My Favorite Things with Jessica McHugh

They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Jessica McHugh, who joined us back in November 2018 and is back with more favorites! She’ll also be appearing in the forthcoming Not All Monsters: A Strangehouse Anthology by Women in Horror edited by Sara Tantlinger.

What does Jessica love when she’s not writing about teenage girls giving teenage boys exactly what they deserve? Spoiler alert: the horrible beauty of crime scenes, a completely underrated spec fic movie that everyone needs to watch, the best book to read while sick, music to shape and inspire your fiction, and a horror story that features the most unlikely of foods. Curious? Read on to learn more!

Favorite Hannibal Murder Tableau

Fans of the three-season spectacle that was the Bryan Fuller-helmed NBC series Hannibal, starring the devilishly alluring Mads Mikkelson, can go on forever about the horrific beauty of the show’s crime scenes. Especially those left by the titular character to tease and tempt our protagonist, Will Graham. Or in the case of the murder of Special Agent Beverly Katz, to drive him over the edge.

The body of Beverly Katz is first discovered by reporter Freddie Loundes, but we’re only granted glimpses: corners of glass panes, melted ice, dripping blood. When Special Agent Jack Crawford arrives, we’re finally shown the extent of the macabre tableau. Revealed first from the side, Katz appears whole, but a subtle nudge of the camera unfolds the rest of her like a glass accordion. While Hannibal Lecter is fond of gutting and dismemberment, this is different. Beverly Katz’s body is sliced into thin segments and displayed in standing glass cases, like specimens on slides to be analyzed under the microscope that is Will Graham.

Though still being held in connection with the Chesapeake Ripper’s crimes, Will is allowed to visit the crime scene and use his talents to figure out what happened. It is a grotesquely literal instance of Hannibal taking something apart and Will putting it back together. It is by no means Hannibal’s goriest tableau, but with clever camera work, a chilling instrumental track, and a stellar performance from Hugh Dancy, it remains a favorite among Hannibal’s many elegantly gruesome designs.

Favorite Underrated Spec Fic Movie

With elements of horror, sci-fi, action, fantasy, and comedy, it still shocks the hell out of me that Attack the Block isn’t a more popular film. Especially since one of the main actors went on to star in the new Star Wars films and the female lead is the current Doctor Who! I even thought a few years back when Americans started saying “fam” it meant people were discovering the magic of Attack the Block, but no such luck, so I’m here to sing its praises today!

The movie kicks off with a gang of young hoodlums robbing a young female nurse who only escapes the attack because a meteor crashes to earth and releases a small alien creature. After killing the beast, more of the creatures land on Earth. But they’re larger, angrier, and in my opinion, some of the scariest extraterrestrials ever conceived. These quadrupedal eyeless gorilla-wolf creatures have bioluminescent jaws and spiky black fur that doesn’t reflect light, which makes it difficult to nail down their shape or distance. And its echolocation noises are apparently a mixture of dolphin sonar, various animal grunts and snarls, and a recording of a woman’s scream. Eventually the kids and nurse band together to fight the beasts and protect their small scrap of the city, creating a wild romp of a movie you won’t soon forget. If you’re a fan of Edgar Wright films and Stranger Things and you’re still wondering if you should check out Attack the Block, I’m here to tell you, “Allow it, fam.”

Favorite Sick Day Read

I wish I’d written this a week ago when I was still sick. I wish I’d written this four days ago when I was finishing up my millionth reread of this book. I wish I’d written this when Mary Higgins Clark was still alive. But here we are, as we are, and I’m still feeling pretty raw, so I’m going to do the best tribute I can while staying under 5000 words.

I had chronic bronchitis as a kid. Pretty much anytime I got sick, I wound up with bronchitis and a constant cough that made it nearly impossible to sleep. I spent days and nights sitting up in bed, under the cool curtain of a humidifier, reading one of my favorite books, Loves Music, Loves to Dance by the incomparable crime writer, Mary Higgins Clark. I’d read a few of her books prior, and while I liked A Stranger is Watching and While My Pretty One Sleeps, her work didn’t floor me until I read a story about a man who kills women, freezes their bodies, then films himself dancing with their corpses. I mean, holy shit, right?!

I’d already read plenty of Stephen King, R.L. Stine, and Clive Barker, but I hadn’t read much horror by women — and I 100% consider that book horror — and it opened my eyes to a new world. Why it makes me feel better so consistently, I don’t know, and it’s probably best not to analyze it. All I know is I woke up sick on January 1st 2020, stayed that way for a long time, then developed my first case of bronchitis in years. It propelled me back in time. And as you can see in the photo of me, wreathed in mist and curled up with Mary, I was able to look on the sunny side of being sick.

Like, no, it sucked being so sick for so long, but I’m grateful for the time we had together.

Favorite Weird Story Song

All my life I’d loved Helen Reddy as the female lead of Pete’s Dragon, and later as a feminist icon, but I still wasn’t prepared to fall even deeper in love with her discography in 2015 when I created a predominantly ’70s playlist to serve as background inspirado for my novel Hares in the Hedgerow.

I’d already outlined my novel and built up my characters’ personalities when I heard the Helen Reddy song “Angie Baby,” and realized the titular character, described as “touched,” shared some of my protagonist’s traits. The strange song about lust and revenge even mirrors some plot points from my novel, and instead of running from these similarities, I leaned into them. As Hares in the Hedgerow isn’t out yet, I don’t want to spoil anything about that story, but if you love the idea of lecherous boys being trapped in radios to the amusement of a teenage girl, you might love the bonkers twists and turns my newest novel takes.

Favorite Pizza Horror Story

I didn’t know whether to include this, but as I was debating it, watching The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Sabrina asked, “Can’t we just have pizza?” so I felt I had to oblige her. As I said earlier, I was sick for most of January 2020, so I got to catch up on some reading. Obviously I returned to some old favorites, but I also finally dove into Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing’s Tales from the Crust pizza horror anthology. I do have a story in this anthology, but it’s easy to forget that when you’re twenty-something stories in and loving pretty much everything you’ve read. Disclaimer: I haven’t finished the anthology, so it’s probably super wrong for me to pick a favorite, but I’m gonna.

Sheri White’s “Mickey & the Pizza Girls” is one of the most delightful stories I’ve read in a long time. An enthusiastically bizarro jaunt, it unfolds like a paper fortune teller, revealing the fate of a town after a mysterious cataclysmic event. There are floating cars and horrific mutations and some super gross descriptions that, for a few minutes during my seemingly never-ending illness, made me giggle with glee. Sheri White has an enviable imagination and really knows how to paint a picture with words. She created a world that has stuck with me long after, like heartburn after a spicy meatlover’s slice — but much more enjoyable.

Jessica McHugh is a novelist and internationally produced playwright running amok in the fields of horror, sci-fi, young adult, and wherever else her peculiar mind leads. She’s had twenty-three books published in ten years, including her bizarro romp, The Green Kangaroos, her Post Mortem Press bestseller, Rabbits in the Garden, and her YA series The Darla Decker Diaries. More information on her published and forthcoming fiction can be found at JessicaMcHughBooks.com.

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