West Kentucky native and author Clayton Tune has released a new teen horror novel, Josephine's Game, that blends familiar horror and pop culture elements. Tune speaks with Austin Carter about his latest release and the inspiration behind it.
"[Josephine's Game] is a teen horror novel about a young girl who is terrorized by a board game every year after her sister's death," Tune begins. "It's a board game that her sister created. It takes place over a year and also ten years to lead you up to what's happening now. It's sort of like a Jumanji meets Stranger Things sort of story."
Tune says he was inspired to write a horror board game story since falling in love with Jumanji in the mid-90s. "I thought it would be so cool to find a board game that came to life. I've always loved ghost stories—I was a big fan of shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Tales From the Crypt and Goosebumps. Anything that had to do with ghosts or haunted houses had my attention. I've just always had in the back of my mind a desire to do a board game story that had a darker side to it, somehow involving ghosts or a haunting."
"There are some themes of sibling rivalry, revenge, apologies. There is definitely a theme of anxiety. People do deal with panic attacks in this book. I'd say about half of the book focuses on the girl growing up, so it's a coming-of-age story. [Readers] might see some things they're familiar with, like what it was like going to school or doing sleepovers. Themes of loyalty, apologies, revenge—all of those things will be things that readers can expect to see."
For more information on Clayton Tune and how to find his new novel, visit his website.
