KAT ELLIS | AUTHOR INTERVIEW
The nights are drawing in as we say goodbye to a summer we’ll likely never forget, but like a flower that has seen frost and darkness, the world’s petals are starting to open at last, facing the autumn light, and it’s time to embrace the good things, like discovering your next favourite book – as I did during lockdown.
Harrow Lake, by Kat Ellis – a north Wales-based author with three previous novels to her name – is a truly dark and twisty Young Adult fiction about Lola, a teenage girl, raised by a father (Nolan) famous for his cult classic horror movies. When an accident befalls him, Lola finds herself rehomed at her grandmother’s, in the same town her father filmed his darkest movie to date. Not only is the town a canvas for those horrific movie scenes involving her absentee mother – who played the part of ‘Little Bird’ in Nolan’s masterpiece – there’s legend of a frightful creature haunting the area by the name of ‘Mr Jitters.’ The name alone sends a tingle of fear up the spine! And Mr Jitters keeps Lola fearful, yet curious about the possibilities of real horrors throughout.
But has the creator of this devilishly chilling novel ever seen anything spooky that she couldn’t rationalise?
“Being a bit of a ‘Scully’ when it comes to spooky things, I’ll happily go on ghost hunts looking for the supernatural, but I’ve never seen anything to convince me it’s real. But – isn’t there always a but? – I was once ghost hunting at Bodelwyddan Castle (in Denbighshire) and heard footsteps running downstairs in the dark, and there wasn’t anybody there. I can’t explain that one.”
Harrow Lake is very rural and isolated, and every character living there seems unnerving and irregular, keeping the reader on its toes. It begs the question: has Ellis stayed in a place like that for real?
“I go out exploring a lot in north Wales – old cemeteries, ruins, castles – and I take a fair bit of inspiration from that, even though my books aren’t usually set here,” Ellis explains. “But the places that inspire me all tend to be uninhabited. I think maybe that allows me a kind of mental blank canvas, which I can then populate with truly nasty and completely fictional characters – ones who aren’t likely to sue me for libel…”
Inventing her own classic horror movie for the purposes of the book must have been all kinds of challenging fun, and it’s inspiring to see ‘a creative’ add new, illustrious branches to the roots of a genre they’ve grown up loving.
“I’m a huge horror fan,” Ellis enthuses, “from the Halloween-type slasher movies of the 80s and 90s, to more subtly sinister films like The Others and The Babadook, right through to sci-fi horrors like Alien and Pitch Black – an underrated classic. My biggest influence for Harrow Lake actually came from the 1940 Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Rebecca, which I watched dozens of times growing up. I loved the idea of this outwardly delightful place hiding a terrible past; I think that’s definitely a strong theme in Harrow Lake.”
Despite the pandemic taking away lively festivals and bookshop events, Ellis has adapted in these trying times, utilising online facilities (in her comfy pyjamas!), and the success of Harrow Lake is only continuing to expand, bringing a hunger for a new creation.
“I’m currently working on my next book, which will be another standalone YA. This one has a strong murder mystery element to it, again with a very sinister vibe. It will hopefully be out next summer.”
Well, without a creepy shadow of a doubt, I believe fans everywhere will be ‘jittering’ in anticipation for its release…
Harrow Lake is published by Penguin. Price: £7.99. Info: www.penguin.co.uk
words KARLA BRADING