Pride in Horror Interview: Justin Arnold
An Interview with the Prince of Remarks and Mozzarella Sticks
Justin Arnold is an author of gay fiction, including Wicked Little Things, The Prince and The Puppet Thief: A Gay Fairytale, and Keep It In The Dark. He is also the twisted mind behind The NoSleep Podcast season 18 feature episode Haunter's Game. When not writing, he is serving as CEO and co-founder of Triple Crown Theater Group, the first community theater of its kind in his hometown. He lives in the bluegrass region of Kentucky with a cat named Evie, and Huckleberry, a wild raccoon who Justin foolishly feeds.
Justin Arnold and I have been publisher siblings for several years. We both have dark and magical books published by Tiny Ghost Press, a press dedicated to publishing YA LGBT+ stories and providing a platform for authors who might not otherwise have their voices heard.
Justin’s witchy book, Wicked Little Things, immediately made me take note of this then new-to-me author. I always admire authors who can weave funny moments into otherwise bleak narratives and Justin is a true wizard. Somehow, he was able to balance a rather dark, disturbing, and at times extremely gruesome tale with lashings of teenage snark and sassy humor, making Wicked Little Things an entertaining horror-romp perfect for fans of films like The Craft and books like The Scapegracers.
It was an honor and a pleasure to get to interview him for the Divination Hollow Pride special, and I cannot wait to read more books by this author.
Who are you not? Why aren’t you a “insert whatever your alternative career path might have been”?
I’m not a film director, because in high school I realized that I can tell a story and make it look and sound and feel however I like with zero budget with mere pen and paper. And it comes out exactly how I pictured it.
Give us three songs, food, artworks, cocktails, whatever to get to know you and or your book by.
Make Your Own Kind of Music by Mama Cass, Pet Sematary by The Ramones, and Dead Girl Walking from the musical Heathers. Answering for the book Wicked Little Things
Why paranormal fantasy? Why not hard sci-fi or sports romance?
Paranormal lends itself to queer fiction in a really interesting way. A vampire can be a vampire but also a metaphor for living closeted among a majority. A witch can drive home not only being othered, but also a great look at inherent power when you feel powerless. It’s an unspoken draw as to why so many queer people love and relate to this genre. Plus, I love it, and I have a strict rule to only write what I love rather than go for a trend.
By the time I even figure out how to play a sport and learn to stop calling half-time an intermission, the sports boom will be over :P
Which YA trope will you never write?
Teenagers that act and think like adults. If an adult reader facepalms over my teen protagonist’s terrible decision– good!
What non-literary hill will you happily die on?
Maybe it’s a reflection of my geographical location, but HR departments: there are so many ways for men to dress professionally that don’t involve looking like Dwight Schrute. It’s time to update your dress codes and your wardrobes.
If you could resurrect any dead author and have them write one more book, who would it be and why?
Beverly Cleary. If Hilary Duff can go back on tour and heal us a little, just imagine if there was some fresh Ramona Quimby to go along with it.
If you could collab with any non-author to write a book with, who would it be and why?
The indie artist Dodie. I feel like this woman could make a nutrition label sound poetic and heartbreaking if she wanted to and admire her songwriting so much. It would be such a humbling and educational experience to see how she works up close.
Would you rather have one album to listen to, one film to watch, or one book to read for the rest of your life? And which would be?
This is probably the hardest question I’ve had to answer in my life. I’m going to say the movie Titanic, though. The reason is because 1) It’s long, so you get a little more entertainment. 2) Titanic in general is my neurodivergent obsession, so to not be able to watch it would be like losing a leg. Plus, it gets rereleased quite a bit, so I can still go to a movie theatre sometimes.
If the story of your life was a romantasy, what would it be called in the The____of____and____ format?
The Prince of Remarks and Mozzarella Sticks
Okay, you can only pick one:
Witches or vampires? First of all– OUCH! Um…Witches…I think….
Chocolate or cookies? Chocolate
Tea or coffee? Again- OUCH!.... Tea
E-books or audiobooks? E-Books
Brain freeze or stubbing your toe? Brain freeze.
Bonus question: Would you rather be a vampire allergic to moonlight or a witch whose spells always have random, unpredictable side effects?
Were I a vampire allergic to moonlight, that would mean I have a great excuse to stay in my house and not feel guilty about it. So….I happily choose that one.
You can find Justin on all the usual socials by heading over to his Linktree and be sure to check out his novels, Wicked Little Things and Keep It In the Dark, wherever you buy books!
Climber, tattoo collector, and peanut-butter connoisseur, Xan van Rooyen is an award-winning autistic, non-binary storyteller from South Africa, currently living in Finland. Xan has a Master’s degree in music, and–when not teaching–enjoys conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. You can find Xan’s stories in the likes of Three-Lobed Burning Eye, Daily Science Fiction, and Galaxy’s Edge among others. They have also written several novels including the forthcoming adult dark fantasy novel, Born of Malice (October, Ruadan Books) and the cyberpunk retelling of Dorian Gray, Exquisite Decay (December, Tiny Ghost Press). Xan is also part of the Sauútiverse, an African writer’s collective, with stories in the multi award-nominated anthology Mothersound (Android Press) as well as Sauúti Terrors (Flame Tree Press). Feel free to say hi on all the usual socials.
