Books

Pretty scary

Kelly Link may be afraid of the dark, but pigeonholes don't freak her out.

By Carolyn Juris

Since Kelly Link’s first two story collections, 2001’s Stranger Things Happen and 2005’s Magic for Beginners, were honored on several best-of-the-year lists, it was inevitable that the indie superstar would be scooped up by the majors. In October, Viking is releasing Pretty Monsters, her latest anthology of spine-tinglers. The publisher and the intended audience—young adults—may be new, but Link’s signature mix of sci-fi, fantasy and horror continues to thrill.

Do you risk losing your core audience by targeting young readers?
It’s entirely possible. There’s definitely a stigma attached to certain kinds of fiction. But I don’t mind it. I just turned 39 and I still browse in the young-adult section.

You write about ghosts, werewolves and a global pandemic. What frightens you?
The basic stuff—the dark, flying. And being cut in half, oddly enough. But I love ghost stories, and the frisson you get when something really strange happens.

In “The Surfer,” a father and son fly to Costa Rica in search of extraterrestrials. If you found out that aliens were coming, would you head straight toward them or run away?
I think I might head into the cellar. [Laughs] I’m not much of a risk taker—I calculate The odds before I do anything. I wanted a tattoo for years and couldn’t decide what to get. I signed up for Shelley Jackson’s Skin project—it’s a story that’s being published in tattoos. I spent four months deciding what font to have on my body. It’s actually just the word skin. I was really glad that I didn’t end up with a word like don’t.

Pretty Monsters (Viking, $19.99) is out Oct 2.

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