Author Interview: They Watch From Below by Katya de Becerra

Author Interview: They Watch From Below by Katya de Becerra

They Watch From Below by Katya de Becerra is a gothic, dark academia, horror mystery novel that is available now. We had the chance to ask author Katya a few questions about their writing style and their monster vibes. Check out our interview below. Thank you to Page Street for sending us finished copies!

They Watch from Below

by Katya de Becerra
Published by: Page Street YA
on October 29, 2024
Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Thriller, Young Adult
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A deeply unsettling and engrossing mystery horror, perfect for fans of The Secret History and Ninth House.

When Addie Velde receives an invitation to attend an early orientation program at the University of the Arches, she eagerly accepts. After all, the Arches―with its idyllic beachside campus―is her mom’s beloved alma mater, and there’s nothing Addie wants more than to leave her own mark. But from the moment she arrives on campus and moves into her gloomy dorm, nicknamed The Crypt, Addie realizes there are more sinister secrets to uncover than sandy days in her future.

Addie's search for answers launches her straight into the heart of an old campus mystery which to this day keeps students and faculty wary of the shadowy “Buried Ones”, believed to be the omens of death. A vanished professor, an occult society, and the chance her family was involved pushes her investigation into dangerous territory.

Will she lose herself to the Buried Ones or end their sinister reign once and for all?

Author Interview – Katya de Becerra

1. The University of the Arches, with its idyllic setting and dark secrets, feels like a character in itself. How did you approach building the campus as both a beautiful and haunting place, and how does the setting contribute to the overall atmosphere of the story?

I find university campuses forever fascinating! These are places of knowledge and coming-of-age as well as of personal dramas and societal tensions. I wanted the Arches to reflect these complexities and also serve as an almost-sentient setting to my characters’ reckoning with their identities and their families’ dark histories.

The Arches is a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ of my own design, combining architectural traits and quirks of real and imagined places. Real, like Cal State Bakersfield where I studied while on my undergraduate exchange year, and UC Santa Barbara, where some friends once took me on an informal tour. Imagined, like something out of David Lynch movies, which I love. (My latest two books are what I would call ‘Californian Gothic’ and both are heavily influenced by Lynch, especially Mulholland Drive.)

I wanted the Arches to have that ‘Old World’ feel, while being a stylistically eclectic campus, reflecting its long and complicated history, which in turn speaks to the tense atmosphere of the book as Addie discovers how deep the deception goes. I truly believe places hold memories and are deeply affected by the events they witness. To build on that, I wanted to reflect on the idea of our connection to the land, remembering how much of the so-called New World is built upon lands that have been taken over, colonized and exploited in various ways over history.

2. Addie Velde’s search for answers leads her into a tangled mystery involving an occult society and a family history she didn’t expect. What drew you to explore themes of legacy, secrecy, and hidden histories, and how do they shape Addie’s personal journey throughout the novel?

Every novel I’ve written to date deals in some way with complicated family dynamics, and my protagonists face some big challenges as they learn who they are, making some tough choices along the way. As writers (and readers), we are drawn to certain themes, often because those speak to whatever we’re working through, emotionally or psychologically. Perhaps because I’ve always felt the weight of family expectations in my own life, I make my characters experience that weight too as they own struggles of their own. And because I love horror books and movies, I infuse those struggles with the supernatural and the occult.

Universities lend themselves perfectly to character-driven horror stories because campuses have historically attracted all kinds of peculiar figures and societies. The University of the Arches plays a central role in Addie’s journey—her family’s history is intertwined with this campus and her own future is linked to it, in more ways than she can even begin to imagine. She begins her journey trying to understand her mother and the choices she made in the past. By the end of the book Addie realizes her own choices are much more important as she has a chance to right the wrongs, which is something the previous generations failed to do.

3. The concept of the “Buried Ones” and their connection to death and omens adds a chilling layer to the story. How did you balance the supernatural horror elements with the psychological suspense of Addie’s investigation? What do you hope readers will take away from the blending of mystery and horror in the plot?

I love a good monster in a horror story, and by ‘good’ I mean both scary and metaphorically meaningful. What the monster means is a very important question for me to answer in my books. By introducing the ‘Buried Ones’ into this story I wanted to give Addie and her friends something terrifying to face, but I also wanted for this monster to embody more than just my characters’ fears.

The Buried Ones speak both to the parts of ourselves we suppress and to the hidden depths of those around us, be it our parents, our friends, or the society at large. What Addie is dealing with is intergenerational trauma (‘inherited’ from her mom and also, in a way, from her grandparents who have escaped a totalitarian regime), so the Buried Ones reflect her psychological journey and hint at parts of herself and her heritage she is only now beginning to grapple with. I hope my readers will find something in Addie’s story to relate to!