I Know a Secret

Acknowledgments

My mother, an immigrant from China, had a shaky command of the English language, but she did understand — and love — American horror films. I inherited her love of the genre, and as a child I spent many happy hours screaming in delight as I watched and rewatched my favorites, including Them, The Thing, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. When I finally had the chance to write and produce my own independent feature film, of course it was a horror film. The plot of I Know a Secret was partly inspired by my experience of making Island Zero, and I thank Mariah Klapatch, Josh Gerritsen, Mark Farney, my husband, Jacob, and the entire cast and crew of Island Zero for being part of the adventure. We spilled a ton of fake blood, burned down a house (on purpose), stayed up way too late, and probably drank too much beer, but hey, guys — we actually made a movie! And what I wrote about horror fans is absolutely true: We are one big happy family. We are not scary people. Trust me.

I also thank everyone who helped bring I Know a Secret to publication: the incomparable team at the Jane Rotrosen literary agency, my editors Kara Cesare (U.S.) and Frankie Gray (U.K.), Kim Hovey, Larry Finlay, Dennis Ambrose and his team of exacting copy editors (you keep me humble), and my tireless publicists on both sides of the pond, Sharon Propson and Alison Barrow. It has been an honor to work with you all.