One by One

by D.W. Gillespie

Overview

The Easton family has just moved into their new fixer-upper, a beautiful old house that they bought at a steal, and Alice, the youngest of the family, is excited to explore the strange, new place. Her excitement turns to growing dread as she discovers a picture hidden under the old wallpaper, a child’s drawing of a family just like hers.

Soon after, members of the family begin to disappear, each victim marked on the child’s drawing with a dark black X. It’s up to her to unlock the grim mystery of the house before she becomes the next victim.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787581678
Publisher:	Flame Tree Publishing
Publication date:	09/26/2019
Series:	Fiction Without Frontiers
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

A fan of all things dark and horrific, D.W. Gillespie has been writing horror, sci-fi, and fantasy for longer than he would like to admit. After years of daydreaming, he started taking it seriously in college after a creative writing class helped spark his motivation. After winning a local writing award, he realized that his path forward was clear.

In the years since, he’s been featured in many publications, both online and in print. He’s the author of more than a dozen novels, including The Toy Thief, Still Dark, and Handmade Monsters.

A lifelong native of Middle Tennessee, he still lives there today with his wife and two children.

For One by One, Gillespie was influenced by his experience of moving houses often when growing up. One particular house was supposedly haunted (according to previous tenants) and became specially inspirational, and he knew he wanted it to feature in one of his books as a character in the story.
D.W. Gillespie has been writing dark fiction in one form or another since he was old enough to hold a pencil. He's been featured in multiple horror anthologies, both in print and online. His books include, The Toy Thief, Still Dark, and Handmade Monsters.

Interviews

What is the book about?
One By One is about a family moving into a big, weird fixer-upper. They expect it to be a bit of an adventure, but things come off the rails pretty quick after they find a drawing that looks exactly like their family hidden underneath some old wallpaper. Pretty soon, people start disappearing, and each time they do, a black X appears on the drawing. It’s up to the youngest child, a girl named Alice, to figure out what’s going on.

What are the underlying themes?
It’s all about how we deal with the past, specifically, how some people just can’t deal with it. The main character, Alice, finds a diary of the girl who lived there before her, a slightly older teen named Mary. Through her words, Alice sees a much darker world than she’s used to, and all that manifests itself in the house. Alice hasn’t dealt with that kind of grief in her own life, but she gets to see, first hand, how other people do.


Who influenced you most in the writing of the book?
I lived in a lot of different houses growing up. I hated it at the time, but it’s great for giving me creepy places to write about.

The house in the book is almost identical to a house I lived in when I was a teenager. It was (according to the previous tenants) haunted, even though I never noticed too much as far as ghosts go. What I did notice was how damn eerie the place was. This house was the definition of “they don’t make them like this anymore.”

My bedroom was the same Alice’s room, and it really did have windows that went into another room instead of going outside. It was built onto multiple times, giving it an almost Winchester Mystery House feel to it. Hallways would double back on themselves, and the first time you walked through, you’d end up in places you weren’t expecting.

I knew that one day I’d want that house to feature in one of my books. I wanted it to feel like a character in the story. I hope I did it justice.



Did you write in silence, or to any particular music?
I usually write in silence, but music is still an important part of the process. I usually like to have a “theme” song for each book. Something that I can just listen to over and over while I’m driving. I usually live with a new book almost every moment of the day, and even when I’m busy with other stuff, the story’s not far away. Having a good song helps me daydream in new directions so to speak.

Did you find it hard to write? Or harder to edit your own work?
Drafts are almost always a ball to work on. Occasionally, I get stuck, but usually, it’s smooth sailing until I have to actually clean up this mess I’ve made. I used to hate editing, but, for me at least, making peace with it was a big part of me maturing as a writer. A book’s not really written until you’ve had to dig around in it half a dozen times.

What are you writing now?
I’m actually switching things up a bit in my career. I’m working on a middle-grade book. It’s still right up my alley…monsters, magic, all that fun stuff. It’s just a bit toned down for a different audience.

Was this book inspired by any actual events?
Well, the house that inspired this book was supposedly haunted. And, while I usually don’t believe too much of that stuff, I did have one moment in particular that’s always stuck with me.

I had an old lamp in my room just next to my bed, and it wasn’t unheard of for it to turn off while I was reading at night. I always chalked it up to how old the lamp was. But one night, when I was just about asleep, it came ON. That scared the hell out of me. I think it took me a few hours to doze back off after that.

You’ve written several books that focus on children. Any specific reason for that?
I think it just happened naturally. I mean, my kids are young, so I get to see all the things that scare them. My son in particular loves to just talk on and on about scary stuff. There’s something very childlike and innocent about horror stories about kids. I know some people like the gorier stuff (and I do to), but I keep finding myself back in a more fairy tale sort of story. Hopefully, my audience appreciates it.

Being from the South, does that feeling play into your books?
Sometimes it does. I think some of my books could be read as almost geographically neutral, but occasionally, I do drift into a more southern style of story. I think it all depends on how much I want that southern voice to shine through. Several of my books really lean into that.

Is there any sequel potential for One by One?
Not for this one, but I do have several ideas for series that I’d like to get around to. I really like the idea of having a continuing sort of mythology, but it needs to be the right time. I’d really only want to do it if it was distinct and different.

Editorial Reviews

"I loved this suspense novel. The opening line “I never wanted to come here” hooked me right away."

yawattahosby

"From the moment I picked up the book I did not move until I finished it [...] It is a non-stop thriller and horror novel that keeps you guessing until the end."

Ily's Guest House

"In this dark, character-driven horror story, the central family is constructed with painful realism."

Foreward Reviews

"If you are looking for a quick spine-chiller to round out your October TBR, you should definitely check this one out!"

Megs Book Rack

"This is a very solid story with a very catchy opening which will have you eating up pages quickly and is an entertaining few hours of escapism."

Horror DNA

"A thrilling dark read, that left me on edge."

Lost in the Land of Books

"[...] an uncomfortable read which creaks and spooks the reader as much as the house which the Easton's move into..."

Rachel Read It

"This story has hints of the first Insidious movie and should be a hit with fans of ghoulies, ghosties and things that go bump in the night."

For the Love of Books

"The author put a lot of thought into the details, which fit together like puzzle pieces, but missing the original pattern, so that only at the end, when everything is put together neatly, you are able to recognize the scary overall picture."

Lovely Books

"In this dark, character-driven horror story, the central family is constructed with painful realism." – Foreword Reviews

"This story has hints of the first Insidious movie and should be a hit with fans of ghoulies, ghosties and things that go bump in the night." – For the Love of Books

"From the moment I picked up the book I did not move until I finished it [...] It is a non-stop thriller and horror novel that keeps you guessing until the end." – Ily's Guest House

"This is a very solid story with a very catchy opening which will have you eating up pages quickly and is an entertaining few hours of escapism." – Horror DNA

"[...] an uncomfortable read which creaks and spooks the reader as much as the house which the Easton's move into..." – Rachel Read It

"The author put a lot of thought into the details, which fit together like puzzle pieces, but missing the original pattern, so that only at the end, when everything is put together neatly, you are able to recognize the scary overall picture." – Lovely Books

"If you are looking for a quick spine-chiller to round out your October TBR, you should definitely check this one out!" – megsbookrack

"A thrilling dark read, that left me on edge." – Lost in the Land of Books

"I loved this suspense novel. The opening line “I never wanted to come here” hooked me right away." – yawattahosby

From the Publisher