I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the rising stars in horror publishing Sarah Langan. We talk about the intellectual snobbery encountered by horror writers, how thrilled she is to have her latest novel snapped by The Weinstein Company and how horror is occasionally overlooked as a serious art form. She also told me how important a peer group was to her work and not to wait around for inspiration. To just do it….
1. Over at Pretty Scary you said you received rejection slip after rejection slip but never saw this as a negative but a positive -- at least editors where reading your work. Was it ever disheartening though?
The rejections honestly weren’t disheartening; it meant I was playing the game. My income in order to have the time to write was pretty depressing, and watching the people around me excel at careers while I stagnated was hard, but then again, at least I had a dream. A lot of people aren’t that lucky.
2. Your novels The Missing and The Keeper have themes that resonate long after you've closed the book i.e. crumbling economy, the horror from within, the 'threat' of familial love and you return to places like Corpus Christie -- towns which are 'shut off' from the rest of civilisation. There is almost a feeling your characters being trapped by their own awful circumstances. I am aware of the Stephen King influence, but I think your writing speaks for itself. There are horrors in living a parochial life, by which I mean living in a place where everyone is on top of each other.
Horror can’t exist in a vacuum. It’s defined by peoples’ impressions of right and wrong—what society agrees is and is not acceptable. Death isprobably the greatest American social taboos. We’d rather diet and exercise our way young than admit it’s out of our hands—the clock is ticking no matter what we do.
I use the family as a microcosm of social horror, where republicans meet democrats meet alcoholics meet effeminate sons and sexually repressed daughters. The interactions between these characters allow me to examine the world in focus. When I’m doing my job right, I’m redefining horror, and pointing out the ways in which the socially acceptable might actually be horrible (excessive use of fossil fuels, war, etc.), whereas things society deems transgressive (death, gays, atheists, people who dress really badly) may actually be benign, or even good.
3. There is far too much comparison between 'Sarah Langan as a female writer' to authors like King and Barker. Does it bother you that a gender bias exists in the horror publishing world?
I don’t mind, for the most part. Sexism exists more in horror than mainstream publishing, which is run by women. So, when men (and just as often, women) at conventions comment on my looks or tell me I ought to dress more provocatively (or call me the dreaded “sweetheart”), they’re revealing their own ignorance.
4. Your new novel Audrey's Door has just been snapped by Dimension - or is that just gossip. Did you ever believe you would make a successful living from writing horror, although I hasten to add, I consider what you write as dark literature or slipstream in a similar vein to writers like Joyce Carol Oates, Caitlin r Kiernan and Poppy Z brite.
AUDREY’S DOOR was indeed acquired for film adaptation by The Weinstein Company, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Brent Hanley, screenwriter for “Frailty” is also working on an adaptation of “THE MISSING,” and THE KEEPER has some interest as well. I’m very happy about the whole thing. I didn’t expect it, but I’m thrilled to have it!
5. While you where studying you secretly wanted to write horror -- did you worry about the reactions you would get from your peers and lecturers, was it something of a guilty secret?
Yeah, it was. At college and grad school genre was forbidden, and because of that, I felt ashamed of my own instincts. But after a while, I learned that it’s all fiction, and if it’s good, it’s good. If it’s not, it’s not. The rest is all labels.
5. Because this is FH blog I want to ask -- how many hours a day do you spend working? Are you writing full-time now? How do you approach writing and what inspires you to write?
I’ve been writing full time for a few years now. On average, six to eight hours a day. I treat it like a job, and sit down at my desk every day. Some days I feel like I got in some good work, others, not so much. But I think the most important thing is never to wait for inspiration. Just do it.
6. Fantastic Horror has a contributors workshop where writers discuss and give critical feedback on each others work. Your a member of a writers group, is that something you find helps with creating plot, narrative and character?
My crit group keeps me motivated and honest. We’re all in the business to publish fiction, and in order to do that, you can’t get trapped in your own head for too long, or worry over a paragraph for a week. You just have to write the thing, and let the cards fall where they may. Trust yourself.
7. You've said in interviews that you often struggle with being labelled a horror writer -- that a division exists between horror and 'serious' literature?
A division exists, certainly. But I think time sorts out the good stuff from the crap, regardless of packaging. Philip K. Dick is a genius, and people finally know it. So is Bradbury. King is the master of character. Straub will break your heart every time. Oates is so good they’ve stopped calling her horror. Twenty and thirty years after initial publication, nobody disputes the greats. So, if I’m worth my salt, I’ll last, too. And if I don’t, then I don’t deserve to.
8. What are you writing now?
I’m working on my fourth novel, EMPTY HOUSES, as well as a YA trilogy called KIDS. They’re both a lot of fun. EH is about several families on a
9. You studied for a very long time while writing? Was it a case of having something to fall back on if the writing didn't work out?
I studied Environmental Toxicology at NYU, and am still a half a thesis short of a Master’s Degree. I did it because I love science. I don’t’ subscribe to the notion that you have to make your life small in order to be a writer. I think the more open to the world you are, the more you have to write about.
10. Who are your influences/inspirations?
Russell Banks, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, Kelly Link, Somerset Maugham, Lorrie Moore, Joyce Carol Oates, Peter Straub, Eudora Welty, Stephen King, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, John Patrick Shanley, Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski
--I’d love to write like them all, and I love the work they produce.
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