The Devil's Dreamland by Sara Tantlinger

Horror and romance writers have to overcome a lot of stereotypes from both readers and from writers in other genres, so I was excited to mesh the extremes of both concepts together in Love for Slaughter and have dubbed it a “horrormance” collection. Horror and romance are the genres that tend to elicit the most visceral reactions from people since they really are the genres of emotion.

I was also inspired by the darkest parts of love and how such a powerful sentiment could lead people into madness over obsession or lust. Love for Slaughter was inspired by the whole concept of folie à deux, which sometimes gets referred to as “madness shared by two.” I was fascinated by the idea of how something as pure as love could actually be twisted and mutilated into bloody, morbid poems. Thank you! It’s so cool to still see the book receiving good attention after having been out for over a year. Rowling, Catherynne Valente, Sierra DeMulder, Richard Siken, Gillian Flynn, Caroline Kepnes, and Clive Barker.įirst off, congratulations of the success of your poetry collection, Love for Slaughter! What was the inspiration for putting together the book, and how did you select which pieces to include? I stayed at SHU for my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction and am so glad I made that choice.Įdgar Allan Poe was my first poetry love, but some other writers who have really influenced and inspired me are William Blake, J.K.

I dropped my education major and instead focused on English literature and creative writing at Seton Hill University (SHU). I had been interested in writing since I was a kid, but I didn’t get serious about it until halfway through my undergraduate career. Recently, Sara and I discussed her favorite authors, her inspiration as a poet, and her future plans as a writer!Ī couple icebreakers to start: when did you first decide to become a writer, and who are some of your favorite authors? Holmes, as well as several short stories. Sara is the author of the poetry collections Love for Slaughter and The Devil’s Dreamland: Poetry Inspired by H.H. Welcome back for my final interview of 2018! And what a delightful interview it is! I am positively thrilled to spotlight author Sara Tantlinger.

The Devil's Dreamland by Sara Tantlinger