Christina Henry
Author Interview - Christina Henry
Author of THE PLACE WHERE THEY BURIED YOUR HEART
On an otherwise ordinary street in Chicago, there is a house. An abandoned house where, once upon a time, terrible things happened. The children who live on this block are told by their parents to stay away from that house. But of course, children don’t listen. Children think it’s fun to be scared, to dare each other to go inside.
Jessie Campanelli did what many older sisters do and dared her little brother Paul. But unlike all the other kids who went inside that abandoned house, Paul didn’t return. His two friends, Jake and Richie, said that the house ate Paul. Of course adults didn’t believe that. Adults never believe what kids say. They thought someone kidnapped Paul, or otherwise hurt him. They thought Paul had disappeared in a way that was ordinary, explainable.
The disappearance of her little brother broke Jessie’s family apart in ways that would never be repaired. Jessie grew up, had a child of her own, kept living on the same street where the house that ate her brother sat, crouched and waiting. And darkness seemed to spread out from that house, a darkness that was alive—alive and hungry.
I draw inspiration from:
2025: Daphne du Maurier, Shirley Jackson, and Angela Carter are basically the holy trinity for me.
Of course I adore du Maurier's REBECCA, but I'm a tremendous fan of her short stories as well, especially "Don't Look Now" and "The Birds". I think she could create atmosphere like no other. Both of the short stories I mentioned were turned into very good films, but I think du Maurier's heart-in-your-mouth prose can't be beat.
Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE was a tremendous influence on THE PLACE WHERE THEY BURIED YOUR HEART. Hill House is a very sentient place in that novel - it's not just about the ghosts that haunt it but the force of the house's will and how it exerts that on the guests there.
Angela Carter wrote a collection of fairy tale reimaginings called THE BLOODY CHAMBER and I just think it's not as well known as it ought to be. She had a beautiful, unique writing style and she decisively makes those stories her own.
2018: Pretty much everything.
Favorite place to read a book:
2025: I definitely prefer to read at home. I always take a book with me when I go out but I'd rather read in the quiet of the house, with a cup of tea and no distractions.
2018: At home, on the couch, with a cup of tea and no people trying to talk to me.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
2018: Hercule Poirot.
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
2025: When I was twelve years old I read J.R.R. Tolkien's THE LORD OF THE RINGS and as soon as I finished it I asked my father for a spare notebook. I immediately set to writing my first "book". I think it ended up being a little short of the length of the notebook (perhaps 70 pages or so) and honestly, it had an awful lot in common with THE LORD OF THE RINGS, except that my book was about a girl heroine instead of a lot of boys. I always wrote after that, and except for a brief flirtation with marine biology, I always wanted to be a writer.
2018: I read THE LORD OF THE RINGS when I was 12 years old and decided then that I wanted to be a writer.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook?
2025: I'll take a hardback or a paperback. I'm not fussy as long as it's a physical book. I want to feel the book, smell the pages, and most importantly, see how many pages I've read and how much more I have to go. I like the feeling of marching progress through the book.
I hate ebooks. I tried an e-reader years ago and it felt sterile, and also like work. Plus, it's another device that has to be charged and I find that so annoying.
I'll listen to audiobooks of books I've already read. I take long, long walks a few days a week and sometimes I space out while I'm walking so I want to listen to something I'm already familiar with so I don't miss anything important.
2018: I hate e-readers. I don’t have a preference between hardcover or paperback but the book has to be made of paper. I have a few series that I prefer as audiobooks, like Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series.
The last book I read:
2025: HARVEST HOME by Thomas Tryon. It was WILD. I don't want to give too much info, but I think if you're a fan of the film THE WICKER MAN you should check this book out.
2018: Final Girls by Riley Sager
Pen & paper or computer:
2025: I write by hand in a college ruled notebook. I have Catholic-school girl handwriting, which means my writing is neat and also uniformly sized, two things that are helpful if you want to decipher your own scratchings later. I know that I write about 200 words per handwritten page, which also helps me keep rough track of how much I've done. Every fifty handwritten pages or so I add what I've done to the typed manuscript. Usually I add and edit as I go.
When I've reached the halfway point of the typed manuscript, I go back over everything I've written thus far and again, usually edit and polish as I'm doing this. When the book is completely done being typed up I'll give it one more editing pass and try to anticipate any questions my editor might have. This usually means the book is about 95% done at the point where I send it off to my editor.
2018: I write all my books chronologically by hand in a notebook and then edit as I add to the typed manuscript.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
2018: Bilbo Baggins. He would always be happy to have you drop round for tea.
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a:
2025: As I mentioned earlier, I had a brief flirtation with marine biology. I always loved sharks and whales (I won third prize in the school science fair for my project on whales) and I thought it would be incredible to study them full time. But, alas, apparently scientists need to do math and math is just not my jam.
2018: Field scientist of some sort. I’ve always loved anthropology, paleontology, biology, primatology – I think I’d like to be outside somewhere observing or digging.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
2018: Now. I am not interested in fashion, only in pants that don’t dig into my waist.
Place I’d most like to travel:
2025: I'd like to go everywhere. For real. I want to see as much of this world as possible. I've traveled to six countries on three continents so far, and I've visited 43 states. I love to see places I've never been and to talk to the people who live there.
2018: Japan
My signature drink:
2025: Green tea. I like all kinds of green tea - plain or flavored with lemon or mango, iced or hot, in matcha powder form. I also love green tea-flavored baked goods. We took a trip to Japan last year and I was beside myself with joy because there was green tea and green tea products everywhere.
2018: Green tea
Favorite artist:
2025: Nick Cave (of the Birthday Party and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds fame). I love his music so much. He's had an incredibly long and diverse career and he just keeps creating and reinventing himself. I've seen him perform live 8 times (he's the only musician I'll stay up past my bedtime to see).
Do you know how much I love Nick Cave? The house in my novel THE HOUSE THAT HORROR BUILT is named for a Nick Cave song. All the story titles in mu collection LOOKING GLASS are Nick Cave songs. I NAMED MY SON AFTER MY FAVORITE NICK CAVE ALBUM. I might be his biggest fan.
2018: Caravaggio
Number one on my bucket list:
2018: To learn to speak Japanese.
Find more from Christina Henry:
www.christinahenry.net
BlueSky: @christinahenry.bsky.social
Threads: authorChristinaHenry
Instagram: authorChristinaHenry
Goodreads: goodreads.com/CHenryAuthor
About Christina Henry:
Christina Henry
Christina Henry is a horror and dark fantasy author whose works include THE PLACE WHERE THEY BURIED YOUR HEART, THE HOUSE THAT HORROR BUILT, GOOD GIRLS DON’T DIE, HORSEMAN, NEAR THE BONE, THE GHOST TREE, THE GIRL IN RED, THE MERMAID, LOST BOY, the CHRONICLES OF ALICE series (ALICE, RED QUEEN and LOOKING GLASS) and the seven-book urban fantasy BLACK WINGS series.
Her short stories have been featured in the anthologies HOWL, ELEMENTAL FORCES, CURSED, TWICE CURSED, GIVING THE DEVIL HIS DUE and KICKING IT.
She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.
