Unveiling Shadows In Vancouver's Downtown Eastside: Insights from Author Jesse Ferreras in "Not As it Seems: A Gothic Anthology"

Not As it Seems: A Gothic Anthology

Hi everyone, welcome back to another edition of The-Inspired and our interview series. This time we catch up with devout husband, father of two, award winning journalist, friend, and a fellow graduate from Simon Fraser University's The Writers Studio Class of 2023, Jesse Ferreras.

It's been my pleasure getting to know Jesse over the past few years: as a fellow classmate reading his work, as a friend post-graduation at our lunches and chats together, and now watching his rise into the world of gothic horror writing.

In "Not As it Seems: A Gothic Anthology," Jesse's short story "Ultraviolet Night" takes gothic horror writing to a place with serious problems. Jesse's setting is the forgotten streets and people of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, where homelessness, trauma, and addiction remain in a vicious, seemingly endless, cycle.

In his work, along with his fellow authors: "The unnerving short stories in this gothic anthology keep true intentions hidden and reality in check behind the seemingly normal perspective of the narrator. The characters take the reader to haunted seaside manors, mysterious towns, and grand homes shrouded in secrets as they explore the deceitful nature of the mind and how their pasts affect their futures."

Paperback Release Date: September 2nd, 2025

ebook Purchase: Indigo / Amazon / books2read

Publisher: ​And You Press

Featured stories and authors include:

• "Of Sound Mind" by Caroline Baccene

• "Sleep Sound and Wake Nane" by Rosie Beech

• "The Owl and the Shrew" by Sarah Bjork

• "Wretched Children" by L.M. Copeland

• "Ultraviolet Night" by Jesse Ramon Ferreras

Now, here's my interview with Jesse Ferreras.

Jesse Ferreras - Author of "Ultraviolet Night" in "Not As It Seems: A Gothic Anthology"

Where are you from, what’s your story? How did you get into Horror writing?

I was born in Vancouver in 1984, and the city and I have sort of grown up together, as it took a major leap forward into international recognition with Expo 86. 

When I covered real estate as a journalist, I started to see the darker legacy of that event, how it presaged the entry of international capital into the city and marked the start of a phenomenon that may have destroyed affordability here forever.

I started writing horror because that genre made up much of what I was reading. I'm a major fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia ("Mexican Gothic"), Isabel Canas ("Vampires of El Norte") Tananarive Due ("The Reformatory") and Stephen Graham Jones ("The Only Good Indians") and I find that horror can serve as a sort of psychoanalysis of sociopolitical events.

I especially love Gothic horror because the focus isn't just on scares, but transformative endings that express deep emotions. 

Cinema has also been a major influence for me, especially the films "The Crow" and "Dark City." I have waited for another work of art to replicate their atmospheres, and I've never seen anyone pull it off.

Can you give some recommendations and links on some of your favourite horror stories?

Yes, my recommendations are:

• Silvia Moreno-Garcia - "Mexican Gothic," "Certain Dark Things"

• Isabel Canas - "The Hacienda," "Vampires of El Norte"

• Angela Carter - "The Bloody Chamber" (a short story collection - "The Lady of the House of Love" is my favourite)

• William Lindsay Gresham - "Nightmare Alley" (this is noir, not horror, but it's so amazing and has had a lasting influence on my work)

Tell us about Not As It Seems: A Gothic Anthology. How did it come together?

I first learned about it through an Instagram ad that was seeking submissions for a Gothic anthology. I had already been working on a short story for some time and this seemed a good fit. 

"Not As It Seems: A Gothic Anthology" is being published by And You Press, which is an imprint of Nicole Frail Books. The stories in this book take readers to haunted seaside manors, mysterious towns and grand homes shrouded in secrets as they explore the deceitful nature of the mind and how their pasts affect their futures. Underpinning these stories is a classic question for the Gothic genre: can the narrator be trusted?

When will it be released and are there any events? How can our readers buy a copy?

The anthology will be released on Sept. 2, and you can pre-order a copy through Indigo, Amazon, Apple and others listed on Books2Read. 

Note - this is for "ebooks" only, the paperback will be available from Amazon on Sept. 2. 

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Tell us about your story within the anthology?

My story is called "Ultraviolet Night," and it's about a vampire known as the Viscount. He awakens into a decaying city and sees more people living on the streets than he ever has before. He is the apex predator, a figure who inspires terror in anyone who utters his name, all until he tries to take a victim and sees the man's chest collapse in on itself.

It soon becomes clear that a larger, more dangerous supernatural predator has taken over, with a close connection to luxury glass towers that have been built all over the city. To remain the apex predator, the Viscount must find what's killing people before he can take them himself.

What is it like writing horror? What’s your process? Do you write in the mornings or night? Do you listen to music while you write?

Writing horror is a matter of putting yourself in the correct headspace to pull it off. My process involves extensive outlining before I've written a word of the story, bringing together all the major events and even some minor details to help flesh out the action when I put pen to paper. 

I write any time I can find time - early in the morning, late at night before I go to bed, at lunchtime, and occasionally I'm able to find time on weekends to pound out a few hours of writing by myself at a cafe.

Music has been essential to my craft. I am always listening when I write. I like to think of a film whose atmosphere matches the mood I'm trying to write, and I'll download the soundtrack to take me there. Graeme Revell's original motion picture score for "The Crow" is very immersive. I also love the soundtrack to Michael Mann's "Manhunter," in particular the songs "This Big Hush" and "Coelocanth" by Shriekback. Mozart's Requiem has likewise helped put me in the mood for writing Gothic horror.

Any tips for someone interested in writing horror or fiction in general. Tool, tactics or mistakes to avoid?

Read all the time, as much as you can. Immerse yourself in stories like the one you want to write, and try to capture their atmosphere without replicating the stories themselves.

I am reading so much that books have pretty much replaced cinema as a passion in my life. I used to watch tons of films, now I never feel the excitement for them that I do for books.

My main advice is to write something you love, and edit it and re-work it until you can't love it any more than you already do. Remember that, if you like a genre, a style, or a particular writer, you are already part of a community and a readership that shares something in common with you. If you love what you've written, someone else will, too.

What is something I don’t know enough about you that I probably should have asked?

I'm a sensitive person, and for much of my life, I put that side of me away for the sake of fitting in. 

That stopped when I read Dr. Gabor Mate's "The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture," which talks about "people pleasing" and how that has contributed to the very sick culture in which we live.

Dr. Mate writes that to tell someone, "don't be so sensitive" is the same as saying, "don't be so yourself." He hit me even more when he talked about how sensitive people have created much of the art that makes our lives worth living.

Writing is, for me, a protest against a sick culture where people tell you not to be yourself, and a furious rejection of the people who tell you to bury your true nature for the benefit of no one but themselves.

Not As it Seems: A Gothic Anthology