Leigh Bardugo on her Slasher Girls & Monster Boys Story {Blog Tour}

Today Leigh Bardugo stops by The Hiding Spot to share the inspiration behind her contribution to the Slasher Girls & Monster Boys collection. 

Leigh Bardugo is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Grisha Trilogy (Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising).

She was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Los Angeles, and graduated from Yale University, and has worked in advertising, journalism, and most recently, makeup and special effects. These days, she’s lives and writes in Hollywood where she can occasionally be heard singing with her band. Her new book, Six of Crows, arrives fall 2015.

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When I was a kid, the network I usually went to for my afternoon cartoon fix used to show ads for a movie called Frances starring Jessica Lange. It seemed to crop up every few months. Maybe they got the rights on the cheap? Anyway, the ad terrified me—a woman screaming, being hauled away by cops or guards, then her blank stare, all the fire gone out of her when they were done—but I could never look away.

Years later, I would hear a song on the Nirvana album, In Utero: "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" and remember that ad. Frances Farmer was an actress at a time when studios owned actresses and their careers. She was smart, progressive, possibly an alcoholic, possibly manic depressive, definitely unhappy and unwilling to do what her bosses demanded.

"Verse Chorus Verse," my short story in the new horror anthology Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, was inspired by Frances and a lot of other women. In some ways, it's the most personal story I've written. I grew up in Los Angeles, around child stars, and celebrity culture. I've seen the way this town devours people, particularly girls. "Verse Chorus Verse" is the story of a budding pop star, and an institution with something hungry in its walls. It's about terrible things, but the worst monsters in the story are real.

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About the Anthology

Goodreads

For fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lois Duncan, and Daphne Du Maurier comes a powerhouse anthology featuring some of the best writers of YA thrillers and horror

A host of the smartest young adult authors come together in this collection of scary stories and psychological thrillers curated by Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’s April Genevieve Tucholke.

Each story draws from a classic tale or two—sometimes of the horror genre, sometimes not—to inspire something new and fresh and terrifying. There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From bloody horror to supernatural creatures to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for any reader looking for a thrill.

Fans of TV’s The Walking Dead, True Blood, and American Horror Story will tear through tales by these talented authors:

Stefan Bachmann
Leigh Bardugo
Kendare Blake
A. G. Howard
Jay Kristoff
Marie Lu
Jonathan Maberry
Danielle Paige
Carrie Ryan
Megan Shepherd
Nova Ren Suma
McCormick Templeman
April Genevieve Tucholke
Cat Winters