World Fantasy Award finalist Michael Libling, recognised for his impactful work featured in prestigious outlets like The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror, and The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, has unveiled his second novel, “The Serial Killer’s Son Takes a Wife.” In an exclusive interview, we caught up with Libling to uncover the intriguing details behind his latest work.
The Serial Killer’s Son Takes a Wife seems to blend elements of horror and humor in a unique way. What inspired you to explore such a witty twist on the typically horrifying genre of serial killer stories?
I strive to avoid writing what’s been written a kazillion times before. This goes back to fifth grade, where the teacher sent us home to write a story about a fire. I was writing away at the kitchen table when the older of my two sisters took a glance at my text and groaned. “Everyone is going to write a story about a building on fire,” she said. “Burn something different.” I ended up writing about a forest fire, the only one in the class to do so. The teacher read it aloud to the class and from this moment on, I wanted to be a writer.
To be honest, combining horror and humour comes naturally to me. I grew up in a household where my parents were always at war with one another. While my sisters provided comfort, humour was my ultimate refuge. I could either cry or laugh, and I guess I did plenty of both. What’s that old line about laughing through tears?
While my fiction often incorporates serious themes, I don’t think I’ve ever written a story that doesn’t have a few smiles along the way. Fact is, formula bores the heck out of me, whether reading or writing. To me, humour makes the characters in a story real, whatever direction the tale might go or the form the humour might take.
Voice is the key to every story I write, and The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife is no exception. Once I nailed my protagonist Bobby Blessing’s voice, everything followed—style, tonality, substance, and (yes!) humour. I then knew exactly who my narrator was, and the dark and often funny take he has on his world, despite the shocks and setbacks he suffers. In Bobby’s case, it comes down to recognizing the sick humour of his fate—his fate being the son of a serial killer and how this touches every facet of his life.
Bobby Blessing’s character faces the challenge of navigating a small town where his father’s crimes are well-known. How did you approach crafting the atmosphere of this town, and what role does the setting play in Bobby’s struggle for survival?
As corny as it will sound, small towns are in my blood. I gravitate to them in both my life and my fiction.
I grew up in Trenton, Ontario, located on the shores of Lake Ontario. And while I left the town in my early teens, the town never quite left me. Indeed, most of my fiction is set in small towns, all of which are Trenton in one way or another, though the only time I’ve used the town as the actual setting was in my previous novel, Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels.Trenton was a wonderful place to grow up, but I was also aware of the town’s bizarre history, and the mysteries and tragedies that plagued the area. Looking back over one’s shoulder came naturally.
On the surface, small towns are rather idyllic—terrific places to live. Generally they are. But dig a little deeper and a myriad of horrors await—from the mundane to the monstrous. It takes no genius to say that the character of a town is determined by the characters who live there. And each of us knows firsthand the darkness that dwells to varying degrees within every person. Human nature lies at the heart of every horror, which makes the setting of a story as significant a character as the characters who populate the setting.
To quote from The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife:
“Theory is, small towns take care of their own. Just don’t deviate from community norms, like coming out LGBTQ or having a working serial killer in the family.
“Mom and I had lived in Hillsdale all our lives, yet the town turned on us so fast you would have thought our hands were bloody too. It wasn’t what anybody did, more what they didn’t. Like look at us. Speak to us. Include us. Unless they were looking to punish us. We were plenty popular then.”
It is the above and more that Bobby must navigate, first as a child and later as an adult determined to confront his family’s past, so to speak, in the place it all began. Yeah, his mom is quite the treat too.
The book introduces readers to Bobby, who is trying to leave his family’s horrific legacy behind. Can you delve into the complexities of Bobby’s character development, especially considering the weight of his father’s actions on his own identity?
From the moment his father’s crimes come to light, from the age of eleven into adulthood, Bobby’s one goal is to escape his past and live a normal life. Everything about him is structured toward this end, even as forces beyond his control thwart his efforts.
First, what goes on in the mind of a child whose father has been convicted of unimaginable crimes? Can anyone truly help him come to grips with all he’s dealing with—his father’s betrayal merely the initial blow? How much can he reveal about himself, even to those he believes he can trust?
Accordingly, Bobby soon learns to keep to himself and within himself, to maintain a low profile, to be anyone other than who he has been: “I trusted none of it. I trusted no one. My sixth sense was pessimism. My seventh was cynicism. Bad stuff finds me. Always has. Started in the womb. My mother pressed her hands to her belly and there I was.”
His boyhood fears evolve over time, of course, as it becomes ever clearer to him that a so-called normal life might forever be beyond his grasp. He buries himself in his work, embracing a career as far removed from serial killing as he can imagine: Running an ice cream parlour in Saratoga Springs, New York, a noted tourist region. All the while, difficult questions rattle round his brain, often addressing his chronic loneliness: Will he ever be able to find true love? And, if so, how does he tell the woman he loves his dad is a serial killer—if he should tell her at all?
The answers eventually arrive in the person of Cori Meredith Widdoes, the titular Wife. And Bobby’s life takes a sweeping U-turn. Or so he desperately wants to believe.
Humor is often used as a coping mechanism in challenging situations. How did you balance the serious themes of having a serial killer for a father with the surprising doses of humor in the narrative, and what effect were you hoping to achieve by incorporating humor into the story?
You provide a large part of the answer in the opening of your question: Humor is often used as a coping mechanism in challenging situations.
At no point do I inject humour into the story without it coming naturally from Bobby and his well established thought processes. Yes, the humour might be dark and it might be twisted, but as we learn along the way, this is Bobby’s coping mechanism. This is how Bobby deals with life. There was no conscious effort at any point on my part to balance the humour with the serial killer theme. It arrived organically from Bobby’s voice and personality.
As I said in my answer to your first question, using ‘humor’ helps make a character genuine, especially one who has faced the horrors and obstacles in life that Bobby has. Without humour, I suspect he would not have survived for as long as he has.
Humour also helps breaks the tension for the reader, same as it does for Bobby as the blows rain down upon him.
The arrival of Cori Widdoes seems to be a turning point in Bobby’s life. Can you share more about the dynamics between Bobby and Cori, and how their relationship unfolds amidst the challenges posed by Bobby’s family history?
This is a tough one to answer without spoilers. The romantic spark and mutual attraction between Bobby and Cori is evident from their first meeting. Likewise, so is Bobby’s fear of losing her as the relationship develops. He shares thoughts and feelings with her that he has never shared with anyone. In the midst of his euphoria, however, it would appear that Bobby has forgotten a key rule to his survival: Nothing is what it seems. And, as in any relationship, ups and downs follow, though perhaps not quite as steep as our titular lovebirds’ ups and downs.
In time, another question arises, and it’s one for Cori to deal with: What is it like living with the son of a serial killer?
The specter of Bobby’s bloodthirsty father adds a layer of tension to the story. Without giving away too much, can you tease some of the unspeakable answers and questions that Bobby grapples with as he faces his father’s legacy throughout the novel?
I’m happy to provide a few of the questions, but the answers must remain within the pages of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife. In other words, I’ll give you as much as I can…
What is the difference between murder and killing?
Can serial killing be genetic, passed on from father to son like high cholesterol or male pattern baldness?
Is there an upside to having a serial killer for a dad? Does a parent’s infamy come with any perks?
What drove Bobby’s dad to commit his heinous crimes?
What inspired the press to dub his dad the Brittle Butcher?
Why should the son of serial killer never go home again, whatever the circumstances?
And finally, how naive can the son of a serial killer be to think it’s a good idea to write a tell-all book about his dad?
