The Monsterization of the Other
An Interview with Bleah Patterson
When I first read Bleah Patterson’s “The Rule of Threes,” I immediately texted Connor and Jess that I wanted to accept it. Not because I saw myself in the narrator (though of course, I did), and not because I was still making sense of my own OCD diagnosis (though I was), but because this story is just so good. Patterson’s seamless weaving of the uncanny with the mundane, the care with which they depict these characters, and the careful yet fervent ending, all make me feel both somber and exhilarated every time I read it. Naturally, I also liked that there were vampires.
It was a joy to speak with Bleah about vampirism, mental illness, and homemade cranberry sauce.
Kara Crawford: To start, I’d love to talk about your inspiration for this story. What drew you to make the connection between vampires and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? What made you decide to pair these two seemingly disparate elements?
Bleah Patterson: Yes, thank you so much! I was thinking about how I wanted to both subvert traditional depictions of vampires, as well as recontextualize mental illness. OCD is a struggle of people close to me, so I wanted to think about and empathize with the feeling of having it (as someone who struggles with different mental illnesses, but thinks there is certainly crossover).
Vampires are so often depicted as compulsive, but it’s a compulsive desire and lust that is usually treated as a pleasurable indulgence. Similarly, in popular culture OCD is stereotyped (flipping light switches, being concerned with cleanliness, and an unfortunately casual and erroneous slang for people who are simply particular). But up close and personal, people struggling with OCD have a wide variety of ways that compulsion plays out. I wanted to imagine someone whose OCD actually makes them a better partner in a lot of ways (though we see our narrator struggle with the upside and downside), as well as a vampire who didn’t find their compulsion pleasurable but isolating instead. And I wanted to have the human empathize with the vampires for this shared experience.
KC: On a world-building level, I’m fascinated by the fact that blood-sucking creatures exist in this story, but that the humans all just sort of deal with that and adjust their normal routines. And then, when we finally meet one of Them at the end, he is not very intimidating. Could you talk about your decision not to make Them more of an imminent, scary, monstrous threat?
BP: I was thinking a lot, again, about compulsion and about mental illness and the ways that many people who are “frightened” of the mentally ill walk among them constantly without even knowing. In sort of gothic tradition, I was thinking about the monsterization of the “other.” I didn’t want my vampires to be terrifying; I was much more interested in the idea that they’re nuisances who are judged harshly for the way they inconvenience others.
KC: The absence of naming seems key to “The Rule of Threes.” The word ‘vampire,’ for instance, is never actually used. Additionally, the narrator is unnamed, and so is the town. Why did you decide to leave out these names? Do you see these choices as connected to each other?
BP: Oh, I’m sure. So many of my decisions are led by instinct, but if I step back and think about it I become aware that I’m interested in unnamed narrators, places and people, because of the average-ness I am also drawn to. I love a story that, instead of working in service of the conceit, is more about a human character navigating it. To that end, I think my world building tends to trend subtle and anonymous. I love something totally monotonous but just slightly askew. That’s sort of how being alive feels to me.
KC: The narrator’s relationship with Dennis, her boyfriend, is especially fascinating because (in my reading) the characters resist easy categorization as being either in the wrong or in the right. Did you experience any challenges on how to depict a relationship in which one of its members is experiencing intense mental difficulties?
BP: Ah, no I didn’t. Which sounds like a cop-out but it’s true! And it’s true because real people resist easy categorization. Our knee jerk reaction to call people “toxic” or “narcissistic,” is unfortunately often one that lacks nuance, empathy, or compassion. There are exceptions, of course, but this story isn’t about those exceptions. I have met people in my life I am truly convinced are evil, or completely good. But that’s rare, more often I meet, befriend, fall in love with, and admire people who are complicated and murky. People who struggle and make mistakes as they cope with those struggles. This story felt natural in that way, as a person who experiences intense mental difficulties and who has loved people with the same intensity. This is just real life for me.
KC: A key theme of this piece is the concept of being bound by something outside of one’s control, either externally (staying home after dark) or internally (the narrator’s compulsions). Even They are bound by routine. Could you talk a little bit about what you believe “Rule of Threes” articulates about choice, free will, and entrapment?
BP: So many things are out of our control. Turn on the news. And perhaps it’s always been that way. I wrote this story with Kafka and George Saunders in mind, who write a lot (in my opinion) about what it is to make the most (or fail to) of the life you’re dealt. We’re all stuck in the confines of systems bigger and more ominous than we can sometimes even wrap our heads around. I think about the quote “tend your garden,” and how so much of our lives are about cultivating the best communities, relationships, and vision of our own integrity despite things we cannot control.
KC: As you wrote this story, did you feel as though you were engaging in the tradition of vampire literature? Was there any specific media you turned to while writing it?
BP: Oh yes! And trying to work against it, haha. I wanted to think about what we “know,” as a sort of canon and what would happen if some of that were treated as a hyperbolic or fear-mongered myth. What happens if they’re just creatures who didn’t ask to exist, who didn’t ask to need what they need, and would honestly rather not be obsessed with the things they are? And how is that sort of the same thing as being a human sometimes? I also had just recently binged What We Do in The Shadows, which certainly subconsciously fed it.
KC: Finally, since part of this story takes place on Thanksgiving (and came out in November!), what does your ideal Thanksgiving meal look like?
BP: What a wonderful question! My ideal plate on Thanksgiving is a lot of stuffing, just a little bit of turkey (dark meat) and this giblet gravy my grandma used to make that had boiled eggs in it (don’t knock it until you try it!) over mashed potatoes. I also absolutely love a homemade cranberry sauce, and it’s honestly so easy to make (one bag of raw cranberries, two cups of orange juice, one cup of any dry red wine, half a cup of sugar, mulling spices, and a squeeze of lemon, bring to a boil until the berries burst and let cool so it gets a little jiggly)… I love contrast of sweet and tart against an otherwise really comforting palette.