Some interesting annotations for PSYCHO KILLERS IN LOVE. Basically, just random bits of trivia for those who enjoyed the book.
1. Psycho Killers in Love is a prequel to the United States of Monsters series, taking place in the year 2000 before the Reveal of the supernatural in 2006.
2. Billy England is named after Billy from BLACK CHRISTMAS (the first slasher) and Robert Englund a.k.a Freddy Krueger.
3. Billy's Santa-themed murder spree is inspired by SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT as well as the series of. He is meant to be something of a suckier and lamer version of Billy/Freddy Krueger as well as more overtly banal in his serial murder.
4. William Englund's actor was Alexander Ludwig who in addition to THE HUNGER GAMES was also in FINAL GIRL as the villain. He was also in THE FINAL GIRLS for another slasher parody.
5. Psycho Killers in Love can refer to either Nancy and William or William and Carrie or all three, depending on how you interpret William, Nancy, and Carrie's feelings.
6. Nancy Loomis is named for Nancy Thompson from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET as well as Doctor Loomis from HALLOWEEN.
7. The impetuous of the book is BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, SCREAM, HACK/SLASH, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, and THE FINAL GIRLS that are all parodies/homages of slasher movies. Even a little TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL.
8. The concept of Artemis is a loose adaptation of the concept of Slayers as well as the "Final Girl" phenomenon. I chose Artemis because her warrior maidens had to remain pure and chaste, which Nancy has problems with.
9. Slashers as a concept primarily owes itself to the loose rules applied to Jason and Michael Myers who are inexplicably invincible. HACK/SLASH also developed the concept in the comic series where they're regenerating revenants. Their abilities growing stronger the more an urban legend about them consists is a concept borrowed from CANDYMAN.
10. Nancy's mother is a thinly-disguised Laurie Strode from HALLOWEEN and her mother is a (inexplicably alive) Marion Crane from PSYCHO.
11. The Fraternity of Orion is meant to be a distillation of the misogyny that so many slasher movies are accused of but also draws from FINAL GIRL about a group of murderers that a young woman hunts down to execute. Obviously, the name is a reference to the hunter linked to Artemis and Apollo in Greek mythology.
12. Cujo is, of course, named for the dog-centered novel by Stephen King.
13. Gerald Pasteur is a character from I WAS A TEENAGE WEREDEER from the Bright Falls Mysteries.
14. Cassandra Cassidy is the primary villain of ESOTERRORISM in the Red Room Trilogy.
15. Olivia Munn was a major inspiration for Nancy Loomis as an actress. THE HORROR OF SUPERVILLAINY cover was more based on Kristen Kreuk. I also drew some inspiration from meeting RL Scream Queen Danielle Harris.
16. Alyson Hannigan was my pick for Carrie England. So was Galadriel Stineman (Until Dawn).
17. The cover to Psycho Killers in Love includes homages to the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and HALLOWEEN movies.
18. Billy England's power over dreams and the ability to suck people in is, of course, an homage to Freddy Krueger.
19. Slashers "adapted" to movies in this world are Fred (Krueger), Mike (Myers), The Camp Killer (Jason Voorhees), and Lucky (Chucky). Mike Miner is meant to Mike Myers but, for copyright purposes, you want to make him a little different.
20. The Prom Queen is actually the corrupted form of Nancy's mother, who is of course, a reference to Jaime Lee Curtis as the ghostly slasher.
21. Lamia is the mother of all vampires and shifters in the greater UNITED STATES OF MONSTERS universe. Her defeat here isn't permanent but a sign that she's underestimated all of her children (as well as Mike's power as the world's most famous slasher).
22.The Fraternity of Orion was created from the juxtaposition of puritan moral values and misogyny in slasher films vs. the fact horror actresses and Scream Queens frequently made the movies have a strong feminist bent. Which is to say a typical slasher plot is a bunch of fun teens being murdered only to have one eventually turn the tables on the monster.
23. HP Lovecraft Memorial Hospital makes an appearance in THE FALL OF THE HOUSE where it is where the House keeps its dangerous supernatural patients. William and Carrie never realized that they were being studied by the Red Room the entire time.
24. Summer Day is, of course, a reference to Buffy Summers and makes a nice contrast to Nancy who is more Faith-like.
25. A Shoggoth is a notable monster of H.P. Lovecraft.
26. The Book of Midnight is my all-purpose Necronomicon stand-in that doesn't just appear in the United States of Monsters but also my Supervillainy Saga book.
27. William also shows up in A NIGHTMARE ON ELK STREET to kill one of the Red Gods. He and Nancy make a guest appearance in THE HORROR OF SUPERVILLAINY and are even on its cover. They have undergone some level grinding by the time they show up in that book.
29. The choice of making William the Accountant was the juxtaposition of how he's a more educated and erudite slasher than the majority of his kind while also parodying how silly their concepts tend to be.
30. The use of Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" was due to the song inspiring the entire concept. An entire song list was created for the creation of the story.
31. Created as a standalone, one thing to note is that according to William in A NIGHTMARE ON ELK STREET, the antiheroes eventually do destroy most other slashers on their world. What happens to his relationship with Nancy will require more books to reveal.
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