By KEVIN HOOVER
Nick Cutter – the nom de plume of horror author Craig Davidson – got into the book-writing trade as a way to splay out all the creepy crawlies that slither around inside his head. But insect-infected plots and gloopy body horror are only two-thirds of the hallmarks of the author’s work; the remaining slice of the pie consists of an unabashed willingness to unfurl his readers’ gray matter and nest within a healthy dose of psychological terror.
It’s the sum of the parts that has endeared Cutter to throngs of TikTokers. Heading the charge of horror #BookToks created by influencers who enjoy lavishing never-ending and well-deserved plaudits upon 2014’s The Troop, the author is appreciative that his tale of a government science project gone horribly awry continues to find new audiences through the video platform. His latest, 2024’s The Queen, continues his penchant for blending sanguineous narratives with deep, introspective horror. And while a handful of new projects loom on the horizon, completionists can rest easy knowing that soon, select titles that have been out of print will be afforded a resurrection (including The Breach, which was made into a film by RUE MORGUE president and founder Rodrigo Gudiño).
The author recently spoke with RUE MORGUE about his career, and why he’s fine with being “the tapeworm guy.”
Author Nick Cutter. Photo credit to Kevin Kelly.
Seeing as how we’re a couple of months into 2025, should we still expect The Dorians this year?
I just found out that it’s unlikely to be this year. I think Simon & Schuster has a lot of great horror coming. My editor has been acquiring some really cool, new authors and some authors that people will be familiar with who are getting their “Big Five” debut. So, yeah, The Dorians, as I know it, will likely be early 2026.
The Troop has been out for eleven years now. It’s made you a TikTok star and shown readers that Nick Cutter is a dual master of body and psychological horror. Having read that book, I’d guess you to be a pantser (writing without planning) – everything starts with a kernel of a gruesome idea and tentacles out from there. Am I wrong?
You’re not too far off! Each book is its own journey. I’ve said this before, but I got the idea (for The Troop) at the Royal Ontario Museum, which is here in Toronto. It’s a giant natural history museum. There was a big display on water and how we use it as humans. For me, it was the little parasite things that you could find in water that can be a big problem, which forms the de facto antagonist of that book. I suppose there are several antagonists, actually, with some of them being human. I had a book that I had written previously under my own name, in which the first third had two boys lost in the woods. I recognized how much I enjoyed writing from the perspective of kids – really just that age group – and I was a scout when I was a kid. Those two things smashed together in my head, and I wrote it quickly. And you’re right, it seems to have this life of its own at this point.
When you first write a book, you don’t know where it’s going to go. You don’t know what sort of life it’s going to live, if any. We all hold the same fond wishes for each book, but not all of them take the wind under their sails. The Troop did, and I’m grateful for the attention and that people are generally liking the book. Eleven years on, it’s like, “OK, if I’m the tapeworm guy, that’s cool.”
There’s been talk of The Troop getting the movie treatment. Any word on that front?
It goes around and around. Most of the Cutter books have been optioned at some point and they go into the big blender. The Troop is a tricky one, right? I mean, I think each adaptation is probably tricky, but in this case, you’ve got kids doing awful things to each other and coming to really bad ends. There have been scripts that have turned them into teenagers, like, “Now it’s OK; you can die. You’re sixteen. You’ve had enough time on this earth.” It’s still in development. I wouldn’t even say it’s in development hell; it just turns hands and each producer and director, they take another crack at a script and they try to crack it in a way that’s going to work for them. That’s somebody else’s battle; I just keep working on the books.
Indie bookshops can be a huge boon to an author no matter where in their career they are. Are there any special memories or call outs of book sellers that have been meaningful to you?
It’s like when you’re young – a bunch of buddies will sit around and go, “Let’s open up a bar when we’re older, because then we have a place where we can drink.” And I think book people would be the same. I don’t think most people recognize what an enormous undertaking it is and how much work you have to put into that, and how thin the margins surely are and how you have to run it in a way that is friendly to your clientele. I went to school in Iowa City, and they have Prairie Lights there, which is a well-known independent bookstore. You’ll go in and see the sort of things that you generally don’t see in the chain bookstores up here in Canada. We also have one here in Toronto called Little Ghosts, which is specifically horror. I think more and more independent bookstores need to be niche. Little Ghosts is run by two incredibly passionate professionals who are always out at conventions. They’ll drive five hours to go sell the books of the writers who they’re passionate about and who they are supporting through their work. Obviously, us writers can only be grateful for that kind of care and attention. They put in massive hours for something that, hopefully, they make a good return on, but I think they do it primarily because of their passion.
A great thing about indie book shops is that they often stock a lot of imprints and authors that you’re not going to find anywhere else. And they also tend to host events in ways that corporate shops simply are too restricted to be able to.
I think it’s a symbiotic kind of relationship. Most of the indie authors that I know, they work hard to promote their books. They’re willing to put their own tours together and go visit these bookstores. Little Ghosts, I can’t say for sure, but I believe they have an open-door policy where if you have a book that you want them to host, you go in for an afternoon signing. You can have these awesome events, but it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of work both on the author’s side and on the bookstore’s side. In the best case of that, it really is like a symbiosis, and that’s great.
So, what is Nick Cutter currently reading and what should people be reading?
I just finished reading and writing a blurb for Crafting for Sinners. It’s Jenny Kiefer’s follow up to This Wretched Valley. I really enjoyed it, and I think it’s going to do well. I’ve been very fortunate to have people blurb me and you feel you want to pay that back, so I’ve mainly been reading books that people have sent me for blurbing purposes.
Another one that I read and enjoyed is Secret Lives of the Dead by UK writer Tim Lebbon. He’s been on the scene for a good long while and has done all sorts of interesting work. I have a great deal of admiration for people who have kept their foot in the game for as long as someone like Tim has, because this can be a nasty old business.
Visit Bookshop.org for a list of horror novels by Nick Cutter.
*Purchases made through any included links will directly benefit independent book shops and may result in compensation for Rue Morgue.
