Liselle Sambury’s Delicious Monsters (McElderry, Feb. 28) takes the paranormal thriller genre to new levels, layering potent explorations of intergenerational trauma onto its supernatural chills. In one timeline, teen Daisy Odlin moves with her volatile mother into an inherited home; 10 years later, Black film student Brittney investigates what happened to Daisy, her mother, and the foreboding so-called “Miracle Mansion.” In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called Delicious Monsters, one of our Best YA Books of 2023, “a story that is careful to make its ghosts and monsters painfully real.” Sambury answered some questions about the novel by email.

What idea, character, or scene was the original inspiration for the book?

Delicious Monsters, more than any of my other novels, began with a lot of bits and pieces. I wanted to do a haunted house story, to feature a single mother and daughter, to have two POVs, and so on. The first time I felt like I had a clear idea of the novel as a whole was when I visited the place where it would be set. It was a cottage in the Kenogamissi area [of Ontario, Canada], and the landscape was immediately inspiring. I could picture Daisy walking through those patches of forest where the trees were so dense that they blocked out the sun and made the area darker. It was both beautiful and haunting, the way I wanted the story to be.

When I was writing the book, I thought that I was holding on to my original vision for it, but it ended up evolving without me. I’d set out to tell a creepy haunted house story and ended up with something with more psychological dread than intended, certainly a lot more twists and turns, and this very intimate discussion about mothers and daughters— specifically Black mothers and daughters—and intergenerational trauma. It’s still a creepy haunted house story, but it’s also much more.

What do you enjoy most about writing in the horror/thriller genre?

I appreciate the buildup that horror and thriller [authors] utilize in their storytelling. These are two genres that thrive on the tone of the writing, because you’re trying to elicit in the reader dread, anxiety, fear, and an insatiable desire to keep going, and I enjoy getting that from those novels. It reminds me of when you’re watching a scary movie and the main character is doing something they shouldn’t be doing, and you’re peeking through your fingers because you can’t watch, but you also have to watch, and I love that.

What books published in 2023 were some of your favorites?

I loved Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington, a fast-paced YA thriller about a Black girl who participates in a series of deadly games that’s twisty, fun, and smart. I was also a big fan of Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass, a YA horror that follows besties Dearie and Cole, who are accused of murdering the members of their school’s queer club. It’s a must-read slasher for horror movie fans that will keep you guessing.

Nina Palattella is the editorial assistant.