Splatterpunk Award-nominated author Bridgett Nelson released her first new standalone project in more than a year. Actually, she released two.
Her collections Sweet, Sour, & Spicy and What the F*** Was That? dropped on June 6. The two books follow Nelson’s Splatterpunk-nominated collection A Bouquet of Viscera, which hit shelves in March 2022.
So, what took so long?
“After Bouquet came out, I spent the entire summer and fall traveling and going to conventions,” Nelson says in an exclusive interview for lionelraygreen.com. “On many of my ‘off’ days, I was forced to focus more on my day job, proofing audio narrations (along with several regular editing jobs) which pays for all the previously mentioned conventions. I’m not as prolific as I’d like … and I had a whole mess of short stories to write for various anthology invites. So, I was trying to knock those out, while also focusing on the stories for these new collections. It took a while.”
Judging by early reviews, these collections are worth the wait. Legendary extreme horror author Edward Lee’s praise is blurbed on both book covers. Lee is a two-time Splatterpunk Award winner and the 2020 J.F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
“Bridgett Nelson writes the most horrifying, outrageous, offensive, down-and-dirtiest horror I’ve ever seen,” Lee writes.
Of Nelson’s story “Giggly,” Lee says it “kicked my ass. Outstanding job! I need therapy now.”
Even Nelson admits a couple of the stories are among her most extreme.
“As for reading ‘Giggly,’ you’ll probably want to bleach your brain afterward,” Nelson says. “Honestly, same with ‘Rewards,’ the spicy offering, about which Lee said, ‘Bridgett, thanks for giving me the pleasure of reading one of the most overtly violent tales in recent memory! You’ll be raising eyebrows for a long time to come!’”
Nelson appreciates Lee’s interest in her writing.
“I first realized Lee was a fan after he mentioned me during the Dead Headspace podcast,” Nelson says. “We were both in The Evil Cookie Publishing anthology, Counting Bodies Like Sheep, and Lee read my story, ‘Shits n’ Giggles.’ He loved it! He’s genuinely excited that women are becoming more prominent in the extreme horror/splatterpunk movement. I adore him. And I appreciate his support more than he’ll ever know. As a Splatterpunk Award-nominated author, I couldn’t ask for a better cheerleader.”
Nelson’s favorite author Jeff Strand helped her with the idea for Sweet, Sour, & Spicy, while the title of What the F*** Was That? is inspired by Nelson’s favorite song from the Evil Dead musical.
“Three of the stories – ‘Bark Off,’ ‘Giggly,’ and ‘Belong’ – were initially written as chapbooks for a publisher, but the project fell through,” Nelson says. “As I was talking to Jeff one day, I mentioned I wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the ‘sweet’ story I’d written … as it wasn’t typical Bridgett. Then I mentioned I’d written a really grisly story that soured my stomach. Jeff replied, ‘Well then, write a spicy story and call the collection Sweet, Sour, & Spicy.’ I liked that idea a lot and decided to run with it.
“I wanted the whole vibe of these collections to be fun, quirky, and extreme … so I decided it would be fun to have a dual release of the six novelettes that make up these two books. Novels are coming though! I promise!”
Speaking of novels, Nelson is writing the novelization of the 2008 horror film Deadgirl for Encyclopocalypse Publications, which she hopes to release by April.
“Last fall, I reached out to Sean Duregger from Encyclopocalypse Publications to see if he could get the rights to Night of the Creeps, one of my favorite movies growing up,” Nelson says. “Unfortunately, he couldn’t, but told me if I thought of anything else I’d like to do, to please let him know. I’d watched Deadgirl the year it came out. Loved it! And let’s face it, it fits very well into my niche as an extreme horror author. Again, I went to Sean. Within 24 hours, he’d obtained the rights, sent my contract, and put me in touch with Trent Haaga, the screenwriter. Trent was awesome, telling me to ‘play as much as I wanted in his sandbox.’ Basically, I have free reign with this novelization, and I have so many ideas! My goal is to have it finished by late summer, though with my schedule, we’ll see. I’d love to have it available for AuthorCon ’24!”
RELATED LINKS
Lee, Nelson score multiple nominations for 2023 Splatterpunk Awards
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