Keith Rosson: The Punk Rock, Legally Blind Art School Dropout Who Writes Jaw Dropping Horror

Keith Rosson joins Talking Horror to talk Coffin Moon, his gritty 1970s vampire western, and the wild road that took him from legally blind art school dropout to acclaimed horror novelist. Rachel Redd sits down with the author of Fever House, The Devil by Name, and Smoke City for a conversation about grief, addiction, found family, and the recklessness it takes to survive ten books in ten years.

Keith opens up about discovering at age ten that he'd been legally blind his whole life, and how that diagnosis turned into a twenty five year career illustrating punk album covers and band merch. He talks about dropping out of art school twice, getting 97 rejections from literary agents before his debut sold, and writing Fever House during COVID lockdown while fostering and adopting two toddlers during the George Floyd protests in Portland. He breaks down the phone call from Random House editor Caitlin McKenna that changed his career, why he set Coffin Moon in the 1970s so his vampires could still warp in mirrors and cameras, and how he trimmed his cast down to just a handful of characters after Fever House's sprawling ensemble. Plus his unflinching take on killing off main characters, the question his editor asks to keep violence from feeling gratuitous, and a first look at his upcoming novel Crone, based on a real unsolved disappearance that's haunted him for decades.

Grab your copy of Coffin Moon: https://amzn.to/4gLNCBV

Timestamps: 00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Keith Rosson

 03:34 – How a Stephen King Paperback at Age Ten Started It All 

06:06 – Legally Blind: The Diagnosis That Shaped His Art 

08:08 – Designing for Punk Bands and the Cover He's Proudest Of 

12:06 – Art School Dropout Twice Removed 

14:20 – From Punk Zines to 97 Rejections Before His First Yes 

26:31 – Fever House: Writing Through Lockdown While Fostering Two Toddlers 

31:05 – The Call From Random House That Changed Everything 

36:06 – Why He's Not Afraid to Kill a Main Character 

37:19 – Earning the Violence: What Makes Brutality Land 

40:31 – Coffin Moon: Turning Vampires Into a 1970s Western Revenge Story 

48:33 – Trimming the Cast: Why Coffin Moon Went Smaller 5

0:55 – The Redemption Question Running Through All His Books 

56:11 – Crone: A Missing Daughter, a Biker Gang, and a Real Unsolved Case 

59:09 – His Advice After Ten Books in Ten Years

Connect with Keith Rosson: 

Website: https://www.keithrosson.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rossonkeith/

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