Joseph Carro is the coauthor of two horror story anthologies: Little Coffee Shop of Horrors and Little Coffee Shop of Horrors 2. He wrote both books along with his uncle, Paul Carro. Carro grew up in Maine and New Hampshire and earned his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine.
What is your favorite horror novel and movie and what is it about those stories that resonates with you so much?
My favorite horror novel is a bit cliche because it’s Dracula by Bram Stoker. Meanwhile, my favorite horror film is Kubrick’s The Shining. The reason I love Dracula so much is because of the format - I’ve always been intrigued by epistolary stories because the intimacy of someone’s letters or journals telling the story piece by piece is such a cool way to narrate a tale. The reason I enjoy The Shining so much is because it’s a slow burn and deals with ghosts, which are the only real things in horror that creep me out a lot.
As a writer, what is it that draws you to the horror genre?
As a writer I’m drawn to the horror genre because horror can be told so many interesting ways and with so many interesting themes. It’s very versatile and allows for lots of freedom and room for exploration and experimentation.
Of all the stories you’ve published, which are you most proud of and why?
It’s hard to nail down which I’m “most” proud of because I have two complete collections of stories I’ve written with my uncle which are all amazing but to go along with my love of “Dracula” I had a lot of fun writing a story for Horrors of the Deep: Startling Sea Stories entitled “The Keepers of Deerback Isle” - which was my homage to Stoker and uses an epistolary format. It’s about some lighthouse keepers in Maine who go missing, inspired by true events surrounding a real life disappearance case of lighthouse keepers in Scotland in 1900 but with my own twist.
To learn more about Joseph Carro and his work, check out his website at www.josephcarro.com
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