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Interviews

Pride Month 2025: An Interview with Mia Dalia

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What is your novel about?

My novel, Haven, is about a family who stays at an inherited house for a month of August. And all the things that go terribly wrong. So, on the surface, it’s a “dream vacation turns nightmare” story, but there’s a lot more to it. Both the novel and the house have a backstory of a woman wronged and determined to rise above. But a terrible injustice calls for a revenge in whatever way it finds it, and the past never truly stops bleeding into the present. Haven is far from an idyllic lake house, and the Bakers are far from an ideal family. And this vacation will tear them apart. Who will be responsible, the house or the people? That I’ll let the readers decide. A choose-your-own adventure approach, if you will. Just remember that not every house is a haven. For me, Haven was a chance to indulge my curiously persistent desire to dismantle the myth of an all-American happy family. Tolstoy had famously said that all happy families are alike, making the unhappy ones more interesting by default. I wanted to see how far I could take it. ...More...

Pride Month 2025: An Interview with Briana Morgan

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What is your novel about?

I write psychological, character-driven horror featuring ghosts, demons, monsters, and the scariest thing of all—the dark side of humanity. So far, I’ve written books and plays that run the gamut from queer vampires to killer mermaids and influencer horror. ...More...

Pride Month 2025: An Interview with Azzurra Nox

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What is your novel about?

I actually have two novels out right now. The first one is Into the Dread Unknown, the fifth book in my Women in Horror series, and the second is Panico! a historical poetry collection that borders on the macabre. Into the Dread Unknown is an exploration of Gothic literature through sharp, feminist lenses. Some of the authors featured are familiar voices I’ve had the pleasure of including in past anthologies, while others are new additions to the Women in Horror series. I’m especially thrilled to have two Bram Stoker Award-nominated authors in this latest edition, L.E. Daniels and Rachel Bolton. Both of their stories are filled with a sense of dread and crackle with intensity. As with past collections, this anthology features many queer authors and stories too. Meanwhile, my second book, Panico! dives headfirst into the most harrowing chapter of Marie Antoinette’s life, her captivity during the Reign of Terror. So many films and books tend to skim over this period of her life, but I wanted to linger in the shadows, become intimate with her fear. I wanted readers to feel the weight of every moment, and when it came down to how would I do this in a way that wasn’t tiresome or too scholarly? That’s when I decided to tell the story from her perspective, slip into her mind as her gilded world unraveled in absolute blood and horror. I fashioned the book as a homage to Dante’s Inferno, as each moment is told in poetic cantos. You’re not simply reading history, you’re living the terrifying moments with her. ...More...

NUTS & BOLTS: Lisa Morton Discusses Dennis Etchison

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Lisa Morton describes Dennis Etchison’s work as a “brain bombshell” that changed her idea of what horror fiction could do. When she was just starting out, Etchison had a major influence on both her art and her career. In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, Lisa discusses Etchison’s writing technique, his influence on her own work, and what writers today can learn from the late horror legend.

Nuts & Bolts: Interview With John Harrison, Netflix Series Creator, Author of Residue: Paramentals Rising

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Early in his career, writer and director John Harrison picked up techniques about telling a horror story from collaborating with George Romero. He’s spent decades refining those techniques as a screenwriter, director, and novelist – most recently in a new novel that released on the 11th of this month, Residue: Paramentals Rising, based on the Netflix series he created. In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, John shares his thoughts about telling a horror story and storytelling in general. He also gives advice about releasing a book, and getting into TV writing.

Black Heritage in Horror Month: An Interview with Marc L. Abbott

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What inspired you to start writing?

This is always a difficult question to answer because I have always loved writing. My imagination was always running wild and growing up, rather than paying attention to lessons in class, I was writing stories in the middle of my notebooks. I used to look forward to doing creative writing with spelling words in elementary school. But my inspiration for starting to take writing seriously was in high school. I had a teacher, Mr. Dolan, who was always encouraging me to tell my stories. One open school night he told my parents “Your son is a writer and is really good at it. You should help him nurture that talent because he can go far with it.” He was one of those teachers who always believed in what I could do. I had told my parents I wanted to be a writer, and they weren’t a hundred percent behind it as a profession with my father saying that I had to be good at the craft to make it. That was before Mr. Dolan told him this news. And until I heard Mr. Dolan say this, I thought about finding something else to pursue. But he confirmed that small belief I had in myself, and it inspired me to go forward with it.

Black Heritage in Horror Month 2025: An Interview with Jamal Hodge

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What inspired you to start writing?

Pain, uncertainty, and hope. Honestly, I was a naive child, filled with joy at the thought of meeting another face. But when homelessness found my family in the South Bronx, I quickly learned that people weren’t always safe. Being exposed to ‘American history’ in school further revealed what it meant to be Black in this country, a trauma, in my view, that demands mental health support, like counseling, in schools. These harsh realities made me dream of a better world. I found that place within the pages of books, the ink of a pen, and the boundless depths of my own imagination.

NUTS & BOLTS: Interview With Kasey and Joe R. Lansdale

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Whether they come by way of Oz, Wonderland, or the Brothers Grimm, nightmare-inducing children’s stories are the gateway for many nascent fans into the strange, terrifying, and delightful genre of horror fiction. Joe R. Lansdale took a crack at children’s horror fiction with the Ray Bradbury-influenced Something Lumber This Way Comes, which is being rereleased by Pandi Press this month. Kasey Lansdale, executive editor of Pandi Press, provides some useful information about the publishing industry for aspiring authors in this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts.  And Joe gives some tips on writing children’s fiction.

Nuts & Bolts: Author Clay McLeod Chapman on Building a Catalogue

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The market is crowded, the rules of social media are constantly changing, and the logistics of building a catalogue are more complicated than ever. The good news, according to author Clay McLeod Chapman, is that time-tested strategies such as supporting other authors and finding a unique voice will still get the job done. In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, he gives advice for beginning authors about getting their material in print.

Nuts & Bolts: “Rambo” Creator David Morrell Discusses His Mentor

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Before he could create Vietnam veteran John J. Rambo in First Blood, thriller and horror author David Morrell had to find that pesky “ferret.” That’s how his mentor Philip Klass, aka legendary science fiction author William Tenn, used to describe it. Professor Klass, who’d taken David under his wing at Penn State University, used to say that if you’re a writer, a dominant emotion fuels your craft. No exceptions. It could be anger or joy. Sorrow or lust. Like it or not, you’re stuck with it because it’s an integral part of you. The professor compared it to a ferret rooting around in your psyche. Elusive. Ravenous. And worst of all, unwilling to be found.

Nuts & Bolts: The Value of Creative Writing Courses With Author Ray Cluley

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Taking a creative writing course is a concept that some of Ray Cluley’s fellow authors seem to find puzzling. Even objectionable. If you’re calling yourself a writer, shouldn’t you already know how to write? Since it’s such a personal endeavor, how can it even be taught?

In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, Ray discusses the full range of benefits from a creative writing course, and how even seasoned professionals can use one to hone their craft.

Latinx Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with Iona Wayland

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What inspired you to start writing?

To be honest, it was a group of alley cats. Even before I could write, I’d literally scribble and loopity-loop in a composition notebook about the cat families I saw outside from my window. The way I portrayed their stray lives was often like an anthropomorphized telenovela and I remember being frustrated when no one could read what I’d written.

Latinx Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with Ericca Chavez

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What inspired you to start writing?

I was inspired to start writing because of the ghost stories I would hear as a kid, in particular, La Llorona; they sparked my imagination. I made up worlds in my mind and found myself lost in them—still am most days. Then one day, I decided to bring these worlds to life by actually putting them down on paper.

Latinx Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with Erick Mancilla

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What inspired you to start writing?

For a long time, I wanted to be a comic book writer/creator. I wrote various stories in the comic book medium. Unfortunately, the search for an artist/collaborator was a difficult task. After quite some time of fruitless searches, I did some deep soul-searching and made the jump to writing genre fiction where I had no one but myself to rely on. It has turned out to be the best decision I could have ever made for my creativity.

Latinx Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with Victor H. Rodriguez

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What inspired you to start writing?

It was a combination of two things: reading, and my day job. After I started working full-time, I developed the terrible habit of not reading anything longer than a magazine article. Then, per my mother’s recommendation – which is odd, considering how not into horror she is – I picked up The Books of Blood, short story collections by Clive Barker, those slim American paperback editions with the monstrous faces on them. The stories The Midnight Meat Train, The Forbidden, and In the Hills, the Cities tore a hole in my brain. I could barely believe people could write such things. I became a lifelong fan of his work. Meanwhile, my career took me in the direction of audio production for TV, movies, and video games. If you combine high-concept short-form story ideas and my fascination with sound, you get the lion’s share of my fiction.

Latinx Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with Valentina Cano Repetto

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What inspired you to start writing?

I’ve always been a voracious reader, and I dabbled a bit in high school with a creative writing class, but I never really considered tackling anything substantial until I went through a bout of major depression that left me grasping for anything that could bring a bit of relief. Writing did that for me. I began with free writing, choosing a word at random and scribbling everything that came to my mind without stopping or correcting myself for five minutes. I’d then try to transform the themes I spilled on the page into poetry. It was purely therapeutic at first, but as I started filling notebooks, I began sending some poems out to a variety of journals and e-zines. Surprisingly, editors liked them. It all kind of spiraled from there.

Latinx Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with Monique Beasley

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What inspired you to start writing?

What actually inspired me to start writing was my sister. She has two children’s books out. One is called, I’m Hungry but No Bugs, Please, and Hello, Pretty Cloud, both available on Amazon. She was trying to write her first horror book and asked for my help. I gave her advice and helped with the editing. She asked me why I had never tried to write a book myself. She knows how much I love to read. I couldn’t believe I’d never thought of trying this before. I was also about to undergo major surgery and would have weeks of recovery time. I used that time to start brainstorming plot ideas. I instantly fell in love with writing and have been making time for it ever since.

Latinx Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with P.A. Cornell

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What inspired you to start writing?,/p>

My parents are avid readers, so they instilled that in me from an early age. We always had lots of books in the house, and they would often read to me. Trips to the public library were frequent, and something I very much enjoyed. By age five I asked where books and stories came from, and my mother explained that there were these people called “writers” who created stories in their imaginations and wrote them down for other people to read. I knew instantly that this was what I wanted to do with my life.

Latinx Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with Marjorie Eljach

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What inspired you to start writing?

When I was 12, I became addicted to John Le Carré’s novels. At that age, I had read everything because at home my parents didn’t censor my reading. I read Flaubert, García Márquez, Zola, and Homer, terrifying stories about the Tower of London, and comics about Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Snoopy. And all this mishmash of heterogeneous readings added to Le Carré’s novels, created in me the need to write a spy novel that mixed suicidal women, walled-up children, incestuous relationships, and of course, a political crisis. I read it to my friends at school who didn’t pay much attention to me and I think the manuscript, which was in several ring-bound notebooks, was lost during a move.

Latinx Heritage in Horror Month 2024: An Interview with M.M. Olivas

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What inspired you to start writing?

I started writing fiction around my junior year of high school. Unlike many of my writing peers, I hadn’t grown up doing it, nor was I much of a reader. I was dyslexic and gravitated more toward visual media: comics, shows, and movies. Oh, so many movies. I didn’t have a ton of adult supervision growing up, so I saw Alien and The Exorcist when I was six or seven—having one parent hospitalized due to lung cancer while the other tends to them will do that to ya.

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