On this month's Special Page:

An interview with the New York Times Best-selling author Christopher Golden

IN THE "SPECIAL PAGE" ARCHIVES:

Mort Castle
Josh Malerman
Ellen Datlow
Bentley Little
Simon Clark
John Russo

AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN

Christopher Golden is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Ararat, Snowblind, Red Hands, and the upcoming Road of Bones. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem, and Lady Baltimore. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com

About the interviewer, John Wisniewski

John Wisniewski has written for Horror Society, AmFm Magazine, LA Review of Books, Toronto Review of Books, Chiron Rreview and other publications. This is his first article for The Horror Zine. 

THE INTERVIEW

JW: When did you begin writing, Chris? Did you write short stories?

CG: I wrote my first short story in high school, but it was many years before I wrote one I thought might actually be good. Even now I think of myself more as a novelist than a short story writer, though I’ve written a handful that I think really work. I started my first novel as a senior in college.

JW: Any favorite authors?

CG:  Many, of course. Stephen King, Joe Lansdale, Walter Mosley, Charlaine Harris, James Lee Burke, Jack London, Larry McMurtry, Mo Hayder. So many more, and the list is always changing.

JW: Could you tell us about writing The Myth Hunters? What inspired this novel?

CG: Well, it’s out of print now but should be back in print next year. It really started with an image of a young man on the night before his wedding, unsure of his choices, a snowstorm raging outside…and what happens when he gets the opportunity to have a real adventure, something he’s always yearned for. I love folklore and legend and this novel was a way to put all of that love into one story.

JW: What really scares the readers, Chris? Could you give us a look into the writing process?

CG: What scares me as a reader always starts with character. I need to identify with the character, and hopefully care about them, in order to be afraid for them. If a writer can immerse the reader into that moment, through character, then the reader feels as if they themselves are also in danger. (I’m afraid the second part of that question is way too broad for me to answer.)

JW: Any favorites among your many books that you have written?

CG: When people ask what to read when they’ve never read me before, I usually direct them to Snowblind or Ararat or The Boys Are Back in Town. Those are all solid introductions, I think.

JW: Could you tell us about writing Red Hands?

CG: I think readers would be surprised to learn how much changes in the course of writing a novel—character names and motivations, and particularly their fates. A lot of times I don’t really understand the theme of the book until I’m a third or even halfway through writing it, and then that epiphany makes me go back and reshape what I’ve already done. Red Hands was an interesting example because though I knew there was a supernatural component, I’d intended to be much more subtle about it. But while writing, I realized the story demanded I just get it out there, lean way into the big secret behind the “death touch” at the center of the story.

JW: Any horror films that you like?

CG:  I mean…yes? Hundreds of them. My all time favorites are probably all John Carpenter films—The Thing, Halloween, and The Fog. But there are a lot of modern horror films I love, the best of which are probably The Descent and The Autopsy of Jane Doe.  I recently saw a film called Come True that I thought was fantastic.

JW: W will your next book be about?

CG: Road of Bones is out in January, 2022. It’s about a pair of reality TV producers who go to Siberia to shoot footage for a new series they’re hoping to get off the ground. They head to the coldest town on Earth and find something terrifying, something that doesn’t want them to ever get back home.

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN BOOKS