Finding Catharsis in Dark Fiction with Tobin Elliott

Tobin Elliott is a horror author who, in his own words, writes ugly stories about horrible people doing terrible things. In this interview, we discuss Bad Blood, his first book in The Aphotic series, his publishing journey, his career as a creative writing instructor, and why so many readers resonate with his dark content.

Tobin was destined for horror. This became obvious when, in the span of two weeks, he built a working model of a guillotine out of popsicle sticks and a razor blade — which his Grade Five teacher didn't seem to appreciate as much as he did — and he also learned to tie a noose and proudly hung one from their apartment balcony — which his mother and the superintendent didn't seem to appreciate as much as he did. Eventually, he learned to focus the horror into stories. His friends and neighbours likely appreciate the lesser PDH (Public Displays of Horror).

Besides writing ugly stories about bad people doing horrible things, Tobin also counts embarrassing his wife and kids, pointing out the stupidities of others, being dumb to kind animals, and killing plants among his hobbies. Finally, Tobin loves feedback, either positive or negative, on his writing. You can find him occasionally reviewing indie books on Goodreads, or being sarcastic on Twitter and Instagram (@thehorrorguy91).