EXTREMELY WEIRD SPLATTER Written in Its Authors’ Guts: Interview with Monica J. O’Rourke

by L. Andrew Cooper

As I put together the table of contents for the forthcoming anthology Extremely Weird Splatter, I asked authors to answer three basic questions about why they and their stories fit with a project aiming to fuse extreme horror and splatterpunk with weird fiction. Not entirely randomly, I sorted the responses into three groups, already published, and then a most welcome latecomer joined our Table of Contents: Monica J. O’Rourke! She graciously agreed to answer the questions as well, so this bonus addition to the earlier interviews presents her answers.

Extremely Weird Splatter: Contents

Nick Badot, “The Copper Merchant”
JB Corso, “Scenarios”
Suvajeet Duttagupta, “The Weight of the Dark”
JG Faherty, “The Fishhook Prophecy” 
Angelique Fawns, “Highway to Hell Fan”
Tom Johnstone. “Debbie Does Delos...?”
Leonardo J. Lamanna, “How to Build a Meat Radio”
Thomas C Mavroudis, “Adoration of Evil”
Christine Morgan, “What They Deserve”
Jason Nickey, “Portal”
Monica J. O'Rourke, "Symmetry"
J. Rohr, “A Parent Sacrifices”
C.M. Saunders, “On the Fringes”
Dan Scamell, “MySkin EverFlesh”
Steve Rasnic Tem, "Dermis"
Vox Villalobos, “Soup”
Maxim Volk, “My Love, Like Moss, Envelops You” 
Etta Wynn, “The Architect of the Soft Circuit”

Interview Coda: Monica J. O’Rourke

What aspect of your biography is most relevant to Extremely Weird Splatter?

I’ve been writing splatterpunk for close to thirty years—which isn’t in my bio! But the point I think I’m trying to make is that splatter/extreme horror is in my blood. But once I branched into this subgenre, I never looked back. I love writing extreme horror.

Which of your previous (or forthcoming, or planned) works makes you most qualified to participate in a project that fuses splatter with the weird?

My first solo novel, Suffer the Flesh, began my fascination with medieval torture methods. It definitely fused splatter with the weird.

Without giving away ANYTHING—what about your story for Extremely Weird Splatter is most transgressive?

The subject of mental health can be transgressive when you address (or attack) it. Not many people are comfortable with this, but it’s something else I’m absolutely fascinated with. Why do people act the way they do? Are they evil, as some believe? Are they the product of abusive childhoods? Are they simply wired wrong/born bad? When you choose that last question to address, as I’ve done many times in stories and novels, it tends to make people uncomfortable. It’s almost like forgiving mass murderers because “it’s not their fault.” I’m surprised I haven’t received death threats. 😉