Bonus Material

If you've made it to this page, it means you've finished one of my books and you're still thinking about it. Maybe you have some questions.

In most of my books, I leave a few things unexplained, and other times there are different possible interpretations.

On this page, I'll try to answer a few of the most common questions, organized by book.

Keep in mind that "the author is dead." That means that once I write the story, it then only exists between itself and the reader. People can interpret it in different ways. All I can do is tell you my opinions.

Also, keep in my mind that spoilers abound. Only read the questions & answers for the books you've already read.

- Ben Farthing

SPOILERS BELOW!

The 31st Trick-or-Treater

> Where'd you get the idea for this book?

I'm pretty open that the idea for the book--a "Halloween advent book"--I borrowed from Per Jacobsen's Christmas advent book, 25 Days. I reached out and said, "Hey, I want to do this for Halloween. Are you planning on doing that this year? If you are, I'll wait a few years." But Per was extremely gracious about the whole thing. He and his wife, Sarah (who runs the business side of his books), were generous with their advice.

But then, "a book where each chapter is a day of October," isn't really an idea for a book. So then I came up with, "What if kids went missing last year, and now they're coming back one at a time?" Then I thought, "What if only 30 kids went missing last year, so we get that excitement of 'What'll happen on the 31st?'"

I was on a panel at Authorcon with Adam Cesare, who wrote Clown in a Cornfield, and we were asked what we're working on now, and I remember sharing the premise for this book and Adam leaning forward so I could see him and saying, "That sounds so awesome." That's when I knew I had something cool.

But then, the idea of the story, of the hook of the story, isn't the actual story, either. The story is about people. People who want things, people who doubt themselves, people who yearn. And I like to play with themes while I write, usually something that I'm wrestling with myself. And with that, Bob and Sam and Joann grew into characters in my head, with the themes of internet communities drowning out face-to-face communities.

> So what are you saying about community in this book?

I try not to give crystal clear solutions to the problems I explore. Although in this case, if you look at the last chapter, Bob tries to warn lots of people to turn back. Look at what those who listen have in common, and what those who don't listen have in common.

> What happens to the people who were taken by Martin in the end?

They're trapped at the edge of the afterlife now. They can wander into the great beyond or they can hang around. I don't think Martin will be letting them go, though.

> Is this the last we've seen of Martin?

In my mind, Martin is now satisfied with his revenge. But never say never.

The Twitching House

> Why'd you write about mice?

Mice are cool.

I'd recently bought some Redwall books for my kids, and also picked up the Mouseguard comics, and played the Tails of Iron video game and the Mousritter TTRPG.

I like fantasy stories about mice, and my mind wandered to a haunted house story about mice.

> So was it fun to write?

Yes! But also, no.

I loved writing about Nettle and Sorrel. It was also really difficult to make sure I didn't use idioms a mouse wouldn't use, and to show the house through a mouse's senses. But at the end of the day, I'm very happy with the book.

> Why'd it get so weird? Why not just a ghost who's an angry dead guy?

I did write a draft where the Tall Man is just an angry ghost. He even has a ghost cat. But ultimately it felt bland to me. I like weirder horror. And I really like when the characters and the reader are trying to understand some bizarre supernatural mystery--in this case, the mouths in the walls. So once I wrote the version that you read, I was a lot more satisfied with it.

I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls

> What happened at the end?

Johnny sits down on the curb and waits to get eaten by the puppets.

> But why?

Well, for one, his legs won't carry him any farther. He climbed too many stairs. But also, his failure in the book and especially the loss of his grandfather lead to him sitting down and giving up. He just doesn't know how to handle life. Let alone a life that would now be defined by the arriving puppet apocalypse.

> Yeah, what's up with that puppet apocalypse? What's happening with the puppets at the end?

Johnny has accidentally freed them from the apartment building. Now they can go hunt wherever they please.

> So what happens next?

I don't know.

> Will there be a sequel?

Maybe one day! It wouldn't follow Johnny (what with his being eaten), but rather different characters dealing with the aftermath months down the road. And don't expect more answers, just more surreal puppet horror.

I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House

> Whoa.

I know, right? I lost sleep over that ending. It think it's the meanest thing I've written.

> So each of those copies of Jacob thinks he's the actual Jacob, right?

Right. And each thinks he's been abandoned by his dad.

> Damn.

Yeah. Sorry.

> Did the dad take home the right Jacob, or a copy?

I meant for him to have taken home the real Jacob. The theme I played with was saving your own children at the expense of other children who aren't actually different from your own kids. But a lot of readers interpret it as unclear whether he brought home the right Jacob, and that's okay, too.

> Where'd the tent go?

I don't know.

> Will there be a sequel?

Probably not. There's potentially some interesting conflict as the Jacob-copies get used to their new life, or if one of them escaped one day. But right now I don't think it's enough to carry a whole novella. Maybe I'll change my mind one day.

I Found a Lost Hallway in a Dying Mall

> What happened to Jimmy?

He's dead.

> Why'd you choose to write about a mall?

I'd read a couple stories about creepy malls, and I worked at a toy store at two different malls, so I decided to try my hand at it. Malls can be creepy places, especially when they're mostly empty.

I Found Christmas Lights Slithering Up My Street

> Are Douglas and his family going to be happier now?

They're going to start trying. It'll probably take a long time.

> I kept thinking Krampus was going to show up

Me too. But he didn't.

> Why all the Christmas-themed character names?

Completely unintentional. A reader pointed it out to me.

I Found the Boogeyman Under My Brother's Crib

> Is Landon dead?

Yes. Probably.

> Was the Boogeyman protecting Bennet or was he just mad at Landon?

Good question. I'm not sure. I purposely left it open to either interpretation.

> Why are Rachel's parents so awful?

I once had a roommate who only needed 5 hours of sleep. My mind wandered and I came up with characters who found each other, had kids, and then imposed their sleep schedule on them. I wanted the parents to be great parents except for the terrible sleep thing (the mom's accusation that Rachel is purposely skipping out of sleep is a big exception to that). But the terrible sleep thing is pretty terrible. Hard to see past that.

It Waits on the Top Floor

> Are all the architectural and building details accurate?

I tried my best. I sat down with a civil engineer to ask how to reverse engineer a building's construction. That's how I learned that blueprints are kept onsite. He gave a lot of other info as well. I watched several documentaries about the evolution of the skyscraper and I read a ton about a different architectural styles. I've been corrected on one "fact" I claimed in the book--apparently the Flatiron Building was not the first iron skyscraper.

> Why'd you decide to write about an adoption relationship?

I have a lot of family and friends on both sides of adoption relationships, so when I think about complicated and interesting relationships to write about, my mind often goes to adoption.

> Shouldn't Sherri get more sympathy?

Yes! I hope everyone feels that way. Chris's ex-wife gets a bad rap in Chris's scenes because those scenes are through Chris's POV, and Chris is heartbroken and angry. Sherri wasn't ready for kids. And yes, she should have put her foot down a long time before the actual adoption, but I still think she deserves more sympathy than she gets.