Rob Renzetti has made many kids laugh through his work on such cartoons as Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, My Life As A Teenage Robot, and Dexter’s Laboratory.
But lately he’s been trying to scare the crap out of them with the middle-grade horror novels in his Horrible Bag trilogy.
In the following email interview, Renzetti talks about the second installment in this series, The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), which is the sequel to last year’s The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things.
For people who haven’t read it, what is The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things about, and what kind of a world is it set in?
The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things tells the story of reckless, curious eleven-year-old Zenith Maelstrom, who unwisely opens a repulsive looking bag that’s been dropped on his family’s doorstep by persons unknown. A foul creature — part spider, part hairball — crawls out the bag, kidnaps his fourteen-year-old sister Apogee, and drags her back to GrahBhag, the hideous world hiding inside the horrible bag. Zenith must journey through this bizarre, treacherous land and outsmart its dangerous denizens to rescue his sister.
And then, for people who’ve read The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things, and thus can ignore me writing SPOILER ALERT, what is The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment about, and when and where is it set in relation to Bag?
In Twisted Tower, a month has passed since Zenith and Apogee Maelstrom escaped from GrahBhag, and Apogee is anxious to return to the hidden world in the horrible bag to right all that went wrong on their first trip. Zenith is reluctant, but when Apogee finally decides to go it alone, he is forced to follow her. He discovers that their prior actions have made them infamous outlaws. The squabbling siblings must settle their differences before they are captured and sent to Eternity Tower, GrahBhag’s most notorious prison.
When in relation to writing The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things did you come up with the idea for The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment, and what inspired this second story’s plot?
When my agent sent out Horrible Bag, it was accompanied by a one-page summary of Twisted Tower, and a paragraph about a possible third book. To my delight, Penguin Workshop bought the whole trilogy. The story of the second book was built around the courtroom scene. I’ve always loved the courtroom scene from Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and wanted to do my own GrahBhagian version of it.
When The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment starts, Zenith doesn’t remember anything that happened in The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things, but his sister Apogee does. Why did you have Zenith forget everything but not Apogee as opposed to both of them? Or neither of them?
Since Zenith had agreed to return to GrahBhag at the end of the first book, I needed some device to introduce some tension between him and Apogee. So he not only forgets his promise to return but forgets about the whole first trip.
Also, when Zenith finally remembers, it gave me an excuse to recap things from the first book for the reader, who might also have forgotten some of the details.
To say why Apogee remembers would spoil some of the surprises in the second book.
The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things was a middle-grade horror story. Is it safe to assume The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment is as well?
Yes, it is middle-grade horror. The whole series is designed to give you the creeps but also provide some laughs.
That said, some middle grade books are specifically written for kids between the ages of 8 and 12, while others — like such Star Wars ones as Greg Rucka’s Guardians Of The Whills and Justina Ireland’s A Test Of Courage — are stories that are appropriate for anyone over the age of 8. Which kind is The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment, and thus The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things?
I believe that whole series will be enjoyed by anyone from 8 to 80.
Does that mean an adult who was, say, between the ages of 8 and 12 in the late-’70s would enjoy these books the way he enjoyed Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events? In theory, of course.
A Series Of Unfortunate Events was very inspirational for me. I think that readers of that series will find the same sort of black humor in Horrible Bag and Twisted Tower.
Obviously, The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment is not your first novel. Are there any writers, or stories, that had a big influence on Torment but not anything else you’ve written, and especially not The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things?
No, there are no writers or stories that are particularly influential on just this book.
How about such non-literary influences as movies, TV shows, or games? Did any of those things have a big influence on The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment?
There is an artist that had a very specific influence on Tower. I turned to the works of M.C. Escher for inspiration with the various perplexing physical spaces and puzzles that Zenith encounters in Eternity Tower. I thought it would be an interesting writing challenge to describe in prose the sort of wonderful visual confusion Escher achieves in his artwork.
Now, when not trying to scare children between the ages of 8 and 12, you work on such age appropriate animated shows as Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, My Life As A Teenage Robot, and Dexter’s Laboratory. Why did you decide to write The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things and The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment as novels, as opposed to as a show? Or were you thinking you’d write the books and use their popularity to sell Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network on the idea of the show?
I decided to write novels for the reason you’ve mentioned in your question: the chance to scare children. All the TV shows I’ve worked on are hoping to make children laugh or give them a thrill. I really wanted to give children chills and you don’t get much opportunity to make scary cartoons.
But now that I’ve written these stories, I would love to do an animated version.
As we’ve been discussing, The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment and The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things are the first two books in a trilogy. What can you tell us about the third and final book?
I am currently writing the third and final (for now) story of The Maelstrom sibling’s adventures in GrahBhag.
At the same time, I’ve been writing a new, serialized My Life As A Teenage Robot story for subscribers to my newsletter. If any of your readers are interested in that, they can sign up on my website.
As far as any other plans go, I have a few different ideas percolating. We’ll see which one rises to the top.
So, is there anything else you think people need to know about The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment?
If you’ve read The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things, you’ll see all you favorite GrahBhagian ghouls return, and get to meet a whole new motley crew of creatures. You’ll also get to explore much more of the wonderful, weird world that waits inside the horrible bag.
Finally, if some kid enjoys The Twisted Tower Of Endless Torment, and they’ve already read The Horrible Bag Of Terrible Things, what outside game would you suggest they play instead of staying inside reading or watching cartoons?
Since we’re in the middle of summer, I suggest they have an epic water balloon battle.
