From the outset of “Once They See You: 13 Stories to Shiver and Shock,” the reader can relate to what’s happening in the stories.
The first story, "Night Things," takes place entirely in the bedroom of a boy named Ethan who is preparing to turn off his light and jump into bed—something most readers do every night. The spooky turn is what happens after Ethan decides to forego his regular routine of getting to bed as quickly as possible in favor of nonchalantly walking the eight feet from the light switch to his bed.
“I do remember having to turn out my light and then get to the bed,” author Josh Allen said, “and you would just plan your route before so that you wouldn't trip so that the monsters wouldn't get you.”
Not all the 13 stories are inspired by Allen’s childhood. The reader may be familiar with themes of adolescence from the desire to be recognized or be popular to the dreaded realization that everyone seems to have gone through puberty except for you. However, in Allen’s story, it’s not just puberty, the kids in this story are also zombies.
“I often think back to the insecurities that I had when I was in 6th grade, and I used those to inspire the stories that I write,” Allen said.
Mission to help kids enjoy reading
Allen sees his stories as his way to help young readers learn to love reading. He calls himself “a proselyte for children’s literature.” Research, he says, shows that if kids learn to love reading when they’re young, they’ll keep those reading habits for the rest of their lives.
“I’m trying to promote in them a habit of reading that can sustain them through the rest of their lives,” he said. “And I write horror stories because that’s what I’ve always been interested in, and I think that’s really fun.”
He even gets his own children involved. He says, perhaps, his favorite story in the book was originally written by his daughter, Malorie. She showed it to him, and he asked if he could play with it a little bit and it became the story called “Perfect.”
Creative process
He says it takes him about two years to write and publish his books. His first two books, “Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe” and “Only if You Dare: 13 Stories of Darkness and Doom” came out in 2019 and 2021.
During his writing process, he’ll test out some of the stories in local classrooms. He says he’ll get some feedback from his audience but what he’s really looking for is how the students react as he’s reading to them.
“I'll pay really, really close attention to whether kids seem kind of creeped out when I want them to be creeped out, whether they laugh at the joke that I thought was hilarious,” he said.
After his reading sessions, he’ll return to his office to make notes or changes to his stories.
Writing and teaching
Allen’s office is at BYU-Idaho where he teaches in the English Department. He says going through the process of writing and publishing three books has helped him in the classroom. It’s more convincing, he says, to tell a student they need to rewrite the draft of their paper or story when he’s had to do the same thing with his stories.
“I get to talk about real things in the classroom, real struggles that I have as a writer,” he said, “and it sort of fills in the classroom with my student writers that this is a skill we're trying to develop together.”
Allen’s books wouldn’t be complete without the illustrations. Sarah J. Coleman, who he calls a “staggeringly brilliant illustrator” has illustrated all three of his books, including the covers, which are also glow-in-the-dark.
Are these books too scary for my kids?
He understands that not all parents are on board with their kids reading spooky stories. He wants his stories to be different from what he calls “a steady diet of happily ever afters.” So, not all of his stories end with the kids getting their happily ever after. He says that’s truer to life. He believes his readers are smart and want to be told the truth in the stories they read.
“They’re ready for stories that capture both the good and the bad of the world in which we live,” he said. “Some stories end in relief and some stories end in doom and that’s true of the stories that we see around us in the world.”
Allen encourages parents to let their children explore different types of books, to let them find what they’re drawn to naturally.
“They know what they need, and we can trust the healthy creative cravings of their own inner artists,” he said.
You can meet Allen at the Madison Library District in Rexburg on Oct. 19. He'll read some stories and there will be games for families to participate in.
“Once They See You: 13 Stories to Shiver and Shock” is available now as a hardcover on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.