Who would win in a death match between Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe : An interview with Josh Malerman, author of Bird Box

An interview with Josh Malerman, author of Bird Box: a discussion on success, creativity and anxiety

Good luck trying to keep pace with Josh Malerman. He possesses one of those minds that simply crackles with creative energy. With eleven novels and multiple short stories under his belt, including the Stoker Award-winning “One Last Transformation”, it’s clear Malerman is not riding on the coattails of the success of his breakout novel, Bird Box. For you dear readers who may currently reside under rocks, Bird Box was turned into a Netflix original movie starring Sandra Bullock, which became a major hit story for the streaming network. “Without question, Bird Box is the best thing that ever happened to me,” the Michigan-based author says. “But my book came out in 2014.” As if to prove his point, he parries with a dizzying account of his current works in progress. It’s a lot.

Malereman’s passion for writing is obvious during our chat — he speaks with incredible energy as he bounces from one thought to the next. Sentences barrel toward you like freight trains, then stop on a dime, only to start again on a different track before finally chugging back your way in a gnarled railway map of information and ideas. Conversely, his prose is smooth and lyrical, often manifesting in a surreal, dreamlike quality for which he’s known. His latest novel, Daphne, is a slasher story about a merciless killer who stalks a high school basketball team. He’s got another book slated to drop next year (Spin a Black Yarn), and he’s currently rewriting an unpublished novel of his (Incidents Around the House) while simultaneously filming a documentary about the process. When he’s not juggling deadlines, he runs Spin a Black Yarn Productions with co-founder Ryan Lewis. Their debut film We Need to Do Something came out in 2021 — it’s based on a horror novella by Max Booth III, who also holds screenwriting credits on the film.

The High Strung’s single “The Luck You Got” is featured as the theme song to the HBO series Shameless

But wait! With Malerman, there’s always more. He’s a rock star too, as the singer/songwriter for the band The High Strung. Their single “The Luck You Got” became the theme song for the HBO series Shameless starring William H. Macy. And if that’s not enough, Malerman recently came *this* close to buying Fangoria magazine but ultimately decided against it to better focus on his writing.

Did I cover it all, Josh? Because, phew, I’m exhausted.

Interview

With all your creative endeavors, you seem to be a creature of intense energies. How do you keep yourself focused on specific projects?

I just have one of those mindsets where, once I begin a project, I have to finish it. That's the rule — work until it's done. Like, if I have a list of five story ideas, I can't move on to the second one until the first one is done. The key to maintaining the energy is being aware that you need to work on things every day to finish them. 

Let’s talk about Daphne, your new slasher story that takes place in a high school.  What themes or issues from your own past did you get to explore when writing the book?

The biggest theme is anxiety. There’s a scene where Kit, our protagonist, has a panic attack. It’s brought on when she comes to understand the idea that she can do anything she wants with her life. She's overwhelmed by the enormity of this concept, it’s like too much truth, coming too fast. She can’t to comprehend it. So she calls 911.

This experience is verbatim to what happened to me around the same age. It was a revelation, when I realized this notion that you can literally do anything with your life. It’s a powerful thing to believe in. And I still believe it. Anyway, I ended up calling  911. They came to my house. They took me to the hospital. In the ambulance, they asked if I was on drugs. I said no. I kept asking them, do you realize you could do anything you want with your life? Anything? Like, you guys could kill me right now. Or you could  kidnap me and drive me to Kansas. Or the three of us could  start a band. And I believed every word of it. I still do.

So, for me, Daphne is an exploration of what it feels like to have anxiety. Daphne, the monster, represents a panic attack. The more you think about her the closer she gets.

I think writers all over the planet collectively slapped our foreheads when we heard the idea for Bird Box. Such a great idea! Talk a bit about how the concept came to you.

What an interesting moment this turned out to be for me. The first image I had was a blindfolded woman and two blindfolded children in a rowboat. I knew they were fleeing something. That’s all I had to start with. When page two rolled around, I knew I had to figure out what they were fleeing.

At that moment, I had this memory from middle school where the teacher told my class that a man would go mad if he attempted to contemplate infinity. You know, where time begins and space ends. That moment deeply affected me. I kind of obsessed over it for a long time.

So there I am years later, writing Bird Box at my desk, and I have this woman blindfolded in a rowboat. I’m  thinking, what is she shielding her eyes from? I realized it was infinity, personified. Like, imagine  a knock at your front door. You open it and a figure who represents infinity is standing there. We, as humans, can’t comprehend this entity. We don’t have the ability. So, that became the explanation for what was pursuing Mallory and the kids. If they look at infinity, they’ll lose their minds. After I figured that out, the book almost wrote itself.

What can new readers expect from a Josh Malerman story?

I hope they expect a certain rhythm in my books. I would hope they would discover the elasticity of an idea. It’s rare that I write the straight fastball down the middle, but I also love doing that. I hope readers experience rhythm, earnestness, and some sense of philosophical wonder. Or at least like a thinker was thinking a little when he wrote this. Also, I hope to heaven it scares them.

Bonus round. Who would win in a fight to the death among these three writers — Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and Stephen King?

Well, Stephen King is the biggest physically, so he’s got that going for him. He’s got the most reach. Lovecraft it probably the angriest, so he’s got rage in his corner. But Poe, man! Poe’s got the crazy. Nobody ever wants to get in the ring with the crazy guy. It’s funny, I would imagine him possibly being inebriated and fighting like Charlie Chaplin, you know where he’s kind of dancing behind the referee? (Laughs.) So yeah. My money is on Poe.

Josh Maleraman books

Bird Box — A desperate mother named Malorie guides herself and her children to safety despite the potential threat from an unseen adversary.

Malorie — The sequel to Bird Box, set twelve years after the first story. Continuing the journey of Malorie, a desperate mother trying to protect her children from unspeakable horrors.

Goblin — Six interconnected stories tell the story of one of the most terrifying towns in the world…Goblin.

A House at the Bottom of A Lake — Two lovestricken teenagers experience the extraordinary when they uncover an eerie mystery.

Carpenter’s Farm — A terrifying mystery unravels when a group of friends travel to check on a friend they’re concerned about. Read it for free now on joshmalerman.com! Linked above.

Bram Stoker Awards

“One Last Transformation” — Short fiction, 2020

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