Raising Stony Mayhall

Article first published as Interview: Novelist Daryl Gregory on Raising Stony Mayhall on Blogcritics.

Writer Daryl Gregory always provides enlightening and entertaining discussion, that’s why this marks the third time I have interviewed him about his work. Last month saw the release of his newest novel, Raising Stony Mayhall, described by publisher Del Ray as “In 1968, after the first zombie outbreak, Wanda Mayhall and her three young daughters discover the body of a teenage mother during a snowstorm. Wrapped in the woman’s arms is a baby, stone-cold, not breathing, and without a pulse. But then his eyes open and look up at Wanda—and he begins to move. The family hides the child—whom they name Stony—rather than turn him over to authorities that would destroy him. Against all scientific reason, the undead boy begins to grow. For years his adoptive mother and sisters manage to keep his existence a secret—until one terrifying night when Stony is forced to run and he learns that he is not the only living dead boy left in the world.”

In addition to chatting about his newest novel, Gregory also explained how his previous novel, Pandemonium, came to be translated into Hebrew, as well as what else is on the creative horizon for him.

Tim O’Shea: In terms of this novel’s timeline, the first zombie outbreak happened in the late 1960s. What was your thinking in terms of the timeframe of when Stony was born?

Daryl Gregory: It’s a nod to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, which came out in 1968. In the world of the novel, a guy who also happens to be named Romero films the outbreak a documentary. We go on from there, and the book spans Stony’s entire “life,” from when he was discovered as an undead baby beside the highway in ’68, to his eventual second death in his forties in 2010.

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