First off, I want to thank Greg for inviting me to participate in this event. I’ve come to know Greg a little through his social media posts, like the genres and types of books he likes (do we really need any other info to know someone? Book lovers rule!), and I admit, I was a little intimidated to write this post. Greg has a healthy passion for horror novels, and though I do read the occasional scary book, it’s not my go-to genre.
That being said, I believe he took it easy on me by giving me a topic I was already comfortable writing: the monsters who live next door. Why would that be a frightening thing? Compared to ghosts and zombies, the average Joe doesn’t really hold a candle. Our eyes tell us what doesn’t fit into our world—like a floating specter, or a bloody, rotten flesh monster—and in turn, we’re scared of that oddity, that unknown and unacceptable element that doesn’t belong. It shouldn’t exist in our world. We are terrified by what we do not or can’t understand.
But what about the unknown element that we see everyday? The person who greets you at the supermarket with a smile, who helps you load your groceries into your trunk? The lady who directs school traffic? The man who fills your Starbucks? We are willing to accept them into our realm of normalcy because they fit. We rarely question what fits—we do not want our safe routine disrupted.
After writing in the Fantasy genre for a few years, I thought it would be an easy undertaking to delve into the Contemporary genre. How difficult would it be to create simple, normal villains? After all, I’d crafted monsters before. Brutal, fierce beasts who lived beneath the earth and battled for sport. Bloodthirsty creatures with pale skin and mutated features that terrorized the world above. I knew what frightening was; how hard would it be to imagine a realistic monster?
Getting inside the mind of a serial
killer is no easy feat, nor should it be
taken lightly. My countless hours of
research into some of the most
ruthless killers made me realize just
how fragile my safe routine was, and
how at any moment, my reality could
be shattered. These predators prey on
the unsuspecting. The innocent. Those
they deem weak. For most of us, we
would never be able to point them out
among a lineup of the everyday people
we see. Many of these disturbed
individuals are chameleons; they’re practiced at effecting emotions and empathy, and they can be the people you’ve known and even loved your whole life. What a terrifying nightmare to one day awaken to the knowledge that your husband of ten years is one of these predators. How would you ever be able to trust your reality again?
I learned that I’m more confortable with my fantasy monsters—the obvious evil your mind can warn you of. It’s the malevolent creatures hiding in plain sight who I fear.
I’ve spent just over a year researching serial killers, and after three books and a completed series, I admit, I’m a fraud. I still don’t understand—the mind of a serial killer remains a mystery to me, an unknown element that I hope to never comprehend.
Trisha Wolfe - October 5th, 2015
October Month of Horror - Guest Post
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About Trisha Wolfe
From an early age, Trisha Wolfe dreamed up fantasy worlds and characters and was accused of talking to herself. Today, she lives in South Carolina with her family and writes full time, using her fantasy worlds as an excuse to continue talking to herself. Get updates on future book releases, special promotions, and sale events by signing up for her newsletter here.
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