"Our job as writers who tend to progress from the dark side is to explore and chronicle and as best we can, through fiction, speak the truth."
In a Writer's workshop, Jack Ketchum brings up a story in which he talks about what scares him. He then goes into a story involving his encounter with a boa constrictor. Now if you've read the author, you will not find any snakes. Or any traditional monsters for that matter.
"If you can't empathize. If you can't put yourself in someone else's place with all the compassion and insight you can muster- to find their character through your own character- you have no business being a fiction writer." This is what makes Ketchum such an effective storyteller. Ketchum's fiction has a rawness on every page. Stylistically, he pulls no punches. He looks into his own black abyss and reports back. What are people capable of? A vicious answer came in the form of his 1989 novel. One I've read once and never plan on reading again.
In a Writer's workshop, Jack Ketchum brings up a story in which he talks about what scares him. He then goes into a story involving his encounter with a boa constrictor. Now if you've read the author, you will not find any snakes. Or any traditional monsters for that matter.
"If you can't empathize. If you can't put yourself in someone else's place with all the compassion and insight you can muster- to find their character through your own character- you have no business being a fiction writer." This is what makes Ketchum such an effective storyteller. Ketchum's fiction has a rawness on every page. Stylistically, he pulls no punches. He looks into his own black abyss and reports back. What are people capable of? A vicious answer came in the form of his 1989 novel. One I've read once and never plan on reading again.
The Girl Next Door is based on the Sylvia Likens case that took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, in which a 16 year old girl was abused, tortured and murdered over a period of three months by Gertrude Baniszewski, her children and other neighborhood children. Classic works of horror have often drawn from true crime. You can trace a line from Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Silence of the Lambs to Ed Gein. The Girl Next Door however, captures sadism in a way entirely different from those works.
The story revolves around David, an 11 year old boy who takes a liking to Meg, a neighborhood girl. Meg's parents died in a car accident long ago and she is put in care of by her Aunt- Ruth Chandler, who is in the running for most repulsive villain in fiction. Ruth abuses Meg's little sister in order to emotionally blackmail Meg. Whenever she gets out of line, her little sister suffers for it. The psychological abuse turns into physical and then gets worse from there.
The story revolves around David, an 11 year old boy who takes a liking to Meg, a neighborhood girl. Meg's parents died in a car accident long ago and she is put in care of by her Aunt- Ruth Chandler, who is in the running for most repulsive villain in fiction. Ruth abuses Meg's little sister in order to emotionally blackmail Meg. Whenever she gets out of line, her little sister suffers for it. The psychological abuse turns into physical and then gets worse from there.
Ketchum strips away any authority 'adults' may have in the situation by pitting us in the shoes of the narrator. When there are parents outside of Ruth, their default setting is to look the other way. It's the 50s. This stuff can't happen in our town. "Mind your own business and stay out of trouble" come as portent signs of despair. The now adult protagonist who tells his childhood story and of his shameful regret by not doing anything to stop the abuse. The horror of the situation made all the more palpable because of Ruth's influence on David's actions.
There's a natural curiosity in the mind of a child to take things further. How far could we go without suffering any consequences? Do you want to confront parts of yourself that are base and primal? You have to be willing to go to that place if you plan on reading this book. It's a ride through hell. At the end of it, hopefully you'll come away with some truth.
If The Girl Next Door seems like not your cup of tea, then I will point you in the direction of where his fiction started: Off Season. A novel set in the woods with a clan of feral cannibals that will leave a permanent mark. Bleak, cynical and gruesome. If any of that strikes your fancy, look no further.
Here's the full Writer's Workshop lecture Jack Ketchum gave:
Sylvia Liken's story has never left me after first reading about it. I think because of that, I took issue with Ketchum's book because I felt like he looked at what happened to her and said "I can one up that." I'm sure that wasn't his intentions but that's all I could think about.
ReplyDeleteAs you can watch in the interview, Ketchum was going for more of a "the reader is now culpable" feel than a game of one upmanship. But I understand how anyone could get that from reading the book. It's a horrific case.
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