What first attracted you to horror writing?
I’ve been a horror fan since I was a little kid, though I was a complete coward and couldn’t handle anything scary or gory. I mean, even Star Trek II gave me a couple of sleepless nights! I started reading horror novels extensively in high school without really wanting to write them — I wanted to write comedies. I got tagged as a horror author with one of my first published books, Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary), which was written to be a funny whodunit mystery but ended up being much darker than I’d planned, and then happily embraced the genre from that point forward.
What is your most notable work?
If I were to die today in a ghastly bathtub accident, the obituary would probably say “Author of Pressure“. Though if I were to count up fan mail, Dweller might have the edge. And a lot of people just consider me the author of the Andrew Mayhem series. Way to cheat on the answer to this question, huh? Let’s just say that my novel Benjamin’s Parasite is notable for being my most disgusting book.
What are you working on now?
A young adult horror/comedy called A Bad Day For Voodoo, which will be published next summer. I’m also (finally!) working on the fourth Andrew Mayhem novel, Lost Homicidal Maniac (Answers to “Shirley“), along with bonus content to add to the first three books in that series.
Do you prefer all out gore or psychological chills?
I like ’em both, although I have to admit that my own work leans more toward in-your-face intense action than subtle spookiness. I don’t consider myself an author of ‘extreme’ horror fiction, but stuff like Wolf Hunt, Draculas, The Haunted Forest Tour…I can’t deny it, those are gory novels. Dweller might fall into the ‘psychological chills’ category, though people do get shredded in that book.
Why should people read your work?
Because I will be their best friend forever. And because my books are funny and scary and sometimes there are explosions.
Recommend a book.
Backbite by Adrienne Jones, an over-the-top mix of horror, science fiction, humour, and all kinds of other stuff. The most wildly entertaining book I’ve read in quite a while.
