Chapter 7

Some of the stores mentioned here are in the real Jasonville. Sometimes I’ve tweaked the names slightly or moved them around so they’re all nearby, when in reality they’re more spread out.

The eavesdropper here, as I envisioned it, is Danny. I’ve heard people assume it’s Eric, or even Cameron. Eric I can kinda see. Cameron, nah. It is purposely ambiguous, at least in this scene.

The movie poster Casey ends up with on his wall is actually a composite creation. The imagery is accurate, but I added the movie’s promotional tagline at the bottom. Most of the ones I came across in my research just have the release date or other movie info at the bottom.

Another hint that this is indeed Danny.

Chapter 8

Cameron Ford is going to be an important character in this book, and now (finally?), he has a scene from his perspective. Note the low-key way in which he regards his mom’s reference to his sister’s pregnancy. He obviously has no idea how it’s going to affect him later on. Poor kid.

I remember being at a college party in Lincoln, Nebraska, and overhearing the doorman ask guys to pay to get into the party, but not the young ladies. Mark probably could’ve had a great future as a frat dude.

One of Casey’s best non-serious lines.

Yep, a Fountains of Wayne reference. I loved the song “That Thing You Do!” (and the movie it appeared in), written by FOW’s bassist.

One of Neal’s best lines. As a reader, I’m cheering here at his ballsy restraint. The hesitation after Neal says he won’t hesitate…it’s intentional.

Originally, I ended this chapter with the second-to-last paragraph. An editor told me the scene couldn’t end with just the characters walking out. The editor got what the editor wanted.

Chapter 9

I like the idea of a character being alone in a store with someone else near closing time. There’s just something inherently ominous there, if you let your imagination go. I also enjoy the isolation it creates.

Danny again. Remember the black eyes.

So why does he mess with her like this? I think if Danny could speak to a psychologist right now, the shrink would probably discover the kid has murderous intent on his mind. He can’t help himself from being a menace to society, particularly toward young women. He’s rehearsing his killer persona a bit, planning to take it even further when the time is right. Real-life killers do this all the time. The fact that we know they do means that some of them (unintentionally or not) get themselves noticed by certain people. Some wind up caught because of it.

Chapter 10

Astute readers will notice that “Dark Friday” does not fall on a Friday the 13th. This coincides with the 2007 calendar, although I didn’t originally set out to date the story in a specific year.

I realize that my characters are modern teens who are into older (more GenX-oriented) horror movies. I did this for several reasons, but mainly it’s because I can’t get myself to watch most modern “torture/splatter” horror. Hey, we all have our tastes.

A nod to the movie Halloween.

I intentionally wanted to change the point of view (POV) here back and forth. This is Eric here, and man is he ever cold-blooded.

A lot of the female names in this chapter are derived from girls I knew or dated, with the first and last names swapped out, or otherwise altered. Read into that what you will. It’s fiction.

Chapter 11

Now it’s the 13th, but it’s a Saturday. Yeah, “Saturday the 13th” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. What can you do?

Danny is so determined and cagey, it makes me sick. And I wrote it.

I realize it’s been awhile since the reader has heard from Tommie Moorer. Hopefully there’s enough here that most readers will realize we’ve come full circle and caught up with the opening “flash-forward” chapters.

Danny does “a near-perfect mimic” of Neal’s voice in Chapter 3. Here it is again.

Now we’re in Cameron’s POV, albeit briefly.

This scene with Casey was actually the last scene I wrote for the entire book. My editor asked me to connect some further dots by writing a scene with Casey finding Hope, from Casey’s POV. I obliged and wrote this scene over a lunch at a Chili’s restaurant on “the 16th Street Mall” in lovely downtown Denver, Colorado.

Chapter 12

Deputy Barrett was originally a guy in early drafts. He underwent a sex change.

This tidbit about the reported UFO sighting near Jasonville is true.

I thought about playing up the revelation that it’s Cameron in Rix’s jail cell. A bit more drama or whatever. I just decided that it wouldn’t fit with how Rix would view things. Since we’re seeing this scene through his eyes, the tone is more along the lines of genuine anguish, sorrow, and just not wanting to believe it — rather than an old-school mystery style “The murderer is…”

Last Updated ( Monday, 31 May 2010 )

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