Christopher Zeischegg is the author of The Magician, a gritty contemporary horror novel that has already garnered an impressive cult following across the digital world. To celebrate the success of The Magician, What We Reading sat down with Christopher to discuss everything from his journey into the writing world, his love for Paul Willems and his hopes for visual adaptations of his work in the future!
Thanks for speaking with us, Christopher! First off, tell us a bit about yourself and what led you to the world of writing.
Thanks for having me.
I’m the author of five books, including my most recent novel, The Magician.
I started writing prose in high school because it was cheaper and less bewildering than making movies.
Then, I ended up going to film school and working in the adult industry to pay for it. I probably stayed in that world for too long. But it gave me something to write about for the next decade.
Now, I’m pushing forty and trying to figure out a less volatile path forward.
Talk to us about In The Magician. What is it about, and where did the inspiration for it come from?
The Magician is a blend of autofiction, noir, and horror loosely based on the year or two that followed my adult industry retirement.
It was originally meant to be a multimedia project, including photos and video. There’s a short film floating around the internet and an out-of-print art book meant to accompany the novel. But I don’t think they’re necessary to understand the text.
If you’re interested in pornography and God from the point of view of someone who is skeptical of both but leaning toward the latter, you might enjoy the book. It’s at least garnered a small cult following.
What is the number one goal you want your work to have with readers?
I don’t think I’ve ever started a book with an audience in mind or a goal for readers.
With The Magician, I knew I wanted to write a very personal horror novel. I’d made a few attempts with earlier works to blend autofiction with the style and energy of the writers who influenced me: Dennis Cooper, Joan Didion, Bret Easton Ellis, etc…
None of the aforementioned authors writes horror, per se. But they each write with a subterranean focus on their subject matter. For example, Cooper’s interest in sex and violence has much to do with what can’t be expressed in most real-world dynamics related to desire, power, etc…
I’m often looking for the root of a problem I’ve yet to fully define. Given so much of my writing deals with sex work, I’d say the themes often have to do with the intersection of pleasure and mundanity, lack of control, financial despair, a lack of purpose, etc…
What do you think makes you stand out as an author?
I’d like to think that my life experience gives me some kind of unique perspective, but maybe that’s not true.
If there’s anything “good” about my work, it probably has more to do with the fact that I continue to wake up most mornings and write before I get on with my day.
What would you say has been your biggest success so far?
The Magician is by and large the only book of mine that anyone cares about.
In many ways, I have Philip Best at Amphetamine Sulphate Press to thank for that. He published the first edition of the novel and gave me a platform, an audience that understood what I was doing.
Prior to that, most of the people who purchased my books were fans of my porn. I used to receive messages from people who didn’t understand why my writing wasn’t “sexy” or who bemoaned the fact that the larger-than-life violence in my work prevented them from being able to cite my books for their porn studies class.
Now, my audience is perhaps smaller. But at least some of the readers seem to be grappling with the texts in a meaningful way. I’m grateful for that.
If you could go back in time to one book you read for the first time, what would it be and why?
I mention this book in a lot of interviews because it’s one of the few works that made me feel as if I’d discovered something new in my adult life: The Cathedral of Mist by Paul Willems.
I picked it up on a whim because the cover of the English translation by Wakefield Press feels like the literary equivalent of atmospheric black metal album art.
The short story, contained within, that shares the name of the book is still one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve read.
And finally, what do you hope the future holds for you and your writing?
The goal has always been visual adaptation. But I don’t know what that means anymore. I’ve done some of that on my own or with other low-resource collaborators.
So, what is the path forward? Cinema seems to be on the way out. There’s TV and video games, and a bunch of new media like AR.
I believe I’ll figure it out. But most of my life has unfolded in ways I could have never predicted. We’ll see…
Follow Christopher and all of his work on his Website, Twitter/X and Goodreads
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
