1. Hi Abhirup! Tell us a little about yourself and your love affair with writing.

Hi, Rrashima. Firstly, thank you for having me for the interview. I’m quite a simple guy actually and like to keep it simple in life too but of course, I don various hats. Professionally, I have been a banker for many years after which I changed the sector and am currently into travel. In the corporate world, it’s important that one keeps a track of the changing trends, keeps updating himself/ herself and does not wither away. The same holds true in the writing world too and with more than eight years of being a part of the literary fraternity now, I can vouch for this. My love affair with writing began when I was a child. I used to write stories in my notebooks and always kept them to myself. There were a few which went for the school and local magazines though. During college, I blogged a lot and did some freelancing too, wrote movie reviews for certain portals. However, it was only during a break between my postgraduate course and first job that I utilized the time and wrote my first book at a stretch which took a few weeks. I must mention here that getting published was never in my mind and I had written only for the sheer joy of it. Like it happens with all of us, I got busy to make a living. A few years later, I began writing movie reviews for a portal again. It was then that I had shared the manuscript of the unpublished book with a few people who told me how it struck a chord with them. I was an amateur then but that’s where my writing career began. My first book was out in 2015 and it was an extremely special and emotional moment for me, holding its copies. It’s been an interesting and worthwhile journey now with eight book releases, screen adaptation acquisitions, writing scripts, a journey of learning from successes and failures, unlearning, persevering and also most importantly for me, multi-tasking as I keep donning other hats too.

2. You’re represented by India’s leading literary agency, The Book Bakers. Could you tell us about the role they’ve played in your literary journey?

Suhail Mathur of The Book Bakers has played an extremely important role in my literary journey and he will always be acknowledged for it. My first book was self-published and today, I’m published by the leading publishing houses. After my debut, I did get published traditionally and thanks to the successes, I was building a name for myself. However, what I was missing out on was getting published by the top publishing houses and importantly, the physical distribution part. It’s one of the most important things in order to reach out to more readers and be visible, especially because I write a non-massy genre which is horror. Suhail believed in the neglected genre which no other literary agent had the guts to represent and today, you get to see many horror books being traditionally published. He has been instrumental in fulfilling my dreams. After all, the king maker is always more important than the king! The Book Bakers does not only bake books but also dreams and since I write horror, I can tell you that he has made my nightmares look really cool! I’d like to thank Suhail for having faith in me and my craft.

3. You are today one of India’s top horror writers. Did you always know that this is what you want to write? Or did you ever dabble with other themes as well?

I always knew it rather now when I look back, I was destined for it. I was, ever since I can remember, a big horror buff. The first book I read was horror. The first movie I watched was horror. The first story I wrote was horror. And I enjoyed visiting rumoured haunted places. The supernatural intrigues me and I am very curious about the afterlife. What happens after Death? So, I was actually supposed to debut with a horror book which came out later. Based on a short story I had written while studying at boarding school in Darjeeling, The Belvoirbrooke Haunting didn’t really shape up well earlier. For a difficult and demanding genre like horror, more maturity is required. So, I came out with Once Again… With Love! first as the manuscript was ready. My second book – Stories Are Magical – had six stories from six genres, including horror. While writing SAM, I reminisced my childhood and realised it was horror which I had always loved the most. It was a neglected genre and I knew it was risky. But I just wrote Hold That Breath without thinking about the repercussions then. There was nothing to lose after all. HTB went on to surprise everyone including me. The idea was to tell horror stories just the way I like them with urban legends as the common angle. It was followed by The Belvoirbrooke Haunting and Hold That Breath: 2 after which we now have Ghost Hunter: Gaurav Tiwari and HAUNTINGS. My horror outings have been enjoyable to say the least though I personally enjoy other genres like thrillers, murder mysteries (whodunits) and romance too. But my first love will always remain horror.

4. What do you usually work on first? Characters, plot or setting? How important do you think the setting is for a horror tale?

I work on the plotting first after which I create the characters and the setting. While I try to incorporate the three-act structure (setup, confrontation, resolution), at times, I prefer to go with the flow and keep it organic. I have observed that it satisfies the writer in me and turns out to be more engaging for readers when I keep the storytelling unpredictable. The setting is extremely important for me as I’m a visual writer. Even as a reader, if I can’t relate with the characters and visualize the goings-on, I don’t enjoy a book. So why will a person reading my books enjoy them if I miss out on the core elements which make it interesting for me? I think from a reader and horror buff’s point of view while writing.

5. What is your favourite sub-genre within the horror realm?

If I have to choose one, it would be paranormal horror bordering more on gothic elements though I also enjoy psychological horror.

6. According to you, is it ok to be too graphic in your descriptions when writing horror?

Why not? If in romance, we are being descriptive about the various emotions and relationships, we can be explicit in horror too. Fear is one of the six basic emotions which can’t be ignored. Though I must say that there are times when gore needs to be described for the storytelling part and impact, but I try to refrain from it as much as possible.

7. I know that it’s difficult to choose for an author, but do you have a favourite among all your books?

How can one differentiate between his or her babies? Every book has its own journey – some do exceedingly well and expectations are set for the upcoming releases. Can’t really choose here but I must say that Hold That Breath and Ghost Hunter: Gaurav Tiwari have been major turning points in my writing journey.

8. What are you working on now? When can we look forward to your next book?

My next book Karma is due for an April release. It is represented by The Book Bakers and I’m glad to be working with Om for this book after Rupa and Westland. There is another fiction book (title decided) which I’m in the midst of writing and Suhail is representing it too. I can mention here that I’m working on the movie scripts based on these books. If the process of having a book out is a long one, it’s much longer for a movie. But I’m completely enjoying the other form of storytelling too. Coming back to books, I’ll be getting back to a nonfiction book after completing the current manuscript. I have been pondering over many ideas for it and think I have a good one. Need to work on its plotting. The idea is to give my readers something different each time I’m out with a book which they can celebrate. My releases have to be special just not for me but for them too!

Rapid Fire:

The one sub-genre in horror writing you would never explore.

Splatter.

Amusement parks, graveyards, or parking garages. Your preferred setting for a scary scene?

Graveyards! It’s actually haunted houses in quaint hill stations though.

Pennywise or Hannibal Lector?

I don’t find clowns scary or funny so, I’ll go with Hannibal Lector.

A book you’re currently reading.

I have recently got my copies of many books represented by The Book Bakers and will read them one by one.

Your 3 am go-to person.

For books, it’s Suhail though I try and not disturb him after midnight but that’s when I’m mostly doing my writing work and at my creative best!

Abhirup Dhar in 1 word.

 Balanced.