A.S.O.H: How did you get into horror writing?
O'Rourke: I started writing when I was about five (even came in second, at age six, in an essay-writing contest the National Enquirer did). I started writing horror when I was around twelve. My paternal grandmother loved everything horror, including terrible old B-movies, which we would watch together. She would lend me her paperbacks, so at age ten I started reading books like Jaws, The Exorcist, Amityville Horror, Flowers in the Attic. She was a strong influence. Then again she loved “midget wrestling,” so go figure.
A.S.O.H: Why did you choose to writer splatterpunk/extreme horror as your subgenre?
O'Rourke: At the time (1998 or so) I was trying to emulate Clive Barker (and his story “Dread”) when I wrote my first splatter/extreme story “An Experiment in Human Nature.” Then I wanted to see how far I could push the envelope, and I had a publisher approach me about writing the most extreme thing I could come up with (Suffer the Flesh).
A.S.O.H: Do you feel splatterpunk/extreme horror has a place in literature?
O'Rourke: Yeah, if done right. I made lots of rookie mistakes when I started writing it, such as going for the extreme element only. But you need characters readers can relate to and root for. You need a plot that makes sense. That’s lacking in much of the splatterpunk I read these days. If you properly develop a plot (etc.), your work can transcend its stereotype. Look at The Seven Days of Peter Crumb by Jonny Glynn. It’s absolutely disgusting, is quite extreme horror (not to mention having a scat element), but it made the New York Times’s best-seller list—and a coveted book review.
A.S.O.H: Did you receive any criticism about choosing to write in the extreme horror genre? (Anything particularly because of your gender?)
O'Rourke: The opposite, actually. People were surprised to learn a woman had written the novels or short stories they read. In fact, it’s the reason Wrath James White approached me to write a book with him. Actually, he told me later he hoped my being a woman would help him with the “softer” elements of the plot, but I was no help there, ha-ha.
Of course there’s always criticism by people who think splatterpunk shouldn’t exist, but that hasn’t been a criticism based on my gender. And my mother keeps asking me to write “a nice romance novel.”
A.S.O.H: What difficulties have you faced being a female horror author in a subgenre mainly dominated by men?
O'Rourke: I actually can go one for pages and pages on this subject (and yeah, I’m militant about it). But to be honest, I haven’t been personally affected by sexism in this genre, except to not receive invitations to submit to anthologies. It drives me nuts to see a contents page with twenty-four writers, and perhaps one or two are female, if we’re lucky. The one exception I have to mention is the immeasurably talented John Skipp, who sent me invite after invite to submit to his anthologies, and for some bizarre reason I kept sending him utter dreck. I didn’t do it on purpose; I realized it in retrospect. I think I was so taken aback by the invites that I wrote the stories very quickly and didn’t properly edit them (says the professional editor … :whistling:).
A.S.O.H: How does being a female horror writer influence your view on dark topics such as genital mutilation and rape?
O'Rourke: It doesn’t. I don’t think it does anyway. If you’re writing on those topics, regardless of your gender, you have to handle them with respect. Gratuitous sex and violence is just wrong, and it pulls me right out of a story. If the story is about a rape, for example, having the victim enjoy it is just wrong (unless the story’s about the victim’s bizarre reaction to sexual violence). I’ve seen writers do this … it’s just wrong.
A.S.O.H: What influences you to choose topics or ideas for your horror stories?
O'Rourke: In other words, where do you get your ideas? LOL. Something pops into my head, and I just run with it. If it’s going to work for me, I can “see” the story in my mind, see the characters taking shape, the plot taking shape. Then I write it down (longhand, sigh) as fast as humanly possible. Sometimes I’ll be reading someone’s novel and a word will jump out at me—a single word—and it’s enough to get the idea rolling.
A.S.O.H: Do you feel shock and gore are necessary components of the horror genre? Do you think they benefit the genre?
O'Rourke: Well, there are writers who write subtle horror, and they do it quite well, so shock and gore might not always be necessary, but I think “shock” can mean quite a lot. So even a subtle shock is a shock, perhaps not all on your face. But it’s there. They benefit the genre when they’re handled well (such as Stephen King’s The Shining).
A.S.O.H: What are some of your greatest fears, and how do they carry over into your writing?
O'Rourke: Writing extreme horror was quite cathartic for me when I started (about twenty years ago now). Other than the torture and rape (in which case I was exorcising demons from my past, though not of torture and rape), I started seeing patterns emerge, particularly one of captivity. That theme still occurs in my work. I’m not entirely sure where that comes from though (LOL), though I do have some suspicions … I write supernatural horror, but I prefer to write about human nature, particularly the dark and twisted side of the mind. Serial killers absolutely terrify me. I can’t imagine a worse way to die than at the hands of a serial killer.
A.S.O.H: How did you come to work with Wrath James White? How did you enjoy the time collaborating with White?
O'Rourke: (See above regarding your first question.) Wrath was absolutely wonderful to work with (and we did it twice, with Poisoning Eros parts 1 and 2). I’m also privileged to be Wrath’s editor. Plus we’re going to be working together again on a new project (not related to Poisoning Eros). The most fun part about our initial collaborations is that we’re really like-minded when it comes to politics (and we used to be when it came to religion, but I no longer consider myself an atheist, and this makes him crazy!). We also both love writing extreme scenes, and we got to a point where we’d pass the chapters back and forth and then spend time trying to outdo each other with the gross-out factor. I had a blast every time he sent the book back and he’d written something outrageous—and then he’d leave me hanging mid-scene. Sometimes mid-sentence! Making me continue the plot following his train of thought. And I thought *I* had control issues! LOL.
A.S.O.H: What is your favorite story/book you have written?
O'Rourke: I think I’m partial to Poisoning Eros. It was just too much fun to write with Wrath.
You can find more about Monica J. O'Rourke by visiting Deadite Press and Sinister Grin Press. You can also see our review of her book In the End, Only Darkness right here on A Slice of Horror.
Find all of Monica's books at Amazon.com.