Today on MASTERS OF HORROR I had the chance to get to know James Lefebure a Scottish horror writer who has been described as uniquely talented and versatile for his ability to terrify and pull at the heartstrings in equal measure. I scanned the reviews for his collection of short stories called THE GOD IN THE LIVING ROOM and the quote from one Amazon reviewer that stood out to me was, “…(Lefebure) creates a perfect atmosphere. One that fills your body with equal amounts of dread and uncertainty.” Sounds like this little book of nightmares just made it to my TBR pile! Let’s get into the interview and meet your new favourite author, James Lefebure.
Tell me a little about yourself.
I'm 39 year old (40 in August!) Scottish guy living in Liverpool. Grew up in Aberdeen and now live in Liverpool Merseyside. I moved here when I was 16 years old, so my accent is some weird scottish/scouse hybrid. Love Liverpool though and despite moving around a bit with my husband to different cities like Chester and Manchester, we always ended up back in Liverpool. I've been with my husband for about 21 years this year. I'm really lucky that he's very supportive of my writing career and is always willing to drive me to comic con's to trade at and sell my book. I love going to Comic Con's, Comic Fairs and anything horror related as a trader because it's a great way of meeting potential readers. It's a far cry from my day job as a Senior Personal Assistant in a secure psychiatric hospital!
Why write horror? What is it about writing terrifying scenes that excites you?
I've loved horror since my very first Goosebumps book when I was a kid. I was a kid of the 80's and early 90's so my parents didn't mind what I was reading, just that I WAS reading. This meant I got to jump from Point Horror to Flowers in the Attic and Richard Laymon/Stephen King when I was a teen and I've never looked back! I love that horror forces you to examine the emotion behind the scare. It's not enough to just be scared, it's everything else that goes into it. I love the build up to the moment of fear when I'm reading, the creeping dread, the nerves and the worry that it can convey. Horror is often given a bad reputation because it's "monsters" or "gore" but underneath that, some of the most emotional scenes I've ever read in my life have been in the pages of a horror book.
What’s the scariest book you’ve read? And why?
I don't know if it can be classed as the scariest book I've ever read, but The Fisherman by John Langan is a horror book that will never ever leave my brain. It helped me explore grief and loss during a really difficult period of my life and was dealing with my own loss. Through the characters and the horrific situation they found themselves in, it helped me to deal with own loss and work through my grief. I didn't know how powerful it would be when I first picked it up, but to say I ugly cried at part of the book would be an understatement. I've never been able to read it again, but it's a book that scared me on a different level that I had ever felt before. Failing that - I read Endless Night by Richard Laymon when I was 13 years old. At the time it gave me some serious nightmares! (The whole "Simon Says" sections where he explains breaking into people's houses and how they do it kept me up SO many nights!)
What are you working on now? Is it a standalone? Part of a series? Also if you had to describe your book to a Hollywood producer in their lingo “it’s X Meets Y” where X and Y are movies, what would that be?
I'm currently working on my 3rd book which is another novel (I have one novel already and a short story collection.) It's a stand alone book about a Psychic Crab Cult in Crosby. Its sort of a Midsommar meets The Thing situation. I wanted to explore how far you're willing to go in order to fit in somewhere and how that would play out with my protagonist Caleb. (Spoilers - it doesn't go well!)
Where can we find you?
I want to thank James Lefebure for being kind enough to share some of his history with all of us.
I love learning about the lives of fellow horror writers. Where they grew up, what jobs they do to keep the lights on while they toil away on their next classic horror novel. What scares them? What are they reading? What drives them to create the stories we all love to devour? So thanks again James for letting us peek behind the curtain on the life of an amazing talent!
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