Undirtonar
(Icelandic National Newspaper) September 2000

Hr. Millidge - I goou grini meo Gary!!

Interview by Ragnar Egilsson
Translated from the Icelandic by Arni Beck Gunnarsson

What is Strangehaven all about, my dear Mr Millidge?

That is the question I dreaded the most because my story covers an awful lot. On the surface it's about a guy who gets lost in the English countryside, crashes his car into a tree and wakes up in a village. This village turns out to be a very mysterious place, endoved with some sort of magic. Under the beautifull exterior lie many wonders. I have always despised this question because it is so difficult to describe Strangehaven in a few sentences.

Where does the idea for Strangehaven originate?

I wanted to achieve the sort of mood which was prominent in British Television from the 70's, like The Avengers. But then Twin Peaks influenced me a lot as well. I wanted to write a lot of different stories and the best way to do that was to have them all take place in the same small village. That way I could create as many different characters as I liked. Since the beginning both the story and the characters have developed and it all became a lot tighter than I had anticipated. You could say that the village is a frame of sorts, which unites the characters and helps them grow, couldn't you? Yeah, that's it, right on the mark there. Because it revolves around the village and how it swallows the main character, Alex, and seperates him from the world. Of course I favor some characters more than others. Ever so slowly I have now started to shed the straight forward story in favor of shorter stories as was my intention in the beginning.

What has influenced you the most?

Well...I have always read comics, and their storytelling traditions have always fascinated me. I can tell you who my favorites in this regard are. I dig Dave McKean a lot but I cannot confirm how much he has influenced my art. Barry Smith was a huge favorite of mine in the old days. In fact I think I can list all of those who write and draw well in the industry today.

Like Bryan Talbot who writes the introduction to your latest collection?

Yes, exactly, I first noticed Bryan in black and white underground anthologies. Such books interested me greatly, including Heavy Metal in which I was introduced to Bilal and Moebius.

Your art is very photorealistic. Do you use photographs as reference? Even photographs of people you know?

Yes. That's the way I am, I want everything I draw to be perfect and as real as possible. That's why I use photographs of both people and places. The models however have nothing in common with the characters aside from their looks.

Have you ever had any first hand experience with secret societies, like the one which appears in your story?

Ha ha, no. I have read a lot about such societies in revealing books such as Inside the Brotherhood by Stephen King. In it he talks about, amongst other things, the real power of the Freemasons. I have never had any personal experience with the Masons, but I do know a former Mason who loved talking about them. The whole idea of secret clubs for men is very interesting. My own view of these orders should be clear in the story.

What about your ideas on shamanism and such in the rainforests?

Hahaha, oh dear. I have no experience there either. But I am interested. It started when I saw The Emerald Forest by John Boorman. It aroused my curiosity at an early age. Already at that point I was determined to write equally emotional stories.
My views on the destruction of the rain forest are also evident in the story. You can say that I am using Strangehaven to air my opinions and interests while writing a good neutral story.

Here the interview ended mysteriously. The latter part of the minidisk disappeared shortly after the interview ended. In that part of the interview Gary Millidge told the story of the time he went to a séance with his dear departed father. At the end of the meeting they played back a recording of it. In the background a voice could be heard saying; "move to Spain, move to Spain." Very Sixth Sense, that.
Now it is only a question of who didn't want that recording to appear in these pages. Was it Millidge's father? Was it the psychic? Was it the Spanish government? Who knows? It seems that weirdness follows in the steps of Strangehaven, wherever it appears.

Undirtonar also includes a review of Strangehaven: Brotherhood which I hope will be translated and posted here at some point in the future.

©2000 Undirtonar/Ragnar Egilsson

If you've read any notable pieces concerning Strangehaven that may have escaped our attention and does not appear here, we'd like to hear about them! E-mail us at webmonkey@millidge.com

All text and images (c) copyright Gary Spencer Millidge/Abiogenesis Press All rights reserved.