That same belief, trauma as the real engine of the horror, is what makes Williams’ next tackle at the franchise feel less like a stretch and more like the obvious next step. Dropping the Smile entity straight into the world of professional sports is a pairing that, on paper, sounds a bit odd but in practice Willaims argues it might be one of horror’s most natural playgrounds.
“What could be more scarier than going from being the guy on the bench to being thrust into playing the biggest game of your career?” Williams asks. “That’s a dream come true, but we’re just turning it into a nightmare.”
Williams points to the pressure that comes with that kind of spotlight, the years of training funneled into a single moment, and the unsettling question of what comes after. “All of these things, I would believe, would lead to somebody having an existential crisis. Or it could be scary in that way.”
For Williams, the hope is that readers will walk away seeing athletes a little differently. “I want the takeaway to be as much as you are enjoying the teams going out Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and sometimes Friday now, that you’re remembering that these are real people who have a job, of course, they’re doing what they love, but at the end of the day, they’re still putting themselves on the line,” she says. “Kind of like modern day gladiators.”
Williams also isn’t shy about admitting the job of writing horror comes with its own strange risks, mainly when it comes to dreaming up new ways for the entity to torment its victims. “I was trying to come up with the deaths…so my internet search tab, I hope no one ever needs to see that,” she laughs. “It’s really bad. But also, I guess at the same time, fun, so it’s got me looking at myself a little bit differently.”
That fascination with guts and gore goes back further than this series for Williams, though. “I’ve always been a fan of horror,” she says, “but definitely more so in my adulthood. I love a creature feature, and I remember the very first time I saw the entity, the Smile entity, appear at the end of the first movie. I fell in love essentially with this horrific thing.”