Zhang Zhen described listening to horror stories as "experiencing a nightmare." "No one doesn't like the thrill of waking up from a nightmare." This concept is also projected in Zhang Zhen's works, and he always adds a suddenly cheerful ending to the end of the story. The mystery is revealed, an unfortunate person is redeemed, a person who has committed many evil deeds is punished, and a long-established myth is answered. The storyteller has also become a mystery. Zhang Zhen once rejected video interviews, left almost no formal film and television materials, and did not use mobile phones for more than 10 years. A legendary rumor, as enduring as his story, has even become a "symbol" of Zhang Zhen: the storyteller Zhang Zhen was scared to death by his ghost story. Recently, we chatted with Zhang Zhen, who tells ghost stories.
Zhang Zhen
In Zhang Zhen's home, the study is the only forbidden area.
A light often comes on after midnight. The writer lit a cigarette, put his finger on the keyboard, and his brain began to fly. He often looked at the crack in the door to make sure it was closed and no one could easily enter in the middle of the night. Closer to the door, you can hear a few muffled whispers from the room. "What the hell is he going to do?" Why go for a ride alone? No, no story, the motives are ridiculous. He smirked to himself, immersed in speculation, and looked like a mentally troubled man. As soon as there are footsteps outside the door, he will quickly pull out so as not to scare the children. This is Zhang Zhen's creative habit for many years - putting himself into a monotonous space. He has not used a mobile phone for more than a decade, Nor has WeChat, and if the outside world wants to find him, they must first find his agent - also his wife Xiaojing. His life consisted only of creating this thing, home and recording studio, two points and one line.
Zhang Zhen's wife, Xiao Jing
Xiao Jing and Zhang Zhen have complementary personalities. Xiao Jing has a brave personality, is enthusiastic and lively, and is an optimist; Zhang Zhen is hesitant and hesitant, with delicate craftsmanship, and is a pessimist inside. The female voice dubbing in "Zhang Zhen Telling Stories" is almost all done by Xiao Jing, and she was once called "childhood shadow" by her listeners.
Zhang Zhen, now 48 years old, was once considered the best storyteller in China, and at the age of 25 climbed to the top of China's horror audio works. At the end of the 1990s, he caught up with the trend of the radio era, seized the value dividend of taboo themes, and created the largest brand of horror audio works, "Zhang Zhen Tells Stories". Mass media as a carrier, horror art as the core, the two shine together, setting off a wave of local horror art creation at the end of the last century.
In the eyes of the outside world, Zhang Zhen is a completely mysterious person. He rarely appeared on television screens, leaving little official video footage. He left the audience with a suspense about himself. Suspense is the foundation of the story, and he is as mysterious as the horrors he writes.