RW Duder - dReadCon Author Spotlight

Thank you so much for being an attending author at dReadCon Book Fair and Convention in Burlington. We are so excited to have you there again!

Tell us a little bit about yourself, what books we can expect to see at dReadCon, and where we can find you on social media.

Hello dReadCon!! I am so thrilled to be taking part in the 2nd annual dReadCon! My name is Rob, and I write under RW Duder in horror and dark fiction. I am best known for my slasher series, “Amy,” but I have 16 titles across various horror sub-genres, including middle-grade horror, ghost stories, supernatural entities, and demons. You can find me all over social media at RW Duder!! At dReadCon I will have all 16 of my current active titles available for purchase.

Why is DreadCon important for horror and dark fiction authors?

I have been doing “Cons” and “vendor shows” for 5 years now. I had not done a single convention where horror was the focus. There just aren’t many. Least of all, there aren’t many in Canada. So, when DReadCon was announced last year, I was excited to be a part of this community. Book shows, vendor shows, comic cons… we are always a community, but the horror community is something special. We nerd out and are drawn to fellow like-minded weirdos. dReadCon is our space to celebrate dark fiction in a way we’ve never been able to.

Do you have a favourite character you have written? If so, what book are they in and will it be at dReadCon?

Amy Lynn Walker. She’s six years old, and she was murdered by her serial killer father seconds before he drained all the pure soul from her. She didn’t die. She rose from the dead, and now she is an innocent-looking, unstoppable killing machine. I have written Amy for 6 years now (launched in October 2019). She has killed her way through five in the main series, she went to Space in 2022 (cuz all good horror goes to space) and went up against a rival vampire in my “spin-off” The Retreat. Altogether, Amy spans 7 novels with more to come! If you haven’t dove in yet, this is your chance!! Amy is waiting.

How does engaging with fans shape the way you write horror?

Three weeks ago I was at a convention, and a reader walked by and yelled over the crowd, “Get me a sequel to Broken!!” and then continued on her way. I smiled. Broken is my 2020 Ghost story release that people resonated with. It’s about coping with loss, finding reasons to live again, but has this beautiful haunting ghost story at its core. I have never given any thought to a sequel. It was and is ‘one and done’. But as that fan walked by yelling her high praise to me… my brain went “She wants a sequel, I should do one.” And that’s how fans shape the way I write horror. Every compliment, every suggestion, every piece of feedback goes into what I write about. Fans are the reason I write.

What trope do you secretly love, even if it’s cliché?

If you read my books, you’ll know the answer to this question is ALLLL of the horror ones. I love tropes. Go upstairs instead of running outside? The jock? The virtuous “final girl”, teens doing teen things in the woods while the slasher watches… you’ll find I lean heavily into tropes, but I hope I do so in such a way that brings a feeling of nostalgia, a smile, an understanding of what I’m trying to convey.

How do you balance fear and deeper themes in your writing?

I believe most of us are just hard-wired with a fear of death. The great unknown. Death is already scary just all by it’s little ol’ self but when you factor in fiction that allows personifications of death to come out and bite back… that’s terrifying. So I try and balance the deeper themes by giving my ‘monsters’ purpose, back story, and make you even feel empathy for them. I think there is also value in leaning into certain horror tropes to get under people’s skin. Small towns, cemeteries, creepy old houses…. If you can trigger a reader’s core fears, the rest if easy.

Has writing ever made you confront personal fears or experiences?

I wrote The Art of Dying as a very, deeply cathartic story for me. The main character is Allan Roberts, a 70+ year old man who isn’t ready to accept his twilight years. I’m not 70 yet, but I just completely resonated with Allan as a character. His fears, excitement, his journey, his sadness… everything about him just really captured my own feelings of aging and death.