NAME: Viggy Parr Hampton
CREATIVE FIELD: Author, Podcast Host
WEBSITE: viggyhampton.com
CREATIVE LINKS:
Instagram and TikTok: @viggyparrhampton
CREATIVE BIO:
Viggy Parr Hampton, MPH is an epidemiologist, host of the podcast “Horror Humor Hunger,” and the author of A Cold Night for Alligators, Much Too Vulgar, The Rotting Room, and A Veritable Household Pet. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
INTERVIEW
What got you into horror to begin with – what’s your core Horror memory?
I’ve been into horror for as long as I can remember. When I was four years old, I would beg my parents to let me stay up late just so I could get a glimpse of the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt. Instead of scaring me, that nasty little puppet absolutely delighted me–and I’ve been delighted by all things scary ever since.
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 absolutely love historical horror, both writing it and reading it.
Some of my favorite historical horror novels include The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling, Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, The Devils by Joe Abercrombie, The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy, and This House Will Feed by Maria Tureaud.
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 am itching to write a horror western. It’s in the distant future right now, but I’m gathering ideas and quietly doing a little bit of research to lay the foundation. Something about the combination of dusty, windswept towns, cowboys, outlaws, and the lonely desert really gets my creativity flowing.
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!)
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova,
IT by Stephen King (the book and the original film with Tim Curry),
You by Caroline Kepnes,
Coralie Fargeat’s film The Substance,
and The Radium Girls by Kate Moore (it’s nonfiction, but I don’t think anyone can say that it isn’t horror!).
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 actually make Spotify playlists for each of my novels–each one definitely has its own flavor, but I tend to lean towards a mix of rock n’ roll (think The White Stripes and Led Zeppelin) and rockabilly music (think Goodnight Texas, Shovels & Rope, and Trampled by Turtles). All of these musicians put so much feeling into their work, and their songs read like poetry. Above all else, I want my own work to make people feel something, and pairing my work with songs that make me smile, laugh, cry, dance–that just feels right.
Introduce us to something you’ve created, and pitch it to the audience!
In my fourth novel, A Veritable Household Pet, Darla Gregory receives a transorbital lobotomy at the age of 11.
We follow Darla in the aftermath of her surgery, but we also get the simultaneous POV of her older sister Ellie in the form of scribe’s notes. Ellie helps fill in the gaps by inserting her own perspective, resulting in a tale Paulette Kennedy (author of The Devil and Mrs. Davenport) called “Brooding and twisted, but beautiful in its honesty.”