Horror author Rick R. Reed has been thrilling gay fans of the genre for years, with his Twisted Tales of Obsession and Deadly Vision. Rick has hit every spine tingling nerve for gay men. His most recent efforts included the vampire yarn In the Blood and the serial killer spine tingler IM, which is about gay men being stalked in sex chat rooms. Let’s check in with Rick, if you dare…..

AfterElton.com: What first made you realize you were into horror?
Rick R. Reed: God is Dead. Roman Polanski used a shot of this TIME magazine cover in Rosemary's Baby and it's really a frightening thought. I think horror, boiled down to its purest essence, is all about death, which is unrivaled as a basic human fear. And horror is all about fear.

AE: Give us your thoughts on why you think gay guys like horror.
RRR: In every horror story, there are outsiders (whether they're victims, heroes, or protagonists) and I think, for a very long time, gay people in general can strongly identify with an outsider. Horror usually gives us more outsiders than other genres, so I can see this as one reason for the appeal to gay audiences. For example, in my book IM, which is about a serial killer preying on gay men via internet hookup sites, many readers have identified with the very basic terror of the book: which is the danger we expose ourselves to when we invite complete strangers into our homes, something many of us, myself included, have done. The internet has facilitated this behavior. Besides playing on the "outsider" theme in victims, hero, and villain, IM also explores the dark side of anonymous hook ups and gives the reader a chance to see the bad end some of us come to, and how some of us escape it.

AE: Speaking of which, IM really hits the horror genre close to home for gays.
RRR: Right, IM, almost inadvertently hit a very responsive chord with gay men, many of whom now find sexual and romantic partners via the internet, which is a very widespread--and very modern--way of meeting. But the real horror at the heart of the book is that a monster has gotten inside your house and maybe what makes that even more horrific is that this modern resource (the 'net) has allowed you to invite that monster in yourself.

AE: Chicago is the backdrop for most of your novels, why is Chi town spooky & gay?
RRR: I set a lot of my stories in Chicago because I lived there for a good part of my adult life (I just moved to Miami about a year and a half ago). It's a great city for horror stories because it has its own history of horror replete with hauntings, great crime tales, and the moody, ever changing backdrop that both the tough urban landscape and the lake provide. Why is Chicago gay? Need you ask? (laughs)

AE: Which known horror figure would you most like to have a fling with?
RRR: Well, certainly not Timothy Bright, from IM! The obvious choice to go with Anne Rice's Lestat. He's so dark, handsome, and romantic. You just know he'd be a very slow, deliberate lover.

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