For horror novelist Christopher Hawkins, the dark and drenching clouds described in his latest novel, Downpour, have led to brighter, sunnier skies. Recently winning the Booklife Prize in Fiction, Downpour is the first horror novel to win the award. Originally from Indiana, Hawkins has made the western Chicago suburbs hi home since his early twenties. He published the short horror collection Suburban Monsters last year, and continues to write for the genre. We spoke recently about the new book, the state of horror, and the possibility of a soggy curse.
What brought you to horror writing?
As a kid, I was always watching the original Twilight Zone whenever it was on. I was very much into Ray Bradbury then, and that led me to writers like Richard Matheson and Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft. There was such power in those stories, and reading them felt like having one foot in the real world and another in some other, impossible place where there were no limits. It was such an exciting feeling, and after a while I started to think that maybe I could do that too. I’ve been chasing that feeling in my own writing ever since.
Was there any particular author or book or situation that inspired you as a young horror writer?
I remember watching Carpenter’s The Thing and Cronenberg’s The Fly on cable when I was definitely way too young to be seeing that kind of stuff. This was the early days of cable when the same movies repeated over and over, and I remember watching them a few minutes at a time, almost daring myself to see how long I could last. It was a weird kind of push-pull, excitement and revulsion all rolled into one. Any time I even come close to recreating that effect in my own work, I call it a win.
Who or what inspires you now?
There’s so much great indie fiction out there right now. That’s where all the risks are being taken, and where all the groundbreaking stuff is coming from. I’m involved with the Chicago chapter of the Horror Writers Association. There’s so much great writing coming out of that group that I feel like I’m always playing catch-up. It keeps me motivated.
Talk about your latest book, Downpour. What differentiates it from the rest of the pack of horror novels out there?
Downpour is the story of a family that’s trapped in an isolated farm house when a weird rain begins to fall that eats away at their house and turns everyone around them into monsters. The book is all about how they try to survive—and even if they can survive—and what they end up becoming when they get to the other side.
They’re a family in turmoil, and even before anything supernatural starts to happen, there’s a very strong sense that they might not make it. It’s as much a family drama as it is a horror story, and those elements are as tense as any of the frightening stuff that’s going on. Or at least I’d like to think so.
What are you working on right now?
I’ve been working mostly on short stories lately, but I have a few longer projects that are percolating. A few novels, a novel-in-stories, the start of a series. I like to develop stories in parallel to see which ones get their hooks in me and won’t let go until they’re finished. I also have a finished novel that I’m hoping to have out in August of next year. It leans more into science-fiction territory, but it’s still very much a horror story. I think it’s some of my best work.
I saw you mention on social media that (Downpour) was cursed. What’s that all about?
I was kind of half-joking about that, but I ran into a bunch of water damage issues while I was writing the book. We had to replace the roof on our house. The water line to our refrigerator broke. A toilet clogged and overran and damaged the ceiling underneath. So maybe cursed is a bit of a strong word, but I can’t say for sure that it’s not the right one.
Downpour is available for purchase in most bookstores and through the publisher's website.