Other Work

I sometimes get the impression most writers are fascinated with the idea of serial killers, or is it just the fact that mass murderers are a bankable commodity?

Either way, I thought I’d give it a go.  Seeing as most serial killers seem to be depicted as mask-wearing, machete-wielding (possibly undead) maniacs, I thought I’d go for a different approach.

I guess one of my inspirations for Dark Halves would be American Psycho by Brett Eastern Ellis.  I loved the way Patrick Bateman was largely regarded as just another normal guy (normal guy in his rich American yuppie social circles at least) and no one suspected him.

Dark Halves is about two serial killers, a man and a woman, who are basically the people next door.  I often look at the person sitting opposite me on a train and wonder who and what they really are behind their air of alleged normalness.  However, even though these two are embarking on a meticulously planned murderous rampage, they only dispatch selected targets.

For a while it seems like they might just get away with everything and even live happily ever after, was it not for an annoying detective who literally moves in next door to one of them and takes an unhealthy interest in their activities.