Jason Cavallaro reads 3-5 books a week and has reviewed for many websites, including Ginger Nuts of Horror and Horror Drive-In, where he writes a summary of his best and worst reads every month. Believe it or not, he does other stuff too: works as a monkey scientist, plays snare drum for the New Orleans Saints drumline, raises cats, teaches music, and plays death metal. You can contact Jason via social media: X (@pinheadspawn), Instagram (@jcavallaro42), or Bluesky (@jasoncavallaro.bsky.social).
What first attracted you to horror writing?
Before I answer that, I want to mention that I’m a reader first, and a writer second. So, I guess asking what attracts me to writing horror is the same as asking what attracts me to reading horror in the first place. A simplistic view is, I like horror’s combination of high stakes and dark ambiance. I also love horror’s range. It’s the heavy metal of book genres. In the same way that both Motley Crue and Slayer are considered heavy metal, horror covers everything from disturbing and realistic dramas, to over-the-top gorefests.
What is your most notable work?
I guess this is where I talk about my ONLY work. My book is called Cracking Spines: Three Decades of Horror. It’s a nonfiction reference book/reader’s guide. Basically, I’ve read over 3,000 horror novels in the past 30 years, and I decided to write a book featuring all of my favorites throughout the years. The book covers every horror trope/subcategory that I could think of. Over 30 of them, in fact. It even covers some categories I’d never seen featured before in a reference book, including: Best Grief Horror, Best Animal-Themed Horror, and Best WTF Books.
What are you working on now?
I have a few half-formed ideas for a sequel to Cracking Spines, but in order to pull any of them off, I need to read a few thousand more books. Nowadays I read between 150-200 books per year, so give me a few years, and maybe I’ll be back.
What is your writing routine?
I’m a horror critic, so my reading routine is more vigorous than my writing routine. Plus, my reviews are VERY concise. Usually not more than two sentences. I figure most readers don’t want long plot summaries with the review, so I just skip to the good part. I usually just batch all of my writing at the end of each month.
Who do you admire in the horror world?
My friend, Mark Sieber, who quietly released three of the best nonfiction books horror has ever seen (the He Who Types Between the Rows series), and doesn’t get the respect he deserves because he doesn’t market himself constantly like others do. As our culture becomes more egocentric, I value humility more and more each day, and Mark is a shining example of that.
Do you prefer all-out gore or psychological chills?
Psychological chills for sure, although I think both have value, and I also believe you can have both in the same book. I’ve served on the Splatterpunk Awards jury for multiple years, so I’m well acquainted with extreme horror. A good example of a great gore novel with a psychological angle is Ryan C. Thomas’s The Summer I Died. Jeez, that book is an extreme horror masterpiece. Another one is Kealan Patrick Burke’s Kin.
Why should people read your work?
Well, not every author can claim their book took 33 years to research and write! There is one thing that all reader’s share, besides love of books: Love of TIME to read books. Every reader wants to maximize the enjoyment that time brings. With that in mind, in my experience, only around 30% of books out there are what I’d consider “good.” Wouldn’t you want to skip to those?
Recommend a book.
Just seeing those three words brings me joy. I essentially wrote an entire book where I answered this question over 600 times ya know! So I guess I’m supposed to recommend Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon, which may be the finest book I’ve ever read. However, in the spirit of my book, which highlights lesser-known works in the genre, I’d recommend Prodigal Blues by Gary Braunbeck. The fact that Braunbeck is rarely brought up in conversation amongst horror fans proves how bad the community’s collective memory is. Gary was prolific, and was constantly on awards ballots when he was at his peak. Yet, here we are. Virtually forgotten. Great art deserves a better fate than this!
Buy Cracking Spines: Three Decades of Horror by Jason Cavallaro
BOB PASTORELLA
