Whether we admit it or not, all of us have a peculiar fascination with the unknown – the could be and the supernatural. That fascination is never greater than at a young age, where most of the world is unknown to you, and where anything could be real.

P J George’s debut horror release draws on some of this young imagination, setting an occult folk mystery amongst the everyday surroundings of a brand-new housing development – the Evergreen Estate. A strange atmosphere looms over the residents, leading to gruesome and sinister consequences…

We spoke with P J about getting his debut title across the finish line, his love of occult books and films, as well as the real-word inspirations that helped bring Over As Much Land to life.

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Like most writers, distractions and complications often restrict the amount of work you’re able to finalise – resulting in Over As Much Land being your debut fiction release. What drove you over the finish line?

Much of the book was written on my lunch breaks. It turned into a routine and was a helpful way of stepping out of the 9-to-5 work environment.

There were times when I thought it would never be finished, with the actual story and some of the character outcomes changing over the course of the writing. It was these changes that kept me going. The story I thought I was writing became something else. I had to know how it would resolve itself. Plus, it certainly doesn’t hurt to be stubborn.

Once started, I just compelled myself to finish it. Otherwise, I knew I’d regret it and didn’t want all the time and energy I had committed to it to be wasted.

You’ve shared with us previously that occult-related films and books from the 60s and 70s helped inspire this book. What did you draw upon and feature in this release?

Ok, this could turn into a long list so I will try and be brief.

Books that were at the forefront of my mind when writing were non-fiction, and related to a growing sense of interest in unexplained phenomena, or the occult which really seemed to capture the public imagination during this period. Books like Cancer Planet Mission UFO Contact From Planet Itibi-Ra, Passport to Magonia, Colin Wilson’s books on the occult, The Black Art and the inclusion of H P Lovecraft’s fictional universe into occult practices of the time.

Today there seems to be a return to these topics. UFOs are more mainstream than ever, and the occult is becoming more popular from Wicca to Satanism. There is also the Hauntology movement, which can encompass many of the above themes and interests and folk-horror marks a return to modern audiences considering and welcoming rural or folkloric tropes and interests into their lives.

Films from the period that inspired me include The Wickerman, Blood On Satan’s Claw, The Holy Mountain, Race With The Devil, Rosemary’s Baby, The Omen and countless others. Directors with their own visual style like Dario Argento and Alejandro Jodorowsky fed into the descriptive passages of the book as l imagined some of the scenes as directed by these and other ‘70s directors.

I think the thing with these types of films is that they work best on you as a child. The good ones stick with you and as you watch them through the years, they transport you to a time and place and frame of mind where you first encountered them.

I would also like to say that there are some modern films that played a part too, like A Field in England, Mandy and Arcadia.

Music was also a great influence and inspiration from folk, psych, dance, punk and pop and many other forms - in particular: acid or psychedelic folk from the 60s and 70s. I have compiled a Spotify playlist of tracks that kept me going and helped create the book, which can be found on my Instagram and Facebook pages. If you make it to the end of the list the last track reveals where the book’s title came from.

Facebook - Pj George

Instagram - @as.much_pj_george

The events of your story take place on or near to the Evergreen estate, based off the surroundings you yourself lived in with your family. How important was it for you to clearly define the location of the narrative and how does it help ground the reader?

I’m not sure how it helps ground the reader. I didn’t write it with much thought of how any prospective reader would interact with the text. I was very much amusing myself at the beginning.

That said, it is important that any reader recognise what it is you’re trying to achieve in respect of place and setting. It has to be believable, otherwise it won’t hold much interest. That applies to me as the writer too. If I didn’t believe or fully realise the reality of the story I was trying to create, then the writing experience would be very dour and eventually redundant.

The setting of the book and its narrative are inspired by the feeling I experienced when living day-to-day in the place I was raised. There was an odd almost fairy tale quality, a sense of reality that rubbed up against the adult life I was living in returning to the old haunts of childhood. This feeling of otherness sitting alongside the prosaic life of routine and responsibility is something I hope the reader is able to discern and perhaps relate to.

Whilst incredibly gruesome and with supernatural features, the narrative of Over As Much Land feels true to life and ‘realistic’. Were there any newspaper articles or word-of-mouth stories which you draw from when writing?

There were plenty of stories I heard growing up, all involving areas I used to play in as a child. The wood where I used to play, called Ivytwyne in the book, was supposed to be haunted although it was never fully clear by what. One friend told me his dad had said there was a cabin in the heart of the wood; inside was an organ which played all by itself; and on top of the organ sat a human skull that would occasionally shriek along with the tune.

The wood was also rumoured to be the home of a Sasquatch, and I remember us as gangs of children descending on the wood in the hope of catching it. There are some photos of this wood and some other locations on my Instagram and Facebook pages. There are also photos of some graffiti I encountered shortly before writing the book. This graffiti seemed to me to have an occult quality to it. I started wondering who put it there and for what purpose - this helped fuel the story. Unfortunately, it’s been removed now, but it managed a good few years performing whatever function it was designed to undertake.

Some other stories are mentioned in the book: I heard tales of devil worship in a local churchyard from an over excited school friend at infant school, and I did actually see the UFO that one of the characters describes seeing as a child in more or less the same circumstances as described in the book on my way home from school one sunny afternoon.

The story of the Green Seagull is also true. It was mentioned in one school assembly, and everyone claimed to have seen it, although I never did.

There are so many local stories and rumours and as a child, I found them all incredibly exciting - regardless of whether they were true or not. Just this morning, I saw a TV report on my local news station about a blue pigeon in Maidenhead Berkshire.

Finally - and we like to ask all our authors this – with book one bound and available in bookstores, where are you heading next? A return to the Evergreen Estate? Or somewhere else entirely?

I would certainly consider expanding on the fictional world of Over As Much Land. There are also other ideas that are starting to creep about my head. It’s just a case of which ones triumph and which ones are cast aside.

Over As Much Land is available now in paperback.