Yesterday, I posted my review of Nick
Cutter's breathtakingly visceral horror novel, The
Troop. To delve just a wee bit deeper into the subject
matter, reactions to it, and what lies ahead, I had the good fortune
to ask Nick a few questions as Simon & Schuster gears up the
marketing machine on an honest-to-god horror novel. Good for them.
Keep 'em coming, ladies and gents.
Gef: The Troop
has the distinction of being the scariest novel since Anne of
Green Gables to be set in Prince Edward Island. What was the
initial attraction to that region for this story?
Nick: I’ve spent a lot of time in the
Maritimes, over 5 years, so I love that part of the country. PEI has
its own distinction within that: bucolic, lovely, quaint. So turning
that on its head a little was fun. And I wanted to keep it Canadian,
as a Canuck myself.
Gef:
Body horror is one thing, but when it's backed up by some kind of
science, the severity is amplified so much. It is in this novel, at
any rate. I can imagine you need a pretty strong stomach to do the
research necessary on this one. Am I right?
Nick:
Yeah, there was the definite body horror aspect. I was actually at
the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and they had an exhibit on
WATER. How we use it as a species, how it’s used around the world …
and the things that live in it. There was a tiny little area set off
one side of the sprawling exhibit, a dark little room with a video
tape running on a loop. A doctor talking about the little creatures
who take the villain role in this book … one of those roles,
anyway. I was fascinated. That was where the research started.
Totally accidental, which is how I imagine a lot of books get
started.
Gef:
Given the premise for the novel and the teenage characters, I've seen
early reviews liken The Troop to stories like Lord of the
Flies, The Ruins, and even the Eli Roth film, Cabin Fever.
When writing, were you conscious of the potential to get those titles
thrown your way, and if so is it something you want to embrace,
avoid, or just ignore?
Nick: Oh,
I think it’s unavoidable. I’ve always worn my influences on my
sleeve, and the horror genre is one of conventions. It’s not that
there aren’t books that stand outside of that, the odd HOUSE OF
LEAVES, but to my reading there are tropes and character types
that predominate. And I like that. It’s the comfy sweater aspect of
it: you know what you’re slipping on. And The Troop is
really meant to be just a straight-ahead, hard-charging, fireballing
horror book. No pulled punches, no pretensions (not that I think
other horror writers traffic in pretension). So yeah, if readers spot
similarities to other books or films, that’s fair. But within that
framework, I think there are aspects that are totally my own.
Gef:
I haven't found all that many negative reviews of The Troop,
but the couple I did see on Goodreads
were based on a scene involving the death of an animal. I've always
found that odd, how some object to imaginary animals suffering
untimely fates in stories, while seemingly content with the imaginary
people dropping like flies. Was that a reaction for which you were
prepared? Conversely, is there anything you can't tolerate in the
fiction you read?
Nick:
Yeah, it was interesting. While writing it, my main concern, in all
honesty, was: These are kids. They’re not toddlers, not first
graders, but still essentially kids. Will readers put up with that?
Well, the early returns indicate that yes, readers will put up with
that. Animals getting hurt, however, they won’t abide. And I get
that. The scenes are there, perhaps strangely in some reader’s
eyes, because I love animals. I grew up around them and want my own
son to grow up around them. And when my son, who is 18 months old,
pulls our cat’s tail, he gets admonished. He will grow up with a
love of animals, as I have. So, like most things I write, there was a
distinct reason why those scenes unfold as they do. To candy-coat or
fake the funk would be disingenuous to me, even within a work of
fiction. But those scenes are going to test, or exceed, the tolerance
of some readers. I guess what bugs me is the subsurface sense, in
some of these reviews, that I as a writer must be some kind of sicko,
an animal abuser, to have even come up with this. That’s a little
absurd and insulting. But again, it comes with the territory.
Certainly every horror writer has had to deal with that reaction from
time to time.
Gef:
Nick Cutter is a pretty good pen name, but the first name is a nod to
your infant son, Nick. Um, you pinning some hopes of a successor to
your burgeoning horror empire? Fixing on enrolling him in the Boy
Scouts when he's older, by any chance?
Nick: Hah!
Well, really, coming up with the pen name was fun. It’s a little
honorific to my son, though we’ll see if he ends up feeling the
same way when he’s a teenager—but by then he’ll think
everything I do is lame, so it won’t make a difference.
Gef:
Any idea what's next for Nick Cutter? Is there something already in
the works, or must you wait in line while that Craig Davidson fella
is writing?
Nick:
Craig Davidson? Never heard of that scoundrel. Nick Cutter’s next
book is set in Challenger Deep, the deepest spot in our world’s
oceans, 8 miles down in the deeps.
And
if
you, by any chance, want to learn a little more about The
Troop,
you can head on over to Simon& Schuster's book section. Or even visit
http://www.thetroopbook.com/
