An Interview with Susan McCauley: Gothic Horror and the Unraveling of Sanity

“The atmosphere is a character in itself”

Susan McCauley has spent decades exploring the darker corners of human nature through her work, from award-winning middle grade series to screenplays and adult horror. With nine novels to her name and her forthcoming gothic horror The Raven on the horizon for September 2026, McCauley has established herself as a versatile voice in genre fiction. Her journey from shy child barking her way through Peter Pan to becoming a published author and screenwriter is one of persistence, creativity, and a willingness to follow the story wherever it leads.

In this interview, Susan McCauley talks about the evolution of The Raven, her approach to psychological horror, and the personal fears that fuel her writing. She reveals how a ghost story heard in York in 1999 eventually became a novel, a play, and a film in development. She also discusses the challenge of writing from multiple points of view, the importance of connection with readers, and what keeps her going through the difficult stretches of the writing life. This is a conversation about craft, loss, and the horror that lives inside us all.

Gothic Horror and the Unraveling of Sanity: An Interview with Susan McCauley

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.

What can I tell you that’s not in my one of my various bios online? Well, I was extremely shy and anxious as a kid. Shy, but I wanted to be in theatre. Weird, right? So, what did I do for my first play? I volunteered to play Nana the dog in Peter Pan. That gave me time on stage without having to speak (only barking was required).

I was eight-years-old at the time, and that seems to have been the magical age when my creativity began to coalesce. I got involved in theatre; I ran around with my dad’s camcorder and made movies (which I wrote, of course); I took my first black & white photography class . . . I even did weaving and pottery. I never got into drawing or painting, but I wish I had. I didn’t think I had any natural drawing talent, and I was too worried about getting a bad grade to take art in high school. 

Well, just last year I broke my toe and had to sit around a lot. That happened just after I’d done a book signing in Eureka Springs, Arkansas at a cool art store. While in the art store, I picked up a book on watercolor and some supplies. I got home two days later, broke my toe on my son’s hefty wheeling backpack, and, since I was between writing projects and the Christmas season was almost upon us, I needed something creative to do. . . so, I painted.

And I was much better than I expected. (So, don’t ever sell yourself short. Even if you think you won’t be good at something – try it – you never know! And even if you’re not so great, if you enjoy it, then go for it. Not everything has to be pro-grade.) I’m laughing at myself as I write this because I also tend to be a perfectionist—at least about my own work. 

Outside of writing, which I truly love (most of the time), I enjoy traveling and caring for animals. Exploring different parts of the world and experiencing different cultures and languages fascinates me, but I also love finding the human core that runs through various cultures and religions. I like examining and considering what we all have in common… what makes us human. Traveling also fuels my creativity. Places and people give me ideas. I may hear a story or have an experience that ignites a spark. And if that spark stays lit, then I know I may have the beginning of something I want to write. 

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?

Honestly, I’ve had various experiences with different projects. On one occasion, a fully formed character popped into my head and helped me write the story. (That was for my very dark novella, The Demon Tailor). Often, a true scenario or vivid image will stick with me and be the start of a story. For my forthcoming novel, The Raven (September 2026), I had the seed for this story planted way back in 1999.

I was on one of my first solo trips, and I went on a tour in York, England, where I heard a vague ghost story about cries and giggles coming from a field in York. The story resonated with me, and I wanted to learn more. I found various oral stories about the location, but nothing was written down. (I even returned to York later and did research at the York Minster Library, where I met a librarian who had researched the same story I was tracking down. He found nothing much to go on either.)

So, since there wasn’t much historical evidence behind this “haunting”, I used my interest in history and various themes (like how power can corrupt) to create the reason WHY the truth of what happened there was never recorded. I say a lot more about this in the Author’s Note at the end of The Raven, which was formerly entitled The Lost Children of York, but that was my starting point for this story.

It eventually became my thesis play at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Then, after becoming somewhat discouraged with theatre rejections of the play, it sat dormant for many years. Later, a European critique partner read it and encouraged me to turn it into a screenplay. . . there were many years and iterations of the work, but it eventually became the novel that’s coming out in September 2026. 

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?

This book, The Raven, was interesting because I wrote the play first, then the screenplay. It was at the urging of one of the film’s producers that I novelized the story. (I had considered writing it as a novel in 2014, but I had no idea where to start at the time.) Fast forward more than a decade: I’d gained a lot more writing experience and since the film was in development, I decided to give the novel version a try.

Having the plot and characters fairly fleshed out already was extremely helpful, but by turning it into a novel, I got to know the characters even better because I could really get inside their minds. (And, yes, I did go back and make changes to the screenplay once I’d finished the novel because I’d made some character discoveries while writing the book. So while the works are different, they each informed the other.) 

The biggest challenge for The Raven novel was figuring out which point of view to use for the story. In the screenplay, the audience can move from scene to scene and character to character visually. For the book, I needed to figure out how I was going to develop and show these characters and have them tell their story in novel format. So, I did something I hadn’t done before in fiction: I wrote it from multiple points of view.

I decided that to tell the story how I envisioned and to give deeper insights into the characters. In The Raven, I move in and out of the points of view of different characters within each chapter, which I hoped would create an unsettling feeling for the reader while also developing those character and story more fully by exploring four key points of view. So far, from early reviews, that decision has created the desired effect. 

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?

I’ve had moments where readers have appreciated small details I’ve included, which made me happy—although I don’t recall the details. But what I have really appreciated, at least for my books for younger readers, is when I get an email from a parent of a reluctant reader telling me that their son (it’s usually the boys moms’ I hear from) couldn’t put my book down.

I had one mom tell me that her son was reading in the backseat on the way to soccer practice, and another one tell me the teacher texted her because her son sat and read one of my Ghost Hunters books during recess instead of running around on the playground. Getting readers that engaged makes me happy and excited.

It makes me feel like my writing is making a difference. I want to tell stories that entertain (and scare), but I hope that when my stories go out into the world that they will make a difference to those who read them in a personal way. I think that’s where the meaning lies—in the world of the reader and how they decode the words and in what the world on the page means to them.

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?

This is a great, but tough question. It’s one I ask myself regularly and, honestly, I’m not sure if I fully know the answer. I feel compelled to write. It’s something I have to do. But I also want my stories to connect with readers. That’s definitely important to me. As for the writing itself, I think I’m drawn to explore situations and questions about the human experience that I have.

I’ve written for children and teens and adults, horror, fantasy, thrillers, and creative non-fiction, but I find myself the most comfortable and most drawn to psychological horror. Again, I frequently ask myself, why? I think it is in an attempt to better understand the darker parts of human nature. Of course it can be fun to give people scares and to help create the community that surrounds horror, but I think on a deeper level it is about exploring what makes people do some of the terrible (and wonderful) things they do, and how those actions affect others and the world around them.

And doing so in a fictional way is safe for the writer and the reader. It’s a place where you can go to the darkest areas of life without actually dealing with serious consequences, and then have the opportunity to think about human nature and what each of us is capable of facing.

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 mom was and is the first person to see my early drafts. She doesn’t give editorial feedback, but she does give me the feedback of a reader, and she’s good at catching typos and asking for clarifications. I trust her because she’s been giving me feedback my entire life. I mean, she helped me with homework when I was in elementary school, so I suppose it was a natural transition that she is the one I’ve always gone to with early drafts of my writing. She’s getting older now, and I worry about what I’ll do when she’s gone. It certainly won’t be the same without her reading my first drafts.

My mom doesn’t give me advise, per se, but when she asks for clarity in certain parts of a piece, it helps me focus on what may or may not be working in a section of a work. That can be extremely helpful early on when I’m still developing the story and characters. 

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?

I started out in entertainment as an actress. (And I’m not referring to my barking stage debut in Peter Pan.) By the time I was in high school, I was taking professional acting classes outside of school, and then studied professional acting in Los Angeles. While I enjoy acting, I think I’m too self-conscious to be truly free as an actor, but I’m able to channel what I learned from acting into my writing for both character development and writing dialogue.

So, when I explore the slow unraveling of a character’s sanity, which is a big part of The Raven, I put myself into “as if” mode. I write as if I am the character when I’m writing. It can be fun, but it can also be a painful process. Before I jump into that part of the work, I also do a lot of research to fully immerse myself in the world I’m building. 

I remember very well a moment in my life that put this into perspective and really stuck with me. I was a young teenager at the time and saw Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams with my parents. There was a moment in the play when one of the characters, whom I think must have been Vee, was on this spiral staircase, and she was literally losing her grip on reality as she descended the stairs.

The actor’s physical and emotional states came together so perfectly with the blocking, the set, and the script that it created a vivid, visceral experience for me. I saw how someone could lose their grip on reality in front of me, and it was powerful. I believe that was, quite likely the first seed planted in my mind that made me want to explore a human’s descent into madness in my writing. In The Raven, it is debatable if Martin is haunted or if he’s gone insane (or perhaps both). I have my own opinion on that, but I would prefer to keep it to myself and let the reader decide if they think Martin is insane or haunted. 

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?

I love creating atmosphere in my writing. Someone in an early ARC review of The Raven described the atmosphere as a character, which makes me happy. I feel like I did my job when I hear that. To me, place is vital to story and can impact both plot and character on many levels. When transforming a location “into a source of active dread”, I imagine myself being in the place and think about what I would need to see, hear, and feel to evoke the type of emotions I want to bring to the page. So, I try to tap into all of the senses and capture the essence on the page in a visual or visceral way.

What is the specific, core truth you are trying to expose or explore through your horror? 

One theme I’ve seen come up in my horror over and over again is facing the fear of loss, or coping with loss. That’s one of my biggest fears: losing those I love most. So it makes sense that my writing often dips into exploring this fear from a variety of characters in a variety of settings.

In exploring loss, be it the loss of a person, a pet, or something a person holds dear, it gives me the opportunity to see what different characters are made of and how they cope and react. I like finding the good within the evil, the light within the darkness. When we go through real-life horrors, or horrors in books or films, it can also give us the opportunity to find strength or bravery in ourselves that we may not have realized was there. 

The Raven by Susan McCauley

As illness tightens its grip, something darker begins to stir.

England, 1665. As plague ravages London and fear spreads north to York, Martin Blake, a humble cobbler, struggles to protect his family through a bitter, death-shadowed winter. When the parish rector, his wife’s domineering uncle, forces orphaned children from London into their already meager home, Martin’s fragile world begins to unravel.

Grief, illness, and the weight of buried sins close in. Ravens gather. Martin’s reason begins to slip. Whispers spread—of misused alms, of spirits that roam at night, of faith twisted into something monstrous. As snow blankets the land and the dead lie unburied, Martin must confront a chilling truth: is he haunted by guilt, or by something far more sinister?

A gothic tale of illness, obsession, and the perilous border between loyalty and madness.

​Susan (Basso) McCauley is a screenwriter and award-winning author of books for children, teens, and adults. Susan fell in love with writing, theater, and film when she was eight-years-old. That passion inspired her to receive a B.A. in Radio-Television with a minor in Theater from the University of Houston, an M.F.A. in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California (USC), and a M.A. in Text & Performance from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and King’s College in London. Susan also studied acting at Playhouse West with Robert Carnegie and Jeff Goldblum (Wicked, Jurassic Park, Independence Day) in Los Angeles.

While in London, her stage adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s “The Nose” was performed at the Art’s George Bernard Shaw Theatre; and, scenes from her play The Prisoner: Princess Elizabeth were performed under the watchful eye of the Tower Historian and Beefeaters at HMS Tower of London. It was in London that Susan was reminded of her love of fiction, and the first seeds of what was to become her Ghost Hunters novel series were planted in her mind.

Since returning to the U.S., Susan has had several short stories published in various anthologies, and her screen adaptation of “The Cask” was made into an award-winning short film. Susan now has nine novels, one novella, and one picture book in publication, many of which have appeared on the Horror Writers Association (HWA) list of Recommended Works. Additionally, Susan’s exciting middle grade Ghost Hunters series has won numerous awards and is in development for television. Her forthcoming gothic horror novel, The Raven (September 2026), is also in development for film. 

In addition to writing, Susan loves travel, photography, animals, and staying fit (she’s a 2nd degree black belt in taekwondo.)

You can find out more about Susan and her books by visiting her website: https://www.sbmccauley.com/

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