INTERVIEW: Meet Armando Muñoz, powerhouse of literary slashers
Image courtesy of Stop the Killer / Provided with permission.
Stop the Killer, the horror company that develops games and books based on classic slasher films, has employed Armando Muñoz to help genre fans realize their slashing dreams. Specifically, he’s the writer responsible for adapting classic horror movies to the literary page. So far he has found success with Silent Night, Deadly Night; My Bloody Valentine; and the forthcoming Happy Birthday to Me. He also publishes his own novels, including Hoarder, Turkey Day and Turkey Kitchen.
Muñoz is quickly becoming a go-to leader in the horror business, and he seems to relish the opportunity to meet fans and offer them their slashing desires. He even dresses the part: When signing copies of My Bloody Valentine, he donned dripping red sunglasses in the shape of hearts. His latest signing for Silent Night, Deadly Night found him wearing a Santa hat with “Naughty” displayed prominently.
Recently Muñoz exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox to talk about all things bloody. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
Does Stop the Killer come to you with pitches, or do you pitch them? What does day one look like for one of these book projects?
Stop the Killer comes to me first. Thankfully, Anthony Masi of Stop the Killer enjoyed my earlier novels and felt I’d be the correct fit for these books. Two of my earlier novels, Turkey Day and its sequel Turkey Kitchen, are holiday slashers, but that’s only the first half of the approval process. As these are official novelizations, Anthony is working with the licensors of the films and with the creatives who made these movies. He recommends me to the licensors, and I then have to pitch my take on the material to them and secure their approval.
Day one for these novelizations starts with reading the original screenplay, which is the blueprint. Often, there are moments on the page that didn’t make it to the screen, and we now have an opportunity to build a book using both the film we know and the missing pieces from the script that fans will be excited to discover.
For My Bloody Valentine and Silent Night, Deadly Night, how closely did you follow the source material?
I’m very faithful to the source material. I don’t want to deprive the fans of their favorite scenes or lines. I’ve also been given the freedom to expand upon the characters and mythology of the films in exciting new ways.
With My Bloody Valentine, I was working with director George Mihalka, and the goal was to bring his full original vision to the page, what he was unable to get on screen due to censorship, studio interference and extreme time constraints. In addition, the script had over two dozen missing or extended scenes. We now get to fully experience the missing double murder sequence. This is a much Bloodier Valentine.
With Silent Night, Deadly Night, co-executive producers Scott J. Schneid and Dennis Whitehead had interesting ideas on things they wanted to see explored further, plus they wanted a more expansive Christmas Eve massacre. I’m excited to say Santa’s rampage will triple the body count we got in the film. This is a much Deadlier Night.
Ultimately, these are not just scene-by-scene tie-ins. Our ambitions are greater than that.
Are you fans of these two movies as well? Does that help with the writing?
I’m more than a fan. I’ve been obsessed with these movies since the mid-1980s. I already knew every moment and line from these films. I watch them each year on their respective holidays and off-season as well.
These are the legends I grew up with and ruminated upon. Now I get to fully live through them, experiencing every emotion and moment from the point of the view of the characters. I believe readers will respond well to the fuller immersion into these stories that the novel format provides.
What do you think it is about Silent Night, Deadly Night that makes it such a solid slasher?
I see the Golden Age of the Slasher film to be between Halloween in 1978 through Silent Night, Deadly Night in 1984. And I will recognize Black Christmas from 1974 as the progenitor of the craze. Silent Night, Deadly Night came out at the tail end of that cycle, and it really stands out as different from the others. Sub-dividing the slasher genre further to the holiday and theme day slashers, Silent Night, Deadly Night was unique in that it was a deep character study of the killer and their madness. There is no “final girl.” This film had more in common with Psycho or the disturbing character study Maniac. And even among those, Silent Night, Deadly Night stands out in that the killer remains mostly sympathetic through the story — except for that terrible rampage, of course.
Silent Night, Deadly Night’s appeal must be attributed in great part to the colorful characters. The film featured performances that are truly iconic. I love Denise, Mrs. Randall, Mr. Sims and Sister Margaret. And then there are those villains who really left an impression. Grandpa is utterly crazy, Mother Superior is so abusive and diabolical, and the original killer Santa is such a sleazebag. We get to spend much more time with them in the novel, and they are going to shock and scare readers. I can’t wait for people to meet Grandpa in this book!
What are your horror tastes? Would you put the slasher at the top of the list?
I have an appetite for all eras and styles of horror. My deepest roots though go straight to the slasher, and more specifically the holiday slashers. No film ever caused a greater shock to my system than Friday the 13th, which I caught on its first showing on opening night in 1980. It was my first horror film, and I was only 8 years old. I was not prepared! And then the first horror film I rented on home video was Halloween II in 1983. These became the films against which all others would be judged.
I first caught My Bloody Valentine in 1985 and Silent Night, Deadly Night in 1986 on home video. I was at an age when these films shocked and scared me. That terror of these holiday legends I can still tap into when writing these novels.
I’m ecstatic to team up again with Stop the Killer and Cinepix, the company behind My Bloody Valentine, to novelize another theme day slasher classic from 1981, Happy Birthday to Me, which is slated for release for the film’s next birthday in May 2024.
Any hints about the extra chapter that fans can expect in Silent Night, Deadly Night?
I’ll just say it’s an additional kill with some blasphemy involved, more of those key Silent Night, Deadly Night ingredients we find so delicious.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Stop the Killer has published Armando Muñoz’s Silent Night, Deadly Night; and My Bloody Valentine. Happy Birthday to Me is now available to pre-order. Click here for more information.
