Review: Interview with a Psycho delicious slice of terror
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 22, 2012
Billie Sue Mosiman's Interview with a Psycho, packs the punch of a novel, the twist and turns, the build up of suspense, the history, the last minute shocker -- all into a short story.  Ms. Mosiman played her cards just right as she brought a college-educated girl back to her dusty hometown to do an oral history of the residents.  For her last interview, she sat down with the community's oldest member, Hank Borden.  Hank had survived the Depression, the World Wars and much more, in the end falling victim only to the natural effects of old age -- a crippled hand, a slow step, and the inevitable weakness seen in his every move.  Looking at this humbled old man, the interviewer could not have been prepared for the story he tells her, the story of his life as a killer.  A litany of vicious, cruel murders Hank had perpetrated then hidden for all these years.  But he's ready to tell all now, since death was imminent and here was someone to tell his story for him.  It's not what she came for, but she is mesmerized and her initial instinct to flee is overwhelmed by the image of a withered old man, far past his days of abducting and murdering.But there's a lesson to be learned here.  A couple of them, actually.  The biggest lesson would be: Never trust a horror writer, they always have something up their sleeve to push you right over the edge into a dark nightmare.  Billie Sue Mosiman gives her readers a lot of horror, a lot of tension and an avalanche of shock in "Interview with a Psycho".  The story initially appeared in a collection of short stories compiled by master of horror writing Robert Bloch, and Billie Sue's story reflects Bloch's love of scaring the pants off his readers.  Great story!