Arts
Into a dark world; this time in words not music
It is “one nightmare I’ve always wanted to pen,” says Suresh De Silva. The Stigmata frontman is not talking of his latest song but his newest book which is due to be released this week.
This follows his first volume of poetry- ‘From Chaos to Catharsis’- which was released last year.
Suresh De Silva. Pic by Siyath Ranathunge
In the absence of the light, you’d find your eyes naturally embracing the darkness. Perhaps, the same could be said about the unknown, if you took the time to dive into it. Suresh’s ‘The Eternal Dark Requiem’ is a journey into a surreal world.
For one thing, Suresh wanted his book experience to be different to the norm. He is visual and cinematic when he writes and this trait can be obse-rved in his music as well. ‘The Eternal Dark Requiem’ does not contain too many chapters, since it has a lot going on. Rather, as he puts it, it is more of a sequence of scene changes. Suresh does believe that despite it veering away from the traditional format, if a story has a good flow to it, it will keep people engaged.
His aim was to create a piece that’s magnificent as it is maleficent. “Like an Eden of sorts, or a wonderland.” Except, in Suresh’s mind a wonderland is more of a messed up place which the reader will have to figure out by reading the book.
The novel was meant to be of a place that brings out the worst in people. It tests how far we need to be pushed in order to reach a breaking point and from there on a salvaging point. What happens after this salvaging point is something, he has always been curious about.
Suresh has never been one to stick to genres and this is quite evident even in Stigmata’s music. Though, he does admit to coming off as either a disturbing or provocative writer, he is reluctant to categorise his writing though it contains its share of sci-fi and gothic horror.
The story brings in Suresh’s love for the heavy metal band ‘Nevermore’, Stephen King’s ‘Shining’, the Silent Hill Videogame story etc. Aside from this it’s also a fusion of ‘The Omen’, ‘The Exorcist’ and essentially all that Suresh grew up on.
The story is not about a haunting in a ghost sense, rather “it’s based on a lot of familiar things that scare people, but at the same time there’s not a lot that would be familiar either,” he says.
As the clock strikes 10 p.m. as our chat progresses, Suresh tells us he has never been someone who scares easily. ”I’m a person who is comfortable in complete darkness.” But after deep research for the book, he admits to sleeping with the light on for a few days.
His research touched on topics such as demonic possession, the Spanish Inquisition and particularly how the Portuguese revelled in different torture methods. “I also had to read a lot of Sumerian and Babylonian mythology,” he says, adding that he explored the paranormal and supernatural while perusing realtime footage, documentaries and case studies. Aside from this, he watched talks by behavioral scientists delving into the difference between sociopaths and psychopaths.
In his mind, he’d deliberate, “what if it’s not just people who are all these things? We do talk about evil spirits and good spirits too.”
In this sense, ‘The Eternal Dark Requiem’ is a fusion of different spectrums and Suresh hopes his readers would find it interesting.
Known for his mischievous streak, Suresh enjoys provoking people, because he does find it interesting to observe what makes them tick. This is why, he wants his readers to live in ‘Requiem’ for a while and note what they feel about the place.
His creative well has run dry, he chuckles, because he has put everything into ‘The Eternal Dark Requiem.’ But, I’ll go wherever the pen takes me,” he tells us whilst proudly looking at his now finished baby that is set to make its way into the world.
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| Gothic meets horror in a Lankan backdrop | |
| Suresh De Silva’s new book ‘The Eternal Dark Requiem’ will be launched on Saturday, November 24 at 7 p.m. at the Barefoot Gallery.  The book cover designed by Randy Chriz Set against a Sri Lankan backdrop, the book edited by Lilanka Botejue “merges history, romance, Gothic horror and shifting realities to weave out an intricate tale of thrilling intrigue.” Suresh has picked a collective of talented personalities, who will read excerpts off the novel and bring it to light and life at the launch. The readers include Tanuja Perera Raymond, Rehan Almeida, Sean Amarasekera, Jayani Senanayake, Megan Dakshini and Yudhanjaya Wijeratne. It’s an open event and the books priced at Rs. 2000 can be purchased at the launch while Suresh himself will be on hand to personally autograph the books. |