Episode 216 with Kate Maruyama: Author of Bleak Houses, Master Worldbuilder, and Skilled Observer and Chronicler of Family Traumas, Class and Privilege, and Psychological Horrors Modern and Timeless

Notes and Links to Kate  Maruyama’s Work

   For Episode 216, Pete welcomes Kate Maruyama, and the two discuss, among other topics, her early reading and writing and love of diverse works from that of James Baldwin to Stephen King’s work, connections between Catholicism and writing horror, the ways in which teaching and writing commingle, writing allegory and its connection to plot, the ways in which she wrote convincingly of the COVID quarantine, and key themes in her novellas, including race and racism, class, generational traumas and family cycles, and privilege and family culpability.

Kate Maruyama was raised on books and weaned on movies in a small college town in New England. She writes, teaches, cooks, and eats in Los Angeles, where she lives with her family. Her novel, Harrowgate was published by 47North in 2013 and her novella Family Solstice named Best Fiction Book of 2021 by Rue Morgue Magazine was published by Omnium Gatherum. Her novella Halloween Beyond: a Gentleman's Suit appears in Halloween Beyond: Piercing the Veil is out now from Crystal Lake Publishing and Bleak Houses is available from Raw Dog Screaming Press, released in August 2023. Her short work has appeared in Asimov's Magazine, Analog SF among other journals and in numerous anthologies including Winter Horror Days, Halloween Carnival Three, and December Tales.

Buy Bleak Houses

Kate's Website at CA State LA

A Review from The Skiffy and Fanty Show for Bleak Houses

At about 2:15, Kate talks about her reading and writing life as a child, and the town where she grew up

At about 4:00, Kate cites the Oz series and other fantasy/imaginative/horror books that shaped her literary tastes, including “formative” works by Stephen King

At about 6:40, The two discuss the connections between Catholicism and horror writing

At about 8:45, Kate discusses works and authors, especially James Baldwin and Another Country, which have inspired and influenced her

At about 10:00, The two discuss a real-life example from her life/background which made it into Kate’s fiction

At about 11:15, Kate traces the ways in which her teaching informs her writing, and vice versa

At about 13:40, Kate gives background on the publishing journey and seeds for Bleak Houses

At about 15:00, Kate responds to Pete’s questions about the genre(s) for her work

At about 17:00, Pete lays out the book’s exposition and compliments Kate on writing about the early COVID days, asking her how she handled perspective in writing about the time

At about 19:40, Kate provides background on seeds for the book’s first novella, especially Wolf’s Lair and Beechwood Canyon

At about 20:20, Kate and Pete discuss some of the important characters in “Safer”, and Kate describes how working within Hollywood for years gave her inspiration for Celine  

At about 23:00, Celine’s son Story and his haunted friends are connected to Mr. Wolf’s real-life story

At about 26:15, Kate discusses a chilling scene from the book that Pete compliments for its tension

At about 29:10, The two discuss themes from “Safer,” including power dynamics based on class and race; Kate talks about twisted ways in which those nee