Photo by Derek Wayne Aiello
Meet Allison Rassmann! Allison is a senior Writing, Literature, and Publishing major at Emerson College about to publish her book, Under Floorboards Under Skin. The book will be published through the Wilde Press branch of Emerson’s Pub Club! Here’s what Allison had to say about her book:
What inspired you to write Under Floorboards Under Skin?
Under Floorboards Under Skin was kind of an accident. The stories in it were written over the course of two years and were never expected to be part of a collection until I started to see their similar themes. All of the stories in the collection have to do with the dangers of the things left unsaid, the feeling of how they linger just beneath the surface. It’s not the first time someone’s written about this. The Yellow Wallpaper is about it. So is The Tell-Tale Heart. What this collection does differently is throws it into different contexts, from a college apartment to an 80’s Wisconsin suburb to a pirate ship. I was inspired to make this old horror come home again, in a sense.
You decided to donate all proceeds to the Lowell Humane Society. What was your motivation behind choosing them to receive your donations?
The Lowell Humane Society is an almost 150-year old local shelter dedicated to providing neglected animals a second chance. I spent a shameful amount of my childhood there petting animals, so I knew I wanted to donate my proceeds there from the start. The question is: how do cute, fuzzy animals connect with my relatively scary book? Okay, bear with me–whenever you watch a scary movie, or read a Stephen King novel, there’s a tendency not to care about the people. We root for them to die. They should have known better. They had it coming. But when the dog dies? That matters. No poor, innocent animal should be allowed to suffer–not in fiction, but especially not in real life. So buy my book and save the dog.
What was the biggest challenge in writing Under Floorboards Under Skin?
The biggest challenge of Under Floorboards was finding a way to link together all the stories in the collection. Collections nowadays only really work if there’s some sort of narrative throughline. Because I wrote the four “main” stories at various points over the course of two years, there was really nothing holding them together. I had to rack my brain until it hit me: in every story, the horror isn’t some ghost or monster that can be kept at bay. It’s about the things people refuse to say, the horrifying way the truth can be obscured, and the consequences of that. Once I had that, I wrote two additional stories to encapsulate the feeling, which then took on the title of the collection: “Under Floorboards” and “Under Skin”, both meaning the dangerous things we hide away.
The biggest success?
My biggest success came late in the process during final substantive edits. The Pub Club editorial team had noted that they wanted more details in my final story, “Under Skin.” I kind of groaned at that because I had written it as sort of a shock-factor epilogue, something I wasn’t really passionate about. But I started writing anyway. And I kept writing. And suddenly it felt so easy, like this character was reaching out to me with this background I hadn’t even bothered to consider before. It kept flowing until the story wasn’t about the shock anymore, but about guilt and the consequences of inaction. It meant something. Now, I might even say it’s my favorite in the collection.
Is this the first time you have been published? If so, how does it feel?
This is this first time I’ve had a collection published (as I’ve been published in magazines before). It’s been exhilarating. I loved getting to pick a cover design and receiving thoughtful, in-depth edits to push my stories even further. The best thing has been knowing how all of Pub Club has rallied behind me. Everything feels different when you have an entire community who believes in and supports your work enough to dedicate their time to it. Suddenly it feels so real, like I really can do this weird writing thing after all.
Is there anything you wish you could change?
I’m a perfectionist, so there’s always stuff I wish I could change. Mostly little things–just yesterday I was skimming through my manuscript and thought, “Why the heck is that word used twice in the same paragraph?!” It’s sort of a constant battle of reminding myself that nobody reads a book looking for those things. People read because they want to be told a great story, and if I can give them one then I’ve accomplished my job, flaws or no flaws.
What is one thing you want everyone to know/keep in mind about your book?
I’m actually a weenie when it comes to horror: I’ve never read a Stephen King book all the way through, and when a horror movie is on, I’m the type of person to make nervous comedic commentary until everyone hates me. All those jump scares and long moments of tension kill me.
This is not that type of horror.
My stories focus much more on the subtle dread of something being wrong than loud, jumpy moments. One of my main inspirations is Shirley Jackson, author of “The Lottery.” I like to think that even if you’re not a horror fan, you’ll find something in it for you: there’s stories about sci-fi, 80’s vampires, haunted pirate ships, creepy carnivals, and more. I would encourage anyone to pick up my book, even if they’re not horror fans. Above all else, it’s a good story.
Anything you’d like to add?
Emerson College tends to be very elitist about genre fiction, the title given to any work such as fantasy, horror, sci-fi, romance, and other creative genres. The best professors will explain they don’t want it in workshops because they don’t know how to teach it; the worst will tell you it’s not worth writing about. But if it’s not worth it, how did JK Rowling become so famous? Why is Aimee Bender worth teaching while we dismiss Neil Gaiman?
I have seen too many students give up on writing what they’re passionate about because of Emerson’s ignorance to genre. This collection is my testimony to the college that genre can be written about not only well, but in a way that matters.
Emerson needs to do better. We need to hire more professors who have the capacity to teach genre. We need more workshops and encouragement for the students that do. Above all, we must abandon the notion that creative fiction is not worth talking about. Because when we don’t talk about something, it becomes the thing lurking in the forgotten corners, taking on a life of its own until it is ready to seek revenge.
I’d like to offer a quick congratulations to Allison and all the hard work she put into writing Under Floorboards Under Skin! It couldn’t have been easy! As a member of Pub Club myself, I had the opportunity to work closely with Allison’s book, and I’ve got to say, it’s a must read! Make sure to stop by Pub Club’s book launch to purchase your copy of Under Floorboards Under Skin for only $8.00! And, in addition, remember that all the proceeds from Allison’s book will go to benefiting the Lowell Humane Society! For more information about Pub Club’s book launch event, check out our article!