasonmarcharris.com.
