Author of adventure/thriller and horror fiction

Hachette Launches “Run For It” Horror Imprint

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I have a new imprint at Hachette Book Group! Cool news as it’s a brand-new imprint dedicated to horror.

From the press release:

Hachette Book Group’s Orbit division has launched Run for It, a new horror imprint. Run for It is Orbit’s fourth imprint, alongside the flagship Orbit SFF imprint; Redhook, launched in 2013, which focuses on commercial fiction with speculative elements; and the digital SFF publishing imprint Orbit Works, launched in 2023.

Run for It will publish Orbit’s current horror authors, including Craig DiLouie and Andy Marino, with plans to add more. Its inaugural titles are slated for summer 2025.

This is good news for horror, which is going through an extraordinary surge.

WE USED TO LIVE HERE by Marcus Kliewer

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In WE USED TO LIVE HERE by Marcus Kliewer, a young woman welcomes a family into her home, as the man says he grew up in the house. The result is a nightmare of shifting reality. Creepy and crisply paced, this new horror novel was a lot of fun.

Eve and Charlie live in a big old house they recently purchased and intend to flip. Eve is an anxious people pleaser, Charlie tougher and more practical. When a family arrives one day asking to have a look around the house, as the man once lived there, Eve lets them in. Only, events cascade that prevent them leaving, and the longer they stay, the more reality itself seems to shift. Intermittent epistolary chapters establish a spooky lore around the house, giving us the impression that it is not just a house.

Apparently, the novel started as a series on Reddit back around 2014, and it was so popular it was eventually fleshed out as a novel. My short review is I loved the read, though the last act wasn’t as strong as I would have liked as it doesn’t quite pay off on all the strong elements.

What I liked: Eve and Charlie are very likeable characters, the lore around the house provokes a sense of wonder and by the end makes sense, the writing has a page-turning pace, and there are plenty of little creepy moments that never feel kitchen-sinked. The mystery really propels the story, reminding me of novels like 14 by Peter Clines and HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Danielewski. What I didn’t: The last act is solid but rolls out as fairly conventional, not quite paying off the numerous questions raised earlier in the story. Which would be fine if the lore and those questions were in the background, only the story really leans into it.

All told, this jaded horror reader closed the covers a very happy camper. WE USED TO LIVE HERE is a super impressive debut and a distinctive addition to horror.

Barnes & Noble Midday Mystery Event

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I had the pleasure of taking part in a Barnes & Noble Midday Mystery Event promoting HOW TO MAKE A HORROR MOVIE AND SURVIVE alongside Paul Tremblay, author of HORROR MOVIE. Gabino Iglesias did a fantastic job moderating a lively conversation about writing, art, horror, Hollywood, and what scares us.

Check it out here:

HOW TO MAKE A HORROR MOVIE AND SURVIVE Launches!

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I am excited to share that How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive, my new horror novel from Hachette, is now available in bookstores and at online book retailers everywhere.

In this novel, a slasher movie director plans a very real night of horror, which the scream queen he loves will do anything to survive.

Thematically, the novel explores why we love horror through the lens of one of the great periods in horror filmmaking: the 1980s slasher era. The novel itself is set up to replicate the experience of watching one in the theater, gasping at the surprises and gore while chuckling at the campiness. The story follows the process of making a movie, earning the title. The result, I hope, is just plenty of plain old good fun for readers.

(If you want to get it in Canada, note there is a delay in shipping to Indigo stores! It’ll get there soon…)

What people are saying:

“DiLouie remixes classic horror tropes into a harrowing thriller set in 1988… The cursed object set up feels familiar, but readers will be pulled in by the morally twisted characters and serpentine plot. Film buffs will especially enjoy this paean to ’80s slasher films and the people who love them.” – Publishers Weekly

“How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive will appeal to readers who like classic slasher films and books like Stephen Graham Jones’s My Heart Is a Chainsaw.” – Booklist

“Overall, this is an incredibly fun horror novel with some serious messages and themes. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry … you’ll get super freaked out, and ultimately you’ll have a grand old time.” – HorrorBound

“DiLouie has created a celluloid cursed object story that John Carpenter himself would stand up and applaud from the front row.” – Philip Fracassi, author of Boys in the Valley

“As a kid whose love for horror began in part with the slasher films of 1980s, How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive is a dream come true. Cursed films, scream queens, and more horror callbacks than you can shake a stick at, this book is many things, but among them, it’s Craig DiLouie’s best and most fun novel to date.” – Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Kin and Sour Candy

“Gory, glorious, and just a little too believable, Craig DiLouie’s latest is a slick meta slasher movie in book form, set in the brutal intersection of art and obsession.” – NYT Bestselling Author Peter Clines

“Confidently striding through the genre, DiLouie displays a deep and abiding love for horror, even as he finds new ways to bend our disgust and despair to his will. The camera cannot turn away.” – Andrew F. Sullivan, co-author of The Handyman Method

“The setting might well be the schlocky 1980s, but DiLouie’s nostalgic dissection of our love of horror is bang on point. How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive is a tricky, twisty book with more levels to it than a slasher movie has sequels. DiLouie knows what makes the genre–and the endless legions of fans like us who crave the next scare–tick.” – David Moody, author of Hater and Autumn

“A brutal and disturbingly funny trip into the dark heart of 1980s Hollywood, How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive deftly exposes a world where art and commerce meet ambition and blood lust. With a director’s eye for Reagan-era detail and a satirical lens that never overwhelms the crackling story, DiLouie brings his cast to glorious life (and, for some unfortunate souls, gruesome death).” – Andy Marino, author of It Rides a Pale Horse

“A dark and heartfelt love letter to horror movies and Hollywood hells, How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive is Craig DiLouie at his best—suspenseful, psychological, and unpredictable!” – James Chambers, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Bright and Beautiful Eternal World

“DiLouie really has outdone himself with this one… How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive is a novel that transcends just fiction. It speaks to those who read, watch and consume horror. It’s a love letter to the fans who don’t care what producers say. To those who don’t want a part four but a new take on an old trope… Loved this one.” – Steve Stred, author of Mastodon
“If you like slasher movies, I would definitely recommend this book for you.” – Cravenwild, complete review here

“An imaginative take on the cursed movie trope, How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive is a bloody, shocking, and surprisingly humorous story about a director who is determined to make the perfect horror movie … a worthy entry in the ‘cursed movie’ trope, don’t miss it!” – Books, Bones & Buffy

Thank you for reading!

Enter Goodreads Giveaway for HOW TO MAKE A HORROR MOVIE AND SURVIVE

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Enter for a chance to win an eARC of HOW TO MAKE A HORROR MOVIE AND SURVIVE, my new horror novel coming out from Hachette Book Group June 18, 2024.

A hundred copies will be given away at Goodreads. U.S. only, 18+ in age. No purchase necessary. Goodreads rules apply. You can enter anytime up until March 18.

About the novel: “A slasher film director wants to make a horror movie using a cursed camera that kills anyone he cares about. The scream queen he loves wants to survive the night.”

Click here to enter the Goodreads Giveaway!