By KEVIN HOOVER
Stepping outside one’s comfort zone is a terrifying thought for most, but when Felicia Day (The Guild, Supernatural) was approached to narrate the audiobook version of Patrick Sheane Duncan’s (writer of Courage Under Fire, Mr. Holland’s Opus) The Honey Trap for Encyclopocalypse Publications, conventionality be damned. Duncan’s latest – a gut punch more akin to 2005’s Hard Candy than any of his previous works – weaves a deadly tale of comeuppance between the predatorial Calvin and conniving, yet resourceful, Pru. The story pushed both Day and co-narrator and voiceover veteran Sean Duregger into new territory while also challenging their own perceptions of Duncan’s ability to ink an unforgettably disturbing tale. The pair discussed their time in the booth with Rue Morgue.
Patrick Sheane Duncan isn’t a name you think of in terms of creating dark fiction. In preparing for your roles, were either of you surprised at how unsettling The Honey Trap is?
Felicia Day: I’ve known him since I moved to L.A. – he was one the first people I met here – and although a screenwriter might have certain credits, that doesn’t mean that those are the only genres they work in. Patrick had a couple of indie movies that went to Sundance that were dark and edgy. In Hollywood, they peg you for one thing but most people are more well-rounded artists. When I first read the book, I was drawn to the noir aspect of it. It’s kind of like The Big Sleep but updated to modern times. There’s a sardonic, yet organic humor to it. There are some dark themes and I think this is the time for something like that, in these thrillers that are grounded in reality but dealing with issues that are super dark. I loved playing the role of Pru and I love the idea that the publisher decided to split the book up between me and Sean.
Sean Duregger: I was very surprised. Working with Encyclopocalypse, I had cast two of his books, Private War and Courage Under Fire, so I was familiar with those but that’s where it ended. I always thought it was a strange combination of him working with Encyclopocalypse because it’s a horror label for the most part, but then I met him in October at a signing at Dark Delicacies and he’s sitting among all these other horror legends, like right next to Tom Holland. He’s selling copies of the book there and I realized he could hold his own amongst these other horror authors – I didn’t know he had it in him! The book is a wild ride. I’m always glad when someone unexpected puts out horror.
In reading the book’s synopsis, it becomes immediately apparent that there are no good people here. Discuss your primary character portrayals and what it took to get each of you inside their heads.
FD: That’s why I wanted to do it! I get pegged for being one kind thing for a long time, and what a wonderful thing to have success of any kind at. But as I’m getting older, that type is no longer 100% me. I’m a mom now, and I do have a lot of other interests that I’ve never gotten to put forward. Audio is a place where you can stretch yourself because my face isn’t there. You don’t automatically associate me with something that you’ve seen before. I’m kind of a dark person – I don’t watch a lot of horror, I’m more into comedy – but inside I have a lot of rage, especially against Hollywood and the establishment I’m in. I’m certainly an indie person and that rebellious spirit is something I enjoyed channeling with Pru. She’s someone to who the world has not been kind; she has trauma in her past and yet she’s moving forward the best way possible, but damaged. She’s putting a band-aid on it just to be able to operate and follow her dreams, and she has a wonderful mentor in her life. It was fun to be able to channel that side of myself but also a side that I aspire to be, which is, quite frankly, cool.
Sean Duregger
SD: I’ve always said when people ask me about this, that Felicia is doing all the heavy lifting. When trying to prep, I read the book and was trying to keep track of the characters I’m doing, but what we’re doing is a crazy hard dance. What I like is that each chapter is from the perspective of the main person of the chapter, but it’s still third person. The first chapter that I narrate is from the first “mark” in the story, and he was a timid guy. He’s someone who’s looking for adventure and that goes terribly wrong for him, but then we get to Calvin. There’s a bit where he’s trying to portray a bumbling father from the Midwest who works in a little mill or garage carving ducks, and it’s so creepy. He puts on this persona where you know he’s probably married, but not happily. I don’t know why Mark Alan Miller (owner of Encyclopocalypse) came to me for this – I don’t know if I put off a vibe of a pervy old man …
FD: … I think it’s that you’re so incredibly talented! Having only narrated one book before, it’s a very hard job. You cannot imagine the stamina you have to have and thinking about other characters, you don’t want them to sound like a cliché. I had a character where I had to do a Russian accent and I labored over it. I wanted to be subtle and not stand out and make people aware of it because you want them to go with the flow of the story. Sean gave me some tips when we were talking about the tonality we’d use with our characters. It was a collaborative process to make sure that this felt like a whole piece even though there are two narrators, and I think it’s fun in that you have good and evil in our voices.
The Honey Trap treads into controversial territory and has a story that seemingly marries that of Hard Candy with Silence of the Lambs. Was it difficult for either of you to portray this brutally unflinching material?
FD: I have a big social media following, and when I sent out word about the book, I had to put trigger warnings. I know my audience well and I know that probably scared some people off from the book because I have a comedic, genre-friendly crowd, so I didn’t want anyone blindsided. I don’t think any of the themes are dealt with lightly; they’re not used as a prop to create trauma or cheapen the experience. There’s an amazing female character who has depth and layers and reasons why she is damaged and does what she does, and so even though there are some dark things that come out in her past, they tie together with the antagonist and into her story. I appreciated that about the role. It’s a dark tale set in modern times, and having that vibe right now is pretty satisfying.
SD: In each character you do, you need to find their truth, even if they’re the most violent person. I’ve seen so many horror movies and am such a movie buff and I know how to turn on a character and when to turn it off. The biggest thing that I was worried about was that Calvin is leering at these young girls and there’s this pedophilia aspect of it where it’s this lingering part of him. As a dad, that was hard to channel, although I’m just performing a character. What I like about Patrick’s writing, even with something like Courage Under Fire, is that he deals with opposing viewpoints but he’s not saying this person is right and this person is wrong. We’re all hovering in the grey area trying to do our best, but even as good as I try to be, I could be the villain in someone’s story. That’s how I look at this kind of stuff and I always try to channel that into the characters that I portray.
One question asked of every actor to ever work under a mask is, “How do you convey emotion without being able to show facial expressions?” However, they still have body language. In an audiobook, all you have is your voice. How challenging is that process?
FD: I’ve done a lot of voiceovers, but Rule of Cool (a gaming literature book), was the first book other than my own that I had narrated. Knowing that you have to channel every single character in a book that has dozens and trying to find a different tonality in each because you can’t convey anything with your face is difficult. In cinema, sometimes it’s only a look that conveys everything, but every time you have a new voice you have to figure out where in your own voice that can be. It can’t be too big because it’ll just draw attention to itself.
SD: I’ve always been the guy that everybody in my family has asked to “do the voice.” I’m pretty animated, so when I do voiceovers, I do a lot of body movements. For Calvin, he’s an uptight guy, so I’d kind of tense my shoulders up. When I had to be Pru in the first chapter, she’s putting on this schoolgirl act, so I had to be this valley girl type. I do channel a lot of attention into my face even though I know no one’s going to see it. There’s a dark fantasy book that I’m currently doing in which I’m playing gods and demons and there are times when you can get big and crazy with it. For The Honey Trap,all of it was subtle. I would still get into character, but there was a trick of not going overboard with it.
There may be listeners going into The Honey Trap based on author name recognition and may not necessarily be dissuaded by the synopsis. Once they get into the story, they may feel they’ve gotten in way over their heads. What would you say to those who want to tap out long before they reach the conclusion?
FD: The beginning of the book is very accessible, and I think as the layers come out you’ll know it’s a thriller. It really is John Wick in a way with deeper themes, so if you’re into John Wick you’re going to like this book and will be challenged by it. I think that’s a good thing, and as a horror fan, you know there is more horror in reality than in fantasy. The true horror in this book is very compelling.
SD: Enjoy the twists and turns of it, but I think Felicia’s narration will pull people in and pull them through. In her chapters, you get to like Pru and the way we’re narrating that character from their perspective. There are moments of humor that she brings where I’ll find myself laughing and enjoying listening, and I think people are going to be easily drawn in.
Felicia Day is currently hosting streams of online game The Walking Dead: Last Mile, and Sean Duregger continues to voice titles in the ever-expanding Encyclopocalypse Publications library. Pick up Patrick Sheane Duncan’s The Honey Trap here.
