Interview with Author Tim Murr

Interview with Author Tim Murr

First, congratulations on your Stoker eligible bookSummer’s Venomous Kiss! For those just discovering this story, can you share with us what it is about?

Summer’s Venomous Kiss is a Southern horror crime novel. A bit of Jim Thompson meets Splatterpunk with a dose of cosmic horror. It takes place in a small town on the first day of summer, when a dormant serial killer re-emerges for one last hurrah, bringing his death cult out of the shadows. The comps I use are Cobra meets Henry; Portrait of a Serial Killer in The Town that Dreaded Sundown. 

How did you come up with this premise?

This story actually goes all the way back to sixth grade when I met my late friend, Jason Gollihar. We were both comic book and horror movie fanatics and we started writing and drawing our own comics, which evolved into high school where we got into the 90s black and white indie comics like Faust, Deadworld, and The Crow. SVK was meant to be a comic book, but we kept rewriting and rewriting, never satisfied, always seeking perfection, but mostly arguing over directions. Eventually, the task was handed over to me to simply write it as a novel that Jase would illustrate. So, I did several drafts of varying lengths. Unfortunately, he passed away 8 years ago. Finishing this thing and putting it to rest is my final tribute to old friend. 

Do you have a favorite character in this book? If so, who and why?

A character named Bad Penny wound up being my favorite at the end of the day. An earlier version had her as an almost rock and roll Lois Lane chronicling the chaos of this night, but she became more of the heart of the story with Robert Jackson. Two broken innocents shoved headlong into madness. 

When did you first develop a love for horror?

I was a monster kid. My dad showed me Jaws and Alien when I was 4, I loved Godzilla and Frankenstein from around then as well, but I didn’t embrace horror until 1987, when I saw Night of the Living Dead and Halloween II on the same night. I’ve been obsessed since then. 

Where can readers find you online?

These days I’m primarily active on Facebook and Instagram, Tim Murr and Stranger With Friction respectively .