Horror Author Renee S. DeCamillis, in her own words:
To start, please introduce yourself:
My name is Renee S. DeCamillis, and I am a horror author and freelance editor and the author of the psychological thriller/supernatural horror novella The Bone Cutters. My debut novel, Chisel the Bone is set for release on July 23, 2024, and it’s the second book in The Bone Cutters series. I am a member of the Horror Writers Association, the New England Horror Writers, and the Horror Writers of Maine. I am a lifelong musician and the lead singer/songwriter and rhythm guitarist of the punk-metal band Scars Aligned. I am also a former gravedigger; I can get rid of a body fast without leaving a trance, and I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. I live in the woods of southern Maine with my husband, our son, and a house full of ghosts.
What is horror to you, what makes a work of art one in the horror genre?
For me, horror is primarily about fear: nightmares, the unknown, our shadow side and what lurks in those shadows, dark truths kept hidden, monsters—human and nonhuman—and frightening circumstances we deal with every day. There is also a certain expectation with horror that goes beyond fear. Crime dramas and sci-fi and fantasy can all deliver fearful situations but may not necessarily have horror elements. That’s where the horror tropes come in: werewolves, witches, ghosts, vampires, the supernatural, demons, and other various “monsters” work their way into the equation. But the best horror, for me, is when the horror tropes get crushed or brushed aside to make way for a new fear or a new monster to grace the pages or the screen. That, for me, is horror gold!
Horror is about facing any fears you come up against, whether real or imagined, and hopefully you conquer those fears, but not all of the horror stories have happy endings.
What made you want to work in horror?
All my life I’ve been drawn to stories and books and movies and shows that explore the unknown, the unusual, the strange, the unexplainable, stories that delve into our shadow thoughts, our dark sides, ones that venture out into those dark woods to find out what made that unrecognizable noise. I’m unsure if any one thing kicked that off, but I do know that I gravitated to works by Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Ray Bradbury, Steven King, as well as movies and shows like The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents/The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Tales From the Crypt, The X-Files, and all those old slashers—Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, American Werewolf in London—and movies like The Exorcist, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Clockwork Orange, Hellraiser, etc. I’ve always been that person who jumps out of bed in the middle of the night to find out what just went bump, not the one to hide under my covers and shake in fear. I face my fears. Every day when I work on my stories, I’m facing my fears.
Not only did my love of the horror genre push me to want to work in horror, but also the horrors I have lived through all my life made me want to write more. When I have conversations with people about things I have experienced, they’re always shocked or horrified or don’t believe me because of the craziness of it all. My life has been filled with the perfect fodder to write horror. Considering where my interests gravitated to and how my life unfolded, it’s really no wonder to me why I chose to work in horror. It’s more like horror chose me.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Life. I say that as a sort of funny, but I am not joking. Just as I wrote for the previous question, inspiration for my horror comes from my life experiences as s well as my love of dark tales, uncanny occurrences, and the horror stories I gravitated to as a child. I do also get inspiration from music. I’ve been a musician my whole life, and it only goes with the territory that the music I listen to and play and write inspires many of my creative ideas.
What would you like your legacy to be in the genre (or elsewhere)?
This is a tough one!
What’s really important to me and my work is to be a writer who doesn’t resorts to gimmicks or shocks for the sake of shocking to gain readers. Gore for the sake of gore and sex to excite and lure more readers and followers leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I would like to be known as a writer who creates interesting and unique characters working their way through unique, compelling, and often twisted, situations. I would like to be known as a writer who rips open their wounds and reveals them on the page for others to know: 1) they are not alone, 2) things can always be worse, 3) yes, real horrors are everywhere, and yes, you, too, can fight them off.
What is Women in Horror Month to you and why is it still important this many years later?
For me, Women in Horror Month assures that at least one month every year there will be a focus on women who create amazing work in the horror genre, since the rest of the year most of us only lurk in the shadows of our male counterparts. That may sound cynical, but it’s the truth. Women have been dissed and ignored for centuries—as well as objectified, by others as well as partaking in self-objectification. So, I see Women in Horror Month as a time to celebrate and lift up the women out their busting their asses every day to create their art to share with the world, revealing their truths and vulnerabilities and their strengths for all to see and share and learn from. They’re all providing the world with a gift, and they all deserve to be celebrated all year long.
I actually wish there was no need for Women in Horror Month; I wish women got the respect and recognition they deserve all year long right alongside the men out there doing the same work. But I don’t live in Fantasyland; I live in the here and now, so I embrace Women in Horror Month, and I greatly appreciate being featured as a female horror author on Cinema Crazed. Thank you very much for having me!
Who are some of the Women in Horror who you look up to, and who do you want to bring attention to in your field or others?
Women I look up to in horror: Shirley Jackson, Mary Shelley, Mary SanGiovanni, Gemma Files, Linda D. Addison, S. P. Miskowski, Damien Angelica Walters…
And the following women I look up to are known to write horror but not only horror: Elizabeth Hand, T. Kingfisher, Kelly Link…
Women in my field I want to bring attention to: Morgan Sylvia, Emma J. Gibbon, Kathrine Silva, Michelle Renee Lane…All of these women are amazing writers and amazing women!
What are you currently working on that you can tell us about?
*My debut novella, The Bone Cutters (Link: The Bone Cutters: DeCamillis, Reneé S.: 9781960721402: Books – Amazon.ca), was rereleased through my new publisher, Encyclopocalypse Publications (Link: Encyclopocalypse Publications | Encyclopocalypse Publications), on January 21, 2024 in preparation for the release of its sequel. And the audiobook release is coming soon. If you order the paperback from the publisher (Link: The Bone Cutters by Renee S Decamillis | Encyclopocalypse Publications), you will automatically receive the eBook for free.
*My debut novel, Chisel the Bone, is set for release on July 23, 2024 through Encyclopocalypse Publications. This is the sequel to The Bone Cutters.
*My short horror story “Faceless” was published on January 9, 2024 in the Dethfest Confessions: The Devil’s Playlist anthology (Link: Dethfest Confessions: The Devil’s Playlist: Ralston, Duncan, Cohn, Jon, Bower, Jay, Marceau, Caitlin, Trojahn, Simone, Essig, Robert, Manx, Daemon, Palisano, John, Stred, Steve, Tullius, Mark: 9781961740167: Books – Amazon.ca) from Vincere Press. It is the sequel to Try Not to Die at Dethfest (Link: Try Not to Die: At Dethfest: An Interactive Adventure: Tullius, Mark, Hedden, Glenn: 9781938475962: Books – Amazon.ca), a choose your own adventure novel.
*My short dark fiction/sci-fi story, “Rex and Roxy’s Roadside Café and Glass Emporium” is forthcoming later in 2024 in the alien encounters themed anthology Phantoms from the Sky from Rogue Owl Press (Link: https://rogueowlpress.com/ ) .
*I have a comic book forthcoming through Phi 3 Comics (Link: Phi3 Comics – HOME (weebly.com)). It takes place in the Spirialmind Universe, and it’s titled “Spiralmind, Book 4, Gateway of Destruction.”
Find me online at: website: reneesdecamillis.com, Facebook: Renee S. DeCamillis Author, Instagram: @renee_s._decamillis, X/Twitter: @ReneeDeCamillis,
The special edition hardcover will include both Chisel the Bone and The Bone Cutters
