Extreme Horror fans are familiar with the name, and hardcore works of Sam West. But, very few fans know much about the person behind the author’s photo on the back cover. That’s all about to change!
Sam’s philosophy is that horror should be sick and sexy. From Meet the Meat to The Dark Side of Red, this author has proven time and time again that it’s a theory that works.

With the extreme horror genre is in the spotlight now that Amazon has started their modern day book burning and censorship of all indie horror. It’s the perfect time to chat with the ‘Queen of the Extreme’. Yeah, you read that right.

Ladies & Gentlemen… Meet Sam West

Hi Collette!! ::huggs:: The only way to begin this is with your big news! You’re officially ‘out’ as Collette Metcalf, the sick & sexy heart & soul of your nom de plume – Mr. Sam West.

Why did you ‘come out’ as a woman, and why did you feel the need to pretend to be a man in the beginning?

Extreme horror is a male dominated niche. With a few notable exceptions, female extreme horror writers are pretty thin on the ground. I wanted to be known as an ‘extreme horror author’, not a ‘female, extreme horror author’. I wanted to be judged on my writing alone, not my gender. It seems to me that women horror writers, no matter how talented they are, are still defined as such. We are not women writers, we are just writers.
* Plus my husband has a WAY prettier face than me.

My reading habits prompted Amazon to suggest your books to me, and Cathy H. was right when she told me that I’d like your work. I think I’ve finally read every one of your books, and I have to ask…
Is there anything TOO TABOO for you to write about?

Yes. All joking aside, child cruelty. Even I have my hard limits. Although many brilliant authors have tackled such a harrowing subject with grace and compassion, I feel my writing style is entirely inappropriate for such a delicate subject. Like the best kind of horror movies, I write to entertain, with my (metaphorical) balls to the wall. I am all about the gore and sex with a side-helping of black humour.
* Thankfully most authors I read think the way that you do. But, FFS – Even Ed Lee skims over those scenes! (The Backwoods).

Let’s do one more semi-serious question before we start acting like ourselves…
Do you read your reviews?
I try not to, but yeah, I do.
The secret of this game is not to let praise go to your head, or criticism get you down. I’m all for constructive criticism, but I’ve had one-star reviews calling me a woman-hater and a God-lover. Which is pretty cool, considering I’m a feminist and an atheist. And a bird, obviously.

As an adult, have you ever read a book that legit scared you?
The only horror novel (or novella) to ever truly creep me out, is ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.’ I love a bit of gore, but this story has none and disturbed me on the most base level. The descriptions of Mr. Hyde, the subtlety of it, genuinely makes my flesh creep. It I had nuts, I’d give my left one to write like that.

Your book, SUFFER HARD, is being adapted to a movie…
Who would your ideal actors be to play those characters?
Who would you want to NEVER see as one of your characters?
Which actors would actually GET the job?
(you know… totally wrong for the part, but the director didn’t ask you…)
To play the four friends on the clifftop hike, about to have the pub lunch in the boozer from hell, I would like to cast four of the most irritating actors and popstars going. I think I would choose Justin Beiber, Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus and Kylie Jenner… Then I would slaughter them in the most vile of ways. But I wouldn’t be able to afford those guys so I’d probably have to have some washed-up actors in their 70s playing teenagers. (*Now all I can picture is ‘The Breakfast Club’ Brat Pack!)

What is your main character’s favorite color? Don’t act like you don’t know…
I never thought to ask them. I can’t ask them now because I killed them.

Since this is an author interview, let me ask you about your writing process… Do you write naked? Have you?
All I wear when I write is a smile and Chanel No 5….
Actually, no, that’s a lie. I have a favourite writing and house skirt. I love it so much I can wear it for weeks at a time and only take it off when my family starts vomiting with the smell of it.

Do you have any phobias?
Flies. I have a big problem with flies. I mean, how dare they puke up on my food and then suck it back up again, vomit and all. Jesus, that is so disgusting. And that buzzing, man, even when I’ve killed them, I can still hear them in my brain. And why do they have to pop like a big zit when one squidges them? They are made of acne pus. Urgh.

Have you ever been in trouble with the police?
No. I’m boring like that

The police raid your house, and take your computer for evidence…
Are you going to jail? (*I know I’d be going to jail… sg)
What is the worst / most embarrassing / what is the absolute most fucked up thing we’d find in your computer’s history?
I do a lot of crazy research for my books. The best one was for Gynophagia, that is, the fetish of eating people, be it either consensual or brutally non-consensual. Oh wow, I had to bleach my eyeballs and wash out my brain after seeing that stuff.

What were you like as a kid?
Spotty.

You have to choose how you’re going to die from one of YOUR death scenes, which method, (and which title), would you pick?
I don’t suppose I am known for my gentle death scenes. Softly into the night my characters do not go….
Do I have to pick one? Because that would be weird. Oh, okay then, I’ll get raped by a clown who then hangs himself on my intestines. ‘Dead Dot Com’, btw.

Is there a reason that you picked the one that you did?
I dunno. Because I’m ill in the head?
* I don’t think I could have picked one way to die from your stories – you’re freakin’ brutal! (Yeah… it’s a compliment).

What will be written on your tombstone?
“I told you I was sick.”

What is your favorite book quote?
From American Psycho. “I like to dissect girls. Do you know I’m utterly insane?”. Also: “There’s no use denying it, this has been a bad week. I’ve started drinking my own urine.”
* I’ve always loved Patrick Bateman! “My mask of sanity was a victim of impending slippage.”

How about a movie quote?

I’m one of those geeks that always quotes Tarantino lines … I think I’m really cool and have a good snicker to myself, and my husband, is like, ‘my God, you’re such a saddo…’

Pam: Hey Warren. Who is this guy?
Warren the Bartender: Stuntman Mike.
Pam: And who the hell is Stuntman Mike?
Warren the Bartender: He’s a stuntman.

TV Question! American Dad or Family Guy?
Family Guy. But only because I’ve never heard of the other one.
(O.o) uhhh… must fix that… go HERE for a YouTube “best of” A.D. montage.
Bob’s Burgers or Archer?
Who or what now? I’m British, we only get The Simpsons. Which I think is great, since you ask. (*Awww… I’m sad for you now! They are both cartoons, and both star H. Jon Benjamin, and you will love Archer!) Bob’s Burgers montage / Archer montage / Archer S:1 E:1

Do you like waffles?
Don’t know enough about them to form an opinion, really. I’m British; we’re more about the crumpets and marmite. And Devonshire cream-teas.

What’s the title of your favorite ‘guilty pleasure’ read. And, appx. how many times have you read it?
I don’t know about ‘guilty pleasure’, I’m not ashamed of anything I read over and over, it just means that I think it’s bloody good. I love American Psycho and Orwell’s 1984, for instance. I’ve read them a ton of times.

Have you ever been stalked?
Yes. Because I am so hot.
…stalked someone else?
Yes. I am a notorious stalker. Just ask my girlfriends. I stalk them until they give in and say yes to being my friend…

What’s the worst, most mortifying thing you’ve ever done on social media?
Not much. I used to ignore facebook from one week to the next, and posted something every two years at best. But now I’ve tempted fate, I expect some kind soul will post the most humiliating photo or video of my life.

If you have to be remembered for just one sentence, what would it be?

From ‘The Dark Side Of Red’… “The Dark Side Of Red is your own reflection in the mirror across the bar when you fall into the abyss of your own, twisted desires. It is the sickness of the soul. It is death. And it is my life.”
* Okay, so that’s technically 5 sentences. But some of them were short.
** Noticed what I did there? Plugged my new book? I’m such a clever-clogs.

OK – Lightning Round! No thinking, just shout ’em out! Ready?
Tell me 10 #RandomFacts about Sam West ….. Aaaaannddd… GO!

Fact 1: I am a bird, not a geezer.
Fact 2: I like cheese.
Fact 3: I collect perfumes. I am a hardcore fume-head.
Fact 4: I am very sensitive and can sulk for years.
Fact 5: I am such a crap waitress, I even got fired by lesbians. And you know, I have really big breasts.
Fact 6: I shave my big toe.
Fact 7: That final scene in ‘Return of The Jedi’ always makes me cry.
Fact 8: I paint.
Fact 9: I am a real woman’s woman.
I love my girlfriends and find women much easier to be around than men.
Fact 10: I am a natural blonde. Honest.

Until next time… Peace, Love & Necrophilia ♥ ~sg

If you enjoy authors like Matt Shaw, Tim Miller, Duncan Ralston, Ed Lee, Michael Bray, Jon Athan, and Ryan Harding – then give Sam West a try. You don’t know what you’ve been missing.