INTERVIEW: Writer Joshua Chaplinsky on his surprisingly funny Serial Killer book

I read his latest “Letters to the Purple Satin Killer” and SPOILER ALERT: I enjoyed it.

As a lifelong Kanye West apologist, Joshua Chaplinsky first came to my attention with his novella, “Kanye West – Reanimator.” A funny, entertaining read that mashes Kanye West with Lovecraft. His latest book, “Letters to the Purple Satin Killer” is set to release on August 6th by Clash Books. (You can Pre-order here.)

The book is based on one of Joshua’s short stories. It tells the tale of Jonas Williker, a sadistic serial killer, through the lens of the hundreds of letters sent to him in prison. The result is a page-turner that is surprisingly funny and moving. I loved it.

Here’s my chat with Joshua:

The entire story is told through letters sent to serial killer Jonas Williker. One of the book's magic tricks is that Jonas feels very vivid despite never living in his POV. I imagine that as a writer, you probably had some anxiety about the format working when you started. Was there a moment in the process when you thought, "Okay, this is going to work!"

Maybe when I first started writing the short story there was some doubt. But by the time I'd committed to expanding the idea into a novel I was pretty confident in the format. In fact, looking back at the short story now, it feels under-developed to me. Like the germ of a good idea.

Did the character of Jonas come to you first, or the letter-writing conceit?

Definitely the letter writing conceit. And after that came the characters doing the actual writing. It's really their story. Jonas's characterizaion is just a byproduct of that. The more defined they became, the more defined he became by association.

I found the book pretty damn funny. And it reminded me of American Psycho, how you'd laugh one minute and be incredibly disturbed by a violent act the next. How did you go about this balancing act?

I knew going in that if I wanted people other than depraved sickos like myself to connect with this book, it had to be well-rounded. There had to be levity and emotion to balance out the shocks. Personally I don't find the book to be that dark or violent, but maybe in this case I'm not the best judge. When family members ask if they'll like it, which is code for "how off-putting is it?", I usually say something like, oh, it's not that bad, and then my wife gives me a look like, what, are you crazy?

I want to backpedal a little on the American Psycho comparison. My wife still hasn't finished that book because of the sexual violence. And I think she won't have that problem when she reads your book. My first instinct was to call the book a comedic "true crime" story.

Yeah, I don't think LTTPSK is that hardcore, especially where sexual violence is concerned. I tried not to linger on that stuff. There's definitely a lot of black humor in the book and I think that helps sugarcoat the violence in a way. It wasn't necessarily a conscious choice; the tone was born out of the satire. It's what works for the story.

In the film world, I've had trouble getting horror stuff made because my films have a comedic bent. Are there any limitations with the horror lit genre, or does it feel wide open to you?

I'm surprised to hear you've had trouble getting comedic horror made.

Oh, it’s very much a thing. Financiers LOVE straight-ahead horror but get squirrely around anything that could be marketed as “comedy/horror.”

As for the part that comes after the book is written, I feel like I'm still at a level where anything goes? CLASH had expressed interest before the book was finished, so I didn't feel any pressure there. I just knew the final product had to be good. I tend to write in a bubble. Worrying about expectations is for successful writers! I did recognize that I had a pretty good hook, though—the whole serial killer/epistolary thing—and that I should lean into it. Other than that, it's all about getting my book on as many people's radars as possible.

The mom character is probably my favorite. Funny and tragic. Having to negotiate the fact that you raised a serial killer, trying to keep a pleasant, upbeat attitude in the face of it all. Was she based on anyone in particular?

Well, I don't want to get myself into trouble here, so let's just say she's based on a very specific mom archetype, sort of an "every mom." That doting, "my child can do no wrong," side that exists in all mothers, taken to the extreme. But yeah, I know a few moms like that in real life.

I won't spoil it here, but the book's ending is really effective. There's a surprising emotional resonance to it. Dancing around it as much as we can, did you have that ending in mind from the beginning?

Not the specifics of it, other than the inevitable punitive outcome, which isn't a part of the narrative I try to hide. But a lot of the emotional beats, yeah, I discovered along the way, in the writing. The stuff with Jonas's mother. The more that developed, the happier I became with the final product, which goes back to your question about knowing if the story was going to work. That's when I really knew.

The book is being published by Clash. I believe this is your third book with them? Can you talk about that relationship?

CLASH is great. The whole process with them has been so laid back and easy. I feel incredibly lucky that they continue to say "yes" to me. It sounds cheesy, but when I look at some of the other stuff they've published, it makes me feel like part of something bigger than myself. I can only hope to pay them back one day by selling a million books and making them rich.

I like your book and I think others will too. What can we do to lift it up on our shoulders? GoodReads reviews? Amazon? Posting on social? I'm sure it's a combo of everything, but have you found any correlation between sales and (insert thing here). I ask because I'm assuming your Kanye book had some sort of lift, as it definitely reached my sphere way before I actively began seeking out indie writers.

That's the million dollar question, isn't it? How do I get people to buy my book? Publishing is not an exact science, so the current answer is still, "anything and everything." Especially for independents. I doubt casual fans of KW—Re will automatically want to read everything I write, but if that gives me a leg up, I'll take it. I guess the best answer I can give is if you like something, tell people about it. Tell as many people as possible. The how and where doesn't necessarily matter in the end.

Snag a copy for yourself here!