CHRISTOFFER HOLST TALKS WAITING UNTIL NIGHT COMES
"You’re always affected by what you write"
Daniel John
You’ve previously written “feelgood for adults”, but now you’re releasing a real chiller. What is 'Waiting Until Night Comes' about?
The book is about Lukas and Sam, two young guys who’ve been in a long-distance relationship for a while and who now finally get to spend a summer together, in a cabin by Lake Vänern that Sam found online, but while Sam is doing some extra work at the local museum, Lukas starts digging into the house’s history. A history that is anything but pleasant.
What made you want to write your first book in this genre?
I love horror and always have! Horror movies, horror books, ghost stories, you name it. The only problem is that I never knew how to approach it myself. I’ve previously written feel-good novels for adults, and I knew it might seem a bit wild if I suddenly released a horror story. But when I realized I wanted to try writing a young adult book it clicked instantly! It’s a pretty different audience anyway, and a fun chance for me to try something new!
How was it taking on something so, well, not feelgood, did you end up with late nights scaring yourself and hiding under your pillow?
You’re always affected by what you write. That’s just how it is. When I write feelgood I’m satisfied when the writing makes me feel good. And when I write horror, I feel I’ve succeeded when I actually scare myself with the story. But honestly, I’m pretty tough, I have to say. Horror is entertainment for me. Pulse, adrenaline, and cozy chills. I find the news on TV way scarier. This is action!
The book is primarily aimed at young readers, but I’d say all horror fans will find something here, with a story that charmingly plays with the genre’s classic-clichés?
Since I’m a horror fan I wanted to lean into the clichés, but twist them at the same time. The classic horror-setup usually is a family with two kids and a Golden Retriever dog moves into a haunted house. And I love that setup. But I did it more my way, two young gay guys flee their respective hometowns and move into a haunted house. It is a bit like cooking in that you find a recipe that you like and toss in something unique. Like cilantro.
How do you think horror stories for young adults differ from those for adults?
Honestly, I don’t think they differ that much. I mean, an entire parent generation read 'Twilight' and got both scared and turned on. As long as you make the unbelievable believable, I don’t think age matters. What possibly differs is the main characters’ emotions. Teenagers are quite emotional, or brutally emotional. So you just crank open the shametap, basically. Love is life or death!
What can you tell us about our main couple, Lukas and Sam?
They’re opposites in many ways. Lukas is the restless Stockholm guy who longs for cigarettes, wine and the sound of other people. Sam is more grounded and loves the silence and freedom of nature. But I do think they complement each other beautifully, like so many other mismatched couples.
What was it like writing from these teenager’s perspective, especially about that blazing teenage love, now that you are in your “old age”?
Oh yes, in my old age. Twenty-six years old and already one and a half mental feet in the grave. To be completely honest, that enormous emotional life can scare me, a bit. But I just had to go for it. Not only because emotions are intense when you’re seventeen, but also so that teenage readers get something that truly feels when they read it. Emotional drama, it’s exciting at any age, but especially when you’ve just been introduced to it.
Did you find any method for channeling your inner teenager?
I don’t think he’s that far away. Sure, you grow up and forget some things, but your inner teenager is always with you somewhere, right? I remember hearing the author Kristina Ohlsson say that she does not just write young adult for teenagers, she writes for the teenager inside herself. I thought that was lovely and that’s how I feel too.
Do you have many memorable young romances to draw from?
Yes, maybe a couple (laughs) I once had a very romantic make-out moment at the inlet to Stockholm. Then the whole romance went to hell, but at least that evening was cinematic. And you can live off that for a while.
Stylistically, you have a language that makes the plot move forward in a very cinematic way?
Thank you! I always have film in my head when I write. If I’d been a billionaire, I might not have written books at all but directed films. It’s mainly the content, the storytelling, that fascinates me. And I usually have an actor in mind when I write. But in this novel, Lukas and Sam were so strong in my mind that they didn’t need to be connected to any actor. They were sort of self-evident as characters from the very start.
You are also describing the setting so vividly, almost as if you are describing a place you’ve actually been?
I came up with the setting for this book when my parents sold their summer place in Dalsland a few years ago. I basically stole the entire setting from there, just like in 'Waiting Until Night Comes' it was a tiny little cabin on the edge of Lake Vänern. You could look out over the whole lake! I loved that place, and this book became a sort of farewell letter, to the summers of my childhood there.
When and where do you write best?
I am pretty flexible, but I write best at a simple table, sitting on a chair. It can be at home in the kitchen or at a café but as soon as it feels like a workspace I get going. If I’m lying on the couch, the TV always seems more tempting.
Many authors have playlists that serve a a "soundtrack" during the process, do you write to music like that?
God yes! I always write to music and for this book I actually listened to the soundtrack from the old ’80s horror film 'The Fog', it’s so good. A big tip for anyone writing horror, look it up on Spotify and shiver!
What’s the most challenging part of the writing process?
Actually getting from beginning to end. Finishing a project you’ve started. It is always fantastic writing in the beginning, but in the middle you just want to toss it aside and start another novel.
And what’s the most rewarding?
When you nail one of those scenes that just feels right. That can be the setting, the dialogue, or some twist in the story. When that happens I feel like I’ve found the right track. And that there’s a reason I write.
Is it right this is the beginning of a series of standalone summer horror books?
Yes, exactly! I’m the one writing these chillers, the plan is that the next one comes out in the summer of next year and the third in the summer after that, so there will always be a horror story available for thrill-seeking young readers each summer.
What are you reading this summer?
Besides writing, I work as an editor at a publishing house in Stockholm, so I read a lot of manuscripts! But aside from that I’ve read Riley Sager’s 'Final Girls', a wildly action packed homage to slasher films. And I loved Marie Bengts’s cozy mystery 'A Scissor in the Heart'. Entertainment of the highest order!
With 'Waiting Until Night Comes' released, what’s next for you?
I’ve just gotten an agent. So the next goal is actually to try to establish myself in other countries besides Sweden, and in September my next adult novel 'For Us the Night Is Bright' is released, A fun feelgood story about a family who get stuck in New York for a few days and are forced to deal with life and each other. It will be my third standalone feelgood-novel for adults. And then I’m working on my first detective story, but it won’t be a super-bloody one, more of a feelgood-mystery. Think Agatha Christie, but instead of Miss Marple I present a slightly messy thirty-something who works at a gossip magazine à la Se & Hör. Something like that. Hopefully it’ll show up in bookstores sometime next year!
Anything you want to say to readers before they take on this new chiller under the summer sun?
Yeah, screw all the expectations of squeezing in that last bit of summer magic, forget updating Instagram and seeing all the tan people lounging around on Gotland or jogging along Italian beaches. Pour yourself an absurdly large glass of wine, get drunk, and read a book. Just not if you’re under eighteen of course! Then a Coke works great!
