Brian McAuley is a WGA screenwriter and HWA author. His debut novel, Curse of the Reaper, was named one of Esquire’s Best Horror Books of 2022. His novellas, Candy Cain Kills and Candy Cain Kills Again: The Second Slaying, are essential holiday horror reads and dubbed “A masterclass in slasher fiction” by FanFiAddict. This fall, McAuley returns with a bloody-good slasher called Breathe In, Bleed Out.
McAuley’s upcoming novel has already garnered praise from some of the biggest names in Horror. Upon reading Breathe In, Bleed Out, Nat Cassidy, author of When The Wolf Comes Home and Mary: An Awakening of Terror, said McAuley is “the crown prince of slasher literature.”
Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, said, “McAuley will forever be my slasher sage, my guru of all things gruesome, my purveyor of tantric panic, my phobic yogi. He brings such a joie de vivre to his holistic homicides, you can practically feel the back spatter splatter off the page.”
Early readers on NetGalley, Instagram, and TikTok are raving about Breathe In, Bleed Out, too.
McAuley sat down with Cemetery Dance to talk about his upcoming release, slasher essentials, Wes Craven’s Scream, and his favorite slasher books.
You can find the author on Instagram @brianmcwriter and his website here.
(Interview conducted by Haley Newlin)
CEMETERY DANCE: In Breathe In, Bleed Out, your protagonist, Hannah, reminds me of an iconic final girl, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Before Sidney, Laurie Strode, and Nancy Thompson, it’s fair to say that women never had much autonomy or survival instinct in slashers. Can you speak to the importance of modern-day horror writers creating stories that don’t erase women’s ferocity and intelligence?
BRIAN MCAULEY: Unfortunately, we live in a time when women are still being stripped of their rights and autonomy. I think it’s cathartic to see final girls in slasher stories fighting back against their oppressors, outsmarting and slaying the monster to live another day. It’s also important for modern horror writers to let their characters be flawed human beings. A protagonist doesn’t need to be perfectly powerful or hopelessly helpless. They can fluctuate on the spectrum between, giving us human nuances that make them more relatable.
Your book contains killers, both “supernatural” and human, which do you find more frightening? Why?
I find human killers far more terrifying because I don’t believe in ghosts, but I do believe in horrible people. That said, my favorite stories explore the fine line between the supernatural and the psychological. That was something I enjoyed playing with in my Hollywood horror novel Curse of the Reaper, about an aging actor haunted by the slasher icon he brought to life. Is the Reaper a supernatural specter or a figment of Howard’s deteriorating mind? The answer doesn’t really matter once the bodies start hitting the floor.
What are some essential elements of a modern slasher story? Any rules you think Scream‘s Randy Meeks might add to his survival guide?
For me, a compelling cast of secondary characters (like Randy Meeks!) is absolutely essential. All of these people should be so fully-realized that we don’t know who’s going to survive or who’s destined for death. I also find that repeated slashings and stabbings can get a bit tiresome, so creative kills are my bread and butter. Come to think of it, I haven’t killed anybody using bread and butter yet…
Some assume the slasher subgenre prioritizes shock and gore over plot and character. Breathe In, Bleed Out has the gore and gross-outs, but also has so much heart and is a phenomenal exploration of survivor’s guilt and the accompanying grief. How do you find balance?
I appreciate you saying so. I think this particular balance is one area where books are better suited than film. When you’re writing a screenplay, it’s “show, don’t tell” — meaning you can only write what’s being seen or heard. But in a novel, you can dive much deeper into a character’s psychology, explore the complexity of their thoughts and feelings, and even show the contradiction between what they’re thinking vs. what they’re saying. Pacing also plays a big role here because back-to-back kills with no character-driven drama in between makes for a pretty shallow journey.
You mention in the author’s note that Wes Craven’s Scream had a significant impact on your creative career, as seen in Breathe In, Bleed Out. I’ll never forget the garage door scene either. What do you think it is about Craven’s style that speaks to you?
After watching Wes in interviews and hearing cast and crew speak about how wonderful he was, it’s clear that the man had a huge heart. That’s maybe the biggest source of inspiration for me. While I want to scare people and make them laugh, just like he did, I also want them to feel something on a deeper emotional level. And much like that garage door scene, I want to make sure they never look at [insert innocuous item turned into murder weapon] the same way again.
Which horror books would you recommend to anyone wanting to explore the slasher subgenre further?
Adam Cesare’s Clown in a Cornfield series is essential, as is the Indian Lake Trilogy by Stephen Graham Jones. I also recommend Josh Winning’s Burn the Negative and Heads Will Roll, as well as Angela Sylvaine’s Chopping Spree. And Philip Fracassi’s The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre will be arriving just in time to read alongside Breathe In, Bleed Out.
