Guest Post: Author Michael Albergo

 

What Lies at the Intersection of Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Horror?

 

I began writing Native Species as a horror novel in the style of H.P. Lovecraft, and it still retains some of those elements. It’s a sense of horror that is both visceral and intellectual: visceral, because it plays on our deepest fears and revulsions; intellectual, because it shows us a universe that undermines our very reason and rationality: one where humankind is insignificant in the face of omnipotent, uncaring beings.

I soon learned, however, that I am not a horror writer. Horror takes me to places I don’t want to visit. I’d rather spend my time in the familiar, fascinating realm of science and technology, where I can marvel not only at the mysteries of the universe but at the efforts of humankind to understand it. This novel might well be considered science fiction, or perhaps “speculative fiction,” because it has a strong undercurrent of science and technology and because it poses a “what if” question: What if there were an ancient civilization—an ancient species native to Earth, predating our own? What if we stumbled across that species in 1928, a time when we were just beginning to understand the nature of the universe and our place in it? (Okay, two questions.)

To bring that story to life, I wanted to ground it in fact, not speculation. So I drew upon actual people, places, and events of the time. If you read this book—I do hope you will—you’ll meet a real detective, a real engineer, a real doctor, and a real politico from 1928. You’ll see great public buildings, grand hotels, and hidden speakeasys that still stand today. And you’ll glimpse events—some of them awful—that actually happened. Does this story qualify as “historical fiction”? Judge for yourself.

At the intersection of these people, places, and events are our primary protagonists and antagonists. For me, a science fiction story without relatable, engaging characters is as empty as space. So once I came to understand my characters—their needs, desires, and dreams—I fell in love with them all, heroes and villains alike. Then I simply turned the story over to them and let them tell it.

What lies at the intersection of science fiction, historical fiction, and horror? A group of wonderfully flawed, all-too-human characters. Whether or not they live to write the future, I hope you will find them all unforgettable.