Interview With an Author: Robert P. Ottone

Robert P. Ottone is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author from Long Island. He is the author of the novels The Vile Thing We Created, The Triangle, There's Something Sinister in Centerfield, and the collections Tear Me Open: Fears Unwrapped and Her Infernal Name & Other Nightmares.

He lives in upstate New York with his wife, where he enjoys cigars, video games, film, and a good cocktail. His latest novel is Amityville Awakens, and he recently talked about it with Daryl Maxwell for the LAPL Blog.

What was your inspiration for Amityville Awakens?

I was really obsessed with the idea of “well, if the house is haunted, what happens if it gets torn down? Where do the spirits go?” And it more or less evolved from there. I grew up about fifteen or so minutes from the Amityville Horror House, so I was familiar with the area, as a Long Islander. In many ways, it felt like the natural “next thing” for me to write about at that time in my career.

Are Joey, Terri, Mickey, Silva, or any of the other characters in the novel, inspired by or based on specific individuals?

Joey and Terri are very much based on myself. Those feelings during my teen years, the conflicted feelings. The worries. I feel some of them are universal, so that was easy to write. Mickey is based on my nephew, in some ways. Silva is pretty close to myself, too. I love a good ghost story. I love a good cigar. I’d love to have been a harbormaster in another life.

How did the novel evolve and change as you wrote and revised it? Are there any characters or scenes that were lost in the process that you wish had made it to the published version?

Great question! There were some sequences that didn’t make the final cut of the novel that included a little more of Joey and Terri’s friendship/budding romance. I also had one sequence with the Meeker character that was incredibly intense. I decided to remove it, and I’ll likely use it in something else down the line.

Also, the novel was originally around 98k words. Once Clash picked it up, I chopped it down to 85k, so there’s some scene setting and internal monologuing that was lost along the way.

How familiar were you with the folklore surrounding Amityville and its infamous house prior to writing the novel? Did you have to do a bit of research? If so, how long did it take you to do the research and write Amityville Awakens?

Since I’m from Long Island, I knew all about it. Once I grew up, I became a reporter and did even more research into the very real, true-crime case that happened there: the DeFeo murders. Some of that stuff made it into the final novel, but it’s funny, I love researching. I love doing the legwork. I love talking to experts in fields I know nothing about. That’s literally my favorite part of the entire process. I believe I wrote all of Amityville Awakens over the course of six months or so. That feels correct.

What was the most interesting or surprising thing that you learned during your research?

There are a lot of things tied to the DeFeo family that aren’t public knowledge. Lots of... shady goings-on in that family. Amityville is a strange place and I wasn’t particularly shocked by what I learned, but a lot of the more weird elements linger with me to this day.

In your Acknowledgments, you thank your parents for not grounding you when you visited "spooky, supposedly-haunted locations all over Long Island. Including the Amityville Horror House." Can you tell us a bit about your adventures, especially your visit to the Amityville house?

Of course! My friends and I, both in high school and college, viewed the Amityville Horror House as like, the “final boss” when it came to our spooky shenanigans. So, once we cruised down Ocean Avenue, and actually laid eyes on the house, it was almost a sense of relief. It’s a beautiful home. People do live there, so there’s a ghoulish quality to visiting it, I think in some ways. But at the same time, to live in the place with the most haunted house in America and not visit it feels silly, right?

There are other places on Long Island that, at least to me, felt more haunted, and I had some “interesting” experiences while visiting.

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever had an encounter with something paranormal?

You know what? Yeah, I do. Energy is energy. I’m bored by horror authors who say "humans are the only scary thing." I like spooky stuff. Everything is so boring. The world is generally a pretty miserable place. Belief in something like ghosts can be a therapeutic exercise; it can help you. It can help you believe in something bigger than yourself.

When my wife and I stayed at the Stanley Hotel, something blew in her ear. She thought it was me, but it wasn’t, and it was right after we learned about a spirit that haunted the area we were in that had an eye on pretty brunettes. My wife is the prettiest brunette of them all, so that ghost has great taste.

There is a VERY long list of movies based on, or inspired by, the Amityville house legend(s). Have you seen any of them? Do you have a favorite?

I generally don’t like any of them; however, I do legitimately enjoy the very sleazy Amityville 2: The Possession. Mostly because it delves into what many people believe are some of the stranger elements surrounding the DeFeo family. In many ways, the story is a prequel more than a sequel, because it’s telling the story of the DeFeos, even though it’s using a fictionalized version of them.

Plus Diane Franklin. That automatically makes it the best.

Do you have a least favorite? (I realize that you may not want to address this one, and if that is the case, please don't. But I also realize it might be so bad that it could be fun to answer.)?

The shade of it all! I really don’t like the original with Margot Kidder. She also apparently didn’t like it. Rod Steiger is great. But everything about it just feels so corny boots to me. It just doesn’t work in any capacity.

If/when Amityville Awakens is adapted to film or series, who would your dream cast be?

I love this question soooooooooo much. Jacob Tremblay for Joey. Kyliegh Curran as Terri. Christopher Lloyd as Silva. Alicia Silverstone as Meeker. Directed by Nia DaCosta or Hannah Macpherson.

What’s currently on your nightstand?

Other than my sleep mask? I’m currently reading Grace Reynolds’ Neon Moon and Wendy Dalrymple’s Slay At Home Wife.

Can you name your top five favorite or most influential authors?

John Langan, Paul Tremblay, Linda Addison, Michael Cisco, William Peter Blatty

What was your favorite book when you were a child?

I read and loved Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis when I was in like, eighth grade or something, and it’s remained my favorite novel of all time. But as a little kid, my godfather, Tommy, bought a book called Robert the Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner, which my daddy used to read to me. So that, I think is my all-time favorite book, at the end of the day.

Was there a book you felt you needed to hide from your parents?

My parents were very open with what I read and what media I consumed in general. I think if anything, Flowers in the Attic was one they may have had a problem with, but my sister and mom read those voraciously, so at the end of the day, not really.

Is there a book you’ve faked reading?

Ethan Frome in high school was one I remembered not opening a single time. Through some miracle, I still passed the tests and whatnot. I remember being so annoyed that we had to read that instead of Gatsby because I was in AP classes and the former was considered a more difficult work. Ethan Frome sucks. Gatsby forever.

Can you name a book you’ve bought for the cover?

Theodore Sturgeon’s More Than Human. Good lord, was that a terrible waste of time. Awful. Boring.

Is there a book that changed your life?

It was probably Less Than Zero. Especially since, as a kid, all my writing was very Ellis-coded. I wanted to be the next Ellis so bad. Later on, it was The Fisherman by John Langan, Cabin at the End of the World by Tremblay and Ethics by Cisco. Those books, to me, are foundational.

Can you name a book for which you are an evangelist (and you think everyone should read)?

Tinkers by Paul Harding is probably the most important piece of written word written within the last three decades of prose. I’ll always love Tinkers because it feels so experimental, yet at the same time, so personal and honest. There’s a remarkable beauty in those pages, and a book that was worthy of the Pulitzer.

Is there a book you would most want to read again for the first time?

I think I’d really enjoy The Exorcist with fresh eyes. Experiencing it anew, picking up the breadcrumbs, wondering how it all unspools, let’s take having seen the movie out of the equation, right? Just the novel. The experience of that novel. I might also go with Which Way to Mecca, Jack? Also by Blatty. Just so brilliantly funny, beautifully written. Yeah, I might go with Mecca over Exorcist.

What is the last piece of art (music, movies, TV, more traditional art forms) that you’ve experienced or that has impacted you?

I’ve really fallen down a rabbit hole when it comes to Japanese tokusatsu films. The Godzilla motion pictures, Ultraman, stuff like that. I can’t imagine not appreciating the eye for detail and artistic integrity these brilliant magicians making this material executed on every film. Are some better than others? Sure. But on Godzilla’s worst day, his movies still look better than 99% of the CGI nonsense we’re inundated with every feature season.

What is your idea of THE perfect day (where you could go anywhere/meet with anyone)?

My perfect day would involve knowing that all the bills are paid. I’ve got money in the bank and can take my wife out to dinner and drinks. Then, we come back home, sit on our porch, listen to music, and I smoke a cigar, before we invariably head into the den and watch reruns of season five, season six, or season eight of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I’m a very simple man, and the only person I want to spend my time with, generally, is my wife.

What is the question that you’re always hoping you’ll be asked, but never have been?

"Robert, I’m very good friends with some powerful Hollywood types. May I hand over your latest novel to them for consideration on the big screen?"

What is your answer?

Why, of course, I’d be honored.

What are you working on now?

I have a few plates in the air currently, but I have to tell you, I’m working on something that I’m so excited about. It’s very different than anything I’ve written previously, and is coming together so quickly and easily, it’s alarming. It’s letting me play in a sandbox that I love, and it involves monsters.

Robert P. Ottone, along with 3 other noted horror authors, will discuss ghosts and hauntings in a virtual program on 10/21. You can find information about the program here.