What can we say about Sarah Langan's work that has not already been said? Publisher's Weekly states of her latest book, The Missing, "Akin to the more ambitious work of Stephen King." Peter Straub declares "She is an author who combines a poetic sensibility with a taste for horror's most bravura excesses." Sarah was also the recipient of the 2007 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel. What inspired this excellent author to write, The Missing, and what was the writing process like for her highly acclaimed second novel? Join us today for an interview with Sarah Langan!


Rumour has it that The Missing, was in part inspired by your experience of living in New York during 9/11. Is this correct and can you further elaborate on what the writing process was like for you?

Yeah, I worked down there on that day, and returned to work about a week later, long before the fires stopped burning. My office desk was often covered in ashes that came through the vents. I think The Missing reflects my disillusionment with authority, and also just my trauma from having witnessed that kind of violence. I wrote The Missing so quickly that those aspects were all unintentional, but in retrospect, pretty evident. I'm weirdly superstitious about the whole thing-- others who were there have been through much worse, so that's all I'll say.

The Missing has received critical acclaim from authors such as Straub, Garton and J.C. Patterson (just to name a few). What impact does that have on you and how important is that to you?

Validation always makes me happy. I wish I could say that I know my own value, and no one else’s opinion matters, but good reviews tend to make for good days. On the other hand, it makes me feel like I have to keep improving, because the bar keeps getting set higher.

Your work has been described as being reminiscent of early Stephen King. What impact does that have on you?

I think King’s influence on my fiction is evident, and any and all comparisons honor me. I love him! Then again, pretty much everybody in dark fiction is compared to Stephen King—it’s inevitable, and not always appropriate. I’ve also been influenced my Matheson, Oates, Marquez, Bradbury, and tons of others. Who knows if I write like any of them, but I’ve been influenced by them.

What is it about the horror genre that inspires you?

Horror fiction assumes a moral world, and its plots typically explore violations of that world’s rules. I think it’s one of the few places, not only in fiction, but in art, where right and wrong are so clearly and intelligently defined. I like that. Contrary to expectations, horror writers expect people to be nice to each other, and when they’re not nice, there is literal hell to pay.

When people say that horror is cathartic, I don’t think it’s the violence they’re talking about, but those clear moral codes that allow readers to cast judgment, and for once not be the Hamlets of the modern world, but instead, through those characters who act--the avengers of the meek, and their own saviors, too.

But that’s probably a little melodramatic.

Who and what inspires you in terms of your creative process?

I think I’m just driven, and again, want validation. The only way to get that is with a finished product. Life is short; I’d like to have as few regrets as possible.

Any advice to aspiring authors?

Write every day. Keep writing, no matter what. The saying is true: 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.

Could we take a sneak peak into any upcoming work?

My next novel, out in early 2009 from HarperCollins, is called AUDREY’S DOOR, and it’s about a woman who moves into a haunted apartment in New York City. Once there, her obsessive-compulsive disorder flairs, and in her sleep, she begins to build a door.

Thank you for the interview!