When I started writing out the outline for Hell Spawn, I didn't know I was going to be writing a horror novel. I figured it was going to be a bit of a tossup between Urban Fantasy meets a police procedural.Then I went into the details of the adversary for Hell Spawn.... and realized this was full horror.
Let's put it this way: I was congratulated by several readers on portraying R-rated murders in PG-13 ways. The only time it went really gruesome was when I described the murder in perfectly clinical terms by the ME.
It was also less the gore (since I only hinted at it) and more the impending sense of dread throughout the novel. This evil SOB felt like he could appear anywhere, at any time, for any reason. And he does.
After all, the adversary here is a demon. Just imagine every nightmare from The Exorcist, only with an adult male. And we're not simply talking about making a bed shake. I figure if this SOB is going to be telekinetic, we're going to be throwing cars.
Also, this is one villain who prefers to use a knife. Because demon -- bullets are too quick.
Of course, I also started looking into demonic infestation. Which was a problem when I'm writing scenes at two in the morning. Because take a guess what element can sometimes bring on infestation?
Thinking about it too much and too hard for too long.
Lucky me, huh?
But yeah. Part of the thing about demons? You have to read the book of The Exorcist. Why? Just so you can read all of the tests they put the possessed through. Because if you can find someone more skeptical of demons than the Catholic church without going full atheist, I'd be surprised. Not only are their a hundred tests to run, there are a hundred layers of church bureaucracy to get through. There's an army of doctors and an army of red tape.
But what happens when there are no doctors? There is no red tape? There's only a psycho trying to kill our hero and he's literally hurling cars so he can escape?
The short version: it's gonna get messy.
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