Clay McLeod Chapman

Clay McLeod Chapman writes novels, comic books, and children's books, as well as for film and TV. He is the author of the horror novels The Remaking, Whisper Down the Lane, and Ghost Eaters. He also co-wrote Quiet Part Loud, a horror podcast produced by Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw for Spotify.

Chapman's new novel is What Kind of Mother.

Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. His reply:

I just finished the one-two punch of Josh Malerman’s Spin a Black Yarn and Ronald Malfi’s They Lurk. I would wholeheartedly recommend a double bill of these books back-to-back.

First off, they’re both novella collections, so you’re getting bite-sized Malermans and Malfis.

Yum!

But most of all, I feel like you’re seeing these two authors—authors who I admire and aspire to emulate—at their most playful. These two are masters of modern horror. Let there be no doubt: They have staked their claim at the top of Mount Monstrosity. They are living legends.

Reading Malerman’s “Half the House is Haunted” is a masterclass in nightmare inception. He plants an idea in your head—my head—and it just won’t leave me be. I’m still thinking about it.

Reading Malfi’s “The Stranger” is nihilistic comedy at its blackest. The horror is in how far he goes, the depths that he descends, and how there’s something so cosmically awful about it all, that you just can’t help but laugh. Cackle, actually. It’s madness at its pitchest and I loved it.

Other choice cuts—for me—are Malerman’s “Argyle” and Malfi’s “Skullybelly,” but really, any one of these novellas is a meal in of themselves. There’s so much to love here. You feel the authors having fun, positing these nightmarish notions and then simply going to town.

So grab yourself a copy of both and have yourself a Malerman/Malfi sandwich! Yummy in the tummy!

Visit Clay McLeod Chapman's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Remaking.

The Page 69 Test: The Remaking.

My Book, The Movie: Whisper Down the Lane.

Q&A with Clay McLeod Chapman.

The Page 69 Test: Whisper Down the Lane.

The Page 69 Test: What Kind of Mother.

--Marshal Zeringue