Canadian author Craig Davidson – whose pen name is Nick Cutter has been writing horror novels for 15 years. The Book Section sat down with him for a conversation about the golden age of horror, why this time of year inspires us to be scared and where horror is going.
TBS: What drew you to horror genre?
CD: It was the 1980s, which I think was a huge time for horror the late’ 70s and ’80s, which is obviously attributable to Stephen King primarily in the book space. But Clive Barker, Ann Rice, Shirley Jackson were coming to the fore and even guys like George R.R. Martin were taking a stab at horror at that point. On the film side, there was John Carpenter and David Cronenberg who were doing some of their most interesting work at that point. Back in the ‘80s you couldn’t pass a spinning drugstore rack without being eye-level to lurid, interesting paperback covers. I think my parents were just glad to see me reading.
TBS: What made you want to write horror?
CD: I jumped in. Ten toes down. I had the opportunity to write my first book under the name I am associated with in horror: Nick Cutter in 2014. I had been a literary writer since 2005 but it was my ambition to pursue horror simply because it was a part of my growing up.
TBS: Do you have a favourite author?
CD: Lord of The Flies (author) William Golding for sure but Stephen King would be an influence and Clive Barker as well. Anyone who has read The Troop will see that. I think over time, H.P. Lovecraft and Shirley Jackson or even going back to Mary Shelley, H.G. Wells and The Island of Dr. Moreau. The largest single influence is King.
TBS: King is such a strong storyteller…
CD: I just find it’s not necessarily just plot. I think the plots are great, but they are not locked together with sort of the precision of an author like John le Carré would be. King can sketch in a paragraph or two what other authors would take three or four pages or even an entire book to do. I think he does childhood really well.
I have always been omnivorous in terms of what I like. You’ve got body horror, Gothic horror, ghosts and liminal horror.
TBS: What are the best King books?
CD: I think some of the best books are The Body or Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption. Ones that don’t even really have to do with the supernatural. Even later ones like the Mr. Mercedes series. I think he is really good at telling stories of the supernatural and that is what he is known for, but he is equally adept at telling stories without those trappings at all.
TBS: Yes. There is an inherent spookiness to humans in general, right? When I read Cujo at 14, I was terrified of dogs. Now that I am an adult, I think, ‘Oh that poor dog’ he just had rabies…. why didn’t anyone help him?
CD: Yes! Pet Sematary, when I was a kid reading and I thought ‘Oh my God- I won’t sleep.’ You know, Jud, why are you being so dumb burying your kid? You know it’s not going to work. It didn’t work with the cat. And then you become a parent yourself and it’s like OK I get it. This would apply to many books but it depends on the time of your life that you read it or come back to it. It will have different resonance but with horror especially.
TBS: What sub-genres of horror do you like?
CD: I have always been omnivorous in terms of what I like. You’ve got body horror, Gothic horror, ghosts and liminal horror. I can get some great joy and understanding from what Shirley Jackson tried to do in The Haunting of Hill House but I could also read Richard Matheson’s Hell House and be like, oh it’s very different and they are obviously aesthetically and totally different, but I enjoy it a great deal for what it’s for, what they’re both trying to do. It’s a rainbow.
Craig Davidson’s Top Reads
The Lord of the Flies
Where the Red Ferns Grow
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption
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TBS: Funny to call it a rainbow…
CD: Yeah. It’s very dark. Kind of a sombre rainbow.
TBS: Why do we like to be scared at Halloween?
CD: It’s my favourite holiday by hoops and bounds. I am looking out my window right now at our block and all the decorations including our house are up. You know, my son said he wanted to watch Resident Evil, the movie. I had it all lined up and I said ‘I am going to click, are you ready?’ He went upstairs and was walking around and talking to himself and then came down and said, ‘Ok. Yeah. Do it. Do it’. I think there is a feeling that we want someone to test our thresholds. In a safe way. There is something delightful about that even if it means I am going to be sleeping with my light on for the next three weeks or crawling in with my parents. You know, How close can you draw your hand to the flame? How long can you endure that heat for?
Books by Craig Davidson (a.k.a. Nick Cutter)
The Troop
The Deep
Little Heavan
The Saturday Night Ghost Club
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