“Basically, I just write whatever story grabs me rather than considering the genre.”

“I think in some ways, you end up with more interesting storytelling with series, because if you've written yourself into a corner with something in book 1, you have to be cleverer to get out of it.”

“I wrote my first five horror novels while I was teaching.”

“I'm a lot less travelled as an adult than I was as a child, but I think living in far flung places gives you a perspective on the world and people that adds flavour to your writing.”

“I'm not a natural researcher, and I don't get bogged down in it, but I think if you get it right in the first half, people will forgive you, and then you can move on with the story.”

“I've seen a range of children's personalities, so it's easier to write about them without patronising them, I think.”

“Monsters don't scare me at all; I think creepy is scarier than gore. I tend to read more thrillers and mysteries than horror, though. I like a good whodunnit. If I want scary, I tend to reach for a movie. I think it's a great medium for horror.”

“My first six books were horror, I think because when I was young I loved Stephen King. John Wyndham, Daphne Du Maurier, and it's natural to try and emulate the books you first loved.”

“The Thames Torso murders almost fell into my lap. After deciding to use a real historical crime as the focus for the book, I went to Google and searched for unsolved murders in Victorian London, and they basically popped out at me about halfway down the first results page.”