Top 5 Influences for “A Very Lonely Road”

5. Psycho (1960)

Whenever I am writing horror, suspense, or mystery, I’m generally thinking of Alfred Hitchcock’s work, and more specifically, Psycho. As it pertains to my novella, A Very Lonely Road, the film was influential in its usage of a seemingly normal (if not, a bit troubled) young man who turns out to be psychotic. The suspense in this film is rivaled by very few others of its kind.

4. The Gingerbread Girl by Stephen King

Next on my list is King’s suspense thriller novella about a young woman who is locked away in a house by a murderous millionaire. The usual suspenseful thrills follow as the woman attempts to escape. Straightforward and engaging. I read this while writing A Very Lonely Road. Make of that what you will!

Click here to read it.

3. Misery (1990)

Similar to his Gingerbread Girl novella, this Stephen King adaptation offers the same sorts of nail-biting scenes in which a character attempts to escape the house of a deranged person. In my opinion, this story proves superior, mainly due to the villain being far more intriguing and more wildly unpredictable. The unpredictable mood-swings of Bate’s character in Misery were a huge inspiration for the character of Keaton in A Very Lonely Road.

2. Room (2015)

The first half of this devastating drama revolves around a woman and her child locked away in a place they call “Room”, kept there against their will by a man they call “Old Nick”. Not much else to say, here, except that it inspired me in the same ways that 3 & 4 of this list did!

1. Funny Games (2007)

Funny Games is undoubtedly the most influential piece for me whenever I write anything with even an ounce of suspense. If suspense were an Olympic sport, Michael Haneke’s home invasion thriller would take home the gold every single time. It stretches the tension of its scenes in a way that any Quentin Tarantino film wishes it could. Profoundly disturbing and devoid of any catharsis, this is a film that will instill a sense of dread in its audience like no other. And that dread will stick with you long after the credits roll.