Fangtastic Books: Serial Killers and their Quirks, or Making Gross Horse Dolls by Danielle DeVor

When I started thinking about writing a YA thriller, I knew I needed something unique about the serial killer I was writing about just so they wouldn’t seem like a copy of someone else’s idea. Serial killers have been done to death, pardon my pun, so I had to use my imagination a bit. That’s when I came up with the idea for the horses.

In Dancing with a Dead Horse, the serial killer targets my main character, Jason Miller, by leaving a horse doll in his locker. These horse dolls are made on wooden forms with skin from bodies stretched over them and hair from the victims used for the mane and tail.

The horse dolls are also fashioned after types of horses. For instance, the first horse has blond hair. Next to it, the killer leaves a note simply saying, “Palamino.”

For Jason, these horses are true harbingers of death. Even scarier is that the killer leaves the dolls for him. So, he never knows if one day he will be a horse or if the killer wants him for some other sinister thing.

It was fun creating the mystique around the horses, but mechanically thinking about how one would stretch human skin over a horse form was… interesting to say the least.

Dancing with a Dead Horse

Danielle DeVor

Genre: YA Thriller

Publisher: Eirelander Publishing

Date of Publication: April 30, 2014

Word Count: 65,104

Cover Artist: Buffi BeCraft

Book Description:

Sometimes lullabies aren’t soothing; they’re deadly.

Sixteen-year-old, Jason Miller, wants three things: to become a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter, graduate from high school, and avoid his mother’s ballet classes.

When he finds the body of the most popular girl in school, he has a major freak-out session, and then calls 911. But if finding a body wasn’t bad enough, when a horse doll made of human skin and hair is found in his locker, the entire town accuses Jason of the murder.

As the body count rises, so does the hostility. Jason is left with a choice: To run and hide or to clear his name and find out why the killer is targeting him before it’s too late.

Available at Amazon

About the Author:

Danielle DeVor spent her early years fantasizing about vampires and watching “Salem’s Lot” way too many times. After living briefly in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she moved back to her hometown to write. When not writing and reading about weird things, you will find her hanging out at the nearest coffee shop, enjoying a mocha frappuccino.

Twitter: @sammyig

Blog: http://danielledevor.wordpress.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/danielledevorauthor

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/DanielleDeVor

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