MASTERS OF HORROR: JAMES KAINE

1. What first drew you to horror—and was it something you experienced, feared, or imagined?

I remember vividly sitting on the floor at my aunt's house when I was about four years old with my older cousins. We were watching Friday the 13th Part 3 and I was hooked ever since.

Then, when I was eleven, I saw the IT miniseries and immediately wanted to read the book. My mom bought it for me (having no idea about the content) and, from then on out I knew I wanted to be a horror writer.

2. How do you tap into real fear when writing—do you draw from your own nightmares, or do you create new ones?

I draw from the things I'm afraid of. And what I'm most afraid of is something happening to my family. From there, it's pretty easy to write scenarios that are scary. I think the key is to create characters that are real and three-dimensional, that you can relate to. Once you do that, the reader can get attached to them and I can use that to elicit the fear I'm going for.

3. Have you ever written something that disturbed even you—a moment where the story took a darker turn than expected?

I wouldn't say "disturbed," but the ending of "The Dead Children's Playground" broke my heart. Mainly because it was born out of a very real scenario that I talk about in the afterword.

Another one was in "My Pet Werewolf." The second half of the story goes to some disturbing places, but my editor made it worse. He mentioned that the third act felt a little rushed, so I added a scene that I thought was pretty disturbing. In fact, in the last Terrifier movie, Art the Clown (coincidentally) had a similar, let's say, post-kill display.

4. If your stories had the power to summon something into the real world... what do you think you've already unleashed?

If you read the reviews of "The Dead Children's Playground," I'd say a lot of broken hearts!

Seriously, if you told me I'd have a book that was so positively received yet made so many people mad at me, I wouldn't have believed it! 

5. How do you keep horror feeling fresh and terrifying when so many tropes are well-trodden?

I don't usually worry too much about trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to tropes. I think I do a good job at making my plots unpredictable enough, but the real strength comes from the characters and seeing how they evolve over the course of the story.

Every trope has been done, but you can still travel a familiar road in interesting, compelling ways.

BONUS: Tell me about your latest project and where we can find it. 

The second book in my "American Horrors" series, titled "Devil of the Pines" is on track to be released in September. It's up for pre-order HERE

I also have a retro-slasher novella titled "Mischief Night," out October 30th. It's also up for pre-order right HERE

As always, a big thank you to James for indulging me and taking time out of his busy writing schedule and do this interview with me. I truly appreciate it!

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