Exclusive Interview: American Hauntstorian, Allen Sircy (Old Man Dead)
If you could pitch yourself and your work in a few sentences, what would it read?
I’ve been writing for various websites since 2005, but my passion for folklore and haunted American history began in 2014. I started creating haunted tour apps for cities like Nashville, New Orleans, and St. Augustine. Over time, I expanded the information in the apps into books. I’ve written nearly 30 books since then. Recently, I’ve been adapting some of the wildest stories from my books into screenplays. During a haunted tour in Gallatin, Tennessee, someone referred to me as a “Hauntstorian.” I adopted that title, tweaked it to “American Hauntstorian,” and had business cards made!
Why does your writing appeal to horror fans?
I dabble in a strange gray area. While I don’t really consider myself a horror guy, I deal with some weird stuff like grave robbing and galvansim, which is the study of applying electric current to dead bodies. These two things sound archaic, but they were prevalent and somewhat commonplace in the 19th century. There’s also a lot of true crime and cryptid folklore in my books/screenplays. Murder, sea serpents, Civil War, old Cherokee women with a spear for a finger, I’ve written about a lot of weird and gruesome stuff. One of my favorite screenplays is called, “The Resurrection of Knox Martin” that involves a voo doo priestess and a Frankenstein-like resurrection. In 1869, Half of Nashville, Tennessee was convinced that Knox Martin really had been revived after being executed. It’s nuts!
What horror films come close to your style of writing?
This is a difficult question. It probably sounds pompous, but there really isn’t anything as weird as what I’m doing out there. I’ve written extensively about events that just didn’t make the cut when they made the history books. The Harrison Horror is a story about future President Benjamin Harrison. He returned home to bury his father, Congressman Jon Scott Harrison only to find that his nephew’s grave had been robbed. The next day family members found Congressman Harrison’s naked body hanging in a chute at a medical college. The guy who was behind it was a British spy. Hollywood can’t make this stuff up! If anything, old films with a good twist inspired me. Films like “Shattered” with Tom Berenger or “Seven” or the “Usual Suspects” with Kevin Spacey have their fingerprints all over my screenplays.
What fascinates you about folklore and history?
History is a lot of fun because it’s stuff that really happened. Or with folklore, it’s stuff that was said to happen but got embellished and even more grandiose as the years went on. Researching my books I found a lot of over-the-top stories from old newspapers and archives that seem too crazy to be true, but depending on the time period, it was quite commonplace.
What is your favorite time period in history?
Growing up in Tennessee, the Civil War was all around me. I really enjoy researching the Civil War up through Reconstruction because it was a strange time where the nation was at war with each other and then had to come together again. Times were hard, especially in the south and it created a lot of complex characters who were trying to figure out how to make a living when there was little money to be had. People resorted to underhanded methods like body snatching. Some people went around the country pretending to be a spiritualist and used parlor tricks to convince people that they could summon ghosts for money.
Do you have any writing rituals that you do before you sit down and create?
I read a lot of old newspapers. You can create an account with Newspapers.com and start typing in search terms like, “grave robber” or “spirit cabinet”. Before you know it, you’ve spent half a day going down a rabbit hole reading zany stories about some of the most brilliant and resourceful people who made a living by underhanded means.
Who or what inquires your creativity?
Everything I do is because I want to give my family a better life. With that being said, I’m genuinely interested in American history and have a taste for weird and dark history. I also enjoy being a storyteller and relish telling people stories that are not only true but will make them scratch their head in disbelief.
Where can we find your books to purchase?
All of my “Southern Ghost Stories”, “Ghost Stories & Graveyard Tales” and “Fear and Folklore” books are available on Amazon.com. Some titles are available at various retailers around the country but Amazon is the easiest.
What is the next step in your journey?
Currently, I spend most of my time turning stories from my books into scripts. I will put out another book or two next year but I’m knee-deep in scripts right now. I’ve had some meetings with producers about a grave robbing feature called, “Old Man Dead”, about the life of notorious grave robber William Cunningham. I’m really encouraged. Within two or three years, I’m confident “Old Man Dead” or another one of the scripts will get made.