Putting the Horror in Horrormance: A Guest Post from Clay McLeod Chapman

He escaped death and found love, but nothing is what it seems in this wickedly good romance filled with thrills, chills and a little heartbreak. Read on for an exclusive essay from Clay McLeod Chapman on Devil Inside.

Is there anything scarier than love?

You know what’s terrifying? Truly terrifying? Opening yourself up to someone else. Letting them into your heart. That constant fear of rejection. Of getting your heart broken.

It’s funny to consider, but I feel the exact same physiological response one gets when falling for another person can easily be attributed to how our body responds to horror.

Is that your pulse picking up?

Check.

Are you suddenly short of breath, simply by being in proximity to someone else?

Check.

Are all of your senses sharpened, as you shift into a fight-or-flight response?

Check.

Now let me ask: Is this falling in love, or falling to our death? Are we head over heels, or getting decapitated? Is there a difference these days?

Horror and romance may be bizarre bedfellows at first blush, but they have so much in common. Opposites attract, yeah? Why would these two genres be any different?

With my horrormance novel Devil Inside, I wanted to explore the rawer aspects of love. Young love, in particular, where every heartbeat feels fresh and brimming with fire.

At its heart, Devil Inside is about a guy who meets a demon. The two fall in love… and it’s messy. Real messy. Bloody, even. What if your soulmate has no soul? Turns out it’s tough to navigate a new relationship when you’re constantly wondering if the person you love loves you for the demon you are on the inside, or just for the vessel on the outside.

I started making a list. Two lists, actually. One charted those blissful feelings found within falling for someone. The other was a list of key elements for demonic possession.

What a pleasant surprise it was to discover, when placed side-by-side, how much they coalesced into one. It’s scary to let someone else into our heart, surrendering ourselves. Our sense of self can change when we embrace this new presence in our lives.

Remember when you couldn’t stop thinking about that certain special someone? You just couldn’t get them out of your head?

Remember the excitement—the fear—of exploring another person’s body for the first time? That electricity that came with that first encounter?

Is this a new relationship? Or getting possessed by the devil?

The line blurs.

Young love is an intoxicatingly raw element. It has the potential to dip into darkness. Think of our recent obsession with… well, the film Obsession. It charts one of the more toxic modern relationships I’ve ever seen onscreen. I personally think Devil Inside shares a particular kinship with Obsession, in the sense that both look at the terrors of modern love. How much of ourselves do we lose in a new relationship? Will we ever get that person back, or are we trapped inside our own bodies, unable to escape? Possession at its purest. 

So… if the question ever comes up: Why horrormance? What could horror and romance possibly have in common?

A lot, I’d say. They are chocolate and peanut butter, blood and guts, and it all ends with a happily ever after… but happy for who?