What's the most improbable but true thing about you?
I used to teach at a kids’ circus school, where I taught clowning skills, juggling, and improv. Also, two of my teeth are fake, but I’m not gonna tell you which ones!

Why did you choose to submit to Horror Over the Handlebars?
My good friend T.L. Guthrie had the chance to work with Bert on another anthology, Necronomi-RomCom, and was first to share the news when the team announced Horror Over the Handlebars. I was hooked by the name alone.

I have a soft spot for “kids on bikes” stories in general, especially ones that dip into horror. I grew up on The Magic Tree House, DragonTales, The Boxcar Children, and other “kids going on improbable adventures” stories… but I also grew up on Stephen King. Horror Over the Handlebars felt like a great opportunity to tap into the things that spooked me as a kid and the wild stuff that freaks me out now.

Tell us a little about your story, “19 Miles from Millstone, June 17th, 1988” and its genesis.
“19 Miles from Millstone, June 17th, 1988” started out as a Sleeping Beauty retelling for an advanced fiction class in college. The original story followed two teen siblings as they battled magic forces in a crumbling mansion inspired by urban exploration (urbex). It was, as most things are in college, extremely melodramatic.

I knew I wanted to submit to Handlebars, so I started researching true horror stories in Connecticut history. The Millstone Nuclear Power Plant, now the Dominion Millstone Power Station, is a real plant near New Haven, CT. In 1972, operators at the plant “misplaced” two spent nuclear power rods, extremely volatile radioactive material. Investigators’ best guess is the two got mislabeled and shipped to a nuclear waste storage facility in Virginia, but that got me thinking…what if the two power rods ended up somewhere else?

I took the best parts of the original short story, poured in some radioactive nightmare fuel, and the rest is history.

Tell us about “Between Sharp Teeth and Lady Slippers” in Horror Over the Handlebars and what you liked about it.
I had the great gift of workshopping this piece with the author before we both submitted. I loved watching “Between Sharp Teeth and Lady Slippers” grow.

T.L. Guthrie has a magnificent gift for building tension, making you care about her characters, and then dangling them over fiery pits of danger until you’re screaming at the page to make sure they get home in one piece.

Sam is an authentic narrator who faces very real monsters and the specter of not being believed. You’re horrified by Rick and want to stand with Sam, so you’re delighted when Sam meets a powerful friend in River. By the final pages, however, you’re sick with fear for Sam and the people she loves (especially her dog, if you’re me). You’re rooting for victory, but you’re terrified of what that looks like. T.L. Guthrie’s evocative prose grabs you by the back of the neck and doesn’t let go. That’s mastery of horror.

If you could time travel, where would you go, what would you do, and why would you do that?
Honestly? I’d go back to last week and grab some lottery numbers. But for a bigger adventure, I’d love to head back to dinosaur times, although knowing me, I’d probably get eaten by raptors.

Who would you bring back from the dead for one hour and what would you do with them?
I’d bring back Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Neal Cassady. I wish I could say it’s so that I could tell them how much influence they’ve had on my writing, but really, I’d just love to party with them.

What's your favorite piece of art? Could be music, writing, sculpture, painting...
I’ve always loved the poem “Turning” by W.S. Merwin, especially the opening lines: “Going too fast for myself I missed / more than I think I can remember.”

What are you most proud of creating?
My career as a writer. It’s been a rollercoaster and I’ve suffered several quarter-life crises along the way, but 2024 brought me my first four professional publications and acceptance to the creative writing MFA at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. I’ve worked my ass off, and things are falling into place. I couldn’t be prouder of what I’ve done to get here, or more grateful for the people who’ve had my back every step of the way. (Hi, Dad! Hi, Mom!)

What's next on your literary horizon?
In August 2024, I’m moving to Alaska to start my MFA in fiction writing. I’m also working on a four-book (maybe five, maybe seven) low fantasy series focused on found families, anticolonialism, the power of being weird, and the danger of blind faith in corrupt leaders.

Where can readers connect with you online?
You can find me on my website, TheHighwayMFA.com, or on Twitter and Instagram as @mtylertuttle.