Meet Cle’s own zombie poet
By Hollie Gibbs
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
-T.S. Elliott, “The Hollow Men”
Come hither, sinister sonnetists; put pen to parchment, villainous versifiers… for Rhonny is reaping poetry. For those who enjoy reading or writing of zombies and fantastic terrors, this bleak October promises to be enchanted by a horror haunted.
Born Rhonda Kachur, she now goes by Rhonny Reaper and has dedicated much of her life to conjuring images no mortal ever dared dream before. Now she implores you to join her, ye wordsmiths of woe. Her latest anthology, due out this Halloween, is open for submissions of zombie poetry.
Rhonny founded Dollar Bin Horror, a blog about low priced horror DVDs and quality indie films made on low budgets, in October 2009. Brandon Sites and Eric Polk joined her in mid-2010, quickly making the blog a source of reviews, interviews, contests and news for budget-weary blood lovers. It has also spawned the Dollar Bin Horror Radio show on Blogtalkradio.com.
“I absolutely love the genre and the blog was my way to join in,” she said. “Thanks to the blog’s readership and its growth over the last 3 years, I’ve been lucky enough to get opportunities to write and co-host the radio show [with Polk]… I’ve even gotten my first film credit thanks to it [working behind the scenes on a film Sites is producing]… Anyone who’s thinking of doing something, just go for it! I turned a hobby into something I love doing just by starting a blog.”
Although entertained by a combination of the mildly spooky and campy “Tales from the Cryptkeeper” and Scooby Doo as a young child, Rhonny said she didn’t really become obsessed with horror until about age 13 or 14.
“My Dad said he had a movie that I had to watch and that I’d never guess the ending,” she explained. “It was the first Saw film, and after that, I was hooked on everything horror.”
It was not until 2010, however, that she first set pen to parchment to ghastly, grim and ghostly tales explore.
“An author friend of mine, Cal Miller, was taking submissions for his anthology The Undead Nation,” Rhonny explained. “At the time, I was trying to teach myself how to write a film script and posted an idea I had for a short film on Facebook, just to see what my friends thought. Cal sent me a message about the book and said I should try my hand at writing a short story, so I did and it got in the book. Ever since then, I fell in love with writing shorts.”
Gifted with the ability to see death all around her, Rhonny said her Roadkill Café anthology was inspired during a routine drop-off.
“My dad was pulling out of the parking lot and there was a bird in the way that wouldn’t move. I waved my arms, got it to fly away, and then out of nowhere an idea for a story popped in my head. I have no idea why I thought of it, but I did, and I turned it into the theme for my anthology. That’s kinda how a lot of my stories happen. Something completely random just brings them forth.”
Not one to faint at the sight of blood, Rhonny is an LPN, although her goal is to work in horror films. She is currently working on a free e-series, “Killers Anonymous,” about a support group for recovering serial killers. The next story in the series (holiday-themed, of course) will be out by Christmas. Proving that the undead never rest, Rhonny has an anthology of flash fiction in the planning stages for next Halloween as well.
To date, Rhonny’s stories have been published in 5 books and the fall 2010 issue of Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine. The 22-year-old has also edited two anthologies, Rhonny Reaper’s Creature Features and Rhonny Reaper’s Roadkill Cafe.
Download Rhonny’s latest anthology of zombie poetry from various authors, Poetry from the Grave, this Halloween. Submissions are open until Mon 10/15, so zombie poets, check out http://RhonnyReaper.blogspot.com for more info.
Rhonny’s Killers Anonymous can be found here. For more information on Rhonny, visit her Facebook page.
Hollie Gibbs has a BS in journalism from Kent State University and studied photography at School of the Visual Arts in Manhattan. Her articles and photographs have appeared in numerous local and national publications. She can also be found playing guitar with various bands and building life-size monster props.