Horror Reanimated… the home of Bloody Books

Interview with Suzanne McLeod by JD’L

March 25th, 2009

Suzanne McLeod is the author of The Sweet Scent of Blood and The Cold Kiss of Death, both published by Gollancz. The novels follow the exploits of Genevieve Taylor and her magic-busting investigations around London. The company she works for is called Spellcrackers.com and her duties include removal of magic spells. So far, so Hogwarts. But the London of the novel is peopled not only by witches and goblins but also vampires. Vamprirism has become a kind of fashion accessory and when the sun goes down, the sickest place to be is in a vampire nightclub getting bitten by the tattooed, leather-clad undead. In The Sweet Scent of Blood, Genny Taylor is sent into the midst of vampire gangland to investigate a murder in which the use of magic is suspected. And the blood begins to flow…

We invited Suzanne McLeod to join us on the shores of Lake Hades where Bill and I have been sent during the remodelling of our pokey torture basement below the Bloody Books offices. It’s the first holiday we’ve had since we signed our souls over to our publisher.

We had to travel light so the only thing available for making Suzanne comfy is a rusty hospital gurney and some bacteria-slicked medical instruments. We strapped her down nice and tight the moment she stepped out of the Hell-evator…

Joseph D’Lacey: Hi, Suzanne, and welcome to Horror Reanimated where being interviewed is a bit like having your eyeballs pulled out with fish hooks while rats eat your tongue. It’s very popular – the queues are around the block and up the high street. Some bloody holiday.

Anyway, we’re glad you’re here – hope those straps aren’t too tight. We usually offer a little refreshment before the torture begins but Bill forgot to pack the snacks. I found this old thighbone down by the molten sulphur shoreline. Want to chew on it while we ‘talk’?

Suzanne McLeod: Thanks so much for inviting me, and I think it’s great you take the trouble to make your victims guests feel *so* secure . . . and while I appreciate the offer of the thigh bone, I’d actually prefer a nice juicy humerus, the one on your left arm doesn’t look too bad . . .

JD’L: Well, it’s an unusual request but…I’ll have Bill remove it. Wouldn’t want you to go hungry!

Now, first of all, I was surprised by the blend of mythical/supernatural content in The Sweet Scent of Blood – also that the combination worked. What made you decide to mix creatures of myth like satyrs, trolls, witches and goblins with blood-sucking creatures of the night?

SM: I’ve always been fascinated with all the different myths and legends that populate the world, whether it’s Greek Gods, Celtic faeries or Chinese dragons. A lot of the stories stem from our ancestors’ way of trying to explain away/understand those fears that appear universal: fear of the dark, fear of not being in control, fear of illness and death [all fears that a lot of world-wide vampire mythology feeds into]. Then there’s also the flip side; a lot of myths have been used to abdicate responsibility in socially unacceptable situations: crops destroyed by angry goblins, beautiful fairy men who [supposedly] seduce unmarried girls and leave them pregnant, and the more horrific stories of disabled/sickly babies being named changelings and abandoned or in some cases killed.

And these myths all exist cheek-by-jowl in our world, [and many are similar despite originating from different geographical areas and cultures] so bringing them together on the page was logical – for me anyway – I also felt that if all these divergent beings have always co-existed, [as they do in the alternative history of Genny’s world] they would be used to interacting with each other either for mutual benefit, or not! A concept that has led me to some interesting plot ramifications.

JD’L: I alluded to the work of a well-known fantasy author in the intro. To what extent has her work influenced yours?

SM: My nephew introduced me to Harry and Hogwarts and I’ve spent many happy hours with all three. I love JKR’s way of making you care about her characters, so you’re rooting for them all the way as well as her wonderful imagination. Has she influenced me? Probably, but then I think that every author I’ve read [and will read] has influenced my writing to some degree, if only through the process of osmosis.

JD’L: The Sweet Scent of Blood has a decent helping of violence and bloodletting, including craniectomies and cardiectomies. When did this dark streak originate in you?

SM: Umm … I think it started with Alice in Wonderland – with doormice being stuffed into teapots and the Queen shouting ‘off with her head’ . . . or maybe it was when I read Roald Dahl, Alan Garner, or Dennis Wheatley . . . or it could have been the bloodsplattered pulp horror books I found in the bargain bin at Woolies (now sadly no longer with us) when I was eleven. Ahh, no I remember now . . . It was when the head fell of my Barbie doll and I thought– oh, cool *g*

JD’L: When it comes to creating horror, where do you draw the line in terms of extremity? What’s acceptable in your view and what isn’t?

SM: Good question. In a way my characters dictate the level of violence in my books – and I have no doubt that some of the baddies can be very inventive *g* – but I would only write something that I would be comfortable reading and to a degree my comfort level comes not from the extremity of the violence but from the way it’s portrayed and on whom the violence is inflicted. Personally I’m not a fan of reading about violence from a victim’s viewpoint unless I have a good idea that the victim is going to be able to turn the tables, or at least escape. [frex; some crime novels can have an anonymous murderer/victim scene in which you, the reader *know* the outcome is *not* going to be good!] And violence against animals and children is a straight NO for me – doormice excepted, of course.

JD’L: For a UK writer of Fantasy, Science Fiction or Horror, being published by Gollancz is pretty close to finding the Holy Grail. Can you tell us how you achieved it?

SM: The market for dark/urban fantasy has become very popular in the US over the last few years, and is becoming more so in the UK. So I’ve been incredibly lucky – in that I followed the standard writing advice of ‘write what you love to read’ – that when my book landed on Jo Fletcher’s desk at Gollancz [via John Jarrold, my agent] it was just what she was looking for :-).

JD’L: My favourite creatures in your portrayal of a darkly fantastic London were the goblins – bureaucrats with baseball bats! Aside from vampires, which of your mythical creatures has the most potential to elicit feelings of horror in a reader?

SM: Ahh, yes, I love my goblins, and don’t all bureaucrats hanker for a tin-foil coated baseball bat? *g* But Goblins and vamps aside, I think that probably the fae are the ones to watch out for. They are less obviously predators than the vampires, but in fact they do prey on both each other and humans. And they tend to have tricky natures as well, so are more unpredictable in how they might behave. One particular fae character in The Cold Kiss of Death is a phouka [a shapeshifting faerie who takes either the guise of a woman or a large, silver-coated dog] and as a carnivore, she has a preference for her food to be überfresh! *Shudders*

JD’L: What’s the next Spellcrackers.com novel going to deal with?

SM: In The Cold Kiss of Death, Genny’s got a whole heap of problems to deal with; she’s being haunted by an abused ghost, her witch neighbour wants her evicted, and her sort-of-Ex – and now her new boss – can’t decide whether he wants their relationship to be business or pleasure, not to mention the queue of vamps all inviting her to paint the town red! But then her problems take an even worse turn when one of her human friends is murdered using sidhe magic. Not only is she determined to hunt down the killer before they kill again, but she ends being hunted herself, and not just by the police, but by some of London’s most dangerous and powerful supernaturals.

JD’L: Living or dead, which author would you most like to have a long boozy lunch with?

SM: To be honest, I’m happy to have a long boozy lunch with any other author :-). They’re my favourite people; I mean who else will spend hours discussing writing, creating characters and plot, and reading books, all of which I love.

JD’L: As a victim…er…guest of Horror Reanimated you have the power to make two nominations. First, The Sword of the Ultimate Darkness for the work of horror in any medium that you consider to be a timeless classic. Second, you may banish to the Plague Pits the worst work of horror in any medium.

SM: Umm *ponders* okay, well the thing I hate most and would want to banish to the Plague Pits [which strangely enough are mentioned (the ones under London Bridge) in The Cold Kiss of Death, which of course, does not deserve to be banished anywhere *g*] is the way a lot of cinematic vamps end up doing this whole cheesy, cringe-worthy fang-snarl straight into the camera lens, I mean okay, they’ve got fangs, we know that, so they should just go and bite someone! And for The Sword of the Ultimate Darkness I’m going to nominate Dr Who as the original ‘hiding behind the cushions’ scary programme.

JD’L: Excellent choices. Well, thank you, Suzanne. It’s been a pleasure removing your toenails and drilling out your kneecaps. Bill will wheel you to the Hell-evator on the gurney. I forgot to ask if you have a medical insurance…

In the meantime, we wish you the very best of luck with your forthcoming work.

SM: Thank you, Joseph and Bill for your wonderful hospitalisation hospitality, it’s been a lot of fun and it was really, really great to meet you both! Err . . . one last thing, is it alright if I take my toenails with me? It’s just that nail polish was rather expensive and maybe I can get them re-attached when they’re working on my kneecaps…

Entry Filed under: The Function of Fear