Craig DiLouie

IMMERSIVE HORROR

CRAIG DILOUIE

Q: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE YOUR NOVEL, EPISODE THIRTEEN?

Episode Thirteen is an epistolary horror novel about a paranormal reality TV show investigation team that explores Foundation House, a derelict mansion in rural Virginia that once housed paranormal research experiments but is now abandoned and reported to be haunted. The team hopes to document real evidence of ghosts and wind up getting way, way more than they bargained for!

The novel had several sources of inspiration. My editor at Hachette and I share a love for really well done foundfootage horror movies, and I wanted to capture their sense of reality and mystery in a true mixed-media novel format that combined the depth of narrative fiction with the titillating variety and urgency of other media such as video transcripts. It was a big challenge and a hell of a lot of fun to write, particularly the research into ghost hunting techniques and equipment, how reality TV shows work, and the science of ghosts. Besides that, I’ve always wanted to explore the “house within a house” horror trope, which offers so much potential for mystery and literary onion peeling. All these elements went into Episode Thirteen.

I have to add a final big source of inspiration, which was a lot of hours playing Phasmophobia, a computer game, with my eleven-year-old son Alex, friend Jonathan Correa, and other friends on Steam. That ghost hunting game is a master class in immersion and dread, and it put me right in the mood for my own ghost hunting deep in the world of Episode Thirteen.

Q: WHO ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS IN YOUR BOOK?

The TV show Fade to Black has a small crew of Matt, Claire, Jake, Kevin, and Jessica. All have their say, all participate in the fantastic events that occurred at the house, and all of them face a reckoning with what they find there. Matt and his wife Claire are the lead investigators. Matt is energetic, boyish, and a true believer in the paranormal based on a childhood experience, which he hopes to replicate to provide absolute proof of an afterlife. Claire is his scientifically minded wife who once pursued the paranormal with rigor but after too many debunkings has lost her enthusiasm. Jessica is their high-energy protégé, an actor added to round out the cast. Kevin is an ex-cop who serves as the tech manager but wishes he was investigating again and doing it his way. Finally, we have Jake, the camera operator, who doesn’t believe in anything but like the others will discover his own worst fears at Foundation House.

As the author of their dreams, turmoil, and fate, I really fell in love with these people. I love it when characters come alive on the page and tell me exactly what they’re going to say and do to build the story to an exciting climax.

Q: WHAT THEMES WILL READERS FIND IN EPISODE THIRTEEN?

Thematically, the novel is about the very human obsession to understand a mystery that appears impenetrable, regardless of the cost, even if it includes madness and even bigger personal sacrifice.

Q: USING ONLY THREE WORDS, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR WRITING STYLE?

My style changes based on what each work I produce requires, but for Episode Thirteen, I’d characterize it as (and hope readers agree): varied, immersive, titillating.

Q: WHY WRITE HORROR?

Horror is a fascinating genre because fear is such a primal human emotion, and facing death and surviving the experience is so deeply satisfying. It’s the same psychological impulse that gets us on rollercoasters. With certain types of horror such as ghost stories, there is also the thrill of a good mystery, cosmic dread at facing unseen forces that are more powerful than us, and the allure of secret knowledge. With each horror novel I produce, I explore a popular trope and then subvert it with a twist and the characters’ personal story out front. With Suffer the Children, it was vampires; The Children of Red Peak, cults and the cosmic horror buried in religion; One of Us, the misunderstood monster. I love writing about humans in crisis to see what they’re made of, the excitement of placing ordinary people in extraordinary situations. And hell, it’s even therapeutic, as I get to face my own fears and share them with my readers.

Q: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ASPIRING WRITERS IN YOUR GENRE?

This is a tough question, as every writer sets a different standard on what success means, and every writer’s path to their success is so individual and different. I think overall I’d say: be at the right place at the right time with the right book. While this sounds oversimplified, there’s actually a lot that goes into it: whether to get an agent, whether to publish traditionally or self, networking and conventions, the importance of always leveling up in terms of craft, and more. A critical part of this is to treat a writing career as a long game where success is sometimes achieved in surprise leaps but usually in baby steps. Another critical part is understanding that writing is like a muscle that improves with exercise. Some people can pick up a violin and play it in no time, while others must practice, practice, practice to become the best they can be. With that in mind, always know you’re very likely a better writer than you were last year, and next year you’ll be even better. So to level up, if you’re committed to writing, dig deep for the discipline and time to produce consistently and keep learning.

Q: WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU AND YOUR BOOK ONLINE?

The best place to visit my work is at CraigDiLouie.com. All my fiction in multiple genres is there plus plenty more such as interviews, and I have a blog where I informally review books, movies, and shows I watched, most of which are in the speculative genre.

ABOUT CRAIG DILOUIE

Craig DiLouie is an acclaimed AmericanCanadian author of literary dark fantasy and other fiction. Formerly a magazine editor and advertising executive, he also works as a journalist and educator covering the North American lighting industry. His fiction has been nominated for major awards, optioned for screen, and published in multiple languages. He is a member of the Imaginative Fiction Writers Association, International Thriller Writers, and the Horror Writers Association. He lives in Calgary, Canada with his two wonderful children.