We spoke to Andrew about setting his novel in the Eighties and how Gremlins, Ghoulies and Critters inspired Secret Santa...

You’ve written New York Times best-selling satires and mysteries, as well as nonfiction. Secret Santa is your debut in the horror genre. What led you to write a horror novel?

After finishing the second Obama Biden Mystery, I joked that I was ready to write something less horrifying than politics. Following politics too closely can be anxiety-inducing! Writing a horror novel felt like a nice break from all of that, a chance to ignore the news for a while. Of course, I had no idea that when I started Secret Santa that 2020 would turn out to be the year the twenty-four-hour news cycle swallowed us all.

You’re known as a “pro of parodies” (Associated Press) and have been celebrated for your humour writing. How do horror and humour work together?

Horror and humour are two sides of the same coin. Stand-up comedians have the formula distilled to its most basic components, the setup and the punch line. Horror ratchets up the tension; humour relieves it. Mystery and humour work together in much the same way.

Horror comedy is a constant tightrope act. Lean too much into the comedy, and the horror isn’t scary; make things too horrifying, and the jokes fall flat. Getting the combination right was the most difficult part about writing Secret Santa. I spent a lot of time going back and forth with my editor to make sure everything balanced out just so.

The book takes place during the horror publishing boom of the 1980s. Why did you choose to set the novel in this industry and decade?

I’ve been writing professionally now for over a decade and have a wealth of publishing tidbits and gossip from talking to my editors and other authors. Setting a book inside a publishing house is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but had never found the right story.

The Eighties were a natural fit – horror publishing was booming at the time, and superstar authors were being minted left and right. The period setting isn’t just a gimmick; it’s integral to the story. It’s not a story I could have told in the present, although readers will spot a lot of parallels between the Eighties and our current cultural and political climate.

Do you have experience working for a publisher?

I’ve never worked in publishing, but I’ve been to more than enough publishing parties during BookExpo to fake it. And, although it’s nowhere comparable to a large publishing house, I do run a small press with my wife out of our home in Louisville. We don’t have interns; we have cats.

You grew up reading Eighties horror paperbacks. How were you introduced to horror? And were there any books that you read as a kid that inspired you when writing Secret Santa?

My first exposure to horror was probably through the movies – I have clear memories of my aunt taking me multiple times to see Gremlins, and my grandpa showing me Ghoulies and Critters at way too young an age. Those three films absolutely influenced Secret Santa.

As far as books go, I ‘levelled up’ to adult horror fairy early on. (I completely skipped middle-grade and YA, which weren’t really a thing in the Eighties). By age ten I was checking out Stephen King and Clive Barker from the town library, which was within walking distance. My grandma and I traded horror paperbacks, too. I still remember the first time I read a book with an explicit sex scene and thought: ‘Grandma’s way too old for this book! I better, uh, hang onto it so she isn’t shocked by it’ [haha]. The book was Eric Sauter’s Predators, a paperback I had completely forgotten about until reading about it on Paperbacks From Hell co-author Will Errickson’s blog.

Christmas isn’t all tinsel and carolers. It’s also about monsters like the Krampus. Can you tell us a little bit about the spooky folklore that has been associated with the holidays? And why do you think these traditions have been cultivated?

One can imagine ancient Europeans huddled around the fire on long winter nights, praying for the return of warmer weather – and with it, fertile soil and crops. They also spun stories on these dark nights to keep children entertained… and to keep them in line. 

The German version of Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, visits children on St. Nicholas Day accompanied by a Krampus (‘the Christmas Devil’). St. Nicholas is said to reward well-behaved children with gifts. If you are naughty, however, he leaves you to the Krampus, who may either: A) hit you with a bundle of sticks repeatedly, or B) toss you into a basket and take you with it back to hell. Yes, hell.

Although our modern, American Santa Claus doesn’t travel with a devil-like companion, he does leave coal for naughty children. Which isn’t that bad, actually. Is it any wonder German children are said to be incredibly well-behaved around the holidays compared to their American counterparts?

Secret Santa features a Percht (pronounced PAIR-kt or PAIR-cht). Can you tell us the history of this chilling monster?

The Perchten (the plural of Percht) are followers of Frau Perchta, the ‘Christmas Witch’ of pre-Christian Alpine folklore. Frau Perchta, like our Santa, both rewards and punishes children. If you’re good, she’ll leave you something boring, like a ball of yarn. If you’re bad, however, that’s when she brings her A-game. Didn’t finish your homework? She’ll take out the long knife she carries around her waist and slit your belly, then stuff you with rocks and straw. That ball of yarn doesn’t look so bad now, does it?

American readers will notice that the Percht described in Secret Santa shares many characteristics with the Krampus, such as the devil-like face and fur-covered body. Sometimes the only way to tell the two creatures apart is to count the horns – a Krampus will have two horns, whereas a Percht will have four to ten.

During Advent festivals, villagers traditionally dressed up in elaborate Perchten costumes and marched through the streets, sometimes fighting against less demonic-looking counterparts. This ritual was said to drive out the ‘evil spirits’ of winter.

Perchtenlauf parades continue to this day in Austria, similar to the ‘Krampus runs’ that originated in the Alps. The custom varies between regions – even the spelling and pronunciation isn’t standardised. The Percht in Secret Santa is rooted in pagan folklore, but has been heavily fictionalised and crossbred with the Eastern European hausgeist.

Have you ever received any terrifying Secret Santa gifts?

I’m the one who brings the terrifying Secret Santa gift, not the one who receives it. In 1999, I found a clearance bin filled with Christmas-themed Big Mouth Billy Bass singing wall hangings. I bought half a dozen of them for a buck apiece and hid them under the tree for everyone in my family. It wasn’t very anonymous, though, because I forgot to give myself one. A rookie mistake for the budding prankster.

Since then, they’ve been popping up in family gift exchanges. The bass’s singing has slowly degraded over the years as the batteries have worn down. You could call his rendition of Jingle Bells quite haunting.

Is there anything else that you’re working on that you can tell us about?

When the coronavirus lockdowns began, it seemed like everyone was using the downtime to master new skills. I don’t know if that really panned out for anyone, but I did begin making music again after a 20 year hiatus (I set my keyboard and guitar down one day during college and never picked them up again, for whatever reason). This summer, I recorded a synth-heavy version of Last Christmas by Wham! and christened it the theme song to Secret Santa. Dan Brown released a classical album alongside his recent children’s book, so there’s a precedent for this sort of thing.

Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer is out now.

The post A Conversation with Andrew Shaffer, New York Times Best-Selling Author of Secret Santa appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.

November is a strange month – you’re just coming down from the highs of Halloween and readying yourselves for the festive season ahead. Luckily for us, we have a mixture of horror and winter festivities to ease the transition with Secret Santa written by New York Times best-selling satirist, Andrew Shaffer.

Described as ‘The Office meets Stephen King, dressed up in holiday tinsel’ Secret Santa is horror-comedy set during the horror publishing boom of the Eighties and we have two copies to give away!

Here is a synopsis…

Out of work for months, Lussi Meyer is desperate to work anywhere in publishing. Prestigious Blackwood-Patterson isn’t the perfect fit, but a bizarre set of circumstances leads to her hire and a firm mandate: Lussi must find the next horror superstar to compete with Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Peter Straub. It’s the Eighties, after all, and horror is the hottest genre.

But as soon as she arrives, Lussi finds herself the target of her co-workers’ mean-spirited pranks. The hazing reaches its peak during the company’s annual Secret Santa gift exchange, when Lussi receives a demonic-looking object that she recognizes but doesn’t understand. Suddenly, her coworkers begin falling victim to a series of horrific accidents akin to a George Romero movie, and Lussi suspects that her gift is involved. With the help of her former author, the flamboyant Fabien Nightingale, Lussi must track down her anonymous Secret Santa and figure out the true meaning of the cursed object in her possession before it destroys the company—and her soul.

Want to win a copy of Secret Santa? We have two copies to give away – simply answer the question below to be in with a chance!

Secret Santa is published by Quirk Books on 17 November. Read more from Andrew Shaffer here as he runs down his top overlooked Christmas horror films.

The post Secret Santa: Win a copy of the festive horror! appeared first on Sci-Fi Tips.

The original Black Christmas from 1974 tops every holiday horror list, and deservedly so. The next couple of spots are usually reserved for Eighties campfests Christmas Evil and Silent Night, Deadly Night, and lighter fare such as Gremlins.

But what happens when you’ve exhausted the usual suspects? It’s time to reach deeper into your stocking, where you’ll find these minor-key Christmas classics, which are either underrated, forgotten, or overlooked…

A Christmas Horror Story (2015)

While it’s been a mainstay on Netflix for the past couple of years, this direct-to-video anthology (pictured above) is often overlooked by critics. Because it features a Krampus on the poster, it’s usually lumped in with the dozens of abysmal Krampus movies that have flooded the market in recent years. This one’s actually worth your time. Krampus Unleashed and Mother Krampus? Not so much.

Why it’s worth your time: William Shatner goes full Shatner.

Elves (1989)

Fans of bad movies rejoice! This movie is awful. So awful that it’s not even legally streaming anywhere online (the true mark of a terrible film these days). And yet… how can you not love a movie where elves are selectively bred by Nazis to create a race of super-humans?

Why it’s worth your time: Room-worthy, too-on-the-nose dialogue such as “I need to know the connection between the elves and the Nazis!”

The Children (2008)

A Christmas holiday goes to hell in this low-budget British thriller. Kids get sick with a deadly virus that makes them attack their parents. The protagonist is a teenaged girl played by Hannah Tointon, whose many TV credits include the Channel Four soap Hollyoaks.

Why it’s worth your time: The tagline alone. I mean, c’mon: “You brought them into this world… now they will take you out.”

Santa’s Slay (2005)

It stars professional wrestler Bill Goldberg as a crazed slasher Santa. A lot of people thumb their noses at movies starring pro wrestlers, but overlook Santa’s Slay at your own peril.

Why it’s worth your time: Tree-topper throwing stars.

Wind Chill (2007)

Two girls heading home for the holidays from college get stranded in a stalled car in a blizzard. Executive produced by George Clooney, starring Emily Blunt, music by Clint Mansell, and… you’ve never heard of it, have you? It made just $285k on a $6 million budget, so it’s not surprising it’s been buried deep in the snow.

Why it’s worth your time: Emily Blunt.

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)

The first movie is a classic amongst the pantheon of slasher pics, featuring a deranged young man in a Santa Claus outfit on a rampage. The second movie features more of the same — literally. Half its runtime is recycled footage from the first movie. A bold move, to say the least. Some might say ‘rip-off’, especially since the new footage is, for the most part, laughably bad in comparison. Look at it this way: Part 2 gives you two movies for the price of one.

Why it’s worth your time: One scene is so good-bad that it spawned an internet meme (“GARBAGE DAY!”).

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

An eccentric businessman’s expedition to unearth the tomb of Santa Claus goes awry. Yes, it’s yet another movie about a murderous Santa Claus. This one is Finnish, however. Rare Exports takes some fantastical twists and turns you won’t see coming. Often overlooked because it’s non-English. Don’t let the subtitles scare you away… let the sadistic St. Nick do that.

Why it’s worth your time: It has all the magic of an early Spielberg film with five times the blood and guts.

Pooka! (2018)

This wouldn’t be a horror film list without at least one Blumhouse production, would it? It’s 2018, and the year’s hottest toy is Pooka (sort of like a Furby, if anyone remembers those mechanical heathens). When a struggling actor lands a gig wearing a Pooka costume… things happen. Bad things.

Why it’s worth your time: Don’t blink or you’ll miss the Pooka wanking scene.

Secret Santa is published by Quirk Books on 17 November. You can WIN a copy here. 

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