Justin Lutz is the author of Give Unto Us, a novella about a married couple who discover a very strange hole in the back yard of their new home. Think of it as a body horror lover’s mashup of The Cipher and Pet Sematary. We published the novella through Ghoulish Books earlier this summer and we happen to think it’s a lot of fun and hope you consider ordering a copy.
Mindy Rose is on staff with Ghoulish Books as our publicity ghoul. She helps manage our social media feeds, yes, but also so much more that we legally can’t disclose in this post, and we appreciate her spooky enthusiasm immensely. One new thing we’re forcing her to do is interview our authors for the GHOULBLOG and our free newsletter The Ghoulish Times. We’re going to call these interviews GHOUL GAB because can you think of a cuter name? Doubtful.
Earlier this week, Mindy hopped into Justin’s DMs, and this is what happened:
mindy: okay hello justin lutz welcome to the interview!
mindy: my first interviewee, shannon, was freshly tattooed with a ghoul and actively bleeding when i interviewed her, are you currently freshly tattooed or otherwise bleeding?
Justin Lutz: I’m not super freshly tattooed, but within the last two weeks! It’s not a Ghoul, unfortunately, it’s an owl diving with his talons out
mindy: so that’s a no on the current open wounds?
Justin Lutz: Only emotional ones!
mindy: okay i guess that works
mindy: did you write give unto us because the pus lube scene came to you in a majestic vision and you needed a way to share it with the world?
Justin Lutz: Really the pit came to me first, but it’s an insatiable bottomless pit so there was bound to be something sexual about it
mindy: oh for sure
mindy: so you were just like. writing the book and the pus lube thing happened organically?
Justin Lutz: Kind of, yeah! Trevor was already covered in sores and Melissa was partly possessed by the pit and trying to get it, so it felt like the most natural move haha
mindy: lmao
mindy: i hope i’m someday in a situation wherein using pus as lube feels like the most natural move
mindy: i know you’re a musician, but do you listen to music while you write or do you need it to be Quiet Time?
Justin Lutz: I do listen to music! I’m not unique in that it usually has to be music without lyrics, because that diverts me. I listen to a lot of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, and a lot of sound tracks. The Ritual and It Follows are my favorites
mindy: it never occurred to me before but i guess listening to instrumental horror soundtracks while writing horror would probably fuck severely
mindy: if you had to bare knuckle fight any other ghoulish author, who would you fight, and do you think you would win this fight?
Justin Lutz: Oh man this is loaded! I think I would agree to bare knuckle fight Todd Keisling but we would end up having drinks and listening to records instead so no one would win
mindy: so is there any fighting at all happening before the drinks
Justin Lutz: Almost certainly not, other than fighting over what to drink or listen to
mindy: hmm i’m not sure your answer should qualify as an answer but i’ll let you have it
mindy: this next question is from max: ask him what he thinks of children
Justin Lutz: This feels like a trap, Max! They would all be fed to the pit to see what would spit back out
mindy: soooo valid
mindy: ok this question is also from max: what would he draw the line at sticking in a mysterious hole in the ground?
Justin Lutz: I am well aware that max is baiting me to say that I would put my dick in the hole, so I’ll say that there is no line, everything is on the table
mindy: that actually didn’t occur to me but you may be correct
mindy: this question is also from max: ask him why he wouldn’t read the sex scene out loud behind the restaurant near his house; ask him if he’s a coward
Justin Lutz: I read the sex scene in Brian Keene’s book store, so I think that proves I’m not a coward
mindy: i think it might prove that you are a traitor tho
mindy: smh
Justin Lutz: Ahhh maybe, fuck
mindy: okay, to finish off this super professional interview, anything you want people to know about the book, your experience writing it, what it’s been like to work with ghoulish, etc?
Justin Lutz: Just that the book has maybe the first pus-based lube sex scene in horror, writing it was easy due to my own personal experience with insatiable bottomless holes, and that working with Ghoulish has been the most enjoyable experience I’ve had since throwing everything I own down a bottomless pit
