Aurora: What was your inspiration behind your most recent novel?
Kat Ellis: Harrow Lake was inspired by an amalgamation of creepy things, such as my love of horror movies like The Babadook and urban legends like Slender Man, but there are also parts of the story that have some real-life roots. For example, the monster in Harrow Lake, Mister Jitters, was the product of a sleep-paralysis dream I had a few years ago where a demonic creature was watching me sleep, and making terrifying clicking sounds with its teeth. And the caves where Mister Jitters lives have pretty much been transplanted from near my home in North Wales.
But the deeper story — that of screwed-up families and the dark secrets they keep — was something which evolved with the characters as I wrote. I’m happy to say none of that was inspired by my own upbringing!
What character in this novel do you most relate to and why?
Definitely Cora, the local girl Lola befriends in Harrow Lake. Cora and I both grew up in small towns, raised on whispered myths and legends, and we both have an appreciation for the macabre. For me, that’s probably down to the fact that I was brought up playing in the cemetery next to my grandmother’s house, rifling through my dad’s VHS horror collection on weekends, and devouring all the Welsh legends of witches and dragons, curses and magic. Cora has Harrow Lake’s local lore to revel in; she has creepy caves and sunken graveyards to explore, and a keen desire to attach stories — and meaning — to her surroundings. I think that’s a part of her I took from my own bones.
Why do you feel novels with powerful and unique characters are so popular and have such a voice right now?
I think readers, especially teen readers, have always been drawn to powerful and unique characters, whether they’re saving the world or figuring out their own identity. But maybe — hopefully — our understanding of what it means to be ‘powerful and unique’ has evolved; become more inclusive and diverse, and something that speaks to a broader range of people and experiences.
Please describe the content of your latest book and what can readers expect from it.
Harrow Lake is a horror-thriller about Lola, the 17-year-old daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker, who arrives home to find her father has been brutally attacked in their New York apartment. She’s sent to stay with a grandmother she doesn’t know in Harrow Lake, Indiana — the isolated town where Lola’s father’s most iconic horror movie was made, and where Lola’s estranged mother grew up and met Lola’s father as a teen.
When Lola arrives at Harrow Lake, she finds a town obsessed with its own dark past and the legend of Mister Jitters: a monster who preys on the locals, and who might have had something to do with Lola’s mother’s disappearance 12 years ago. As Lola is drawn into the search for answers, she starts to question what is real, and whether she’ll ever get out of Harrow Lake alive.
Readers of Harrow Lake can expect an eerie, dark horror-thriller that’ll keep them on the edge of their seats this spooky season, and leave them questioning what really makes a monster.
What’s next for you in the bookish world?
My next book, Burden Falls, comes out in the summer of 2021. It’s a small-town YA thriller with plenty of chills, a healthy dose of murder, and a ghostly town mascot called Dead-Eyed Sadie.
Aside from working on edits for that, I’m also doing a lot of fun virtual panels and events, and starting work on what will hopefully be my next-next book!
Who is your current favorite writer? Why?
I was recently introduced to the graphic novel writer and artist Junji Ito, and am now obsessed. The first book of his I read was Uzumaki, about a town in Japan which becomes infected by spirals, and one by one the inhabitants meet horrific spiral-related ends. It’s such a unique concept for a story, and executed so mesmerizingly through both the art and the text, that I know Uzumaki and Ito’s other works are going to be ones I come back to time and time again.
Any writing advice for aspiring writers?
Embrace the weirdness. In all of my books, the things I’ve been least sure readers would buy into — like a tree hung with teeth, a haunted weathervane, a vindictive giant squid — have all been the things readers loved most. While relatability is important, it’s the quirks that make stories unique and memorable.
Up next, Mara Fitzgerald!