Paul Tremblay is the author of the critically acclaimed horror novels A Head Full Of Ghosts (2015), Disappearance At Devil's Rock (2016) and Cabin At The End Of The World (2018). His thought-provoking and deeply disturbing stories are both engaging character-driven horror thrillers and witty metafictional meditations on horror as a genre. They have been praised by everyone from Stephen King to Nina Allan. Paul Tremblay was at Edge-Lit Festival in Derby, and was kind enough to speak to Gingernuts Of Horror about his writing.

Your latest novel, Cabin At The End Of The World, is out now with Titan Books in the UK. Can you tell us a bit about it?

Sure. The novel opens with two men who are married, Andrew and Eric, and they have an adopted daughter named Wen, she's about seven or eight years old. And they decide to rent a cabin in Northern New Hampshire, purposely remote, cause they're urbanites. They want to unplug from Wi-Fi and cellphones. For this book I needed that set up for a horror story! And while they're there these four strangers sort of show up and demand to be let into the cabin because they say that they need the family's help to help prevent the end of the world. And then it goes from there.

It's a very intense novel. At any point in the book did you feel, is this going too far?

The book is my take on the home invasion genre. It's funny, when I had the idea for the book, it was sort of a challenge, because that is typically my least favourite sub-genre of horror. There are some home invasion stories I like. It's a truly terrifying concept. So that's part of it. But too often I think the Hollywood treatment of the home invasion story is dependant upon almost torture, and I don't think it's done well in that way. So there's certainly violence in my book but I tried to treat the violence with what I would call respect. What I mean by that is, I treat both the victim, whether or not he or she survives, but also the people who witness the violent act, even who perpetrate that violent act, to try to respect that experience, that they're forever changed by it. So with the home invasion story it's sort of unavoidable that there is violence. Without being spoilery, neither of my publishers pushed back on it. So hopefully that means that even though some bad things happen I sort of treated it in an OK way.

 It's very claustrophobic, almost entirely set within that cabin.

Yeah. I'm no playwright but with that book, I tried to envision that this could almost be written like a stage play. Which I thought would help make it more intense and horrifying because it is such an enclosed space. It was fun to have the cabin, this really enclosed space, surrounded by this expanse of wilderness. So it's a neat little dichotomy, that even though they're in the middle of all this big stuff, it's all contained in this tight little place.

This book sees you play with home invasion and cabin in the wood tropes, and A Head Full Of Ghosts plays with both possession films and reality TV. What is it that attracts you to approaching these horror tropes in such a distinct way?

I'm a lifelong horror fan, and particularly movies was actually my first love, before I got to reading and writing a little bit later. To me part of the fun of horror, or any genre, is that when I'm writing a horror story I'm joining this decades long conversation. And hopefully when you write a horror story, if its successful enough, not only do you get to be in conversation with a previous work, maybe now the previous work gets looked at slightly differently. To me that's part of the fun and challenge of it. Like, how would I do a home invasion story? That was like a fun challenge. Obviously you want to have like a few twists to it. If you're going to be in the horror genre you might as well use it right? I don't think the tropes should be avoided, I think they should be embraced and maybe, if not reinvented then at least tweaked or looked at in a different way.

Your books also play with ambiguity. Cabin In The Woods could be read as an apocalyptic tale, or it could be a bunch of crazy cultists invading a house. Similarly A Head Full Of Ghosts is all about that bit - "Why is my sister's schizophrenic breakdown not enough for you?"

That line that you quoted, I'm happy to hear. To me I feel like that's, if there was such a thing, the thesis statement for the book. Ambiguity is something I've always been attracted to. I feel like that reflects our existence. Our existence is a lot more ambiguous, when we think about it a lot it starts to make us feel uncomfortable, or at least it does for me. As a horror writer I just think that's an endless territory to explore. And I thought for A Head Full Of Ghosts and Disappearance At Devil's Rock and now Cabin, that it made a nice way for those three books to make this arc, sort of fit together. I can't do the same thing for every novel, the next novel I'm going to try to do something a little bit different, but I thought it was kind of cool to have all three novels be about families in crisis, all three novels have this maybe ambiguous supernatural element.

And as you say, they're all linked by the family experience.

Absolutely. So many of my stories, not all of them, but even some of the short stories, are about either kids or parents being parents for the first time. Sometimes flipping the point of view. Again like ambiguity I think it's like a limitless thing to explore. Being part of a family is one of the few almost universal experiences that we all have. People like to relate to that in a story.

A Head Full Of Ghost plays around with ideas around memory and perception.

Yeah. I lob memory and identity with our sort of ambiguous existence. Because there are so many studies out there, we know our memories aren't perfect, and they change over time. And your identity is so reliant upon your memory, so how malleable is our identity? When you think of that in terms of a horror story, or me it gets the wheels turning.

All three novels are in dialogue with horror, but A Head Full Of Ghosts is particularly in dialogue with The Exorcist and the Catholic guilt and misogyny that crops up in so many of those early possession stories.

That was definitely my initial reaction to the idea of writing a possession story. Cause I grew up in New England, it's a very Catholic area. And I was Catholic up until the age of seven or eight. I still teach actually in a Catholic school, which is weird. So I've been around it my whole life. But that was actually a big part of it because the classical exorcist tale, the Blatty story relies so heavily, not only concept but almost the belief in it. With A Head Full Of Ghosts, my first idea was, no I'm going to write a secular, sceptical exorcist story. And as it morphed it became more about the ambiguity but I still wanted to criticise the historical treatment of women who were obviously just mentally ill but they had to suffer through these exorcism attempts, particularly in the 1800s and early 1900s when it was really bad. And how it's treated in the film where the priests show up and obviously they're the good guys who save the day, whether or not there's like a twist at the end. I wanted to have the priests show up and make things worse.

You describe the house in A Head Full Of Ghosts and the cabin in Cabin At The End Of The World in a lot of detail near the beginning. It's almost like the magician setting up a trick - nothing in this hand...

That's funny, I didn't even realise I did that but you're right. In the first couple of pages of A Head Full Of Ghosts that's right, there's a big description of the house, in Cabin it's like early in the second chapter. Thank you for telling me that! That's sort of the fun part of writing sometimes. The idea of trusting your subconscious. You put stuff in in a certain order and sometimes I can't fully explain why it just feels right. That's the sort of big leap I think you have to take, is to trust your subconscious. You'll figure it out in the end, or even if you don't it's just right cause it sort of works.

At the centre of all of the books is this adult fear that something is happening to your kid and you can't help them.

No absolutely. It definitely reflects my anxieties as a parent, about my children. It's funny, I first got serious about writing right after my first child was born. For a few years before that it was more like just a hobby. In a weird way though I was super busy now cause I was a parent, it really gave me a lot of inspiration to work through this new world of being a parent which to me is still kind of bizarre. The different milestones you go through as a parent, my son is a year away from going to college. It's depressing and blowing me away and it's exciting but how old he's become, and how old I've become!

Both A Head Full Of Ghosts and Cabin At The End Of The World have been optioned for film.

Yeah. It's my first time. I have no official say in the goings on, which is fine, but A Head Full Of Ghosts has been optioned by Focus, there's two producers and it's been like a much longer process. They've had it for three years, but it still sounds like they're excited about making it. and they have actually have hired a director, Oz Perkins, and he directed The Blackcoat's Daughter, and I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In This House - the second film is on Netflix. He's actually the son of Anthony Perkins. So I'm very excited. Nothing official yet but fingers crossed, it sounds like things are starting to move a little bit forward. With Cabin it's very early in the process but I did actually just recently when I went to Washington, went to hang out with two gentlemen who worked on the screenplay. They were very nice and sort of seemed like well thought, deep thinking kind of guys and it was wonderful talking to them. They were asking me lots of questions about Cabin and it sounds like they want to keep me in the loop, which is nice. So I'm super excited, hopefully it happens.

And definitely with Cabin you could almost stage that...

Yeah. I mean nothing is easy to adapt, I don't think, and even with that there's a lot of interior stuff going on but yeah, movie-wise all you need is a cabin. And maybe some of the stuff on the television but you can work your way around that.

As well as writing, you're a juror on the Shirley Jackson Award.

I haven't been a juror for a while. The first few years I was a juror, but I basically just help run behind the scenes. Cause we get new jurors every year or so. So actually I think this is our eleventh year, which is kind of hard to believe. It's a lot of work at times but it's also a really sort of wonderful experience, to find how many people have been inspired and affected by the work of Shirley Jackson, which is really cool. Really different kinds of authors that you wouldn't necessarily expect.

Has that experience on the critical side fed into your writing?

Yeah it all helps. I can be fairly described as a magpie kind of writer, I like to take little bits of ideas from a bunch of different things and try to put them together and make a new thing. So all that goes into the stew of inspiration.

Your first three books aren't in print in the UK yet.

Right yeah. The first two were crime novels that were with Henry Holt, no British publisher. So the Titan books are the only ones in print in the UK.

Any plans to change that in the near future?

I'd love to, believe me, it's not up to me it's more up to a British publisher. I'd love to have the Holt crime novels come out again, I'd love to have the rights back to that too but it's still with Henry Holt. Maybe someday!

Did you feel a big shift changing from writing noir crime to horror?

Well it's funny, when I started writing it was all exclusively horror, and mainly short fiction. When I first tried writing novels, the longer stuff tended to be still dark but more humorous. And I think horror and humour are kind of related, right? Our absurd life, you're either going to react to it with horror or laugh. So it was actually more that I felt like an outsider when I was doing the crime and it felt nice to come home and write these horror novels. And I was really excited for A Head Full Of Ghosts, because it's the first time I'd written a long form horror piece.

You've written a lot of short fiction as well, do you still write them whilst working on the novels?

I do, it's hard to squeeze them in. Actually I find it harder to write short stories now, just for me, after being in novel mode, because they're two different forms. The people who have mastered the short story and it takes a long time and is hard to do, and I found my short fiction has gotten longer now I'm writing novels. I sort of miss the days where I could write a 3,000 word short story. And some of those weren't great cause it was my first stuff that I wrote. But yeah I usually squeeze in one or two a year. Last year I probably had like four just because I had no novel that would stop me. This year i really I have to work out what the next novel is this summer, so this next year of writing is going to be pretty much that novel, whatever it is.

What's next for Paul Tremblay?

So next summer is a short story collection, that will be both with the US publisher and Titan Books, and it's called The Growing Things And Other Stories. As of now I submitted it with 19 stories. We'll see if an editor trims one or not. But two of them are not previously published, just for the collection. One's a novella in the UK, a novelette in the US, based on how you use your word count. So the novella, it's like this fun metafictional thing that has a small connection to A Head Full Of Ghosts, but a much bigger connection to Disappearance At Devil's Rock. And the other original that I wrote, called 'The Thirteenth Tower', will be the last story in the collection. I wouldn't call it the sequel to A Head Full Of Ghosts, but it features Merry, after the book on her life has come out, Merry is at a convention, a big one like San Diego Comicon, and she's confronted by a fan afterwards, that's the frame of the story. And she decides to tell the fan a Marjorie/Merry style story. So that was fun to go back and be with Merry for a few more pages.

So would you ever write a sequel to any of your horror stuff? I know you wrote a sequel to the crime one...

I don't think so, no no. I kind of was forced to write a sequel to the crime one, I really had no design on writing one, they wanted two books and the second one had to feature the same characters. That was really hard for me actually. That was one of the harder things I've written. And I'm very happy with the book, but it was hard for me to find a way into it.

You almost tend to use up your characters...

Yeah that's a good way to put it. Even as a reader I tend not to read a lot of series, maybe I'm a little ADD in that way. I like going from story to story instead of series. Those are more my interest, that's where I tend to go as a reader.
 
Thank you for talking with us Paul Trembly!
​

​Darren J Guest was born in London in 1970 and currently lives and writes in Suffolk. His debut novel Dark Heart is a psychological supernatural chiller set in the fictional town of Mundey, but also a written account of one man's quest to find the answer to the eternal question that haunts all men of a certain age: Who is the best James Bond? His latest novel Through the Eyes of Douglas (read our review) is a moving supernatural suspense that is as heartwarming as it is haunting.
 
Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
 
DG:  I started out originally as a professional snooker player back in the nineties, and that’s where I saw my future… until my sponsor went bust and I had to get a real job as the tour was just way too expensive for me to go it alone.  But living out of a suitcase allowed me to get through a lot of Stephen King novels, and I suppose, whetted my appetite for a new career.


What do you like to do when you're not writing?
 
DG:  Reading, obviously, but I’m obsessed about food, cooking and nutrition.  Basically do the opposite of what the government guidelines tell you to do, and you’ll be okay.

Other than the  horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
 
DG:  I read everything, and borough from everything, but I’m heavily influenced by film too – I think it’s why I love writing dialogue so much.


The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?
 
DG:  I must admit I was guilty of this myself in the early days.  A friend suggested I read a book called The Tommyknockers by Stephen King, and I said I didn’t read horror.  The book completely changed me and my perception of the genre, but it was a tough sell and it took a friend I trusted to make me try it.  I don’t think there’s anything “Horror” can do about its image.  Readers need to read the educated reviews and realise it’s all just fiction, good and bad.


A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?
 
DG:  The mainstream will follow the trends, as it always does – be that publishing or filmmaking, and horror will take the backseat until something breaks out and starts a new trend.  Then the mainstream will rebrand it and call it something else, and back-a-the-bus horror goes once again.


What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?
 
DG:  William Goldman’s Magic was a biggy for me, as it was one of the first horror novels I read that wasn’t Stephen King, and I loved Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles, up until she actually lost the plot.  And films that play with timelines never fail to please me.  Memento, Donnie Darko, Triangle.  Love a twist.


What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
 
DG:  I’m sorry to say that I only seem to read the dead guys these days.


How would you describe your writing style?
 
DG: Somewhere between Stephen King and Cormac McCarthy, and by that I mean my prose is easy-ish, leaning towards King, but I try to stay out of my characters’ heads as much as possible, like McCarthy, and let action and dialogue reflect their thoughts and feelings, rather than having them tell you.  It means the reader has to do a bit of heavy lifting, but I hate being spoon-fed, so I have to assume the reader won’t appreciate it either.


Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?
 
DG:  I had a number of reviews for my first novel that said the plot was complicated, and I took that onboard for my second novel, as best I could.  The best compliment I ever received was from Rodney T Smith, the Pulitzer-nominated poet and editor of Shenandoah , a literary publication in Virginia that has published works from Pulitzer and Booker prize-winners.  Rodney bought a Sothern Gothic horror short story of mine, and when I sent him my payment details he came back and said there was a tax problem and he would have to send me a cheque.  When he’d bought the story, which is set in the 1920s Deep South, he’d thought I was American.


What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?
 
DG: Sitting down, and just generally getting the first draft finished.  Composition is nothing short of hard labour.


Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
 
DG:  If it served the story, no, but anything can be written tastefully.


How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?
 
DG:  I agonise over names, and try to pick them in such a way as to convey a personality type –  a first impression that I can build upon or subvert, but something that the reader can instantly relate to, just not in the way that Dickens does it.


Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? 
 
DG:  I think I write quicker these days, because I don’t feel weighed down by the musicality and cadence of sentence structure.  My ears seem attuned.  That’s down to reading a lot and writing a lot, and listening to better writers telling me when a paragraph chimes like an old piano falling down a flight of stairs.


What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?     
 
DG: Empathy and wine.


What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
 
DG:  Not necessarily advice but a lesson I learned.  Somebody tried to tell me once that my writing was just a hobby because it didn’t earn me a living wage.  I learned to keep my mouth shut when non-writers try to give me their opinion on what it is to be a writer.


Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?
 
DG:  In the time-honoured and thoroughly British way: apologetically and embarrassed.


To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least  favourite to write for and why?
 
DG:  Douglas Duffy, the main character in my latest novel, is a tragic and complicated mess of a man-boy, and it was sometimes tough putting him through the shit he has to go through, but I suspect he’ll always be my favourite because I know him the deepest.  The first draft of all of my characters earn my scorn at some point though, because there’s the unavoidable period of not knowing them.  If I still don’t know who they are by the end of the second draft, I regrettably have to say goodbye to them.


What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

And are there any that you would like to forget about?
 
DG:  Through the Eyes of Douglas is by far my proudest piece, and not that I would want to forget about Dark Heart, but it’s flawed and unfortunately was published before it was ready.  I recently had the rights returned on that book, so I may wipe its arse and put it back out there.


For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your  books do you think best represents your work and why?
 
DG: Through the Eyes of Douglas is all me.  I strive for emotion above all else, and I think I get there with Doug.  But I also got lucky with the story idea and was struck midway in the first draft with genuine inspiration, there’s no other way to explain it, it just came out of nowhere.  It cost me a hefty rewrite and probably added another year onto the writing of it, but it became this other, beautiful thing, and I hope readers agree.


Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
 
DG:  ‘Sweet!’ JJ said.  ‘We have a basement, Doug – I mean – you have a basement, Doug.  Promise me we’re not gonna cram it with shit.  Nothing but fine wines and dead bodies.’ 


Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
 
DG: I’ve just completed a time-travelling post-apocalyptic sci-fi fantasy called The Outcast Gully Morgan, which is the first novel in a planned trilogy and tells the story of Gulliver Morgan, a biologically cloned robot with responsibility issues who is sent back in time to retrieve six others of his kind and return them to the future.  The full manuscript is out with a few agents at the moment, so the life of the next two novels in the trilogy is in their hands.  Meanwhile I’ve been working on a crime thriller, tentatively titled Hyper.
 
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
 
DG: That ghost stories have to be short to be effective.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
 
DG: Both the same book, actually: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.  Reading it was like listening to Jessie J – I could see the brilliance at work, but I just wasn’t moved by it.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer?
 
DG:  Q. Can I buy you a glass of wine, Darren?  A. I’ve had far too much already, but thank you anyway.

Bryce Warren was writing stories and drawing pictures at age five. At thirteen he read The Stand by Stephen King and knew he wanted to be a writer. He has a B.A. from Northern Kentucky University in Literature and Writing, an M.F.A. from Western Michigan University in Creative Writing, and an M.A.T. (Master of Arts in Teaching) from Northern Kentucky University in English Grades 8 – 12. He lives in Northern Kentucky and is currently at work on his next book.

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I grew up drawing and writing stories. When I couldn’t draw my own invented superheroes well enough to create a comic book, I would write short stories about them. I always liked creating stories in my mind, but I didn’t think about writing seriously until I was thirteen. At that age, I saw the movie The Dead Zone and loved it. It made me seek out my first book by Stephen King. Instead of choosing something shorter, I was compelled to read The Stand which was longest novel at the time. That book made me decide that if Stephen King could write books like that, books that were thoroughly enjoyable and fun to read, then I wanted to do that too. That started my love for reading and writing that continues to this day.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

My favorite thing to do is reading fiction. I don’t always read horror, but when I look for something else to read it usually ends up being something with a dark bent. I like watching horror movies, and of course movies with dark aspects, but I watch drama and other types too. My most favorite activity, besides writing, is going to bookstores! Love spending time browsing and looking for something to grab my attention.

Other than the  horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?

Early on, when I was in high school, I was interested in spy novels—especially James Bond. I wrote short spy novels in the spring and summer, and then I wrote short horror novels in the fall and winter. In college I discovered Joyce Carol Oates when I read “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” From that point on she has been a favorite author of mine, and I read as much of everything she writes as I can.

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?

I still like to use the term “horror” because it can occur in any type of story. What I don’t like is that people tend to assume that horror is only about slasher films, and they tend to wrinkle their noses at that. I have started telling people that I write horror AND supernatural suspense or ghost stories. That seems to ease them into what I mean by horror.

A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?

The state of the world seems to drive what people write about and what readers want in horror. We’ve seen a lot of zombie apocalypse books because of this. I think the trend will be toward more stories about societal breakdowns and the fear of things being out of control.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

The Stand by Stephen King started my love of writing horror fiction. I went on to read Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Wicked This Way Comes and The October Country. Fahrenheit 451 solidified my love of books and my interest in “transgressive” or “forbidden” books. I made certain to read the books that I was interested in even when they seemed taboo or appeared on censorship lists. I also read Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle since Stephen King had mentioned her as a great writer. Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart by Joyce Carol Oates spoke loudly to me because of its coming of age depiction of bullying and forbidden love.

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?

Ania Ahlborn is one of my newest favorite authors who deserves to become a household name. Everything she writes turns to gold. I especially liked The Devil Crept In. She has a Gothic sensibility and applies it to contemporary settings. Paul Tremblay’s A Head Full of Ghosts took me by surprise and surpassed my expectations. I’m looking forward to reading his latest The Cabin at the End of the World, which is a habitat that could do with the services of house cleaners in Louisville

How would you describe your writing style?

My writing style is very simple and straight forward. Like Joyce Carol Oates, I’m more interested in telling the story than focusing on style. In college, my writing instructors were more in love with style than anything else. However, I decided to stick with what I did best and kept the writing concise and easy to read.

Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

One of my favorite reviews of my work Waverly Hills Incursion was one that stated:  “This was like reading The Amityville Horror or Hell House for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed Waverly Hills Incursion. It is one of the best ghost stories I have ever read. It has this strange and mysterious mix of characters and setting that drive this book. Bryce must be from Louisville. His astute ear can discern the various accents of Louisville, and he clearly has a love for the area that is infectious (except for the part about moving into Waverly Hills). DO NOT MOVE THERE! Read this book instead.”
 
A negative review that sticks with me is one that mentioned the “creep factor” in Waverly Hills Incursion. It stated that sometimes less is more. I really don’t think that Waverly Hills Incursion went too far with the “creep factor” or that it should have been more subtle. I think the fact that it got under the reader’s skin is actually a good thing.
 
What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

Getting started is the worst for me when I’m writing a longer work. Even when I know what I want to write about and know how to start it, actually sitting down to write is difficult. I always try to find something else to do first. I always think I should read more before starting. Or maybe I should draw some more before I get into writing. Once I get down to it, I tend to stick with it until the end.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?

I can’t write a romance novel. I tend to have romance in my work, but it goes along with dark subject matter or the supernatural. I could never write a Harlequin Romance under a pseudonym. I can’t think of a subject that I would never touch. I would try to write about anything that obsesses me.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?

Sometimes I choose names based on the meaning, but not always. I definitely choose names on liking the way they sound. For example, if a female character is dark and sensual, I would use a name like Serena Banister (The Wretched). The name Serena suggests someone sexy.
 
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? 

My writing has certainly become better over the years. I always decided that I would give myself ten years to become a better writer and a better storyteller. After those ten years went by, I always gave myself another ten years to improve. Then I quit counting.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?        
 
First of all, you have to read constantly. Read everything—don’t just stick your favorite genre. But also read well in your chosen genre to know what others before you have done and read current work to see where the genre is going. Learn the rules of English and writing. When I knew I wanted to write, I paid special attention to my English classes and focused on grammar, vocabulary and literature. That’s where writing and storytelling gives you a foundation. Then you can also read the stuff that excites you.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

The best advice was to read the kind of work that you are trying to write, and to write the book that you wish you could read. Create the book that you would love to find out there and the one you would be most excited about reading.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

It’s very difficult to find readers. I’ve been using social media to find my readers, and I’ve been branching out to places in social media that I hadn’t considered. I’ve hired a marketer to help me find more places and venues so that I can reach the people who would want to read my books. I’m going to do public readings and book signings at local bookstores and libraries to get my work out there. I’m also planning on attending horror conventions like Horror Hound Weekend and Scarefest.

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least  favourite to write for and why?

My favorite character is Serena Banister. She’s an aspiring writer and a lover of all things dark. No least favorite yet.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of Waverly Hills Incursion. I went to the real Waverly Hills Sanatorium, an abandoned former TB hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s been featured on many ghost hunting shows. Using many details from the history, the stories of various entities, and the actual building gave me everything I needed to support a story I had already written eight years previously that wasn’t quite working yet. It’s also been my most popular book.

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

No.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?

“We may feel wretched, but we are not wretched.” This is something Serena Banister tells the main character Paul. It’s about how artists and writers, people who are creators, feel sometimes when they are struggling with their art and their place in the world.


Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

My most recent book is The Wretched (the Chronicles of Covedale Book 1). It’s about four college students who move into an old Gothic Victorian and decide to create their own entity by thinking it into existence. The setting has a hidden past that is hinted at and that helps to invoke their wishes to come true. However, things don’t turn out the way that they expect them to. They each end up creating their own personal entity which is based on their subconscious desires.
 
I am currently working on the sequel to The Wretched, which involves a male and female character who work for a super-secret government agency that wants them to investigate the Gothic Victorian house of The Wretched. The agency doesn’t offer much information on the situation or on how to investigate, so they find themselves in an awkward and difficult situation. They begin to unearth some of the secret mysteries of the home’s malevolent past.
 
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

Right now, the biggest horror clichés are stories about zombies and vampires. I wouldn’t eliminate them, but these stories should rely on originality because the clichés have been done to death.


What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?

Ania Ahlborn’s The Devil Crept In was awesome! It may not be for everyone, but I loved reading it. She took a cool concept and ran with it. It relies heavily on suspension of disbelief, but if you can handle that it works really well.
 
Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero was disappointing. It had a great hook:  the kids are like the characters from Scooby Doo. The story didn’t deliver.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer?

What excites you the most about horror fiction? My answer is that I love it when I’m reading a story that grabs ahold of me and makes me forget the world. I love it when I can be completed immersed in the story and taken to another world.

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
 
Hello, I am Frances Forster a young married adult. I have loved horror and halloween ever since I was a child. I won an award back in grade school for the best story written on a field trip I didn't go on. Ever since then I have been into writing.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

 I love to watch horror movies or play video games, especially horror games.

Other than the  horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing? The love of writing, I can't get enough of letting my imagine run free.

A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?
 
 I really cannot determine that but the way the world is going "horror" will be at a higher state of scary. I believe as the world goes on the world becomes more "scary" than it was years ago.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?
 
  Stephen Kings books have helped me as well as his movies.
 
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

 I have many good reviews of previous work that will always be cherished. I have had some reviews that help me shape into a better author.

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

 I find myself sometimes with writers block and trying to stay focused on one story other than trying to go onto something else.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
 
I am not really into life situations such as writing about personal life and having everybody to read. I also am not really into romance. I have never gotten into chick flick sorta things.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?

When writing and planning names the names just pop into my head like they're suppose to be there. For my upcoming books some of the names I got from in-laws.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?      
   
A computer, binder, paper , pen and planner!

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

Never fix errors when writing a book just keep going until you have finished. Then go back and fix the errors.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

 Interviews, social media, word of mouth and giveaways.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

 All of my work is something to cherish. I believe you should cherish all of your "babies".

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

Umm, not yet!

For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your  books do you think best represents your work and why?

Trick Or Treat, which is coming out this Halloween. I believe it shows the true meaning of what I can write and what darkness comes from my imagination.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?

"Something is always lurking in the dark."

Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

My last book is, Hell Hound. It is about a elderly lady name Mary, who loves her precious farmhouse to bits but Mary can't live forever so she casts a spell on her beloved hound dog, Spike. Which makes him lurk the farm with a itching craving of human flesh.

 I am currently working on, Trick Or Treat. It's about two brothers who love the spirit of Halloween so they decide to play a prank on a man who lived nearby. Needless to say they regret it. Now 30 years later the towns legend is coming to life and kids are vanishing one by one.
 
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

I would erase, every girl running into the woods as an escape route.

My website- https://sandiesbookstore.wixsite.com/author


Hell Hound- https://www.wattpad.com/568773675-hell-hound