By Jim Mcleod 
Introduction
It’s not the darkness in the woods that gets you. It’s the realization that the woods themselves are watching back.
That’s the nightmare fuel Jack Finn trades in. When he isn’t writing, he’s out there, hiking, kayaking, walking with his dogs in the Pacific Northwest. And that’s where the stories breed. “There is nothing that makes you feel more vulnerable than to be out on the open ocean or deep in the woods to realize we are more at the mercy of the natural world and its inhabitants, than the master of it,” he says in this interview. It’s a perspective that claws its way into his work, where the antagonists often “reap the consequences of transgressions against Mother Earth.”
This conversation digs into the soil of his creative process. We talk about his path from a protective “pantser” who loved his characters too much to an author who now gets emails asking, “how could you have killed X or Y?” He opens up about the obsessive historical research behind his Wolves of Kalinin duology—months spent down rabbit holes of 19th-century Russian village life and obscure Romanian academic journals for his upcoming Culling of the House of Boars.
The core truth he’s exploring? It’s a chillingly simple one. “The wolf is an alpha predator, its feral and primal, but it does not exhibit evilness until you combine it with a human in a werewolf. That’s when the penchant for cruelty and malevolence comes out.” In Jack Finn’s world, the monster in the mirror is always the most terrifying.
Where Nature Bites Back: A Horror Interview with Jack Finn on Werewolves, History & Human Monsters
Let’s start at the very beginning. For our readers, please introduce yourself. Beyond the author bio, tell us a little about who you are when you’re not writing, what you love doing, what fascinates you, and what fuels your creativity.
When I am not writing I am outdoors hiking, kayaking, or just walking in the woods with my wife and two dogs. Nature plays such a large role in most of my stories and is also the nightmare fuel for my creativity.
There is nothing that makes you feel more vulnerable than to be out on the open ocean or deep in the woods to realize we are more at the mercy of the natural world and its inhabitants, than the master of it. I have a deep respect for the environment and the creatures we share this hurtling orb with, so it is not uncommon for the antagonists in my stories to reap the consequences of transgressions against Mother Earth and her creatures.
In the early stages of a new project, what tends to come to you first: a compelling character voice, a central thematic question, or a vivid image/scenario? How does that initial spark then guide you in building the rest of the story?
Most of my stories start in my head with a visceral scene, sometimes the penultimate scene in the tale. I’d be some place or see something, and it triggers a thought like “I could picture thus clearing as the location of a climatic battle between hunters and a werewolf” and then the story works it way back from there.
I am definitely more of a pantser than a plotter. Once I start building out the world where the take will take place and populating it with interesting folks, a lot of the characters take on a life of their own and sometimes that changes who’s in that original image that sparked the story, what happens there, and who survives (or doesnt)
Every book has its own unique set of problems to solve. What was the most difficult ‘puzzle’ you had to crack while writing this book? Was it a plot hole, a character’s motivation, the structure, or something else entirely?
Oh, man, great question. Most of my stories take place in the past, settings in the 18th to early 20th century when the world was still so new and unexplored to us is a particular favorite of mine- before the age of phones, GPS, computers. I love the research phase of writing and I am fanatical about a story setting, characters, etc being as historically accurate or appropriate for the time as possible.
When I wrote the Wolves of Kalinin duology I spent month researching 19th century Russian village life; what it would be like, what was the culture, who were the power players, the bias’, and so on. With Culling of the House of Boars it takes place in ancient Dacia (present day Romania) after the fall of Dacia to the Romans.
The problem that presented was that is not much of Dacian history and language remained. So what names would be appropriate for characters? What would they look and act like? I had to do significant research into the era to find little pieces of history and lore, much of it existed only in obscure Romanian academic journals and articles not translated into English.
The journey from a finished manuscript to a book in a reader’s hands can be a surprising one. What was the most significant way your book evolved during the editing and publishing process, something you didn’t anticipate when you typed ‘The End’?
Culling of the House of Boars is a novelette, and its the first of several standalone novelettes that explore the ancient origins of the strigoi (Romanian vampires). There’s a lot of world building that needs to fit in a tight little story. It started off as a third person POV, but through multiple editing and rewriting phases we refined it into a first person POV story, which I think works much better in the end.
Once a book is published, it no longer entirely belongs to the author; it belongs to the readers and their interpretations. Has a reader’s reaction or analysis ever revealed something about your own work that surprised you?
Two instances really stand out in my mind. The first was with my debut novel, The Seven Deaths of Prince Vlad. I had a reader tell me they liked the story, but never really felt their favorite characters were ever at much risk of not truly making it to the end of the story.
When I wrote the book, I really loved the characters and felt protective of them. I told the story I wanted to tell, but in hindsight more carnage among the protagonists would have worked too, maybe even better. Since then, no characters are safe when I write and I have receive numerous emails about “how could you have killed X or Y” in a story. But I think that critique was ultimately one of the best pieces of advice I ever received.
The second one that stands out was from a reader who had just finished Prey Upon the Lambs, the first book in my Wolves of Kalinin duology. They had really liked the book and when they were talking to me about it I realized they pictured certain characters or scenes completely differently than I did. The story was the same, but they envisioned it differently based upon there own experiences.
I remember thinking that was really cool, they had made the story their own and that way it really resonated with them. After that I was careful about descriptions whenever I write to give the reader enough detail to envision the character, location, or action but leave enough space for them to make it their own rather than impose my vision on them. My goal is to tell a story and walk them down the path, but still leave room for it to be the readers steps.
Writing is a demanding, often solitary pursuit. Beyond the apparent goal of ‘telling a story,’ what is the specific, personal fuel that keeps you going through the difficult stretches? Is it the joy of discovery, the need to understand something yourself, the connection with a future reader, or something else?
There is always something deeper in the stories we write. Its more than just a tale. There’s a message we want to pass to the reader and we’re telling that truth interwoven into the narrative of the story. Its not a beat you over the head kind of thing like a parable, its more like director Stanley Kubrick said a “progression of moods and feelings”.
We often hear about authors being influenced by other books. What are some non-literary influences on your work, such as a specific piece of music, a historical event, a scientific theory, or even a landscape, that have profoundly shaped your storytelling?
Winston Churchill once said, “For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially if I propose to write that history myself.” Now that gets largely paraphrased into “history is written by the victors” and that sentiment has always resonated strongly with me. I wrote The Seven Deaths of Prince Vlad as a re-envisioning of the tale of Dracula, from the perspective that Stoker’s story was written (fictionally of course) by the victors, Van Helsing and crew. But what if the actual (fictional) tale was far different, and the victorious Van Helsing was really the villain.
Is there an author, living or dead, whom you consider a ‘silent mentor’? Not necessarily someone you try to imitate, but whose approach to the craft made you feel permission to write in your own way?
Absolutely! Gerald Brom. I always loved his art growing up and his early fiction, but his dark take on Peter Pan in The Child Thief and Santa in Krampus had a tremendous impact on me. I think my style of writing traditional villains as protagonists and traditional heroes as antagonists comes a lot from his influence in those books. I also think Slewfoot is one of the most iconic representations of American folk horror, a sub-genre I absolutely consume regularly!
Who was the first person to see your early drafts, and why did you trust them with your unpolished work? What is the most valuable piece of feedback they gave you?
My wife was my first reader and we discussed plot points and changes nightly while I was writing my debut novel, The Seven Deaths of Prince Vlad. She was able to step back from the story and say, wait why would they do that or wouldn’t they think of this. That birds eye view into the story from her was invaluable.
Horror is often most potent when it’s internal. Beyond external monsters, how do you explore the slow unravelling of a character’s sanity or the horror of their own mind?
What makes a good horror story is when it taps that internal well of fears inside each of us. I was always afraid of what was lurking in the dark woods, just out of sight. My parents would say, “there’s nothing out there” but that doesn’t help the fear to really subside. The trick with horror is to tickle that part of your mind that always thinks is there something out there, is there something in the water or under the bed or in the closet. You are always told there’s not, so you doubt yourself or even your sanity. Then the horror tale shows you, no, there is something there and its worse than you feared.
Setting in horror is often described as a character in its own right. How do you approach transforming a location, whether a house, a town, or a landscape, into a source of active dread?
Prey Upon the Lambs and The Desolation of Hunters takes place in Obrechen, a fictional 19th century Russian village plagued by a werewolf. One of the reason I chose that time period and that kind of setting was that life there is already fraught with danger. You had famine, illness, revolutionaries, the harsh deprivations of winter.
Life was tough, people struggled, and death was a common occurrence. I did a lot of research into how Russian villages in that time period reacted to different negative stimuli, so I had a good amount of data about how the Russian villager succeeded or failed in the face of different hardship. Who they blamed. Who rose to the occasion and who took advantage. Then I introduced the concept of an apex predator of incredible intelligence and ability. Obrechen as a village is as much a character as the people individually, that’s one of the reason the cast of characters is pretty wide, to see how the village reacted and respnded.
Writing a terrifying buildup is one skill; delivering a satisfying payoff is another. How do you decide when to finally show the monster or reveal the source of the horror?
That’s definitely a delicate balancing act. You want to keep readers guessing and imagining but you don’t want to get them frustrated or go so far down the road of imagining the monster that they have a fully formed image in their heads and the actual reveal is a letdown. You want your creature to make a grand entrance, but once you do you have to keep the creature interesting. There needs to be further revelations of its motivations, abilities, or origin to keep the reader intrigued.
The horror genre is rich with established tropes and archetypes. How do you engage with these familiar elements, the haunted house, the ancient curse, the final girl, in a way that feels fresh and surprising? Do you consciously seek to subvert a trope, or do you focus on executing it with such depth and authenticity that it becomes new again?
I like to try and subvert a trope. Most of my short stories and a lot of my longer fiction is based upon the thought that our world is built upon the ruins of things far more ancient. Occasionally, likes weeds through cracks in cement, those things break through into our world usually because someone has violated the little space left in this world to those creatures, trod upon ground they had no place being (trodding?), or pilfered or disrespected things ancient and sacred.
I think most tropes focus on the people impacted as inhabitants of the haunted house, the people incurring the curse, or being chased as the final girl or guy by a killer or monster. I tend to take a contrarian view, that if you incur the wrath of a ghost, curse, or monster perhaps you deserved it and lets see why.
How do you approach writing scenes of intense terror or violence to make them feel physically impactful without tipping into gratuitousness?
I think when you are talking terror, less is always more. If you go back to that opening scene of Jaws, you don’t see the shark or what it is doing to Chrissie Watkins below the surface and that’s where the terror lies. It plays upon each individual’s imagination and fears without imposing a single lens, I typically do not get into more visual descriptions of the physical injuries until later in a story when a disliked character gets their just deserves, I let the reader savor those kills a little more. Aside from that I think it builds tension to keep the violence card closer to the chest until the time is right.
Do you have a favourite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
In Culling of the House of Boars I enjoyed the line “strigoi are the locusts in the wheat field of humanity.”
What is the specific, core truth you are trying to expose or explore through your horror?
I think the core truth for me, is that humans are the greatest monster in the pantheon of terrors. You see it most clearly in werewolf tales like Prey Upon the Lambs and The Desolation of Hunters. The wolf is an alpha predator, its feral and primal, but it does not exhibit evilness until you combine it with a human in a werewolf. That’s when the penchant for cruelty and malevolence comes out.
You have precisely two minutes in a crowded bookstore to hook a reader who is sceptical of the entire horror genre. They look at your book’s cover and ask, ‘Convince me. Why should I read this? I don’t even like being scared.’
Two minutes? I would have to fall back on the Alan Frog quote from The Lost Boys “Think of it more like a survival manual. There’s our number on the back and pray you never need to call us.”
Culling of the House of Boars by Jack Finn
For fans of Empire of the Vampire, The Passage, and Game of Thrones.
Culling of the House of Boars is a descent into darkness where ancient vampire clans wage brutal wars among themselves, their hunger for power rivaling their thirst for human blood.
Strigoi.
Living dead monstrosities haunting the villages and byways of Romania and Eastern Europe for over two millennia, shunning the sun and preying upon the blood of the living. They are a thing of nightmare, born of ancient dark arts and created to instill fear in the hearts of the invaders of their ancestral lands.
What you see is only a hateful remnant of what once incited such terror in the heart of Rome that Emperor Aurelian withdrew his legions from the frontier for fear of them. They hunt in the shadows of your world now, but once they roamed these lands like vengeful gods.
You see, the strigoi are an invasive species and have no natural predators. They are the locust in the wheat field of humanity.
I know this, for I am Adaric, Culling Master of the House of Boars.
And I am strigoi.
Jack Finn
Jack Finn is a horror author and active Horror Writers Association member living in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest with his wife and two fiendishly clever dogs. He is a lifelong believer that the Tooth Fairy proves you can trade body parts for cold, hard cash.
His books include, The Wolves of Kalinin werewolf duology: Prey Upon the Lambs (Anuci Press 2025) and The Desolation of Hunters (Anuci Press 2025); the horror collection They Come When You Sleep (Velox Books 2025), a re-envisioning of the Dracula mythos in the standalone novel The Seven Deaths of Prince Vlad (Anuci Press 2024), the folk horror collection, Legend of the Deer Woman (Crow Street Press, 2023), and the forthcoming Culling of the House of Boars (Crows Street Press, Nov 2025), Book of Alice duology (Edge Weaver Books, 2026), Wilson (Crow Street Press, Feb 2026), and He Who Has Done Evil (Crystal Lake Publishing, 2026)
His short stories have been included in Terrorcore Publishing’s DOORS OF DARKNESS, January Ember Press’ HORROSCOPE 4, Dark Village Publications’ TWELVE MONTHS OF HORROR, Voices From the Mausoleum’s HOWLIN’ FOR YOU, Edge Weaver Books’ TALES FROM THE CURSED EDGE, and Radical Publishing’s WITH TEETH Anthology (Feb, 2026).
SOCIALS:
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/therealjackfinn/
BLUESKY https://bsky.app/profile/therealjackfinn.bsky.social
TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/therealjackfinn
THREADS: https://www.threads.com/@therealjackfinn
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealJackFinn
WEBSITE: www.therealjackfinn.com
Interviews on Ginger Nuts of Horror
If you’re a fan of horror literature and cinema, then you absolutely need to check out the horror interview section of Ginger Nuts of Horror.
Firstly, the interviews feature a diverse range of authors, filmmakers, and horror enthusiasts, allowing readers to gain a multifaceted understanding of the genre. Each interview is an opportunity to explore the creative processes, inspirations, and personal stories behind the minds that produce some of the most chilling and thought-provoking works in horror today. From seasoned veterans to up-and-coming talents, the variety of voices ensures that readers can find something that resonates with them.
Moreover, these interviews often delve into the nuances of what makes horror such a compelling genre. Contributors share their thoughts on the psychological aspects of fear, the societal influences on horror trends, and the ways in which horror reflects cultural anxieties. This deeper exploration not only enriches one’s appreciation for horror stories but also fosters discussions about broader themes, such as identity, morality, and existential dread.
The interviews frequently touch on practical advice and industry insights. Writers and creators often share the hurdles they faced in their careers, tips for aspiring horror writers, and the realities of getting published or produced. This wealth of knowledge is invaluable for anyone looking to navigate the sometimes challenging waters of the horror genre. Readers interested in breaking into horror writing or filmmaking will find a treasure trove of wisdom that could pave their path toward success.
Lastly, the community aspect of Ginger Nuts of Horror cannot be overlooked. Engaging with these interviews allows readers to feel connected to a larger community of horror enthusiasts. Comment sections and social media interactions often follow, enabling fans to discuss their thoughts and engage with both the interviewees and fellow readers.
In conclusion, the horror interview section of Ginger Nuts of Horror is an essential resource for anyone interested in the genre. It provides rich insights, guidance, and inspiration that can deepen one’s appreciation for horror while fostering a vibrant community among fans and creators alike. Don’t miss out on the chance to delve into the minds of your favorite horror creators!
