Interview with Wayne Clews for Attitude magazine, 2006

Why did you decide to write about the Bride of Frankenstein? And where did the idea of her being a B&B landlady in Whitby come from?

I've always loved anything to do with those old Gothic novels, and the wonderful, lurid old films, made by Universal, Hammer, Amicus, Tigon. I always wanted to know what happened in the bits you didn't see, when the monsters went home after a day fighting each other and so on. What did they do at home and who were their friends? So, anyway, this novel's genre could best be called 'chintzy Gothic' and, in it, we see the old horrors trying to get on with a quieter life, in a seasside town. Of course, when you have a bloodily murderous, murkily mysterious and mismatched past like Brenda has, things aren't so simple.

Did you find it easy to write from a woman's perspective (albeit a very unusual woman)?

I always seem to end up writing about female characters. In the past I've written from the view-point of bitter ex-movie stars, single mums, Iris Murdoch, Eurovision song contest winners, crazed twins and the woman on the deli counter in Marks and Spencers. The Bride of Frankenstein was a doddle after that lot.

You seem to revel in the juxtaposition of horror and the domestic? What do you find so fascinating about this clash?

I think horror's more effective when it's close to home. And I like making the most outlandish people and situations seem believable and everyday. I like the thought that you can look at anyone on the bus, or in the corner shop, and imagine they're really a vampire, or they've got themselves into a pact with the devil. But they still have to go round the shops and fetch their messages, same as everyone else.

Your books often have elements of magic but it seems that you really let your imagination fly in this book and wrote exactly what you wanted. Is this the case?

I've always written exactly what I've wanted - but something's happened with this book. As soon as I settled on Brenda and her best friend Effie, and the way they always get pulled into these ridiculous, supernatural mysteries, I knew I was onto something big. I've given myself licence to take this story anywhere.

You even manage to slip in a gay Christmas elf. Is a 'gay sensibility' important to your work?

I like that very dark, wry, camp wit that's probably very gay indeed. Like extremely dry sherry and the stickiest of Madeira cake. It's a sensibility or style that's gay gay gay, but read mostly by straight women.

Your new publishers are comparing you to Mark Gatiss, Malcolm Pryce and Jasper Fforde. What do you think of such comparisons and who would you say are your influences?

I can see what those comparisons are about. It's something to do with being readable, witty and fun. So many literary novels just aren't fun and they're not very readable. I like novels that *appear* to be light, and they are indeed amusing and sparkling - but they have all this undergrowth and subtext lurking underneath.

Are we going to see more of Effie and Brenda? And will Brenda find love?

I'm at work on a sequel, containing further adventures for the lady adventurers of Whitby. They get caught up in wild shenanigans at the Hotel Miramar and Brenda does indeed come across an old flame of hers. In a manner of speaking. Best friend Effie, needless to say, doesn't approve...