Horror Aficionados discussion
This topic is about
The Devil's Mistress
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
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April 2021 Group Read with Guest Author, David Barclay
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I have made the purchase!!!! Book sounds fantastic!
I have purchased the book and am looking forward to my first group read with Horror Aficionados. Welcome Mr. Barclay.
Hey, this is my first time doing one of these! Can't wait to get started and hear your thoughts on The Devil's Mistress.
Just purchased the book. Going to dive right in this afternoon!
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Just finished the book. What a wild ride. After finishing it I got the urge to re-watch The Witch (aka The Vvitch, 2015). @David, what are some of your witchy influences? Any movies, tv shows, or video games that inspired you?
Hey, let's start with the inspiration first. I think that just came with the high concept. I wanted to do a witch trial set in a world where magic was real. What if a young woman was accused of consorting with the Devil, but actually has the power everyone fears? I thought that would be an interesting twist. We've read stories where women suffer at the hands of their accusers, but not many where they have the power to fight back. That idea really appealed to me. I started thinking of it--and pitched it--as Carrie meets The Crucible.From there, it was mostly about figuring out the details. Where it was set, who the major characters were, and some of the nuances of the relationships. I settled on the early eighteenth century, at the tail end of the witch trial madness, and a small fictional town in the Colonial South. The hardest part was figuring out the cadence of the language, both in the narrative and the dialogue. Once I got those things ironed out, the story was written pretty quickly.
As for witchy influences... The Witch was definitely an important one. I tend to love those mood-heavy character-driven horror films, especially if they're a bit ambiguous or metaphorical. There are a few others that I looked at for tone. Black Death and Name of the Rose come to mind.
For books, the biggest touchstone was Robert McCammon's Matthew Corbett series. Those books are set a few years earlier and lean a little more into historical fiction, but they're just fantastic. I love pretty much everything he writes. For other recent historical horror, I'd cite Clay Chapman's The Remaking and John Langan's The Fisherman. The Devil's Mistress is a bit different, of course, but I remember they were fresh in my mind as I was writing.
Carrie definitely popped into my mind while reading The Devil's Mistress. Another question, did you find it easier to harder to write horror in a historical setting? I know a lot research goes into historical fiction, but did the setting also help you in building the tension and crafting the story?
That's an interesting question, because I think the answer is both. The historical setting required a lot of initial effort to get the voice of the story right, and ongoing research for all the details of the time and characters. On the other hand, it takes place in an isolated rural town dominated by superstition, where even day to day life is full of hardship and mundane terrors. So in that respect, the setting certainly lent itself to horror.
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McCammon, for sure. I remember giving an eighth grade book report on Swan Song, complete with a reading from the K-mart scene, much to the horror and hilarity of everyone in the room. That was burned into my mind early. I discovered Barker's Books of Blood shortly after that, which blew me away. And like any book nerd, I devoured as much Stephen King as I could find.These days, I read a lot of horror but occasionally branch out into traditional thrillers, sci-fi, and fantasy. I also have a particular love of contemporary Southern Gothic. Authors like David Joy, Joe Lansdale, and Donald Ray Pollock have been some influences of late, in tone and writing style, if not content.
I am only a third of the way through the novel, and glad to see there are no spoilers is this discussion yet. Mr. Barclay, I have often heard actors discuss how much they enjoy playing “the bad guy”. As an author, is there any enjoyment in creating an antagonist such as Thomas Huxley? He is obviously a character who the reader despises. I am not a writer, but often feel I would enjoy creating a character who people love to hate.
Hi Terry, I agree there is a certain glee in creating despicable characters. I think the tricky part is breathing life into them so they feel like real people. One-dimensional bad guys tend to be a little boring, but I've always thought that the self-righteous, charismatic types are the ones you really remember. In this case, it was important Thomas had a magnetic personality, and that he felt he was self justified, even though you're clearly meant to despise him as a reader. It was interesting to think through that process and craft the family history of the Huxleys around him. Generally speaking, I think the more memorable your bad guys are, and the more real they seem, the bigger the payoffs are later in your story.
I finished the book last night. Thank you for the awesome read, David. Perhaps I always look for correlations in this world, but I couldn't help but see how the masses haven't really changed over the years. I know your book is fiction, but based on past events (the witch trials), however the actions of the people of Blackfriar seems similar to some of the explosive reactions to events happening today. People are influenced by what they "see" or what they are shown through the news and social media (or in the book by a religious zealot and a reputable town leader) and are quick to condemn without knowing or understanding all the facts. I don't want to turn this comment into a political debate, but when writing this story did you feel any of these connections?
Thanks for the question, I'm glad it's generating this kind of discussion. The wealth gap, classism, racial violence, and gender oppression were all a part of the fabric of day to day life in 1705, and they're all present in The Devil's Mistress in one way or another. So is the idea of group think, and giving in to the mob mentality. Politics aside, the last couple of years have brought these same issues crashing back into American consciousness in fairly direct ways. I don't know if they shaped the story initially, but I became more aware of the connections in subsequent drafts. Blackfriar is still a world removed from our own, but all things considered, not nearly as distant as it should be.
Thanks for all the questions, folks! This was fun. If you think of a new one, or just catch up on the book later, feel free to tweet at me.
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