NAME: Renee S. DeCamillis
CREATIVE FIELDS: Author / Musician / Horror & Dark Fiction Novel Editor
WEBSITE: reneesdecamillis.com
CREATOR LINKS:
Substack: substack.com/@reneedec
Bluesky: @reneedecamillis.bsky.social
Instagram: @renee_s._decamillis
Facebook: @ReneeDeCamillis
The Bone Cutters: Barnes & Noble
Chisel the Bone: Barnes & Noble
Try Not To Die: Barnes & Noble
INTERVIEW
What got you into horror to begin with – what’s your core Horror memory?
My core horror memory comes from before I turned 8, when I used to watch The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents with my Nana Josie. She also turned me on to the work of Edgar Allen Poe, as well as Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows.
I also started watching horror movies at a young age and immediately became obsessed. I was the youngest in my family, and the closest sibling to my age is six years older than me.
My older siblings and my cousin used to watch all the 70s and 80s horror flicks, and they’d let me stay in the room as long as I covered my eyes when they told me to. Well, we all know how that goes. Some of those movies that I love and that stick with me the most are Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hellraiser, The Exorcist, Carrie, The Shining, Amityville Horror. I also loved watching Tales from the Crypt.
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?
Supernatural horror sits at the top of my list of favorite horror genres, but I also love psychological horror, cosmic horror, folk horror, dystopian/apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic horror, and dark fantasy.
As for some of my favorites in these subgenres of horror, here are some books that stick with me:
The works of Edgar Allen Poe, though I cannot pick just one or two stories;
The Willows, by Algernon Blackwood;
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Tales by H.P. Lovecraft;
Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe by Thomas Ligotti;
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirly Jackson;
Wylding Hall, and The Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand;
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay;
Demon Theory, Mongrels, The Only Good Indians, and The Angel of Indian Lake series by Stephen Graham Jones;
The Sixth World Series–Trail of Lightning, and Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse;
The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher;
The Devil in Silver, and The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle;
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury;
Behind the Door, and Inside the Asylum by Mary SanGiovanni;
NOS4A2, and The Black Phone by Joe Hill;
Girl on Fire by Gemma Amor;
In That Endlessness, Our End by Gemma Files…
For TV and Movies, some that stand out other than what I’ve already mentioned: the TV series Supernatural (I own the entire series on DVD and have watched it so many times, it’s like Sam & Dean are my brothers.);
the Netflix series Hemlock Grove=fucking phenomenal writing in season one;
Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher is excellent!
What We Do In the Shadows;
Dexter–I also own this entire series on DVD;
Wednesday, season one mostly…
Get Out is one of my absolute favorite horror films;
Halloween I & II by Rob Zombie, though they’re slashers, they have supernatural and psychological elements as well;
Constantine; The Nun; Sinister…There are too many horror movies I love in these subgenres, and it’s hard to pick from the long list.
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?
Though I do love my Bone Cutters Series (The Bone Cutters, Book 1, and Chisel the Bone, Book 2), of which I am currently writing Book 3 and having a blast hanging out with that crew of characters again, I have another novel I’m prepping to shop to agents that means a lot to me. I’ve been working on it off and on over the past 10 years.
It’s an apocalyptic cross-genre supernatural-tech-horror novel about the dehumanization and destruction of our species through the obsessive use of cell phones and the internet. I cannot wait to send that one off into the world!
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!)
1.) Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones
2.) Behind the Door by Mary SanGiovanni
3. & 3.5) The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher; In That Endlessness, Our End by Gemma Files
4.) A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
5.) Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
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?
My work has a musicality to it. And some themes include psychological disturbances, madness, dread, psychic abilities, supernatural entities, demons, ghosts, twisted addictions & obsessions, alternate dimensions.
My work has been described as cinematic, “sick, twisted, and demented,” “slashy and visceral,” “hallucinogenic, tough, rough, and unexpectedly tender…Lovecraft meets Nope,” “fast-paced and maniacal” “loud horror” like metal music, with “electric prose…rhythmic, with beats pumping, staccato rhythms, with smooth breakdowns, and lyrics that bounce off the page.”
Both of my horror books have been compared to Clive Barker, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the Supernatural TV series, as well as the work of Christopher Moore, Joe Lansdale, and Carl Hiaasen.
And my voice has been compared Laird Barron and Poppy Z. Brite.
Introduce us to something you’ve created, and pitch it to the audience!
The Bone Cutters Series includes The Bone Cutters, Book 1, and Chisel the Bone, Book 2.
The story follows Dory, a troubled young woman who, after an involuntary stay at a psychiatric hospital, quickly becomes the target of a cult of drug addicts who get high off bone dust.
Bone-chiseling crimes soon fill the news, and as Dory and her friends try to get the bone cutters busted, they discover supernatural creatures are linked to the dusters crew of sadists, making Dory wonder if they’ll ever be able to stop them.