Don't Fear The Snowman? An interview with Tiffany Craig

Today I'm talking with Tiffany Craig, about her horror take on winter.

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1) Tell us about your short story.

"Snowmaggedon" is the tale of a small town that, during a bad snowstorm, is suddenly overrun by gigantic snow monsters that eat anything, including humans. The characters in the story are forced to use their wit and ingenuity to battle the creatures as they fight for their town and their lives.

2) Where did you get the idea for this story? Snow can be dangerous, but generally isn't something that people find sinister.

Back in February 2011 we had a tremendous snowstorm here in Missouri, and my brother and sister were let out of school for almost an entire week. We entertained ourselves by roasting marshmallows over a candle and making up scary stories. One of our favorites was about snowmen that came to life and ate people. The story blossomed from there.

3) Is the sinister mundane more unsettling than the obvious horrific monster in your opinion? If so, why?


I think the mundane has always been much scarier than obvious horror. I mean, you can watch a zombie movie and be scared, but there's always comfort in the knowledge that it's not real. On the other hand, when you see a movie about weather in any form, it's a lot scarier because you know it could happen at any time.

4) Stepping away from deadly snow creatures, what frightens you the most?


Spiders, velociraptors and garden gnomes. In that order.

5) What's the most frightening short story you've ever read? Is this related to your greatest fear or something else entirely?


It seems kind of silly, but the most frightening short story I've ever read came from a Scary Stories To Tell Your Friends book. It's about a girl, who's driving home from a dance when a mysterious car starts following her. She freaks out and tries to lose the car, but it's always there, flashing its lights and honking. It turns out the man in the mysterious car was just trying to warn her that there was somebody in her backseat with a knife. I can't remember if the girl dies at the end of the story, but I do know that I always check my backseat before I get into my car.

6) Can you tell us about any of your other work?

In November I published "The Dragons Of Avordshire" on smashwords.com. It's a ballad poem about a young man named Harold Sprack who has to slay forty dragons or he'll lose something very dear to him. The response to this story has been tremendous! Almost the day after it was published I got an email from the artist Richard Svensson. He wanted to illustrate the story for free! I was in absolute shock and literally dancing around the house. I have the first few illustrations now and they are incredible, as soon as the project is done I'm going to republish it on Smashwords.com, but don't worry, it'll still be free!

7) Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas: Is this a Halloween movie or is this a Christmas movie?


Technically, I think it's a Christmas story being told/acted out by Halloween charachters, but I think it's actually a story of finding love and coming to terms with oneself. At the beginning of the film Jack Skellington was tired of being the Pumpkin King and was looking for something new, something different. What he found was a renewed love for his title, world and responsibilities.

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Thanks, Tiffany.

You can see more from Tiffany at www.craiganmorebooks.yolasite.com.

You can download "Snowmaggedon" and "The Dragons of Avordshire" for free (or read them online) at Smashwords.