Horror

Transatlantic author Catriona Ward, 41, published two well-received gothic horror novels, both historical, before switching things up and setting her third, The Last House on Needless Street, on the edge of a forest in contemporary America. It became her breakout book, a bestseller described by Stephen King as a "true nerve-shredder".  Read more

RL Stine may be one of the most successful authors of our era, but, being a modest and amusing fellow, he'd much rather talk about other writers.

"I've actually done entire interviews about the author Sebastian Barry, " says the Goosebumps creator. "He's a really good friend of ours in Wicklow. I think he's the best prose stylist on Earth. I really do. We should just talk about him."  Read more

Edgar Allan Poe's life and works have been widely dissected and analyzed by literary scholars almost from the first, that being his untimely, premature, and somewhat mysterious demise in 1849. Rufus Griswold, Poe's executor, was that first, and his fiercely negative account set the tone for confirming and denying major biographical details and personality traits.  Read more

Families! Look no further for a source of fears. Having children can change your life-indeed, I think it should-and the changes may include how a writer writes. After he and his wife had their first child the late James Herbert declared that he would never subject children to horrors in his tales again.  Read more

Imagine you're in an airport boarding lounge, or the waiting room at virtually any train station or bus terminal in the Western world. Maybe you commute to work or school by subway. It doesn't matter. Look around. Somewhere in there, among hundreds of fellow travelers, lurks the shade of a tall, lanky man in a Red Sox gimme cap.  Read more