FicStack: Behind the Story #6

With Chris Hicks

Tell us about yourself! Where are you from? What do you do for fun? What might people be surprised to learn about you?

I am Chris, and I am a short story author and screenwriter from Cincinnati, Ohio. I’ve been self publishing short horror stories online for about ten years, starting on Reddit’s r/NoSleep horror community.

---

We’ve featured All You Can Eat & Sender [Null].

What sparked these stories ? Was there a specific image, moment, or question that started it? How do these stories fit into your larger body of work or themes you explore?

All You Can Eat— This story idea came from a joke by comedian John Pinette about being kicked out of an all-you-can-eat buffet after being there for four hours. The wheels turned in my head on how that would be a good setup for a horror story about a family forced to feed a customer who refused to leave. I had been frequenting an Indian buffet near my work, so it became the setting for the story.

Since it was an Indian buffet, I couldn’t use a Judeo-Christian demon for this story. I did some research and settled on a brahmarakshasa as the demon for my story. However, as a middle-aged white dude from Ohio, my biggest goal (and challenge) was figuring out how to tell it while staying authentic and respectful to the culture. Besides the many hours of research, I had an online writing friend who helped me with some of the finer brush strokes.

This story was my first industry sale. After posting it on r/NoSleep, I received a message from an assistant at a production company. The message came on Instagram and sat in my message requests for a couple weeks before I found it. At first I thought it was a scam (I’m Gen X; we were brought up believing everything on the Internet was a scam), but after trading emails from her company email address and taking a Zoom call with her and the company president in the parking lot of a strip mall on my lunch break, I realized it was real. I got to drink from the firehose on learning about industry options and sales. The story was optioned, the option was extended, and finally purchased about a week before the agreement expired.

---

Is there a line, image, or moment that you’re particularly proud of?

“My mother screamed as the bones in her hand snapped in the creature’s mouth, crunching like fresh carrots.” - I still love this line.

---

Sender [NULL] — I received a meeting invite from a coworker who ended up putting in their resignation and left the company rather quickly. The invite kept popping up when the meeting approached but every attempt to decline bounced back in error because their account was no longer active. I thought it was a fun setup for a workplace horror story, and here we are.

My goal was to take something familiar -– a workplace meeting invite –– and turn it into a vehicle for something scary. It’s a fun challenge, and it helps when trying to come up with relatable ideas with broad reader understanding.

Basically the same as I answered on a previous question, this fits into my overall process of coming up with horror story ideas that begin with something mundane and familiar. When working on IP for film/TV adaptations, if you have to explain too much, you’ve already lost the attention of the studio exec.

---

Is there a line, image, or moment that you’re particularly proud of in Sender [NULL]?

“Weird. Server logs show the origin of the invites are internal,” Eugene said, then leaned back slightly. “The calls are coming from inside the house.”

---

---

What does your writing process look like? Do you outline, or discover as you write?

I want to outline, I really do. I think outlining would make the creative process easier. However, once I’ve got the premise and my main character locked in, I find myself getting in the character’s headspace and discovering how they would respond to the obstacles I’ve placed in their path. There’s a screenwriting book called The Nutshell Technique that has helped me become more of an outliner, but whenever I get stuck outlining, I find myself jumping in and roleplaying the scenario through my character’s eyes, which is to say, I just start writing.

---

What are you working on now? Anything readers can look forward to?

I have a story I’ve been workshopping with my manager for quite some time, and we’re looking to take it out as soon as I can properly break the story. I can’t give any details other than it fits the “relatable yet new” criteria I aim for.

---

What has fiction writing given you that you couldn’t find any other way?

Therapy? Can I say therapy?

---

Why did you choose Substack for your fiction?

I chose Substack because it gives me more control over what goes out into the world. Having cut my horror teeth writing on Reddit’s NoSleep, it gave me a good understanding on how to be a carnival barker for my own attractions. Still, the grind of growing your audience is a difficult process.

---

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to emerging fiction writers?

Give yourself permission to write something terrible. A finished story can be edited, rewritten and improved. An unfinished story has no kinetic energy.

---

What should readers experience next?

Substack Writer (two-fer): Travis Brown

& Victor Sweetster

Both are NoSleep alumni who churn out amazing work.

Music: Amigo the Devil - his music covers themes of death, heartbreak, and resilience. His songs are either darkly comedic, darkly tragic, or both.

Graphic Novel: Rare Flavours - A story about a Rakshasa with a dream of becoming the next Anthony Bourdain. I read it in one sitting, and afterwards I had to take a walk to process how the story affected me. I can’t recommend this book enough.

---

Discover Chris Hicks on Substack

Featured stories: All You Can Eat & Sender [NULL]

---