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Interview with Adam Rex, author of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich Q: Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich pays homage to classic horror-movie monsters like Count Dracula, the Mummy, and Wolfman as well as pop-culture creatures like zombies, witches, Godzilla, and Bigfoot. Why did you choose to do a picture book about monsters? A: As long as I write books, I’ll probably always be overly concerned with the sort of illustrations they’ll have. Illustrating a picture book can be a long process, and a lot of work. But who wouldn’t want to paint pictures of monsters? Look at the place-mat doodles of any illustrator: I bet even the illustrator who works for the Wall Street Journal is not drawing Alan Greenspan—I’ll bet he’s drawing Bigfoot. Most kids don’t want to read about Greenspan, either. Q: As the title indicates, Frankenstein is hungry and wants to make a sandwich for lunch. Which came first: the title for the book or the poem? A: The title, oddly enough. I knew I wanted to write poems about monsters, and then suddenly I had this title in my head. I knew then that I wanted it to be the name of the book, and probably the name of a poem in the book, but I didn’t figure out the poem itself until months later. Q: The book reveals the everyday lives of monsters. Where did you get the idea to write a book about scary creatures with real-life problems? A: It all came from the title, really. I thought the combination of such a fantastic character and such an everyday activity was funny all by itself. I was convinced that most or all of the stories should follow along the same lines. The Invisible Man having trouble with an angry mob is too obvious to be funny. The Invisible Man being unable to flee the mob because his car keys have disappeared is maybe a little funnier. Q: You employ various artistic styles throughout the book. How did you create art to accompany the poems? A: A collection of stories about different characters seemed like a perfect excuse to try a lot of new things. Some of the styles were chosen because they just seemed natural for the poem in question. “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Henderson,” for example, takes place largely at a society ball, so I tried my best to imitate the look of turn-of-the-century century fashion and society artists like Charles Dana Gibson. That poem is rendered entirely in brush and ink on scratchboard. The Phantom of the Opera illustrations are painted more loosely than I would normally paint, to capture the blurred, grainy look of old film stock. Q: Your dedication mentions “the casts and crews of rather a lot of motion pictures from the last eighty-odd years.” Are there other classic horror-movie or science-fiction film creatures that you wish you’d included in the book? If so, what might be some of the troubles plaguing these characters? A: There are certainly more characters I’d like to tackle, and I plan to get to them all soon. I think certain characters who have cameo appearances in Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich deserve their own poems—such as the Headless Horseman or the Bride of Frankenstein. I’m wondering how often the Horseman needs to change his pumpkin, for example. King Kong is definitely on my list as well. Q: In addition to picture books, you’ve contributed illustrations to the cards used in the role-playing game Magic: The Gathering. Did that experience in any way prepare you for the world of children’s publishing? A: No, it was quite the opposite, actually. When I tried to convince publishers to take a chance on me, I found that my fantasy-game samples—which are geared more toward teens—just scared them. The phrase “Like this, but cuter and with fewer axes” doesn’t cut a lot of ice with picture-book editors. Q: What projects are you currently working on, and when can we expect to be entertained by them? A: I’m currently illustrating my next picture book with Harcourt, Pssst! That’s the title of the book, not a sound effect. It recounts a very demanding day at the zoo and will be published in 2007. I’m also working on my first novel, which should be out around the same time. And I’ll keep working on monster poems if the monsters would just SIT STILL FOR FIVE MINUTES AND STOP BITING THINGS so I can paint them! I’m looking at you, Cyclops. |
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 Art and text from Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich © 2006 Adam Rex. |
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