Philip Fracassi Author Interview: Book Collecting, His A24 Movie Adaptation and More
Philip Fracassi is one of modern horror’s most compelling voices, earning nominations for the Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Awards and gaining praise for his hauntingly powerful fiction. In this interview, the author of Boys in the Valley, Gothic, and Behold the Void shares his thoughts on writing discipline, creative influences, and why he never really takes a day off. Whether you’re a fan of dark fiction or curious about the life of a full-time writer, Philip’s answers offer insight into both the horror genre and the mind of a master storyteller.
What’s a typical weekend like for you when you’re not writing?
Haha, there’s no such thing. I’m a full-time writer, which means I literally work every day. No regular days off. No weekends. Obviously, there are days here and there where I schedule a decompression / recharge day, but unless I’m traveling I’m at the desk seven days a week. In regards to other activities, I spend most of my non-writing time reading, visiting bookstores, or hanging out with my kid. For better or worse, writing is my life.
What book has stayed with you the longest, and why?
Laird Barron’s story collection, The Beautiful Thing that Awaits Us All is probably the most important book to me from a writing standpoint. It’s the book that pushed me into trying horror fiction after decades of writing non-genre books and stories, and it’s still the one I find myself going back to for inspiration. Barron is a singular voice and a generational great.
What’s a favourite or comfort TV show or film you always go back to?
My go-to comfort movies are The Thing and Aliens. The latter being my all-time favorite movie. The only two movies I can watch over and over and never get bored for a moment.
Do you collect anything / have any collections?
I’m a huge book collector. For about ten years I owned a rare bookstore, so it’s a passion of mine. I don’t deal anymore, but I do collect. My house is pretty much bursting with rare and signed editions from the last century.
How long have you been writing, and what attracts you to horror?
I’ve been writing steadily since the fifth grade. So… over 40 years now. For most of my life, my fiction writing was not horror. But it was mostly dark, character-focused stories. Around 2010 I was having some mild success as a screenwriter, and was focused primarily on horror scripts. After getting tired of that format, I wanted to dive back into fiction, and that was when it clicked for me to try my hand at combining my love of horror and my love of fiction, and began to find some success.
As far as what attracts me to horror, I just love the boundary-less of it all. I love that I’m not confined to anything. The analogy I often give is in horror, there can be anything behind that creepy closet door you stare at from your bed at night. It could be a madman, or a monster, or outer space itself, and it would all work in a horror story. Hell, maybe you’d find yourself in there.
Where do you get your ideas from?
Everyplace and everywhere. Ideas are like sneezes, they come to you when you least expect it. It can be spurred by something you read, something you see, something you hear, something you dream. Not all ideas are sticky, though. It’s the sticky ones, that ones that grow, that become stories.
What does a typical writing day look like for you?
My writing day varies slightly depending on where I’m at with projects. A typical day when I’m not writing a new novel, for example, is that I’m at my desk at 9am. I usually take a break for a late lunch or a trip to the gym twice a week. Then I work a few hours in the late afternoon, take a break for dinner and a tv show with my wife, then work some more. I try to call it a day by nine or ten p.m., and then I spend a few hours reading.
When I’m working on a novel, it’s much more intensive and I’ll often be at my desk past midnight and working 12-hour days.
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Are you a planner or a ‘see where it goes’ kind of writer?
As far as outlining vs. pantsing, I’m primarily an outliner when it comes to my novels. But I don’t really outline short stories or novellas. For those I usually have a concept, a few key scenes in my head, and an ending. For novels, I like to have each chapter outlined before I begin writing. I’m big on structure, probably a carryover from my screenwriting. That all said, each project is a little different.
If one of your novels or stories were to be adapted into a TV series or film, who would you cast as the leads?
I’ve had one of my stories adapted into a film by A24 (“Altar”) and another being developed now by Bad Robot (“Fail Safe”), and I’m very happy with the actors they’ve chosen. I have several other projects being developed, but honestly I don’t often consider what actor would be best for this or that role. It’s not something I think about when writing or creating a character. I have a strong visual of them in my head, but the last thing I’d want to do is purple that vision by introducing a real person. I like my imagination better. I leave the movie casting to the movie people.
Do you ever struggle with creative blocks? How do you push through them?
Rarely, but it happens, yes. Mostly because I struggle with prioritizing projects, or I just get exhausted and can’t think straight enough to come up with a maddeningly original concept. The only way to push through them is to push through them. Pick something at random from the idea pile and just start writing. Usually that goes pretty well for me, and once I’m in the flow of the story the doubts or indecisions disappear.
Which book of yours do you think new readers should start with?
I think my novel Boys in the Valley is the best to start with because it satisfies the hardcore horror crowd, but it’s also found readers that are more mainstream, or that prefer thrillers to horror, etc. In other words, it’s my “broadest” novel to date, so I usually suggest Boys as an entry point for my work.
What writing project are you currently working on?
I just wrapped a long novella called Overpass, and will be diving into a new novel, a sequel to my novel Gothic called Gothic 2 : The End, in the upcoming weeks and months, which is coming from CLASH Books in late 2026, so I better get on it!
To explore more of his work, visit www.pfracassi.com.
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