Author interview and GIVEAWAY- James Dawson

If you're part of my book club, you'll have noticed me generally fangirl over Hollow Pike. And so here's James Dawson answering our questions on Halloween.

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-Why do you read scary things?

I think horror novels and horror films are important for teaching us what fear feels like, and also an opportunity to do so in a capacity that we can control. If a book gets too scary I can put it in the freezer like Joey does in Friends. Personally though, I love to be scared.

-What flavour of scary do you like reading about – paranormal creatures, serial killers, chill up your spine hauntings, or something different?

I have a weakness for ghost stories. I find slasher horror exhilarating, but malevolent ghosts really scare me. I find the best stories are those in which the characters have no control over their situations, like in MR James-style ghost stories and films like The Ring or A Nightmare on Elm Street.

-Out of everything in the world, what do you find scary?

See above. Also I have a fear of getting lost (especially abroad) and the perennial ‘dying alone’.

-If you could insert yourself into any horror novel, which would it be, who would you be, and why?

I already did with Hollow Pike! Jack is a thinly veiled version of me, albeit a much cooler, funnier version! But into someone else’s novel I’d go for one of Chris Priestley’s Tales of Terror – they’re particularly grizzly!

-Classic (pre-1970s) or modern horror – which do you prefer and why?

That’s so tough! Without those Turn of the Screw/MR James stories we wouldn’t have modern horror. There is something elegant about gothic horror (look at the success of The Woman in Black), but I’m a sucker for cheerleaders and babysitters in peril. Clive Barker, Stephen King and Dean Koontz were my teenage years basically.

-What's the scariest thing you've read to this day?

It’s relatively new but I was terrified reading Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. She cranked up the tension like never before. Gloriously scary novel.

-What books scared you most as a child?

I got a reputation in nursery school for FREAKING OUT at the old ‘In a dark, dark woods, there was a dark, dark, house’ short story. When it got to the ‘and in the dark, dark cupboard…’ line in would lose my composure entirely.

-What do you do to celebrate Halloween?

Without fail every year I watch the classic film Halloween. It’s a tradition. Last year I finally saw it on the big screen at the BFI and it was glorious.

-Any fun Halloween stories you have to tell us?

I once convinced my sister that trick or treaters were coming to take her away in a bin liner. I’m nice like that.

- Why did you choose to write a horror novel/include horror aspects into your novel?

As a homage to all those teen slasher films I loved when I was a young adult. They’re out of fashion right now, but they come around in cycles. I used to read Point Horrors back to back – it was a simpler time when you didn’t have to worry about love triangles or the plot making any sense.

-What's the scariest thing you'd write about?

I’m tinkering away at a ghost story at the moment. I’m forcing myself to write it at night, to try to create the right mood. I’ve had to sleep with the lights on a few times.

-How much inspiration do you take from other horror writers?

Oh, masses. As a writer, you’re always borrowing. Not so much words or phrases but techniques to crank up the fear. For example, I mentioned Michelle Paver earlier and she’s great at drip feeding the terror, nothing feels rushed.

-You incorporated both modern and historical aspects to witchcraft in Hollow Pike-why was that?

I think you can have both. ‘The Wicker Man’ is a great example of mixing the modern and the arcane. I felt that taking ‘The Crucible’ strands and putting them in a modern school setting hadn’t been done; it was either period witches swooning around cauldrons or candles and ribbons stuff like in The Craft.

-Hollow Pike can be shelved as lots of things-supernatural, horror, mystery, thriller etc. What do you think of novels blurring genre lines like this?

I think there’s always a mixture. In any thriller you might have a romantic subplot or in a mystery you can have scary bits. I always say Hollow Pike is a supernatural thriller, but I forget that to a lot of people it’s a black comedy!

-Any other spooky books you want to share?

Other than the ones I’ve mentioned above, I’d also say Cliff McNish, who I feel doesn’t get the attention he deserves. Check out Breathe and The Hunting Ground. He’s also one of the nicest men in the world.

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James can be found on twitterand at his website.
AND LOOK! WE HAVE A TITLE AND A DATE FOR HIS SECOND BOOK! More info here

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Finally, a giveaway! It's not an overnight one, so it closes on the 9th November. Three pretty purple edged copies, kindly provided by Indigo, up for grabs.
a Rafflecopter giveaway