Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf: Day 4

Don’t Look Behind the Bookshelf

What are you doing here? Do you not see the letters in huge red script?! It told you not to look behind here--and you did. Now you have no choice but to pry your eyes open and be exposed to yet another day of Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf. (You can see yesterday's interview here.) Today brings an author whose most recent novel is perfect for Halloween. After all, it features one of the most gruesome, terrifying creatures ever known: zombies. Complete with gore and horror, his novel is one you don't want to miss. Get your brains ready for the awesomeness that is...

Sean Beaudoin

Trick or treat?

Devious trick.

Truth or dare?

Dare me not to tell the truth about what you did last summer. Specifically, August 19^th.

Best Halloween creature?

Mothra.

What’s the worst and best candy to get on Halloween?

Best: wax teeth filled with red syrup. Worst: Circus peanuts.

What’s your most memorable Halloween costume?

I once went to a party as zombie Duane Allman (long-dead guitar player for the Allman Brothers).

Best movie to watch for Halloween? Best book to read?

Best movie is Don’t Look Now…..terrifying. Either that or Evil Dead II.

Best book is A Clockwork Orange.

What scares you?

Leeches.

If you could be any Halloween creature what would you be?

Jamie Lee Curtis. Speaks for itself.

Do you have your own personal Halloween story?

I once was in a haunted house at a carnival that they let WAY too many people into at once and there were hardly any lights and a maze and people started to get stuck because someone fell down and than someone else panicked and everyone started pushing and shoving and turning around, but there was nowhere to go, and for a while I sort of thought I was going to get trampled to death which seemed a shame since I was only thirteen and it seemed like if I was going to die in a crappy haunted house I should at least get to make out with a cheerleader first. I never have gone in one of those again.

If you could go back in time and rewrite the legend of a monster/creature, which would you choose and why?

I would re-write Dracula and specify how vampires aren’t all sparkly and don’t fall in love with depressive girls from out of town and don’t lie around on blankets in fields confessing their innermost desires, but most of all do not wear leather jackets or grow stubble.

How do you celebrate Halloween?

I take my daughter around the neighborhood and watch her run from house to house screaming and packing away the candy.

It’s Friday the 13^th, you’re home alone, and it’s dark. Simultaneously, the phone rings and you hear somebody upstairs. What do you do?

I go upstairs and tell my wife to keep it down, then answer the phone and tell the telemarketer that I’m not interested.

If some of your characters were going to dress up for Halloween, what would they dress up as?

All the zombies from The Infects would dress up as stockbrokers and then try really hard not to eat any lost children.

What are five facts about yourself?

-My favorite foods are almonds, lime, blueberries, garlic, and bagels.

-I hate when people say “it is what it is.”

-I like thrash metal, jazz, blues, and punk rock.

-Number four is none of your business.

-If I could do college all over again, I would go back and study linguistics instead of film. Also, I would have asked that girl with black hair to the dance.

How would you describe The Infects using the letters of INFECTED?

Die. Ten feed. Dine in. Finite. Dent teen. Fend. Cite need. End.

You already have several novels, many of which are Halloween-esque. What’s next for you?

My next book is called Wise Young Fool and comes out on August 2013. It’s a punk rock diary/black comedy. And it rules.

Sean Beaudoin is the author of Going Nowhere Faster, Fade To Blue. and You Killed Wesley Payne. His latest book, an anti-zombie opus called The Infects, will be out fall 2012. Sean's articles and short stories have been appeared in numerous publications, including the Onion, Glimmer Train, The San Francisco Chronicle, Opium Magazine, The Rumpus, The New Orleans Review, Narrative Magazine, Barrelhouse, Instant City, The Nervous Breakdown, Bayou, Another Chicago Magazine, Bat City Review, Redivider, Ballyhoo, and Spirit-the inflight magazine of Southwest Airlines. He loves to talk about himself in the third person.

Sean Beaudoin gets brownie points for being a local author and having a totally awesome book cover. Plus, he's full of wit. Everyone likes wit, right? For more of Sean, check out his website, Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter! But for now, discover his zombielicious novel The Infects.

Publisher: Candlewick

Publishing Date: September 25, 2012

Pages: 384

A feast for the brain, this gory and genuinely hilarious take on zombie culture simultaneously skewers, pays tribute to, and elevates the horror genre.

Seventeen-year-old Nero is stuck in the wilderness with a bunch of other juvenile delinquents on an “Inward Trek.” As if that weren’t bad enough, his counselors have turned into flesh-eating maniacs overnight and are now chowing down on his fellow miscreants. As in any classic monster flick worth its salted popcorn, plentiful carnage sends survivors rabbiting into the woods while the mindless horde of “infects” shambles, moans, and drools behind. Of course, these kids have seen zombie movies. They generate “Zombie Rules” almost as quickly as cheeky remarks, but attitude alone can’t keep the biters back.

Serving up a cast of irreverent, slightly twisted characters, an unexpected villain, and an ending you won’t see coming, here is a savvy tale that that’s a delight to read—whether you’re a rabid zombie fan or freshly bitten—and an incisive commentary on the evil that lurks within each of us.

This novel sounds gruesome and great, and you know you want to read it! And if you want even more Sean and zombies, he'll be live-tweeting The Walking Dead today (October 21) at 9:00 p.m. EST (6:00 p.m. PST). Join in the fun by following his Twitter @seanbeaudoin and #theWalkingDead and #theInfects!

I happen to have a copy of The Infects, so to intrigue you just a little bit more, here's what the back cover says. It's totally creepy.

Jack Oh looked up and grinned.His knife jutted out of the meat of his shoulder, sunk to the handle. It didn't seem to be bothering him much."You need some help?"Jack Oh didn't answer. His teeth were red and wet, his eyes yellow and pinned. He was stubbornly chewing something, probably a wad of Skoal.Right?Nero took a step closer. Didn't want to, but had to.Nope.Wasn't tobacco at all.Matter of fact, Counselor Jack Oh was eating chunks of Counselor Bruce Leroy.

Don't forget to check out Sean's books and tune in to his Twitter chat! And if you dare, return to Beauty and the Bookshelf tomorrow (and through the 31st) for more of Don't Look Behind the Bookshelf!