We chat with author C.J. Dotson about These Familiar Walls, which is a spine-chilling, heart-pounding suburban horror novel at the heart of the genre, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, Cassandra Khaw, and Catriona Ward.
Hi, C. J.! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m C.J. Dotson, I’m a horror author originally from NE Ohio and now living in upstate New York, in a cabin in the woods. I’m an avid reader, mostly of speculative fiction (leaning toward horror, of course), but my favorite book is actually The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. I like video games, mostly roguelites and Stardew Valley, and I like to dabble in baking and painting though I’m not great at either of those. I have six cats, a dog, and two kids in elementary school. You can say hi to me on Instagram, subscribe to my newsletter, or check out my website.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve loved stories for as long as I can remember, I’m never ever without a book. When I was nine a teacher had our class participate in a local competition for aspiring writers and ever since then I’ve never wanted to do anything else but write.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: I have a notoriously terrible memory, but I can tell you the first books I was obsessed with were The Secret Garden (I had the version gorgeously illustrated by Graham Rust, which I would read every year because as a child I’d convinced myself that spring wouldn’t come if I didn’t read it) and Ella Enchanted, which was my favorite book as a little girl and which I read so many times that (despite the aforementioned terrible memory) I still have the first page mostly memorized.
- The one that made you want to become an author: I can’t point to any single book that made me want to become an author, I had been so obsessed with reading for so much of my life that I think it never occurred to me that I could make books, too, until that teacher had our class join the Young Authors Competition.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Okay so one of the coolest parts about becoming an author has been making friends with other authors, and one of the coolest parts about making friends with other authors is that you get to beta read their books before they come out, and one of the most frustrating parts about that is that sometimes these books are fully incredible but don’t exist in the wider world (yet, I hope!!). I have friends who have written phenomenal books that I’ve had the great pleasure and privilege to get to read, who are either still working on getting those books published or who have (hopefully temporarily!!) shelved those manuscripts. Those books that are so good and that deserve to be seen but are still stuck in someone’s computer are the books I think about for the longest time after reading them.
Your latest novel, These Familiar Walls, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Suburban dual timeline haunted house
What can readers expect?
Readers of These Familiar Walls can expect complicated family dynamics, secrets, a complex and sometimes difficult main character trying her hardest not to let anyone see any of the cracks or flaws under her surface, 2020 vibes versus 90s nostalgia, and creeping dread. Readers can also expect to walk away from this book second guessing whether they really should light that nice decorative candle and maybe worrying just a little bit about the next time they look into a mirror.
Where did the inspiration for These Familiar Walls come from?
In early summer of 2020 my family and I moved into a new house, and after only a couple of days my son, who was almost 5 at the time, asked me who lived there.
I said, “We do, we live here now.”
My son shook his head and very, very casually said, “No. Someone else lives here, too. Hiding.”
Thinking it was funny and kind of spooky, I posted that conversation on social media, and it captured a lot of people’s imaginations, with a bunch of my friends suggesting I try writing a horror story. The earliest, baby-est version of These Familiar Walls was actually a flash fiction piece called “Eyes Like Empty Windows,” which can now be found in the 2021 anthology 99 Tiny Terrors. I had so much fun writing that little piece of haunted house fiction that I wound up expanding the idea into an entire novel.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
There are a few scenes in These Familiar Walls during which a couple of characters experience strange behavior in a trancelike state. Building those up was really, really fun.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Most of the challenges I experienced while drafting this book were less about writing or the book itself, and more about the year during which I wrote it. I first drafted These Familiar Walls in the late summer and early fall of 2020, so I was writing this while dealing with the pandemic stress that we were all mired in back then.
What’s next for you?
I have so, so many fun ideas for more horror stories, and there are horror subgenres I’m excited (or equal parts excited and nervous) to try my hand at. I’ve got a file in my laptop with brief notes for several more contemporary horror books, I have a few cozy horror concepts I want to explore, two historical horror ideas that I’m really excited about, and I’d someday love to branch out and mix my horror writing with my other two favorite genres, sci-fi and fantasy.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
My TBR pile is a teetering, near-toppling tower as it is, but I’m excited for Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher, Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison, The Man of Wind and Moss by Alex Gonzales, The Haunting of Avis Lovelock by MK Hardy, and The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C.M. Waggoner
