Before the ’90s, the Pacific Northwest just wasn’t culturally relevant. When my sister studied abroad during college, other Americans not only didn’t know how to pronounce the word “Oregon,” they made fun of her for living in a cultural backwater (one particularly nasty jerk joked: “Aren’t you all still fighting the Indians out there?”).
Twin Peaks changed all of this. It’s the reason why so many horror novels, movies, and video games are set in the Pacific Northwest. It created an entire aesthetic that’s wet and green and weird.
Because of who I am and what matters to me in the world, most of my work has fallen squarely into that aesthetic. I think whatever small success I’ve had has been due to that label. An Oath of Dogs was described as “Twin Peaks in Space.” In Tor Nightfire’s announcement about buying Girl in the Creek, my editor used the words “eerie Twin Peaks vibes.”
I am endlessly grateful for him for building that place for my work.
I did write more about David Lynch and how I feel about him in a free post over on my Patreon, if you want to hear more.
