Ben Spendlove introduces his new speculative novel, The Freezer (BCC Press). Life can be scary for someone with a vivid imagination. There are so many ways for things to go wrong, so many mistakes we can make, and so many cruelties that people perpetrate against each other. My writing helps me process these possibilities. Perhaps as a consequence, my stories have been described as dark and harrowing. And that’s true, I suppose. I write about people in some of the worst situations I can imagine. And it’s not just bad things that I inflict on them—it’s the worst things. When I write about the end of the world, it’s literally the end of the whole planet, not merely civilization.
As is common in literature, I make my characters face my darkest fears. Every reader has their own taste about what makes a book too dark or too depressing. I, for example, love the book Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. To me, it’s uplifting. It doesn’t feel like horror. It feels like a triumph of good over evil. Others find it terrifying.
But to me, life is terrifying. To cope, I’m habitually optimistic. And watching characters grow as they survive awful events is comforting. I believe that happens in real life, as well. It’s happened to me.
In The Freezer, I write about a young father who, by his and others’ choices, has been placed in a sad and difficult situation. He doesn’t struggle with major character flaws. He’s not a villain in need of redemption. He’s just a decent, ordinary guy with some hard decisions to make. And the interesting thing to me is not that he’s trying to do what’s best when it’s not clear what’s best (though that is the case). The thing I like about Thane’s story is how much he must risk in order to follow what he hopes is the best path.
The Freezer is the tale of a man walking into the dark—metaphorically—knowing there’s a chasm somewhere ahead of him. He hears voices in the dark. They tell him conflicting things, beckon him in different directions. He doesn’t know which ones to trust.
The voices say there are bridges out there in the dark. One leads to his fondest dreams. One leads to lesser dreams. The first is narrow. The second a little less so. But mostly it’s an empty chasm. And he can’t see a thing. His peril grows with each step. But he can’t stop moving, because the ground behind him is also falling away. If he stops, it will catch him.
Whom does he listen to? How does he decide?
There are so many voices that we must sift through and decide which to trust. Among them all, there’s one voice that we must learn to recognize and trust if we’re going to reach our ultimate goal. As Latter-day Saints, we generally don’t risk much to follow our religion. But saints of the past—throughout history—have risked everything. And with the imagination I have, it’s not hard to envision circumstances in which we will have to risk much more, even our lives, to follow Christ and his living prophet.
I didn’t set out to write a book about faith, but imbuing the story with my darkest fears also instilled the hope that sustains me and keeps me moving forward. And to me, that makes all the difference in a story, transforming darkness into light.
It also makes all the difference in life.
Ben Spendlove lives with his wife and four children in Cache Valley, Utah. He writes instruction manuals for robotic vehicles during the day, but his passion is writing fiction. He enjoys traveling both near and abroad. Some of his favorite places are Yellowstone, Moab, and Australia. He also enjoys hiking, riding bicycles, watching TV (especially Star Trek), and just spending time with his family.