Philip Fracassi: It’s Never Too Early To Start Promoting
In this interview, author Philip Fracassi discusses how a stay at an old hotel helped inspire his new horror novel, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre.
Philip Fracassi is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of the story collections Behold the Void and Beneath a Pale Sky. His novels include A Child Alone with Strangers, Gothic, and Boys in the Valley. His stories have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Best Horror of the Year, Nightmare Magazine, Southwest Review, Interzone, and Black Static. Philip lives in Los Angeles. Follow him on X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.
In this interview, Philip discusses how a stay at an old hotel helped inspire his new horror novel, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre, his hope for readers, and more.
Name: Philip Fracassi
Literary agent: Copps Literary Services
Book title: The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Release date: September 30, 2025
Genre/category: Horror
Previous titles: Available on his website
Elevator pitch: Brimming with dark humor, violence, and mystery, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a blood-soaked slasher sure to keep readers guessing until the very last page.
What prompted you to write this book?
While on a cross-country book tour for my novel, Boys in the Valley, my wife and I stayed in an old hotel in Virginia. I made the comment that it seemed more like a retirement home than a hotel, and my (dark) imagination took over from there as my two favorite words popped up my brain: What if?
What if there was a serial killer in a retirement home? How would the residents react? What if the police didn’t believe them (they’re old, after all). What if folks had nowhere to go, nowhere to run?
The next morning, I typed up a pitch called The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre and sent it to my agent, who loved it. A few days later, I was pitching it to my editor, who was totally on board, and away we went.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
I sent the pitch to my agent on October 3, 2023, and the book is going to be released almost two years later to the day, on September 30, 2025. Which, in my experience, is a pretty quick turnaround from conception to physical book.
The original idea, and the original characters that sprouted in my mind, hardly changed at all during the process. Even the title of the book stayed the same. I think when you have a strong idea right off the bat, when the entirety of the story just lands in your lap, the final product ends up being pretty close to what you first imagined. That’s how it was for Autumn Springs. It was a lightning bolt, fully formed.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
Because this book was the second contracted title for the publisher, it all went very smoothly. Since we’d just released my novel Boys in the Valley in 2023, there weren’t any significant changes in the modus operandi between the two projects. If anything, I was glad that we had the cover art for the new title ready a lot earlier than the prior novel, which allowed me to get a solid jump on creating an early buzz with PR outlets and social media. Best case, you’d like to have finished cover art a solid 6-8 months prior to the release date or, if possible, closer to a year. Never too early to start promoting.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
The biggest surprise for this book was that I wrote it without an outline. And believe me, that wasn’t by choice. I’m a huge outliner when it comes to my novels, and it’s important to me to have every chapter figured out before I start writing. That way I can focus on the prose and dialogue and descriptions and not have to wonder what’s going to happen next. It also allows me to seed elements early on for the reader that will pay off later in the story. For some reason, however, I was mentally blocked from outlining Autumn Springs, which made me anxious, especially given that it’s a mystery/thriller and there were a lot of characters and a lot of moving pieces. Ultimately, I found the process of “pantsing” the story interesting, but I’d prefer not to do it that way again if I can help it.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
All my books are written with the intention, first and foremost, to be entertainment. I want readers to enjoy the experience of reading the stories, to have fun, to emotionally connect with the characters, and hopefully find some delight with the prose. For Autumn Springs specifically, my hope is that readers experience all the thrills and chills that come with reading a good mystery/thriller, but I’d also hope that they forge an empathetic bond with the characters, because they’re all near and dear to my heart, especially my protagonist, Rose DuBois.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
The number one piece of advice I always share with writers is to persevere. Writing is a tough business. It’s incredibly isolating, and you spend a huge amount of your career dealing with negativity and rejection. In my experience it helps to keep the blinders on, keep my nose to the grindstone, and do the work that I love doing. Publishing is the ultimate roller coaster of highs and lows, but if you block out the noise, focus on the storytelling, and keep working, you’ll have a great shot at achieving your personal goals.
