Get to know the man behind AJ’s Horror Reads on HorrorFam.com: AJ Spencer!

It’s a great time as he and host Lauren Spear chat about growing up with horror in the ’90s (Goosebumps via the Scholastic Book Fair, anyone…?), challenges for horror fan parents nowadays, and all about AJ’s newest zombie-themed YA novel Electric Eyes!!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends! Spread the word!! You can also help support our content by becoming a Patron at Patreon.com/HorrorFam

LINKS for More AJ Spencer:

• AJ Spencer on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/A.J.-Spencer/author/B094CR5G3C
• AJ Spencer on Twitter X (@grimgravestone): https://x.com/grimgravestone
• AJ Spencer on Instagram (@horrorauthoraj): https://www.instagram.com/horrorauthoraj/
• AJ’s Horror Reads book reviews: https://horrorfam.com/category/ajs-horror-reads

FULL Written Transcript: HorrorFam.com Podcast Interview with AJ Spencer

*HorrorFam.com Podcast Intro Music*

Lauren Spear: Hi, Everyone! My name is Lauren Spear and you’re watching or listening to the HorrorFam.com Podcast!

Today’s guest is AJ Spencer, and longtime readers will know him as the writer for AJ’s Horror Reads on HorrorFam.com where he reviews horror-related novels. And today’s extra exciting because he has another novel of his own coming out. At the time of this it will have already been out for a week so you may already have your copy!

It’s called Electric Eyes and it’s in the YA horror genre and… Here he is! AJ Spencer!

How’re you doing AJ?

AJ Spencer: Hey! Hello, Everyone! How are you all?

Both: *laugh*

Lauren Spear: So,

This is your fourth horror novel…

Lauren Spear (continues): …after Haunted and Hungry, Foot Doctor, and This Town Died with You…

AJ Spencer: Mmhmm!

Lauren: Do I have the order on that right? I might’ve gotten them…

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Yeah! You got it!

So, Haunted and Hungry was my first release. It was a short story collection of short stories that had previously been published in a few magazines and newspaper outlets. So, I kinda just compiled those together.

And then This Town Died with You was my paranormal novella I put out.

And I did… The Foot Doctor was like a psychological thriller.

And… yeah! Electric Eyes will be my first book in the YA genre geared toward, you know, younger audiences.

Lauren: Okay!

What made you want to do a YA novel?

AJ Spencer: Honestly, besides just trying to reach a bigger audience, I’ve spent a while thinking about how much I enjoyed my Scholastic Book Fair days when I was younger and things that I would read back then. You know? You had, like… Everyone loved the R.L. Stine Goosebumps series! And a lot of my friends were reading stuff like Christopher Pike who was kind of like in that same field and genre. Just things like that!

I wanted to go back to that and write something that felt like something I would read when I was in that stage. *chuckles*

Lauren: Ohhh! That’s so fun!!

Yeah! The Scholastic Book Fair was definitely the place to get the new Goosebumps and everything…!

AJ Spencer: Yeah!

Lauren: It’s so fun to think about some kid grabbing your book and being like, “*excited gasp* This is… This is the new AJ Spencer! I can’t wait!!” *laughs*

AJ Spencer: Yes!! *laughs* That’s… That’s kinda what I wanted to do; yeah!

You know, I’ve always… I’ve always felt like the horror genre should be open to multiple age groups. So, I didn’t want to just always write for adults.

I do like my R-rated horror films! *chuckles* But I’ve also been really big on stuff like… Watching stuff that are suitable to watch with my child. Like, you know, we like to watch Wednesday on Netflix and things like that!

AJ Spencer (continues): Finding things that she can read… And games that she can play with me! I’ve been watching her play…

There’s some more family-friendly spooky games that she plays on her tablet like… You know she likes Five Nights at Freddy’s! And there’s one that she likes called Poppy Playtime!

Lauren: *chuckles*

AJ Spencer: That’s one that she’s a big fan of. And, yeah! Just having fun watching her play those games. That’s what else inspired me. Because, like… Man!! I miss having stuff that’s like, you know… Open to everyone!

Lauren: Yeah, definitely. That’s one of the things that I’ve noticed…

You know, since you’ve been writing for HorrorFam.com for a while now, that we have this MASSIVE list of horror movies for tweens…

AJ Spencer: Mmhmm!

Lauren: And it gets harder and harder to find things to put on those lists! Because it’s just like… Stuff’s so hardcore now! *laughs*

AJ Spencer: Yeah!

Lauren: Like… Yeah.

AJ Spencer: And like… Yeah!

Like everyone else, I do like that stuff, but some of it… Some of it can get pretty extreme and I’m like, you know, sitting there and finding time between work and family to watch stuff like that because, you know… *laughs* You can’t just, like, put it on the TV!

Lauren: Oh, yeah! You don’t want your kid walking in and being like, “Oh no!! I’m traumatized!”

Both: *laugh*

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Don’t want to have to explain that just yet!

Lauren: Yeah. Exactly!

Both: *laugh*

Lauren: I wrote a little thing about this on my personal website a while back where it’s just… I feel bad just putting things from like the ‘80s and ‘90s and early 2000s on these lists, but I don’t have a whole lot of other options! *laughs*

AJ Spencer: I know!

Lauren: So, at least in the books, I can now be like, “Hey! Check out AJ’s book. It’s for this age group.”

AJ Spencer: Yeah, like, I would say… It’s listed as like 12 years old to 18+ and I think that’s just about right.

And it’s interesting what you said about the ‘80s and ‘90s!

It really did feel like we had a lot more of that stuff back then.

AJ Spencer (continues): You know? We had the Beetlejuice cartoon!

Lauren: Yeah!!

AJ Spencer: And all this cool stuff! The Goosebumps series… And you had, like, I don’t know if you remember Eerie Indiana?

Lauren: Yeah. I do.

AJ Spencer: Yeah!

Lauren: I remember the premiere of that on the TV *chuckles* back in the day…

AJ Spencer: Yeah! Yeah. It was awesome.

Both: *laugh*

Lauren Spear: Yeah. I feel bad because I want there to be things for the kids of today that have characters that they can relate to but… Sometimes it’s hard to find things to add.

AJ Spencer: Yeah. That’s why I mentioned Wednesday on Netflix earlier, because I feel like that’s such a good example.

Lauren: Yeah.

AJ Spencer: Because it’s very teen but even for the grown-ups it’s still fun to watch!

Lauren: Yes. Yes. We had fun watching that one too. *laughs*

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Yeah. Because that was another thing from the ‘90s that I loved: the Addams Family movies!

Lauren: Yeah!

AJ Spencer: And it goes along well with those.

Lauren: Yeah, absolutely.

Both: *laugh*

Lauren Spear: Did you want to talk about

The plot to Electric Eyes

Lauren Spear (continues): …at all, or…?

AJ Spencer: Yeah!

So, the plot to Electric Eyes pretty much centers on a family which consists of a mother, a father, and their two teenage children. The dad works for a tech company as a programmer and they’ve just come back from what was really a disastrous vacation and… *chuckles*

And, so, they’re going home and they find that this cruise that they were on went really bad. And they were actually pronounced dead!

Both: *laugh*

AJ Spencer: So, the father sets out to go to the company he works for and set the record straight. But, during all this, another catastrophic event happens that sort of…

I wanted to do a take on the zombie genre. But with kind of like a tech twist. Sooooooo… something happens where people turn into these types of robotic zombies. And their eyes glow yellow, which is where the title came from.

Lauren: Oh, okay.

AJ Spencer: Along with… Well, it was inspired by David Bowie lyrics.

Lauren: Oh! *chuckles* Okay!

AJ Spencer: Yeah. He has a song called “Moonage Daydream” and he says, “keep your electric eye on me.”  And that kind of sparked the inspiration for the title and some of the plot, so… yeah!

And I just wanted it to be, you know, a really quick, fun read. It’s not a long book. I think it is… I think it barely taps 100 pages.

So, just something that… You know. For people who read when they’re on road trips and stuff like that. I thought it would be fun.

Lauren: Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.

AJ Spencer: Mmhmm.

Lauren: It’s summertime right now. It’s the perfect time to do it.

AJ Spencer: Exactly. What’s left of summer!

Both: *laugh*

Lauren: Yeah, well… *laughs* Here in Los Angeles it’s going to be going on for a while!

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Honestly, you know, I’m here in Kentucky and SAME. Really! Like, our summers have started to stretch longer and longer weather-wise. Yeah.

Lauren: Yeah.

AJ Spencer: Like, you know, there’s “back to school” stuff everywhere right now, but it’s still going to be hot for a LONG time.

Lauren: Yeah, like, into October.

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Yeah.

And here I even remember… It wasn’t even a few years ago! During Christmas it was like 60F degrees here, so…! *chuckles*

Lauren: Oh, wow. Yeah.

AJ Spencer: Yeah.

Lauren Spear: Though, at the same time, I just experienced snow for the first time in February of last year, sooo…! *confused laugh*

AJ Spencer: Wow!

Lauren: It’s very strange. Like, the winters are getting colder and the summers are getting hotter, so… *uneasy laugh*

AJ Spencer: Yeah. It’s… *uneasy laugh* It’s really bizarre!

I don’t know. It feels like pretty soon there may not even be seasons anymore. We’ll just have to, like, see what it’s doing tomorrow! *laughs*

Lauren: I haven’t really had seasons my entire life. It’s like there’s… hot and cold… ish.

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Yeah. For certain.

*screen glitches and fades to music with an image of a frustrated Joan the Mummy illustrated by Heather Landry AKA Sandpaperdaisy*

Lauren Spear: Okay! Um… In case there’s any, like, weird cuts: We had to restart our meeting because things are a little wacky right now.

AJ Spencer: *chuckles*

Lauren: So! Before we forget!!

Where can people get Electric Eyes?

AJ Spencer: Okay. So, it will be on Amazon. The eBook and the print version should be going live on the same day, which is Tuesday, July 30^th 2024.

I also have it enrolled in Kindle Unlimited so people that have that will also be able to receive it.

Other than that… I’m trying to think if it will be anywhere else… But, primarily, that’s where you’ll be able to find it.

Lauren: Okay, so, people will be able to find it on Amazon.

If you look up “AJ Spencer,” you’ll be able to find Electric Eyes. I saw that it was available for pre-order right now but, as we already said—

AJ Spencer: Yes!

Lauren: —at the time of this, it will have already been out for one week!

AJ Spencer: It’ll be… It’ll be going!

Lauren: It’ll be goin’!

Both: *laugh*

Lauren Spear: All right!

Before the show, you were showing me an illustration from the Halloween anthology you were a part of a while back, and showing me that

The same artist did the cover for Electric Eyes…

Lauren Spear (continuing): …Did you want to show those again?

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Absolutely!

So, his name is Sidney Shiv and he did the editing and illustrations for… *holds up book* This is the Halloween anthology. Fall Equinox.

Lauren: Call you pull it back just a little bit?

AJ Spencer: Sure. Yeah! Oh, yeah.

Lauren: Okay. There!

AJ Spencer: This is the anthology my short story “The Pumpkin Eater” appeared in.

And, on top of that, he gave us individual illustrations of scenes from our stories! So, he actually drew the monster from my story: The Pumpkin Eater!

If you can see that?

Lauren: *chuckles & nods*

AJ Spencer: Yeah?

And I thought that was really awesome!

He hand draw… Ack! Excuse me. He hand DREW all of these illustrations! And that’s what definitely made me have him in mind for Electric Eyes because I was like, “That’s SUCH a cool look!”

I think, with everything now being digital, it was nice to have that just classic illustration look.

Lauren: Yeah. Yeah.

Do you have the cover for Electric Eyes with you, or no…?

AJ Spencer: I, unfortunately, don’t have it! I should have at least printed it out. But I don’t have it on me!

Lauren: Aw, that’s okay.

Well, it looks… It’s in that style. And it’s got, like, you know, the yellow-eyed zombies on the front.

AJ Spencer: Yes!

Lauren: You’ll have to check it out on Amazon if you want to see it! *laughs*

AJ Spencer: Definitely! Yeah!

Like you said, it’s got the zombies on there and this cool, like, blood red sky in the background. Yeah.

Lauren: Also, the written…! I do a full written transcript for every episode of the HorrorFam.com Podcast so, if you give me a copy of that, I’ll be able to put it in there as well so people can see.

AJ Spencer: Oh, yeah! Awesome!! That would be great. Yeah.

Lauren: Yeah.

AJ Spencer: I would love for people to see it before they check it out, y’know? So they can kinda see if they… if they vibe with it.

Both: *laugh*

Lauren Spear: Well, people can also experience your writing through your

AJ’s Horror Reads reviews!

Lauren Spear (continuing): You do that kinda tri-annually on HorrorFam.com! Like, three times a year, you show up like, “Here’s a whole list of things that I’m reading now!”

AJ Spencer: Yeah!!

Lauren: And you were actually saying that you’re reading some things now that you wanted to talk about a little bit, so…

AJ Spencer: Definitely. So, this is kind of cool… Since I’ve started doing this, people have wanted to send me Advanced Reader Copies of their books. And I’ve been getting to read some really awesome things before they come out!

Currently, what I’m reading now is a novel called Starlet. It’s by Danger Slater. You’ll have to check him out! He’s known as “the world’s most flammable author,” according to his biography.

Both: *laugh*

AJ Spencer: So, he has… August 27^th he has a book called Starlet coming out and it has this really cool, like, David Lynch vibe — take — on the underbelly of Hollywood, told through the eyes of an aspiring actress.

And I don’t want to spoil anything, but it gets pretty out there!! *chuckles* And it is a page-turner!

Lauren Spear: Oh, okay! Is it a period piece or is it set in, like, modern Hollywood?

AJ Spencer: Modern Hollywood.

Lauren: Okay.

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Yeah. But it’s like… It does touch on old Hollywood as well! It’s just a… It’s a really cool story!

Lauren: Oh, okay.

AJ Spencer: I’m hoping that a lot of people will go check it out! And I’m going to have a full write-up on that.

Lauren: Oh, awesome!!

AJ Spencer: Yes!

Lauren: I’ll be looking for that in my inbox! *laughs*

AJ Spencer: Definitely. It’ll be there soon.

Lauren: Nice!!

AJ Spencer: And there was a well-regarded horror novel called Kill Creek that came out. And the author of that book has another one coming out that takes place in the same universe called Midwestern Gothic – and I’m also working on reading that as well! So, yeah! Those are two *audio fuzzy*

Lauren: Ohhhh! Yeah!!

I… I got an email about that and I included that in my Horror Inbox thing that I do …

AJ Spencer: Yeah! Yeah.

Lauren: …in January, May, and September. *laughs*

AJ Spencer: Mmhmm!

Lauren: Okay. Yeah! I actually knew that one! *laughs*

AJ Spencer: Yeah! You get all these cool things in your inbox as well!

It’s one of the perks to HorrorFam, right?

Lauren: Yeah! Definitely!

Both: *laugh*

Lauren Spear: People should send us more stuff!

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Right? Just send us stuff!

Lauren: Yeah. Just send us stuff. And we’ll talk about it somewhere!

AJ Spencer: Yeah. We’ll make room for it.

Lauren: Yeah. Like, everything that is legitimately horror-related I end up talking about in some way or another. Either as a full feature, or in the Horror Inbox Round-ups, or you’ll talk about it if it’s a book…

And Isaiah talks about it if it’s like an indie horror film. He loves gettin’ the screeners!

AJ Spencer: Oh, definitely. I’m sure. And it’s probably really great for you to see this project grow since you’ve started it. HorrorFam. Like…?

Lauren: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

This is going to be the 5^th year in October.

AJ Spencer: Wow!

Lauren: And the first few years were rough going! This really feels like the first year that it’s actually like, “Things are happening!”

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Yeah. I know for you and Frank it’s been a juggling act.

Lauren: Yeah. *sighs* Yeah.

Both: *laugh*

Lauren Spear: Yeah, I think… You met me right after I got back from surgery! I was like, “Well, I’m in recovery right now, but…”

AJ Spencer: Yeah!! *laughs*

Lauren: “…when I get back to my desk I’ll be sure to read what you have to say!” *laughs*

AJ Spencer: Yeah! *laughs* I felt SO BAD too!! Because I was like, “Wow, what a horrible time to pitch something to someone!”

Both: *laughing*

AJ Spencer: But I’m glad you were willing to go with it.

Lauren Spear: Well, yeah! You’ve been great!

It…It’s been… I’m so happy that I’m finally getting to… This is our first time actually talking face-to-face!

One of the things with HorrorFam is like… These people who have been around since the beginning like you, and Christi, and Heather, and Isaiah came on like a year after you…

AJ Spencer: Mmhmm.

Lauren: And it’s not enough for just Frank and me to rise up on our own. We want to take everyone who was there from the beginning WITH us! You know?

We want to be able to show people, “This is AJ!! He writes about things!” *chuckles*

AJ Spencer: Yeah! It’s been really fun!

Lauren: That’s good! *laughs*

So, Electric Eyes! You’ve been working on that for a while now!

Does it feel good to have it done and out there?

AJ Spencer: Oh, ABSOLUTELY!

Like, you know, life happens and you try your best to find time to do creative endeavors through and between things, and it felt really good to finally nail it down. You know?

Lauren Spear: Yeah.

AJ Spencer: Because we all want to do things that just make us happy sometimes. And if you get the time to actually do it, it just feels GREAT! You know?

Lauren: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And now that you’ve finished this one, you can start on the next one! *laughs*

AJ Spencer: Onto the next one! Yeah! Because…

That’s the thing with any creative project. It’s like, no matter how much you have to go through to get one thing done, the next thing is always going to be in the back of your mind. And it’s gonna, like, POKE at you until you start on it!

Lauren: Yeah! It’s like as I’m editing one article, I’m thinking, “And NEXT week is…”

AJ Spencer: Yup! Yup!

Lauren Spear: Like, I have a whole list here! Okay. Right now, it’s the “raffle” and then it’s this and then it’s the podcast with AJ and then…

AJ Spencer: Oh, gosh. I can’t imagine! Because with me it’s just like…

Every time I sit down and do this, I’m thinking, “Okay! I’m going to do this and then I’m going to take this many weeks or months off before I start on the next thing.” But then, you know, it’s like…

I have my Word document open and I’m like,

“Oh… oh no. Here it comes! An idea.”

AJ Spencer (continuing): And if I don’t write it down now, I’m going to forget it!

Lauren Spear: Yeah!! Yeah!

Both: *laugh*

AJ Spencer: Yeah. I don’t want to lose my enthusiasm for it, so it’s like, “Let’s just dive right back in!”

Lauren Spear: *laughs* I do that too! With, like, paintings and drawings and stuff! I’m like, “It gets done in a day or it doesn’t get done at all!!”

AJ Spencer: Exactly!

Both: *laugh*

AJ Spencer: Yeah. And if you have an attention span like mine, that’s how it works too! It’s like, if you don’t do this NOW, you’re going to find something else to focus on and this will go back to never getting done.

Lauren Spear: *knowing laugh* Yup. Yup.

Frank and I joke around about that too. I’ve got AuDHD and he’s got ADHD and it’s like, “Okay! This is the day!!”

AJ Spencer: Yup. We’re kind of like these squirrels hopping around trying to find the next shiny object.

Lauren: It’s like, “HYPERFOCUS MODE: ACTIVATED!”

AJ Spencer: Exactly!

Both: *laugh*

Lauren Spear: Well, I’m glad you chose to go after a horror tween novel for this span of The Focus!

AJ Spencer: *laughs*

Lauren: I’m looking forward to being able to recommend that to people who’re like, “Oh, well, we watched all the movies and my kid likes to READ… What would be good for that?” So, that’s going to be good!

AJ Spencer: Yes! That’s the target audience I’m going for. So, hopefully, I’ll get some teens to read this summer!

Lauren: Yeah! *chuckles*

And you mentioned that your daughter likes to play Five Nights at Freddy’s and Poppy Playtime…

AJ Spencer: Mmhmm.

Lauren: And I know that you play some games as well. Has there been

Any horror games that you’ve been particularly enamored with lately?

AJ Spencer: Oh, man. Yeah.

So, I’ve been having a great time with… I just recently got a PS5 [Playstation 5]. Finally! So, I’ve been playing a game called Dead Island 2 and I’ve been having a blast with that!

Lauren: Oh, okay!

AJ Spencer: So, yeah.

Lauren: Yeah. Frank likes that game.

AJ Spencer: Keeping with the zombie theme. Yeah!

It’s really a blast. It’s kind of like an open-world zombie game and you can just, like, run around and do all this stuff and it’s really…

It reminds me of open-map games like Grand Theft Auto, but…

Lauren: Ah, okay. Yeah.

AJ Spencer: But during a zombie apocalypse!

Lauren: Yeah. Yeah! *laughs*

I saw your Killer Klowns shirt and I was wondering if you’d played the new Killer Klowns game that just came out, or…?

AJ Spencer: Yeah. I’ve been wanting to so badly! It’s on my list! I just haven’t gotten it yet.

Lauren: Yeah.

AJ Spencer: Of course, I’ve watched other people play it on YouTube and I’ve had fun doing that!

Lauren: *laughs*

Sometimes that’s… That’s a nice thing to do. Just watching the playthroughs.

AJ Spencer: Yeah. Definitely.

Lauren Spear: Well, I think our time is just about up. Is there anything that you’d like to say before you go? Let’s… Your social profiles and stuff! So people can follow you and keep up with you if they want to.

AJ Spencer: Oh, absolutely! So, all right, real quick:

I’m on Facebook under my pen name, AJ Spencer.

I am on Instagram at HorrorAuthorAJ.

And I am at Twitter under GrimGravestone.

Lauren: How come that one’s different?

AJ Spencer: I’m not sure, honestly. Like… I think I was kind of like… trying to do something on Twitter that stands out a lot more. ‘Cause everyone on Twitter seems to have the word “author” in theirs. Or “horror.” And I’m like…

I gotta do something a little bit different because the algorithms and the engagement on there tend to be different, I’ve found. So, it’s like, I wanted to do something that people would notice. And hopefully get some more engagement! *chuckles*

Lauren: Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.

AJ Spencer: Mmhmm.

Lauren Spear: Well, I’ll have all those links in the description for this video as well as on the transcript. It’ll be HorrorFam.com slash AJ Spencer! So… *chuckles*

AJ Spencer: Awesome! And I really appreciate you having me! It’s been great!!

Lauren: Well, good! I’m glad! *laughs*

It’s nice to finally meet you “in person.” And I know that you’re feeling, like, hot too because…

AJ Spencer: OH, yeah!

Lauren: We talked about this before [the show], but it’s like 100F degrees and we had to turn off our fans and air conditioning and everything so that it wouldn’t interfere with the sound recording.

AJ Spencer: Oh yeah. We’re going to be very shiny SOON!

Lauren: I’m starting to get shiny NOW!

Both: *laugh*

Lauren Spear: All right! Well, goodbye. It was great talking to you!

And for everyone else: You’ve been listening and/or watching the HorrorFam.com Podcast! I’m Lauren Spear and that was AJ Spencer!

Until next time.

AJ Spencer: Bye!!

Lauren: Byeeeee!!

Images from Wednesday and Eerie Indiana were purchased via MovieStillsDB. Images from Dead Island 2 are screenshots from the trailer via Steam. All other images were provided by horror author AJ Spencer.