Hong Kong teen writer Kathryn Chua tells Matt Fleming her fantasy-horror book will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up

There’s a new kid on the literary block in Hong Kong. True, she’s not really a kid, but at 17 years old, Kathryn Chua is a lot younger than most writers in the city. However, her debut, Midnight Walking, a dark and strange fantasy-horror about a crow who has a nasty habit of ‘picking off young girls and slowly draining them of their souls’, appears at first glance to have been written by a much more experienced author. But it’s causing a sensation with young adult readers in the city and on the Mainland, where she now lives – as well as in Malaysia, where she has spent much of her young life. She tells Time Out it deals with some pretty heavy themes in a novel you wouldn’t let your youngest stay up and read.

Is this your first book? What’s the novel all about?
Yes, Midnight Walking is my first book and I’ve wanted to write it since I was six years old. It’s about a girl named Lucy Pine and a crow that flies into her window one night that turns out to be a nasty sort of soul-devouring demon named Cyrus. The book handles how she deals with the whole mess.

What made you write the book?
I really wanted to subvert the clichés often seen in horror novels directed towards my age group. Midnight Walking isn’t meant to have sparkles or declarations of love – just a tough protagonist and some actual horror. Hopefully that comes through well in Lucy’s story.

Is the main character based on you in any way?
Yes, she definitely was at first. But there came a point in the plot when this became a huge hindrance. During edits, I had to re-evaluate her character and tweak her extensively. Fundamentally, Lucy and I have different personalities – though she shares a lot of my eccentricities as well as insecurities.

Myth and magic are central to the text. Do legends inspire you?
Oh my god, yes! I love mythology, especially the Norse, Greek and Egyptian pantheons. Folk legend interests me a lot too. Midnight Walking has bits and pieces of all kinds of myths tied into the story. I take inspiration from writers like Neil Gaiman who interweave fantasy and the everyday seamlessly.

What readers are you aiming at with this novel?
Definitely young adults. There are mature concepts in this novel. Do not buy it for a 12-year-old! I mean, you can kind of tell from the bleeding dead body on the cover that it’s not exactly a children’s book. But it’s not just teenage ennui and angst. Older readers will really enjoy the novel as well, I hope.

You’ve been receiving a lot of attention in Hong Kong. What’s that like at your age?
Overwhelming. It feels like I’m in a dream and, any second, someone’s going to pinch me awake. But I realise how lucky I am to be 17 years old and living out my dreams. For that, I’ve my super supportive family to thank. They have really gone all out trying to make this book a success.

What next for the sensational Kathryn Chua?
This will be the first book in a series of three. But, beyond that, all I really want to do is write…

Midnight Walking is published by Blacksmith Books, priced $99. Check out the www.kathrynchua-midnightwalking.com website.