Christina Henry's Horror Tale 'The Place Where They Buried Your Heart' is About Love

In The Place Where They Buried Your Heart, horror and dark fantasy author Christina Henry writes a chilling tale set in Chicago and centered around a young woman named Jessie Campanelli, whose brother Paul disappeared years earlier in a mysterious house down the street. At the time, Jessie was an angsty 13-year-old teenager who didn’t want to deal with her pesky 8-year-old brother, so she dared him to enter the abandoned McIntyre house, a place all the children had been warned to avoid. Paul follows through on the dare and enters the house with his two friends, but when they emerge, only the friends return claiming that the house had eaten Paul up. Filled with guilt, Jessie continues living on the same street into adulthood searching for answers to the disappearance of her brother. As for the inspiration behind the story, Henry reflected, “So, all of my books come from an image that I see in my head or maybe a line of dialogue that I might hear, and for this book, I saw three boys go into a house, I saw two come out, one of them was missing an arm, and I needed to know who they were so like a totally normal person, I wrote a book so I could find out the answer!”

While many readers may find the horror and dark fantasy genres unsettling, Henry is drawn to them and shares why these forms of fiction appeal to her as a writer. “I think that it’s just a place where my brain goes to. When I was young I read a lot of fantasy and I scooted sideways into reading horror from fantasy… and then when I started writing, it just seemed a natural place for me to go.” She goes on to explain why readers can’t help but be drawn to this genre. “I think horror ultimately is about emotions. I think that the point and purpose of horror is to raise and or confront emotions. A lot of horror is about trauma, dealing with trauma, confronting your fears… I think it does help people. I mean, it’s like you can process your emotions in a safe place. The danger isn’t really there with you.”