JASON OFFUTT SAYS DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, BUT DON'T BELIEVE HIM HE MIGHT BE ONE OF THEM

1/2/2022

I like to be scared. I’m not alone in this, not by a long shot. A 2019 survey by the market research company OnePoll showed sixty-two percent of the population enjoys frights, thrills, and chills. Some people satisfy this need for terror through rollercoasters, or rock climbing, or becoming a parent. Being a parent, I should know. I’m not a potential bodily-harm thrill seeker; I look for my horror in books, movies, television, and hanging out in cemeteries (nice places, and quite peaceful).

However, there wasn’t just one bit of media that pushed me into becoming a horror writer—the horror genre came at me from many directions: Kaiju monsters, the classic Universal monsters, the Mugato from the original Star Trek series episode A Private Little War, and newspaper accounts of Bigfoot. Yes, in the early 1970s, the United States press printed serious newspaper articles about sightings of Sasquatch. I wish it still did.

As much as I enjoyed them all, none of the movies, TV shows, or Bigfoot reports caused fear, that deep, primal terror that makes the heart pound and the bladder weak. Enter the 1973 made-for-television movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (called Nightmare in Europe).

The movie stars Kim Darby as Sally Farnham and Jim Hutton as her husband Alex. The couple inherits, and begins to restore, a Victorian mansion, when Sally discovers a locked door. After unlocking the door, the Farnhams find a fireplace sealed by brickwork. When Sally receives subtle hints (high, whispering voices imploring “Sally, set us free”), she has the fireplace opened, which releases small demonic entities that terrorize the couple. I won’t go into any more of the movie. Sure, it’s forty-nine years old, but Jason is always one-hundred percent spoiler-free.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark did what Godzilla, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man couldn’t. It scared the hell out of me—and I wanted more. (What were my parents thinking, letting an eight-year-old watch that kind of movie? Eh. I’m happy they did.)

For years after, I devoured all the Lovecraft, Howard, Jackson, Mathewson, and King I could, piling on my horror needs with the movies of Carpenter, Craven, Hitchcock, Romero, Cronenberg, Scott, etc. So, it wasn’t just one catalyst, it was many. However, I credit Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark with showing me how fun horror can be.

This all led me to where I am, writing about the unknown, the creepy, the sinister. I’m so happy to share my stories with you. Happy reading.

The Girl in the Corn
by Jason Offutt

Beware of what lurks in the corn.
Fairies don’t exist. At least that’s what Thomas Cavanaugh’s parents say. But the events of that one night, when he follows a fairy into the cornfield on his parents’ farm, prove them wrong. What seems like a destructive explosion was, Thomas knows, an encounter with Dauðr, a force that threatens to destroy the fairy’s world and his sanity.

Years later, after a troubled childhood and a series of dead-end jobs, he is still haunted by what he saw that night. One day he crosses paths with a beautiful young woman and a troubled young man, soon realizing that he first met them as a kid while under psychiatric care after his encounters in the cornfield. Has fate brought them together? Are they meant to join forces to save the fairy’s world and their own? Or is one of them not who they claim to be?

[An] unholy mash-up of creepy, high-body-count paranormal thrills. —Publishers Weekly

[A] haunting, unsettling, gripping novel [with] such original, disturbing beasts—I was hypnotized by their presence on the page.—Richard Thomas, Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson nominee
Norse mythology gives this story . . . a unique touch [with] an exhilarating conclusion.—Booklist

Or Purchase a copy of The Girl in the Corn direct from CamCat Publishing here

https://camcatbooks.com/Books/T/The-Girl-in-the-Corn

So You Had To Build A Time Machine
by Jason Offutt

Skid doesn’t believe in ghosts or time travel or any of that nonsense. A circus runaway-turned-bouncer, she believes in hard work, self-defense, and good strong coffee. Then one day an annoying theoretical physicist named Dave pops into the seat next to her at her least favorite Kansas City bar and disappears into thin air when she punches him (he totally deserved it).

Now, street names are changing, Skid’s favorite muffins are swapping frosting flavors, Dave keeps reappearing in odd places like the old Sanderson murder house—and that’s only the start of her problems.

Something in the world has gone wrong. Terribly wrong. Absolutely &#*$&ed up.

Someone has the nastiest versions of every conceivable reality at their fingertips, and they're not afraid to smash them together. With the help of a smooth-talking haunted house owner and a linebacker-sized Dungeons and Dragons-loving baker, Skid and Dave set out to save the world from whatever scientific experiment has sent them all dimension-hopping against their will.

It probably means the world is screwed.

Or Purchase a copy of So You Had to Build a Time Machine direct from Camacat Publishing here

https://camcatbooks.com/Books/S/So-You-Had-To-Build-A-Time-Machine

Jason Offutt

BIO
Jason Offutt grew up in a haunted farmhouse in rural Missouri. Not that the rest of the family knew (or would admit) the ghost of a little boy haunted the house; he was the only one who saw the full-bodied apparition, after all. Over the years Jason’s fascination grew for horror and dark fantasy where things never are what they seem. The Girl in the Corn is Jason’s first horror/dark fantasy novel. He is best known for science fiction, such as So You Had to Build a Time Machine, Bad Day for the Apocalypse, and How to Kill Monsters Using Common Household Objects. Jason teaches university journalism and cooks for his family.