Tell us, if you don’t mind, a little about yourself.

I live with my family in Rapid City, South Dakota. I’m a radio announcer for a classic rock station. I’m a big fan of hockey, reading horror fiction, and listening to a wide variety of music. I like exploring abandoned buildings and other interesting places around the Black Hills. I don’t have any fancy degrees to brag about but I’ve appeared alongside many of my favorite authors thus far in my career and it never stops being a thrill.

Could you give us some background on how you began writing, and in particular, what drew you to writing horror?

I went through immersive reading phases growing up. I read all the Hardy Boys mysteries, then I read a bunch of Louis L’Amour. I spent years reading nothing but classic literature. Through it all, the series that stuck with me the most was the “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” series of anthologies. It introduced me to Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl and so many more. I’ve always tried to create stories as memorable as those. I started writing as a means of coping with some emotionally trying times in my life and after a great deal of trial and error (learning something new with every story) I started submitting to markets.

Can you tell us a bit about your story that appears in Turn to Ash, Vol. 1?

This is a deeply personal story with a great deal of real life inspiration, I’d say it’s 90% nonfiction. The sequence of events at the car dealership really happened, though the protagonist at the beginning is of course fictional, as are the circumstances of the estrangement between father and son. The moths, the dead bird, the old woman, the running truck, the wrong day… all of that really happened. It’s a day I’ll never forget.

Do you have any recent and/or upcoming work that you’d like to share?

I am so pleased to have a story in Turn to Ash Vol. 1. Earlier this year I contributed to: Creepy Campfire Quarterly #3, The Beauty of Death, Muffled Screams: Corner of the Eye, Dark Moon Digest #24, and the HWA Poetry Showcase #3, among others. Coming soon are several anthology appearances, including Dark Horizons, Let Them In 2, and The Prison Compendium. We are getting close to my novelette, Bottled Spirits, seeing publication in Grinning Skull Press’ Grave Markers series.

Where, if anywhere, can we find you on the Internet?

I initially misread “…if anywhere, can…” as “if anyone cares.” Hahaha. I am on Facebook and have a blog but for the most bang for your buck, I’d go to www.adrianludens.com. I have links there to a few free stories, a cover gallery, a list of my favorite stories by other authors, links to order my books, and free candy. (Just kidding about the free candy.)

Anything else you’d like to share about your work or anything else going on in this universe (or any other)?

My latest story collection is called “When Bedbugs Bite”. It is available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon. Bram Stoker-award winning author and editor Mort Castle read it and said: “This is the kind of collection Hitchcock’s face used to appear on.” Mort is one of my favorite authors and his comment makes me so proud because that’s exactly what I strive for with every new story I write. The link to order is HERE.

Thank you for this opportunity to chat! I hope readers enjoy the first issue. I’ll certainly be submitting again soon!

You can pre-order Turn to Ash, Vol. 1, which feature’s Adrian’s story “Sod Webworms” – HERE – It will also be available from Amazon and Amazon UK in the last week of August.