Happy New Year! I can’t believe I’m entering my fifth year of doing these interviews. I feel like I’ve learned so many interesting things about people’s fears, and I hope you have, too.
Excited to kick off 2024 with Stacy Woodson, a fantastic short story writer and friend. Stacy’s newest published piece is a novella, “The Cadillac Job,” the first in Michael Bracken’s latest crime serial from Down and Out Books. Each episode features Huey’s Auto Repair, an auto shop in Dallas that doubles as a chop shop, and the ruthless man who runs it.
Read on to hear about all the things that freak Stacy out, including snakes, dolls, and incredibly large rodents. Also, if you’d like her son to lead us all on a ghost hunting tour, please raise your hand….RIGHT? I’m so ready.
What is your greatest fear?
My greatest fear is something happening to my children. I’ve deployed to a combat zone, jumped out of airplanes, and fought cancer. This, by far, is what scares me the most.
What is your weirdest fear?
This question immediately made me think of one of my college roommates. She’s afraid of melon—cantaloupe, honeydew—anything in the melon family. For me, it’s rodents of unusual size. (Yes, I’m a Princess Bride fan.) I was working background for Wonder Woman 1984. Between takes, I saw a rat the size of a schnauzer run across the sidewalk. I wasn’t expecting it, and I think that made it worse.
How do you deal with fear?
When I’m afraid, I get angry. Talk to whatever the fear is like it’s a tangible thing—which usually involves a string of expletives and sarcasm. Then, I take the hill (so to speak). If the fear is tied to a yes-or-no choice that I can make, I push myself to say yes. For example, I hate public speaking and always say “yes” hoping it will get easier. (I’m still hoping.)
Have you ever had any paranormal experiences or premonitions. How did you deal with it?
My nine-year-old son is obsessed with ghost hunting. He even has equipment. We visit places that are rumored to be haunted, take ghost tours, etc. Our favorite place is Ocracoke Island. It’s rich with history, and we often stay at a haunted inn called Blackbeard’s Lodge. Room nine is known for paranormal activity, and the innkeeper let us in late one night. My son claims to have seen a ghost in the mirror and bolted out the door. I went after him and didn’t stay long enough to confirm it.
“My son claims to have seen a ghost in the mirror and bolted out the door. I went after him and didn’t stay long enough to confirm it.”
I am excited to be wrapping up the What Scares You year with C.M. Muller! My first-ever horror short story was published this year by C.M. in the very cool anthology Come October, which features a lot of very creepy stories about leaves (among other things) and is available here if you’d like to spook yourself.
C.M. also just edited the fourth installment of Chthonic Matter, which will be out on the 21st or you can pre-order now.
After you get all your ordering done, read on to discover all the things that terrify this master of horror…
What’s the scariest story and/or book you’ve read?
I’ve always been particularly fond of Jason A. Wyckoff’s story “Knott’s Letter” (Black Horse & Other Strange Stories, Tartarus Press, 2012), an epistolary tale that still gives me the creeps. As far as novels go, I would have to say that Michael Aronovitz’s Alice Walks takes top honor, a ghost story beyond compare. Both of these horrors have sunk deep into my DNA.
What’s your favorite horror movie or television series?
Lately, I’ve really enjoyed the weird films of Panos Cosmatos, which include Beyond the Black Rainbow and Mandy. He’s not very prolific, but has such a unique vision. One of his short films was featured on my newest favorite series: Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. While I loved each episode, I thought Panos’s contribution (“The Viewing,” starring Peter Weller) was the highlight.
What is the scariest thing you remember from childhood?
I must have been ten or so, and a friend of mine (who lived across the street) invited me over to watch Alien. We sat in front of his blocky “big screen” ’80s TV, growing more and more terrified as each scene washed over us. When the movie ended, it was dark outside, and I was absolutely terrified to cross the street. I ran as fast as I could to my front door, all the while imagining an acid-filled xenomorph hot on my trail.
Rosemary Hennigan lives in Dublin, and her dark academia thriller The Favorites is now available in the U.S., so we can all read this delicious, shivery novel. You can read more about it and buy yourself a copy right here.
And then read on about Rosemary’s terrifying sleep paralysis, all the urban legends she’s terrified of stumbling into or upon, and the one animal she cannot forgive for being evil.
What is your greatest fear?
By far, losing the people I love.
What is your earliest childhood memory of fear?
As a child, I was fascinated by the Faeries, by which I mean the terrifyingly sinister Tuath de Danann from Irish folklore and not the completely unscary tiny people with wings. In my family, there were a lot of stories passed down through the generations about various strange encounters and weird happenings that were attributed to the Faeries, much of which was spoken about in hushed and superstitious tones that had a big impression on my child brain. So, naturally, I was cautious around such dangerous things as fairy rings, mushrooms sprouting in woods, and any dark tangle of trees where you might encounter a creature that would snatch a child away and replace her with an imposter. It never happened, of course, but I can only assume that was due to my constant vigilance!
What is your weirdest fear?
Well, in a totally unprovoked and shocking attack, I was once chased by two very large, very pretty, and very mean geese. It was both a frightening and humiliating experience, since I had to run through a carpark full of people to escape from the foul fowl. At least 100 people (probably more like three) witnessed the spectacle of me fleeing for my life, seeming to find this sickening scene hysterically funny for reasons I couldn’t possible fathom.
Ever since that dark and painful day, geese have been my biggest fear. I run in the opposite direction when I see them. I keep my head down and don’t make eye contact. I know they can feel my fear. Don’t be fooled! Geese are evil! Consider yourselves warned!
What is your favorite urban legend?
When I was growing up, legend had it that if you walked three times around the Black Church in Dublin, the devil would appear. I didn’t know where the Black Church was, and my bedtime was way before midnight, but I was, nevertheless, very afraid of this happening by accident. As unlikely as it might seem now, it remained a live concern throughout my childhood.
I was also very afraid of Ouija boards, as was every ‘90s kid, right? I didn’t actually know what they looked like and, growing up in the ‘90s, you couldn’t just google those things, so I was careful to avoid communicating with wooden boards of any sort, just in case I might accidentally find one with paranormal powers.
Do you have a recurring nightmare?
Ok… so, this one is quite intense.
I get sleep paralysis sometimes, and it always involves a lucid nightmare where someone (or something) is standing at the end of my bed. It’s always a sinister figure and always in the process of attacking me. Sometimes it’s just a dark shape and sometimes it’s more concretely demonic. The sleep paralysis means that I’m aware that I’m asleep, but I’m not able to wake up or move, so all I can do is scream for someone to wake me. But because I can’t open my mouth or wake up, only a horrible, strangled sound comes out and, because I’m also still asleep, in my dream this will usually manifest as the horrible thing at the end of my bed choking me. So, then I scream harder until someone hears me and wakes me. It’s truly awful, and I’m often really shaken for ages after I wake up!
Hi my ghostly friends! I’m here today with Mandy McHugh, whose debut novel Chloe Cates Is Missing was one of my favorite reads of 2022. If you haven’t read it yet, go pick up a copy for one of the most memorable and deliciously wicked characters you’ll ever have the pleasure to hang out with for a few hundred pages. AND I’m so excited that Mandy has a new novel out–It Takes Monsters. I cannot wait to read this one. You can grab yourself a copy here.
But now we will spend some time chatting about “the nature” and zombies and Mandy’s really great taste in horror movies. (Hi, if you haven’t seen The Descent yet? Go, now.)
What are your phobias?
My friends laugh because I call it “the nature.” Spiders—actually, all bugs, especially ones that fly or buzz near my ears. It’s so weird, too. I grew up playing outside in the woods with my friends. We’d spend all day in the dirt, picking up daddy longlegs, climbing trees, pretending we were pioneers—and none of it fazed me. Fast forward to one afternoon when I was fourteen and got lost in the woods walking back from a local lake with a friend. It was dark, humid, and we got swarmed by these black flying bugs. We had to walk with towels draped over our heads because they were on us like Amityville bad. Ever since then, I’ve had a really hard time with outdoorsy situations.
What is your favorite urban legend?
Ooh, I love urban legends. The first one that came to mind when I read this question was Bloody Mary. There wasn’t a sleepover after the age of eight where we weren’t in the bathroom with the lights off saying Bloody Mary three times. I knew it wasn’t real, but there was always that little “what if” of fear running through me right before I said her name for the third time.
This one also managed to bleed into local legend. I grew up in a small town in upstate NY near one of the most haunted cemeteries in the country. One Halloween as I was watching Leprechaun and handing out candy to the neighborhood kids, my dad told me about a statue of Mary whose eyes would allegedly bleed. He may have dared me to sneak into the cemetery that night to see for myself, which I did not do but definitely considered, but some of that imagery has made its way into my own writing. I think every town probably has some version of this story, but that’s always been one of my favorites.
“There wasn’t a sleepover after the age of eight where we weren’t in the bathroom with the lights off saying Bloody Mary three times.”
Hi friends! This is an extra-special What Scares You today! We are celebrating multiple things here:
Daniel Ford’s birthday!
The cover reveal for the trade paperback version of his fantasy novel The Warden (It’s gorgeous!)
Friday the 13th!
Go grab a piece of cake and a black cat and order Dan’s book and then settle in and read all about Dan’s fears and worries and his thoughts about time ticking away…
What is your greatest fear?
I think right now, it’s time. The horror of time. The past few months have made it even clearer how time strips away everything we’ll ever care about. I think it can really drive a person mad if you start pondering it too much. Time is passing, it’s fleeting, it’s going right now as I write these words and you read them. It isn’t coming back. Nothing we can do with or for the people and things we love will ever get a second of it back. It’s all spun out into nothing.
What is your earliest childhood memory of fear?
My childhood in the ‘80s was dominated by fear of nuclear annihilation. I grew up near a military base where they tested many weapons, and my parents harbored no fantasies of survival. My dad told me as much when I asked him around age nine or ten what we would do if a nuclear bomb went off. He said, and I quote: “Put our heads between our legs and kiss our asses goodbye.” I’m not claiming I understood all of what that meant, but it’s a fear that persists to this day, really.
Do you have a recurring nightmare?
I have a lot of nightmares about driving. For anyone that has taken I-95 North out of Baltimore, you know the long, winding, super-high ramp going over the water. I have had recurring nightmares of driving straight off that for decades. Ditto nightmares of driving on I-81 and being plowed over by an 18-wheeler.
How do you deal with fear?
Alcohol? Is that a bad answer? It feels like a bad answer. I try to ignore it. I move on with my life. When fears of nuclear war rear up again, I tell myself…hey, your parents and grandparents were living through this when it had a much higher chance of happening, and they kept putting one foot in front of the other. I tell myself I can’t control the outcome but …
What better way to welcome the Halloween season than to have a Halloween expert join us here at What Scares You? I was thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with Lisa Morton about all things scary. Lisa has been called “one of the world’s leading authorities on the supernatural.” She is the author of such acclaimed and award-winning books as Ghosts: A Haunted History, Calling the Spirits: A History of Seances, Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween, and The Halloween Encyclopedia (now in a second edition). Her latest book, The Art of the Zombie Movie, releases on October 15, 2023, so go pre-order your copy now.
What is your greatest fear?
The onset of dementia. I was my mother’s caregiver through 17 years of dementia, and seeing the confusion and terror she struggled with was horrifying. I also took care of my great-grandmother when she had dementia, although hers was more of the forgetful variety, whereas my mother’s frequently involved nightmarish hallucinations and full-blown fantasies. Mom’s dementia set in when she was 73, and even though there’s no guarantee I’ll get it, I nonetheless feel every second ticking away.
What is the scariest thing you remember from childhood?
One of the scariest things I remember happened when I was (I think) 6: I grew up in Southern California, and we used to go to both Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm a lot. Disneyland used to have a man dressed up as the Phantom of the Opera standing in front of the Main Street Cinema, and my dad always wanted me to go stand next to the Phantom for a photo, but, even though I had seen the movie and loved it!, I was too scared to do it. Dad did finally get one photo of me standing a few feet away from the Phantom…with my eyes closed!
Lisa Morton, getting as close as she’ll ever get to the Phantom of the Opera. I mean, do you blame her? He’s creepy as hell.
What is your favorite urban legend?
Los Angeles has a fantastic urban legend about lizard people who once lived beneath our streets. I first encountered this story while visiting the website for the Los Angeles Public Library many years ago because they used to have a mention right on the front page about a part of the story that claimed there was a door to the lizard people’s tunnels in the basement of the downtown public library. This story really started in 1933, when a guy named G. Warren Shufelt convinced the city that he’d developed a way of using radio waves to locate gold, and a Hopi chief had told him that the underground city of the lizard people was lined with the stuff. Shufelt drilled around L.A. for a while before abruptly vanishing. I love the idea of this vanished civilization beneath L.A. and have used it in a number of stories (including my novella Placerita, co-written with John Palisano and coming from Cemetery Dance in December).
Sarah Strohmeyer writes fantastic suspense novels. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to read her latest, We Love to Entertain, I highly recommend it. She’s also incredibly funny and an amazing person with a ton of great stories. I’m thrilled to welcome her to What Scares You so we can all hear about the creepy ghostly encounters she’s had in her lifetime.
What is your earliest childhood memory of fear? Or the scariest thing you remember from childhood?
Oh, man, my childhood was filled with terror! I was the youngest kid of three. My brothers were much older, and my parents were old parents. So, while it was the Sixties and Seventies, there was something very Victorian about my childhood.
The worst was being sent to bed before everyone else. We used to rent a small, silver-shingled house on a remote island off Cape Cod (now very trendy, unfortunately), and I had to sleep in a bedroom off a long hall with the utilities. The pines whispered outside the windows, and there was a separate door to the outside. (God, now that I think of it, it was LOVELY!)
Anyway, my bed faced that damn hall. No feng shui at all. I’d wake up several times a night and see figure in the doorway. Even when I got into my teens, I screamed and ran to the rest of the house.
Years later, I rented the same house with two friends. One got up and left in the middle of the night, vowing never to return. Felt icy fingers through her hair. My best friend of all time, a diehard Roman Catholic and horror reader, said she’d sleep there no problem. And she did. No ghost.
My sister-in-law slept there with her newborn and woke to find two figures standing around the crib. So, yeah….
The house has been expanded. It’s now a super fancy mansion. I left a note in the door to ask the owners if they’d ever had an experience; heard nothing. So, somewhere in Massachusetts is a rich family that thinks I’m nuts.
Is there any fear you’ve overcome in your life? How has that changed you?
Flying. I used to be in a long-distance relationship in my twenties and had to fly frequently from Cleveland to New Jersey. Had several scary flights (Maybe because I was going from Cleveland to New Jersey?)
Later, when I became an author and they sent me on book tours, I realized I had to make myself get over this fear. I started by pretending that we weren’t 35,000 feet in the sky. Then I took up knitting, which helped as a distraction, and then I got old and figured, screw it. If we go down, we go down.
Now, flying is scary for other reasons, of course.
Today’s What Scares You features cozy mystery writer Jennifer J. Chow, who writes the L.A. Night Market Mysteries. They will keep you turning pages and also make you very very hungry. Kirkus Reviews said her latest, Hot Pot Murder, has “great characters and a delightful mystery filled with luscious descriptions of food.”
Are there any foods that Jennifer is afraid of eating? Urban legends that unsettle her? Childhood memories she can’t quite shake? Read on to find out…
What is your earliest childhood memory of fear?
I remember watching The Fly and irrationally believing I would turn into a giant insect. That night, I begged to sleep with my parents.
Is there any fear you’ve overcome in your life? How has that changed you?
Public speaking. I hated doing school presentations in front of the class. In high school, I joined the drama club and overcame that fear. It’s helped me understand that I can be confident in myself and reminds me to continue to learn and achieve.
What is your favorite urban legend?
During summer camp one year, I heard the ghost story about the woman who wore a velvet ribbon around her neck to keep her head attached to her body. For some time afterward, I was worried whenever I saw someone wearing a choker necklace.
What’s something that most people are afraid of that you are not?
Snakes. I’ve picked snakes up without a problem. And I think it’s kind of nice touching their cool scales.
Is there anything you are terrified of eating?
Live bugs. But apparently, also cooked bees. I was once treated to a local delicacy of bees and larvae. I just couldn’t with the wings.
“I’ve picked snakes up without a problem. And I think it’s kind of nice touching their cool scales.”
What scares you most about the writing process?
The muddy middle of a manuscript. I always hope I don’t get sucked into its murky depths and never finish the actual draft.
What’s creepier: clowns, dolls, or wax museum figures?
Clowns, for sure. We stayed at Circus Circus in Las Vegas one year. It was the worst hotel experience I ever had as a kid.
Jennifer J. Chow writes cozies filled with hope and heritage. She is an Agatha, Anthony, and Lefty Award-nominated author; her most recent series is the L.A. Night Market Mysteries. Death by Bubble Tea was reviewed by the New York Times, featured in Woman’s World, and hit the SoCal Indie Bestseller List. Jennifer currently serves as president on the board of Sisters in Crime and blogs at chicksonthecase.com. She is an active member of Crime Writers of Color and Mystery Writers of America. Find her online at JenniferJChow.com.
Greg Herren lives in New Orleans, which means ghosts follow him around everywhere. Right? Well, you need to read on to find out. I will say that his writing is filled with a gothic spooky atmosphere and mood that makes you feel like you’re in a haunted Southern home where anything can happen.
Being buried alive. I have both a fear of the dark and claustrophobia. Whenever I see a new report about someone being rescued from being trapped somewhere in a tight space after “days,” I always think, they’d pull me out of there stark raving mad and I’d never come back from it.
What person living today terrifies you the most and why?
It’s a six-way tie between the conservative Supreme Court justices. They seem determined to rewrite our judiciary system “under his eye.”
What are your phobias?
Spiders, snakes, claustrophobia, the dark.
Do you have a recurring nightmare?
It’s not always the same, but similar enough: falling from a great height. Sometimes I dream I am bouncing on a trampoline and wind up going too high to safely come down; sometimes it’s out of a window, sometimes out of an airplane, sometimes off a cliff. The last thing I see in the dream is the ground, rushing up to me, and I wake up just as I hit the ground—sweating, shaking, and breathing hard.
How do you deal with fear?
I avoid great heights, the dark and tight spaces. If I don’t have a choice, I grit my teeth and just start counting until I’m no longer in a scary place.
Have you ever had any paranormal experiences or premonitions? How did you deal with it?
I live in New Orleans, where every house is haunted. Yes, I’ve had unexplained experiences in every apartment we’ve lived in here. The worst was when I was pet-sitting for a friend who’d just moved into a new place. The entire time I was there I just had this sense of being watched, like I wasn’t alone in the space, but whatever else was there was just out of my sight. It finally creeped me out so much I had to leave and come back later to feed the animals and walk the dog. I never did stay overnight there, and any time I’d visit I felt uncomfortable. The ghost in my current appointment likes to play simple tricks—moving something from one counter to another when my back is turned. I’ve never gotten a bad feeling from that ghost, but sometimes I know he or she is there.
Is there anything you are terrified of eating? Why?
Yes. Anything that has a slimy consistency—eggs, flan, custards, oysters. I always think I’m swallowing snot.
What is your greatest fear as a writer?
That one day the words and stories won’t come; that the bottomless well of creativity in my brain will eventually run dry.
What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever written?
There’s a scene in my book Lake Thirteen that was based on a real experience that I think is terrifying, but others might not agree.
What’s your favorite horror movie or television series?
Movie is the original 1963 Robert Wise production of The Haunting. TV series? Friday the 13th the Series. I wish it was streaming somewhere.
What’s the scariest book you’ve ever read?
‘salem’s Lot by Stephen King. The scene when Danny Glick comes to Mark Petrie’s window. I was living in a very small town in Kansas when I read the book and stayed up reading during a thunderstorm. Just when I got to the part where Danny scratches on the window, a tree branch brushed against my bedroom window. I think I had to change underwear and wash the sheets.
People often say death is their greatest fear. What are your feelings about death/dying?
I don’t know that people are so much afraid of dying as they are afraid of not knowing what happens when you die. I’m a gay man in his sixties who lived through the HIV/AIDS pandemic. I never thought I would live this long, frankly, so it all feels like extra time for me. No, I’m not afraid of death, but it’s not something I am looking forward to, either. I’m afraid I’ll die before I write all the things I want to more than I am afraid of actually dying.
“I’m afraid I’ll die before I write all the things I want to more than I am afraid of actually dying.”
What’s the scariest place you’ve ever been?
The empty back country roads of rural Alabama at night. It gets so dark there.
What’s something you’ll never do because you’re too scared?
Visit the observation deck of the Empire State Building.
What’s creepier: clowns, dolls, or wax museum figures?
THEY ARE ALL EQUALLY CREEPY.
Which evil, murderous persona most matches your personality and why: slow-walking psychotic serial killer; vampire stalking victims in the wee hours of the night; rich megalomaniac with grand plans to take over the world; centuries-old demon witch looking for revenge; or Hyde-like, fueled with rage and no impulse control?
Centuries-old demon witch for sure. I live for revenge.
Greg Herren is the award-winning author of more than 40 novels and 50 short stories. He is also an award-winning editor, having edited over 20 anthologies.
Megan’s book, Thicker Than Water, released this week! It’s a thriller about two sisters-in-law who “are at painful odds when the man who connects them—the brother of one, the husband of the other—is accused of a brutal crime.”
There’s a reason many of us write suspense and thriller novels about family. Because the people closest to us often have the capacity to mess us up the most. I’ve been doing these interviews long enough now to note that many of our fears stem from childhood things, such as Megan’s example below about watching a spooky movie too early (and having a MEAN sister who capitalizes on that to scare the pants off you).
Read on to hear more about Megan’s fears of natural disasters, penguins, free-falling, and other happy topics. And then, go buy her book!
What is your greatest fear?
It’s a three-way tie between tornadoes, appendicitis, and being buried alive.
What is the scariest thing you remember from childhood?
As a kid, I was terrified/traumatized by the movie The Watcher in the Woods. And yet, every time it came on TV, or every time my sister and I saw it a Blockbuster (oof, am I aging myself?), we had to watch it. The image that scared me most was that of Karen, the sixteen-year-old girl who was trapped in another dimension and appeared to the main character in mirrors and other reflective surfaces. Karen is blonde, blindfolded, and whispering “Help me,” and one night, my blonde sister put on a blindfold and shuffled into my bedroom whispering “Help me.” And though I knew it was just my sister torturing me (like older sisters tend to do), it was also very much Karen, who’d walked out of the television screen and beelined straight toward me. Needless to say, I did not sleep that night.
What is your weirdest fear?
This isn’t something I’m afraid of, per se, but the name for it has “phobia” in it. I’m repulsed by clusters of circles and/or holes, or as I put it for much of my life before I learned it had a name, “round things close together.” The name for it is trypophobia, and some things that really trigger it for me are wasps nests, honeycomb, barnacles, and some plant I don’t know the name of and refuse to google because that would mean having to look at it.
What is your favorite urban legend?
There’s that one about the babysitter who’s trying to watch TV after the kids go to bed but is totally spooked by a clown statue in the room. She finally can’t take it anymore, so she calls the parents and asks permission to move the statue, at which point they tell her: “We don’t have a clown statue.” There are various conclusions to this story—the clown is an escaped mental patient, or a serial killer, or a ghost—but it doesn’t really matter to me how it ends. “We don’t have a clown statue” is chilling enough for me.
“There’s that one about the babysitter who’s trying to watch TV after the kids go to bed but is totally spooked by a clown statue in the room.”
Do you have a recurring nightmare?
When I was a kid, I had a recurring nightmare of my grandfather walking into a room with a penguin. The dream was always in black and white, and my grandfather’s hands were always shaped into claws, which he shook at me as he slowly approached. This dream never made sense to me. My grandfather did not scare me in real life—and why was there a penguin there?? Why was it in black and white?? This is probably not the worst nightmare I’ve ever had, but it always freaked me out so much, until I woke up and was like “Gramps doesn’t even have a penguin.”
What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever written?
Does my terrifyingly bad sixth-grade poetry count? If not, I’ve been told that my scariest book is The Family Plot. Apparently, my dad jumped like three feet out of bed one night while he was reading because he heard a noise from another room, and other people have told me it left them unable to sleep. I don’t find it scary myself, but I do think it’s likely my creepiest book to date.
What’s your favorite horror movie or television series?
The Netflix show Midnight Mass, created by Mike Flanagan. It’s not the series that scared me the most (that might be Requiem, which I also discovered on Netflix), but it’s the horror series I found to be the most brilliant and breathtaking. It’s beautifully written, filled with horrifying surprises, and I love what it’s saying about religious extremism, about the dangers lurking in close-knit communities, about guilt and regret and what it means to be “good.” Every single performance in the show is an absolute masterclass, and the fact that it received zero Emmy nominations is one of the biggest snubs of all time, if you ask me.
What animal scares you the most?
Do spiders count as animals? If so, spiders. Especially those enormous ones that live in Australia. I once saw a picture of a spider that was hiding behind a clock—like the kind of clock you’d see in a school—and YOU COULD SEE THE ENDS OF ITS LEGS POKING OUT FROM UNDER THE CLOCK. A spider should not be bigger than a clock!!! As for the why: I do not care for their creeping or their skittering or their insane number of eyes and legs.
What’s something you’ll never do because you’re too scared?
Jump out of an airplane. WHY? Why do people do that? Nope. Uh-uh. It is not for me. I will watch safely from the ground. Actually, I won’t watch because I’ll be too terrified that I’m about to see you die, because, again, you jumped out of an airplane.
Megan Collins is the author of Thicker Than Water, The Family Plot, Behind the Red Door, and The Winter Sister. She taught creative writing for many years at both the high school and college level and is the managing editor of 3Elements Literary Review. She lives in Connecticut, where she obsesses over dogs, miniatures, and cake.
