I've always suffered from being labelled a horror writer - just because I didn't go to university, just because I still talk in my natural voice, just because I'm not as articulate as Martin Amis.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I spent years only ever reading horror and then trying to write horror - and deep down, a horror writer is still what I'd love to be. But it wasn't until I started writing crime that things began to work for me.
Although I've said a million times that I'm not a horror writer, I do like horror.
I don't write that much horror. People tell me my books are scary, but they're not really; I don't go there.
Even the contemporary horror authors who have seriously influenced me are a disparate bunch.
I was inspired to become a writer by horror movies and science fiction.
People like to pigeonhole. People like to label - not just books and movies, but everything in their life. If people want to call me 'literary horror,' I guess that's fine. What I'm trying to do is be both thrilling and thought-provoking.
People who work in horror know they are contributing to a genre that has always been loved and will always be loved - privately. It's the forbidden evil working behind the curtain. My job scoring a horror movie is like being the barker at a carnival. A good barker can get anyone to walk into the roped-off tent.
I didn't want to be known as a man who only made horror films. I made some - very few.
So, I outlined a horror novel and started writing.
I wrote my first five horror novels while I was teaching.