"....WHO IS MORE UNIVERSAL THAN HITCH?": BIRDS, STRANGERS, AND PSYCHOS' MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI

Maxim Jakubowski is one of the most prolific and creative anthology editors. He comes up with some of the best themes that push authors and create entertainment no only from the story themselves but how each author approaches the the theme he establishes. His latest, Birds, Strangers, and Psychos, is fiction that pays tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. He was kind enough to talk about the project with us.

SCOTT MONTGOMERY: What drew you to Hitchcock for an anthology?

MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI: I'd recently done a couple of anthologies featuring stories inspired by the work of writers who were dear to my heart: respectively Cornell Woolrich, who has always characterised the sheer essence of 'noir' for me, and J.G. Ballard who was both a good personal friend and a profound influence. But I was not interested in milking the formula out further and featuring authors who, albeit famous and revered had not had the same effect on me. Anyway, Chandler, Hammett and Stephen King had been 'done' (and well) by other editors. In addition, for commercial reasons, the publisher in me coming to the fore, revisiting the 'inspired by' stream would require a 'name' that would be universally renowned (and not a plethora of rock musicians homages that US small press outfits were indiscriminately flooding the market with...). Being a major film fan, it became evident that a film director was the right way, and who is more universal than Hitch?

S.M.: The stories are varied and so are the authors' approaches. What instructions did you give the writers?

M.J.: I intrinsically trust the contributors I commission, so my advice/instructions are pretty loose. They could seek inspiration from actual movies, Hitch tropes or Hitchcock' s screen and public persona, and they all responded with a diversity of approaches that I found both fascinating and refreshing. I also did not wish to restrict the book to authors from the crime and thriller field, so expanded my reach to film writers who also wrote fiction on occasion. My only caveat was to try and avoid the same movies used as stepping stones more than once or twice, so I had to curtail the inevitable attraction of VERTIGO (which explains why I didn't contribute a story of my own as it would have been automatically VERTIGO-related!).

S.M.: Did any of the authors surprise you with the story they turned in?

M.J.: They all did. Good writers know how to be original and spin a theme upside down with a capacity to surprise and impress! 

S.M.: Hitchcock was a very English director, who spent most of his life making Hollywood movies. Did you notice any differences between the stories of the American and British writers?

M.J.: Not really. I actually found the contributing writers answered the brief with a deep understanding of what made Hitchcock movies so original and compelling, and how he played around with the role of suspense and how it ticked. As a matter of fact, some British authors set their tales in America, albeit not vice versa, as did the Icelandic and Portuguese writers!

S.M.: I couldn't help but notice some traces of Patricia Highsmith in some of the stories. Where there any other fiction writers you saw that Hitchcock brought out in some of the works?

M.J.: I think that many of Hitchcock's movies display that trait, even though they are not actually based on Highsmith material  (apart from STRANGERS ON A TRAIN of course) and this was somehow reflected in the contributions of several authors; in a way, we eerily were on the same wavelength!

S.M.: What do you feel is an underrated Hitchcock film?

M.J.: Having recently watched a remastered box set reissue of Hitchcock's early British movies, filmed before he travelled to America, , I think many of them have been unfairly eclipsed . And, though it might not appear at first sight as typically Hitchcockian, and more of a caper than a thriller, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY; if only it's based on a novel by the wonderful if sadly forgotten and underrated British writer Jack Trevor Story.

S.M.: Are there any other filmmakers you'd like to do an anthology like this for?

M.J.: Yes, I have just signed a contract for a new anthology, for 2027 publication, of brand new stories inspired by the movies of another universally-acclaimed film  director but I will have to leave you in suspense for now, as I'm in the process of selecting my dream contributors. However, it's not Spielberg, David Lynch (just been done, badly, by a small press, and possibly not enough of a draw for the majority of bookstores) or Martin Scorsese! After launching BIRDS, STRANGERS AND PSYCHOS with an event recently at London's BFI Southbank, a handful of contributors and myself retreated to the bar for a debrief drink and, as a joke, agreed bookshelves were eminently ready for a Guy Ritchie-inspired anthology, but I fear the real world is not quite ready for that prospect! Watch this screen...