She would spend half a dozen years writing the manuscript for her novels during the weekends and evenings as she worked a day job. She believes that every good writing will usually contain some element of horror, which is what gives it spice.Ĭatriona Ward’s journey to becoming a published author was not so easy. What she loves about horror is how it is often found in many other genres, over every imaginable human concern, place, and time.

She immediately understood that horror and ghost stories give one permission to grapple around trying to explore the darker components of the psyche.Īpart from WW Jacobs, Catriona is also a huge fan of the likes of Sarah Pinborough, Barbara Comyns, and Shirley Jackson.Īs an author of the horror genre, she has said that she can read in almost all of the subgenres even though she has a preference for gothic horror. The first ghost story that Catriona Ward first read was WW Jacobs novel “The Monkey’s Paw.” She remembers the thrill and fear she felt when a father and mother cowered when their supposedly dead son came back and started pounding on their door.īut best of all, she had found what would become her favorite storytelling mode that gave expression to the childhood fear she sometimes felt. The Last House on Needless Street, which is her most popular gothic thriller, was published by Viper Books in 2021. The novel would eventually become a bestselling title published in the US as “The Girl from Rawblood.” Ward has also written short stories and book reviews for several publications.įor her work, she has won several awards over the years including the Best Horror Novel at the August Derleth Awards and the Shirley Jackson Award. It was also at this time that she attended the University of East Anglia, where she took a creative writing masters degree. When she went back to London, she started working on the manuscript for her debut novel as she spent her days working for a human rights organization. Edmund in Oxford, where she studied English and then went on to work as an actor in New York. Growing up, she moved all over the globe with her family and lived in such diverse places as Morocco, the United States, Yemen, Kenya and Madagascar.

Catriona Ward is a horror fiction author from Washington DC that is best known for her debut novel “Rawblood.”

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