NAME: Abby Vail
CREATIVE FIELD: Author / Musician
WEBSITE: abbyvailauthor.com
AUTHOR LINKS:
Instagram: @abbyvailwrites
AUTHOR BIO:
Abby Vail is a musician and author of horror fiction. Writhe is her debut. Her middle grade horror novel, Bad Manor, releases June 2027. She runs a horror writing group monthly out of Scranton, PA where she lives with her husband, three kids, two dogs, and eight basses. When not writing fiction, she can be found showing old Goosebumps episodes to the kids, playing bass in metal bands, or writing songs for her band Safe Sermon.
INTERVIEW
What got you into horror to begin with – what’s your core Horror memory?
A core horror memory for me is watching the Halloween movie marathon on AMC every Halloween growing up. My parents aren’t horror people and they never really liked the holiday, yet Michael Myers always found his way onto our television once a year, and I looked forward to it.
Do you have a favourite horror subgenre (or more than one) and if so, what is it? What/Who are your favourite books/films/podcasts/artists/creatives working in that subgenre?
It’s hard to pick a favorite subgenre. I love psychological horror, possession, and gothic tropes in equal measure.
The Babadook, The Exorcist, Jennifer’s Body, and We Have Always Lived in The Castle are all things I adore in those categories.
But I suppose if I had to pick a number one subgenre, it would be the slasher. This harkens back to my love of Michael Myers.
What is the horror project of your heart – perhaps something you’ve already got out there, something you’re working on now, or something you’d like to do?
As a woman in music, I’m very passionate about telling horror stories from this lens. I tend to focus on women in metal because of their unique treatment in a male dominated genre. I’ve written a short story which focuses on the criticism and expectations of women’s bodies when they take the stage, a slasher which focuses on societal and familial expectations of women along with their treatment in metal, and the book I’m currently writing centers motherhood of the metal band mama. While each story has music at its core, they each delve into a different important aspect of a woman’s experience. This is my heart.
Which 5 horror books can you not stop thinking about, or have influenced you most in some way? (If not books, you can pick 5 films, 5 pieces of art, 5 songs… or mix & match!)
Rosemary’s Baby,
The Cabin at the End of the World,
The Last House on Needless Street,
Incidents Around The House,
and controversially, the Terrifier franchise, which unexplainably inspired me to be my unapologetic self on the page.
If you had to describe the tones and themes of your own work in terms of movies, books, songs, or art, what would you choose and why?
The Cabin at the End of the World bottles up that fear as a parent of something horrible happening to your child. Incidents around the house has that, too. And of course, Rosemary’s Baby.
They all have parents frantically making difficult decisions, which I think is a big reason why those have stuck with me, if I really think about it. Parenthood is complicated and scary. I can’t compare my work to those amazing titles, but their themes are certainly present in some of my work, published and unpublished.
Introduce us to something you’ve created, and pitch it to the audience!
My debut novella, WRITHE, is a psychological little work of horror. Banner Price is a bullied boy who hopes his drunken mother’s nightly absences will bring him something new, something he’s never had before. A father. With every failure, the disdain and disgust for the other grows, pushing Banner into the open arms of violence as vengeance.
Banner has a plan. His mother has suspicions. Who will be the first to flinch?
If this sounds interesting, you can grab the book at sobelobooks.com or wherever books are sold. Otherwise, keep watch for what else I have up my sleeve.
Music wise, you can follow my band Safe Sermon on instagram, listen to our music on any streaming platform, and check out our music videos on YouTube. We’re actively recording new songs.
