JERY TILLOTSON

"Stunning! Terrifying! Lock that Creaking Door!"

Demons, monsters and psychos terrorize the thirteen women in these tales of "madness and horror." Guaranteed "to keep you awake!" says Barnes & Noble.
The New York Times Book Review raves, "Andrea D'Allasandra has rapidly become America's mistress of horror and suspense, all saturated with a mesmerizing Southern ambiance...recalls the most brilliant of Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor and Truman Capote at their peak!"

Critics Rave About Stunning Story Collection!

Denton author turns up the scary
By Judi Brinegar
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
NEW YORK - Just in time for Halloween: A novel packed full of good, old-fashioned scary stories.

Denton native Jery Tillotson is the author of a just-released, hair-raising story collection set in the Piedmont area of North Carolina.

"The Creaking Door and Other Tales of Madness and Horror," written under the pen name Andrea D'Allasandra, features 14 different, complex women who get involved in horrible situations, none of them very pleasant.

The book features stories about women who find themselves trapped in real life nightmares ... a little girl returns from the dead to punish her monstrous mother ... an unbelieving young woman discovers too late there are prehistoric monsters in her backyard ... a daughter and her siblings wreak vengeance on their evil parents.

"Many readers have asked me to consider writing a good, old-fashioned collection of scary stories - the kind you used to curl up with on cold, rainy nights with the wind blowing against your windows," Tillotson said.

"Well, here it is. In fact, several of the stories occur against wintry, wet backdrops, which, not surprisingly, is my favorite type of weather to read. I based these stories on the ones I used to hear as a little tike when my Southern kinfolk would gather around the fireplace and drink coffee and smoke cigarettes or cigars and describe, in loving detail, some really chilling experiences they had witnessed on their farms or remote communities."

Tillotson grew up in Denton, but has resided in parts of New York since 1978.

"Even though I've lived in Manhattan for nearly 22 years, nearly all of my novels and stories take place in my home state of North Carolina," he said. "For a writer, nothing can compare with all of the fascinating locales you can find there, especially in the Piedmont area."

After attending Brevard College and graduating from East Carolina University, Tillotson began his writing career as a city reporter for the Wilmington Star-News. After a 15-year career in journalism, he moved to New York and has enjoyed a successful career as a writer.

Tillotson has several distinct literary alter egos that he writes under. Two are fairly well known - Jason Fury and D'Allasandra.

Another one has occasionally popped up, Big Bill Jackson.

When writing dozens of stories during the late 1970s and '80s, Tillotson used so many pen names that one editor was convinced Tillotson was a literary agent who represented a roster of "gifted but decadent writers."

One popular story written as Jason Fury centers around a Greyhound bus that breaks down between Siler City and Asheboro during a blizzard.

"Christmas at the Y'all Come Motel" focuses on the passengers on that bus who are forced to spend the night at the Y'all Come Motel.

"Growing up in a beautiful rural community like Denton and Asheboro and Lexington is something that profoundly affected me as a writer," he said. "I tell people in New York that they've never seen sunsets and sunrises like you find back home.

"The people you find there are the salt of the earth. Also, that great Southern cooking, especially the barbecue, can't be beat."

n n n

Tillotson's books are available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com. For more information, visit his website at .



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Click here for The Courier-Tribune News Archive

"Many readers have asked me to consider writing a good, old-fashioned collection of scary stories--the kind you used to curl up with on cold, rainy nights with the wind blowing against your windows. Well, here it is. In fact, several of the stories occur against wintry, wet backdrops, which, not surprisingly, is my favorite type of weather to read. I based these stories on the ones I used to hear as a little tyke when my Southern kinfolk would gather around the fireplace and drink coffee and smoke cigarettes or cigars and describe in loving detail, some really chilling experiences they had witnessed on their farms or remote communities. These stories were great to write because while I created them, Manhattan was going through its most snowy winters in decades. I could look out my window and see chunks of ice floating in the East River." While writing "The Creaking Door", the author also read some old-favorite ghostly classics, like "Dracula," "Uncle Silas" and "Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural."
With the sensational success of her past three novels: Death House, Horror House and The Master of Hell Mountain, Andrea D'Allasandra is putting the finishing touches to yet another hair-raiser, The House of the Screaming Clowns.
"This is a third volume in my Death House series. Everyone wants Benji the Monster to return and wreak new havoc. His favorite haunt, The Old Saunders Place, has now been turned into a mental hospital where some of the patients are nearly as scary as the hideous looking Benji. This one should be in bookstores by Winter, 2005. Stay tuned!"