Bram Stoker Award-winning horror writer Paul Tremblay explores what’s scary in the 21st century.
This article originally appeared in the 2016 Den of Geek New York Comic Con special edition print magazine.
you could find the digital copyhere.
Illustration by Emily Gloria Miller.
His protagonists float endlessly in a thick grey matter between the supernatural and the rational.
Yet, it would be unfair to call Tremblay a cruel puppeteer.
Perhaps the girl who everyone thinks is possessed is actually suffering from a severe mental illness?
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Disappearance at Devils Rockis Tremblays latest.
It focuses on a town dealing with the aftermath of a boys mysterious disappearance in a national park.
The deep waters [Tremblay] treads are the beautiful, black waves of nightmares, saidFangoriaof the book.
Im super happy to find out that does happen, Tremblay says.
I think if I do that, the horror will sort of take care of itself.
He shared that it can be frustrating as a horror writer to be most associated with splatter films.
More than any other genre, horror gets associated with its worst movies, he says.
They dont think Shirley Jackson or Kelly Link, who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
She writes horror stories!
Because horror is ultimately about a transgression.
Things are never going to be the same after a certain thing happens in your horror story.
Its uncomfortable, its disturbing.
A particularly unsettling transgression inDisappearance at Devils Rockinvolves a group of teenagers and a broken glass bottle.
Its one of the few moments of violence in the book, and it tears the characters apart.
How does anybody live through this?
When horror is really good, it asks those questions in difficult ways.
How is Tremblay asking those questions in his own work?
I do think [an] anxiety I often grapple with is about the internet and social media.
I think for both books, thats certainly in there, he adds.
Tremblay often uses technology to depict the pain and suffering of his characters.
All this stuff can make you feel more isolated.
Theres certainly enough evidence out there to say that being on Facebook too much actually makes you depressed.
A Head Full of GhostsandDisappearance at Devils Rockare out now.
you’ve got the option to check out the print version of this article below:
