How ‘I Was a Teenage Slasher’ by Stephen Graham Jones Got Made

In this edition of Endnotes, we take a look at bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones’s new novel, ‘I Was a Teenage Slasher’ (Saga, July). In its review, PW said, “fans of meta horror will find a lot to love as Jones remixes well-worn tropes with glee.”

Here’s how the book came together.

Joe Monti, Editorial Director, Saga Press

“Have you ever been in the situation where someone invites themselves to your dinner? A friend of a friend, but not such a good friend that you’ve already met? That was this book both for Stephen and me. He owed me a book, and we had agreed that he was probably leaning in a historical direction, but then this came screaming out of him instead.”

Stephen Graham Jones, Author

“To make Teenage Slasher the kind of real it needed to be, I had to take it to West Texas in 1989, which was slashers and hair metal, oil and cotton, trucks and tractors, dirt and sun—it’s where and when I grew up. And, yeah, there’s blood and screaming in this one, regret and longing, but more important, there’s a friendship that’s deeper than it has any right to be—that’s stronger than blades and death and time.”

BJ Robbins, Agent, BJ Robbins Literary

“I was awaiting Stephen’s draft of the third book in his Indian Lake Trilogy when he surprised me with this one. I loved it from the start—from its perfect-voiced narrator to its evocative setting in 1989 West Texas to its emotional heart, and, since it’s Stephen, its bloody gore.”

Jackie Seow, V-P and Executive Art Director, Simon & Schuster

“Jones expressed that he wanted to see some old-fashioned horror typography, so we experimented with different forms of drippy, bloody, cracked, hand-painted, and clean vector type to complement the slasher imagery. This style is almost never appropriate for any project, so it was fun
to go wild with it.”