Tunku Halim’s latest book 'My Lovely Skull And Other Skeletons', released by Penguin Random House SEA, contains a diverse mix of fright night stories, psychological horror and dark humour. Photo: Tunku Halim
People usually go on walks through the countryside to relax or clear their minds. For horror writer Tunku Halim, these walks are a fantastic way for him to think up creepy tales.
Most of the stories in his latest collection My Lovely Skull And Other Skeletons were inspired from such long walks through the natural surroundings of George Town in Penang, which the author took throughout the pandemic.
“I was in Kuala Lumpur during the first movement control order and, when it was lifted, I felt that if I’m going to be stuck somewhere, why not stay in a place with a beautiful sea view? So I moved to Penang,” says Tunku Halim, who has been living there for the past two-and-a-half years.
“I strolled on the beaches, around the neighbourhood, through George Town and the Botanical Gardens. Ideas came to me from what I saw and ‘what if’ questions popped into my head. These then turned into stories,” he adds.
My Lovely Skull And Other Skeletons, his 20th book, marks a milestone in the author’s career.
Tunku Halim, 58, has enjoyed a long writing career, with his ever first short story anthology Dark Demon Rising released in 1997. His other works include Gravedigger’s Kiss (2007), Last Breath (2014), and Horror Stories (2016). Not to forget another short story collection Scream To The Shadows (2019) and the children’s book series Midnight Children trilogy (2021).
He has also written non-fiction books, including A Children’s History Of Malaysia (2003) and A Prince Called Charlie (2018).
Malay myth, legends and folklore have informed a great deal of his work, and Tunku Halim says he is now more confident about what he does ... writing with a distinct – and relatable – Malaysian flavour.
“There is no longer this need to prove myself. Even after my first two or three books were published, I still didn’t dare call myself a writer. Now writing is something I just do as a matter of course. I tell people that it keeps me out of mischief!” says Tunku Halim.
Not many authors reach 20 books in their career. To have such a longstanding career, the author notes, requires hard work.
“The answer is rather simple: just keep writing! Well, seriously, aspiring authors should ask themselves: why do I write? Is it for fame, fortune or to prove yourself to others? Maybe once I did think that way, but I now write because it’s something I just do. I’m not craving for any particular end result. So, I just kept writing and, one day without me realising it, I discovered I had 20 books out there,” he says.
Skeletons in the closet
Tunku Halim’s latest book, released by Penguin Random House SEA, contains a diverse mix of fright night stories, psychological horror and dark humour.
The Garden is about a mysterious old woman living in a decrepit house with a garden growing into a jungle. Three Dead Chickens is a tongue-in-cheek tale about three shamans (Malay, Chinese and Indian) who try to exorcise a spirit from a house. In Baby Dream, a couple trying hard to have a baby luckily (or perhaps unluckily!) stumble upon one abandoned in the jungle. In the titular story, My Lovely Skull, a teenager finds a skull on a beach and falls in love with it.
The most challenging story for Tunku Halim to write was Water Flows Deepest, which he penned for Destination SEA: 2050 AD, a soon-to-be-published regional anthology carrying a dystopian future theme.
“Water Flows Deepest is about a mother and daughter living in a seafront condo which is mostly deserted because the sea, due to climate change, is now regularly flooding the lobby. This took me out of my writing comfort zone because it’s futuristic writing, which is not something I’m used to,” says the author.
While many of the stories were written during the pandemic, you won’t find much mention of it in the book.
“I specifically didn’t want to write about Covid as the stories will then be time-bound, not unlike one say set during the Japanese Occupation or the Emergency (in Malaya). I prefer my stories to feel like contemporary ones, even if read 10 years later,” he explains.
“Having said that though, one story, Moongate does mention the pandemic. It’s about a guy and his girlfriend hiking up the famous Moongate track in Penang and seeing a woman strolling there in a cheongsam!”
For future works, Tunku Halim says he has just finished a book on minimalism, and is looking for a publisher. He also hints we might be seeing a new fiction book from him soon (his last non-horror novel, A Malaysian Restaurant In London, was published seven years ago.
“So it’s high time I wrote another one! All I can say is that it’s not set in Malaysia. Maybe this one’s going to be called A Malaysian Restaurant In New York. No, I’m kidding! You’ll just have to wait to find out,” teases Tunku Halim.
