Katrina Thornley

During the Dark Reads event at Rhode Island College, hosted by Horror Depot, on March 1st I was lucky enough to meet amazing local horror authors. These people are talented writers, and are also wonderful humans. They love what they do and are passionate about the horror genre and life in general. 

One of the authors that I chatted with was Matt Forgit. He is author of How to be a Professional Mourner, The Felicitous, and You Better Watch Out: A Christmas Comedy. (He is also hysterical). Naturally, after getting to know him I decided he would be a perfect candidate for my author interview series! 

Forgit enjoyed reading and watching horror as he grew up. He’s expressed that he is a “die-hard final girl fan. As a kid, I didn’t have many role models, and many of the final girls were women I looked up to. They were smart, strong, brave, capable, resilient, resourceful, used their wits, and put clues together.” (If you’re new to the lingo, a final girl is the female character that is the last to survive the villain and usually confronts them at the end). 

Forgit’s favorites (and also some of mine) are “Ripley from Alien, Sidney and Gale from Scream, Laurie from Halloween, Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jess from Black Christmas, Regina and Samantha from Night of the Comet, Stevie from The Fog, Marti from Hell Night, Alice from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Rachel from Halloween 4, Erin from You’re Next, Sally from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, … Ginny, Chris, and Trish from Friday the 13th Parts 1-4. I want to shout out the final girls from television, too, who battled and survived evil every week–Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scully from The X-Files, Micki from Friday the 13th: The Series, Randi from She-Wolf of London, and the OGs Daphne and Velma from Scooby-Doo.” 

The final girl trope in horror flicks and books signifies a shift in the horror industry that empowers women instead of locking them into the victim role. 

Forgit has always been a fan of horror, whether it be books or movies (although he does say that he prefers the movies though he loves them both because he can watch them over and over again). To him, horror is important because of what it offers to the world. “Horror encompasses all the emotions and can be a mirror to society and where we are/were historically. Horror can have deep, meaningful themes, and conversely, it can just be fun and mindless. Horror includes “the other”–people who are different. I love the thrill of being scared (though I always regret it at 3 a.m. when I hear every noise in the house, because I am a giant chicken). Horror helps me face my own fears, release my considerable anxiety, and feels cathartic. There’s an excitement and joy I get from the roller coaster that comes with watching and reading horror. Horror gives us mystery, lore, emotion, and the ever-relevant battle of good vs. evil all in one.”

From a young age, Forgit has been an avid reader and a supporter of female leads, including the famous Nancy Drew. When he was eight he was given The Mystery of the Glowing Eye. “It had everything I wanted–an intrepid female lead, mystery, a spooky setting, and a sense of fun. From there, I discovered Jan Harold Brunvand’s urban legend collections, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series, the Point Books YA thrillers, and read anything and everything spooky and creepy.”

Part II of this interview will be coming soon where we cover the art of writing with Matt and his characters. Stay tuned for more! But until then, you can spend your time reading some of Matt’s work including How to be a Professional Mourner, which according to him is his “best book” yet. 

Matt Forgit lives and writes in New England. His interests include spending time with friends and family, movies, television shows, music, reading, final girls, creepy folklore, urban legends, spooky history, abandoned places, castles, islands, and cabins in the woods. He is terrible with social media, dreams of owning a haunted bed and breakfast atop a cliffside overlooking the sea (don’t we all?), hopes that someday Chopping Mall: The Musical becomes a reality, and doesn’t normally talk about himself in the third person. For updates, random thoughts, horror recommendations, and general nonsense, please like and follow the Matt Forgit Author page on Facebook.