Chatting with C.M. Forest about F* This place and More!
Why don’t you introduce yourself to our Eerie Readers who might be
unfamiliar to your work?
My name is Christian Laforet but I write under C.M. Forest. Why? Because Christian is a boring chap, while Mr. Forest is a man of mystery! I write dark fiction with a strong slant towards body and cosmic horror. My debut novel, Infested, won silver in the Benjamin Franklin awards for best horror novel in 2023.
Can you tell us what your story in Fuck this Place — entitled “Einsteins
Children” — is about?
Einstein’s Children is a dystopian math-horror story. It follows a math professor named Isaac as he enters an abandoned city overtaken by spooky math equations. While there, Isaac
runs into a nasty group of kids called Einstein’s Children.
Using math and horror together is a unique pairing. What was the
inspiration behind merging those ideas?
Honestly, I hate math. Seriously. I don’t think I ever achieved higher than a 60% in math while in school, and outright failed grade eleven math. I mention this to illustrate how odd it would be that such a concept like Einstein’s Children should ever appear in my mind. I can say, when it did come to me, it arrived nearly fully formed. I could picture the titular Einstein’s Children so clearly that the rest of the equation, so to speak, quickly revealed itself.
What is your favorite piece of horror media (book, movie, video game.)
I love them all, but would say horror movies sit at the top. Two things I love about film: the immediacy of the story, and the lack of control as a viewer. The movie dictates how you experience the narrative. You are a passenger.
Fuck this Place is a double anthology about two worlds going very wrong.
Does your story mirror our own modern world and what ideas or issues are you trying to direct people towards?
Okay, so once people read the book, they will very likely point to some strong similarities between my world and the United States. This was actually unintentional. I began Einstein’s Children a few years ago before putting it aside to finish other projects. At the time, I was writing, what I thought to be, a nightmarish dystopian society ripped from the pages of 1984. I had no idea that by 2026 we’d be seeing these happen on the daily.
Your main character is a professor and the monsters in your story are
affecting children. What was the creative choice behind this idea?
I don’t like kids.
What scares you the most?
Depends. In fiction, I love atmosphere and dread. If you’ve read my work, you know I adore body horror. But that needs to be earned. It turns me off when a story is all gore and violence with no substance. In real life, I’m a fraidy cat. I’m certain something awful is going to happen to me every day.
You mention you’re a “Horror Movie Expert.” Could you tell us more
about that and what’s a horror movie that you’ve enjoyed/connected to?
I’ve been mainlining horror movies since I was little. There are so many great, scary movies, that picking out a few is almost impossible. I will say, one of the movies that traumatised me the most as a youngster was Demons 2 by Lamberto Bava.
I want to pick your brain on the state of horror. We’re seeing a rise of
interest in the genre — especially indie horror — what are your thoughts on
the current state of the genre and where it's going?
The nice thing about indie horror—and what, in my opinion, attracts people to it—is its immediacy. Big traditionally published books take years to hit shelves, while indie horror has a much faster turn-around rate. It can feel more current and relevant compared to the its traditional contemporaries.
What’s your creative process when you write horror? How do you begin to write something that scares people?
Stories come easily to me. My problem is deciding which one to actually write. At my current pace, I am good for about a book a year, so I have to make sure what I want to work on is the correct project. When I do zero-in on a story, I begin plotting. I am a heavy plotter. As much as I love writing, I hate wasting my time while doing it. I’ve scrapped enough projects in the past because I hadn’t fully thought through the story and ended up with something that didn’t work to learn to take my time.
After Fuck this Place, what are you planning on working on next?
After many (oh so many) false starts, I am finally deep into a new novel. I don’t know when it will see bookshelves, but I’m very excited for folks to read it once it gets there.
What social media do you have, and for our interested readers, where can they keep up with your work?
I am fairly active online. This is where you can find me:
Website: c.m.forest.com (also christianlaforet.com)
Facebook: Author C.M. Forest
Instagram: @christianlaforet
Don't forget to grab yourself a copy of "F*ck This Place" on kindle or paperback anywhere!
Ebook uut October 22.
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