NAME: Sandra Bond
CREATIVE FIELD: Author
WEBSITE: sandra-bond.com
AUTHOR BIO:
Sandra Bond is a writer and poet from Staffordshire, UK, whose fiction is usually in those closely related fields of horror, fantasy and/or science fiction. She labours under the geas of being unable to read anything at all by Stephen King without wanting to sit down and write something which emulates him; eventually, she let herself do so, and her first published novel “The Psychopath Club” was the result. Her fourth novel is due later in 2026.
INTERVIEW
What got you into horror to begin with – what’s your core Horror memory?
With a certain amount of reluctance, I must cop to having been thrilled by James Herbert at an age when I probably shouldn’t have been reading him. Everyone at my school was mad keen on him, and no doubt the excitement was heightened by the feeling that these were books which grown-ups would pitch a fit about if they knew that kids like us were reading them.
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?
I prefer subtlety to schlock, and psychological horror over gore. I’ve already mentioned Stephen King‘s name above; it’s trendy to sneer at him for his success, but I bet he laughs all the way to the bank every time he reads a put-down.
I’m also a big fan of Robert Bloch; he managed to introduce a note of wit and even humour into all his horror writing, and that’s something I can respect.
Chaz Brenchley is always worth reading, though he seems to be focusing more on SF than directly on horror these days.
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?
I have a yearning to write more books in the universe of The Psychopath Club; not direct sequels to it, but other stories set in the cold, remote, parochial US Midwest. I call it the “Muldooniverse” after the town in The Psychopath Club; I have a second novel on the go that would expand that world, but I’ve had trouble making it gel — it’ll be a good novel when I iron the creases out, but after two full rewrites I still wasn’t happy with it, and put it aside to bubble in my back-brain.
My schedule with other novels means that I won’t be able to work on it again till 2027 at the earliest.
It will have a cameo for Todd Krank and the Typhoids, the rock band from The Psychopath Club; I plan for them to show up in all Muldooniverse tales, a thread that ties them all together, even if loosely.
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!)
Books: “It” by Stephen King, “Psycho” by Robert Bloch, “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote
Films: “Alien”
Songs: Bauhaus, “Terror Couple Kill Colonel“
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?
I like to colour outside the lines when it comes to genre; none of my novels are outright horror, yet all of them contain horror themes and elements. For instance, “The Devil’s Finger” was very much an attempt to produce a novel that was the written version of a Simon Pegg/Edgar Wright film; overtly humorous, with supernatural and fantasy themes, but with characters in the forefront who squabble and dig at each other while all the time, their world is on the verge of falling into terror and chaos.
Even The Psychopath Club, which is my most straight-faced novel, has broad comedy moments. I find human beings ridiculously funny, and I can’t keep that from showing in my writing.
Introduce us to something you’ve created, and pitch it to the audience!
The Psychopath Club features a bitter, cynical teenage boy who daydreams of becoming a serial killer or school shooter. He’s plainly a time-bomb, but — what do you do with a kid like that, who hasn’t committed any crime or act of violence, who isn’t clinically insane, who’s just full of hatred?
I was inspired to write this by two sources both of which I thought dodged the issue, namely American Psycho and the Dexter series (particularly the latter, where our wannabe killer protagonist is conveniently given a seemingly endless string of people who deserve murdering).
Anyway… my protagonist acquires the power to travel between almost-identical alternate universes, and a mysterious supernatural companion who evidently possesses great power but who won’t answer any questions. What will he do with his new ability and his new mentor? That’s what you’ll need to read The Psychopath Club to find out!