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@thebookbakers

The Book Bakers is one of India's biggest literary agencies having sold 960 books till date & represented the biggest names in Indian literature.

@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 1:23

Hauntings- A Conversation with Abhirup Dhar

article image placeholderUploaded by @Ramya
One such writer is Abirupdhar, whose latest book hauntings, curates and brings together the choicest and most fine, chilling haunted house cases of the Indian Paranormal Society. The book has been represented by the book bakers and published by rupa to rave reviews. midday has called abhirup the most acclaimed name in Indian horror writing and Z Five has called him the biggest Indian horror writer in the country who keeps us holding our bread with such great accolades to his merit. abhirup joins me today as we discuss his latest book hauntings
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@AbhirupDhar
Abhirup Dhar
@AbhirupDhar · 4:25
My association with Indian Paranormal Society dates back to 2020 when I got in touch with them when I was researching for a book called The belvoir Hauntings. One of my characters in that book was a paranormal investigator. And I feel that there is some research needed for fiction as well. So I got in touch with them and I wanted to understand the nuances of a paranormal investigator
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:18

2. Do ghosts really exist?

That was fascinating. Thank you for that. I'm sure you must have been asked this question several times over. Do goals really exist? And when you get such questions, generally, how do you answer them based on all the research and work that you've done around the paranormal
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@Swell
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15

Welcome to Swell!

@AbhirupDhar
Abhirup Dhar
@AbhirupDhar · 3:28

@Ramya

I definitely think that this is not a regressive thought today when we have so many paranormal investigators. gaurav tiwari was one of them. And Indian Paranormal Society keeps doing some great stuff even after his demise. In the same way there was Eden. Lawrence Warren. So the conjuring movies are made based on their paranormal investigation cases. So, of course, these are not fools, right? I mean, why will they have a career and investigate such things?
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:53

3. Is horror an underrepresented genre in Indian publishing?

Thank you for that. My next question is something that I've always wanted to ask a writer who dabbles in horror. I don't know if I'm right. Please correct me if I'm not. Horror continues to be an underrepresented genre in Indian publishing, despite our rich culture having all kinds of horror stories and legends and myths. What is your take on this?
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@AbhirupDhar
Abhirup Dhar
@AbhirupDhar · 4:53

@Ramya

Gulbulaya, which was of course, a remake of a malala movie, which was remade in many other languages, was also a fantastic movie. So, yes, horror comedy can do the trick. But I think horror comedy does better when it's in movies because in literature it will be a little tacky, it will be a little different. It won't work that way, maybe, but yes, good for it if it's doing well in cinema
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:35

4. Does Indian Horror need to evolve & steer clear of clichés?

Thank you for that. I will leave you with one final question. I've come across horror enthusiasts who have remarked that they hesitate to pick up horror novels written by Indian authors for the fear that they may not be as scary as their international counterparts. Would you at all agree with such a view that horror fiction in the Indian context needs to move away from stereotypes and cliches and conventional storytelling formats?
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@AbhirupDhar
Abhirup Dhar
@AbhirupDhar · 4:55

@Ramya

But the nonfiction, it's not fiction that they're looking at. So when we have to write a fictional horror story or a horror novel, we have to kind of tell them that, yes, this is based on true stories and true accounts. Or maybe we'll have to tell them that this will get us these results. We have to show the results to them. Because, end of the day, for a publisher, a book is a business, right? They are investing in it
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:51

Limited-time deal: Hauntings: Stories Based on Actual Paranormal Investigations https://amzn.eu/d/egmlbx7

Thank you so much for this great interview. abhirup. Here's hoping that you continue to spook us with all your books. Do keep them coming. It's been wonderful having you in the swell literary community and I hope to invite you back on for more fascinating conversations around your work. For our listeners to check out, I'm going to be linking Abhirup's latest books, Amazon link here in the description. Please do check it out
article image placeholderHauntings: Stories Based on Actual Paranormal Investigations
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