Horror writers can write about everything in the real world that a mainstream novelist can--plus the supernatural, which is the most fertile field for metaphor imaginable.

An enigma? That's not a bad persona to have. I should probably shut up and let the mystery continue! It's good for my career.

If there's any mystery to me at all, it's probably due to the fact that I'm not online and don't go to conventions--which means that I'm probably not as accessible to fans as most writers are these days. If that makes me seem like a weird recluse, so be it.

Names have power. In certain cultures, just speaking a man's name gives you mastery over him.

Real life ... it was an ambiguous world, where actions sometimes had no meaning, where chaos reigned and no one was allowed to see the big picture, only their small portion of it.

Murder is an inherently evil act, no matter what the circumstances, no matter how convincing the rationalizations.

Real life was messier than fiction, and in it you didn't always have time to do or say the right things.