Dissecting Mike Rusetsky

Welcome back to the Black Hare Press Dissecting Author interviews, where we dissect an author each month to find out who they are, what they write, and what keeps their creative juices flowing.
 
Today, we slice open Mike Rusetsky, author of horror, urban fantasy, and speculative fiction, to spill his writing secrets and learn more about his forthcoming short read, Max Demons Slayed, LLC.
 

Welcome Mike!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Rusetsky is a Ukrainian-American author of horror, urban fantasy, and speculative fiction whose stories are often festooned with attempts at humor.
 
Mike began his career as a playwright, with his original one-act productions Angel of Death and The Plight of Smitty earning critical praise. His recent publications include short stories in anthologies by Outsider Publishing, Black Hare Press, Wicked Shadow Press, Inkd Publishing, Storm Dragon Publishing, as well as the periodicals Tales from the Crosstimbers, Sometimes Hilarious Horror, and Trollbreath Magazine.
 
Mike is an active member of the Horror Writers Association and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. He lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his beautiful wife and their spoiled Alaskan Malamute dog.

Bibliography
“Red Meat Diet,” Behind the Shadows III: Dark Secrets, Inkd Publishing, 2025
“Sister Zynn,” Beyond, Inkd Publishing, 2025
“The Christmas Wish,” Christmas Chaos: Twisted Tales of Holiday Terror, Outsider Publishing, 2024
“Battle Fatigue,” Legends of Camelot: Knights of the Round Table, Outsider Publishing, 2025
“Aeternum,” Occupying Bodies, Black Hare Press, 2025
“Trespassers,” Tales from the Lark Side, WeirdWideWeb Press, 2025
“Dinner/Date,” Vampire Visions, Storm Dragon Publishing, 2025
 
Connect
Website:
Amazon:
GoodReads:
Facebook:
@beatnikjuice
BlueSky:
YouTube:

Tell us about yourself. When did your passion for reading and writing start?

I grew up in Ukraine before moving to America as a teenager, and soaked up all the Ukrainian folklore since childhood. Even the lullaby my mom sang to me was a threat to children who wouldn’t lie still in bed, promising that a “gray wolfie” will come from the forest and drag me away if I’m disobedient. I loved that lullaby so much! And after that, it was Grimm’s fairytales, Jules Verne’s weirdness, Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries, and Stephen King’s terrifying tales. 

What drew you to your preferred writing genres?

Horror comes most easily to me because I was drawn to anything my mom forbade me to watch – like the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. In fact, my first attempt at writing fiction was an unofficial sequel I penned for the movie Return of the Living Dead at the tender age of nine. It was two notebook pages long and described a zombie reviving after a chemical ooze seeps down into his coffin. Edgy stuff!

What elements from your real life creep into your stories? Ie Worldbuilding, character traits etc.

 I enjoy writing outsiders. As an immigrant moving to the United States, I didn’t immediately fit in. I was the only foreign student in my school, and to my embarrassment, stood out in everything I did and said, while desperately wishing to blend in. This made me hyperaware of the underrepresented among us and take notice of the stories and voices we don’t typically get to hear from. And that’s the kind of characters I love to celebrate in my fiction. I love a redemptive arc! Though of course, with the horror genre, not everyone gets to have a happy ending.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

Being possessed by an idea that won’t let go. When my brain is firing on all cylinders all day long, until I’m buzzing as I finally sit down to write that next chunk of story. I also delight in the surprises my characters can bring, like when a side character suddenly pulls focus and reveals to be a much richer source of material, to the point where they derail the story in an unexpected direction. I love those moments; they usually make my story far better than my original concept ever was.

Do you write for entertainment, or is there a deeper message in your stories?

Entertainment is my primary goal. I only write the kinds of stories that would thrill and amuse myself as a reader. However, to put it in food terms, I don’t like eating empty calories. There should be deeper, meatier themes in a piece of art that go beyond its face value, and I’d like to think that I imbue my characters with enough humor, personal depth, and thought-provoking storylines that my readers will come away both entertained and emotionally engaged.

What has creating characters taught you about yourself and/or the people around you?

I’m extremely conflict-averse in real life, but a fictional story is nothing without great tension. This dilemma has taught me the value of inflicting believable conflicts on my characters, and not immediately trying to resolve them the way I would in real life. Instead, I’ve learned to sit with the discomfort of it as I watch the characters figure it out for themselves. 

ABOUT MAX DEMONS SLAYED, LLC

Max Demons Slayed, LLC
Mike Rusetsky
Buy Link:
 
They thought the demon was the problem—until the client turned out to be worse.

After the Global Apocalypse Event tore holes in the sky and dumped demons into rural America, some teenagers were left with something worse than trauma: powers.

Max Buckholtz turned hers into a business.

Running Max Demons Slayed, LLC, Max exterminates supernatural infestations with military efficiency, psychic precision, and a worrying amount of explosives. Her reluctant assistant is her younger brother Eldon—still in high school, still figuring out his underwhelming gift, and still wondering how his summer job became “possible dismemberment”.

Their latest contract seems simple: an elderly widow claims she’s trapped a demon inside her cattle barn. Easy money. In and out. No surprises.

Instead, Max and Eldon find a dead cow, a parasitic creature looking for a new host, and a client whose grief has curdled into something far more dangerous. As the barn fills with slime, gunfire, and very bad decisions, the siblings are forced to confront not just demonic threats—but the human kind lurking beneath them.

Bloody, fast-paced, and darkly funny, Max Demons Slayed, LLC blends monster-of-the-week action with sibling banter, rural horror, and the realisation that sometimes the scariest thing on the job isn’t the demon at all.

What sparked the idea for this book?

Growing up as an only child, I always wished for a sibling to go on adventures with. In this book, I created brother and sister duo, Eldon and Max, gave them a playful rivalry energy, and unleashed them on some demonic invaders of our planet. It was great fun for me, to watch these smart-mouthed characters encounter challenges that humble and terrify them. Also, their superpowers add an extra twist of mischievous worldbuilding

 What challenges did you encounter in finishing it?

 I had trouble with the tone. The story starts out very comedic, with banter and jokes between the brother and sister, which I adored writing. But then they arrive to the farm where their demon-killing mission must begin, and it took me several attempts to get the tone right, where it still feels like the same quirky characters experiencing a seriously dangerous environment.

Why did you choose the rural farm as the setting of this book?

I live in a million-person city in Ohio, but if you drive for just twenty minutes, you will hit the country area, which feels culturally and geographically alien to the city. I myself have had scary experiences of driving onto the wrong person’s farm property and being questioned (nearly at gunpoint) as to why I’m trespassing on their land. But I’ve also attended barn weddings and farmhouse sleepovers, and had a great time. There’s a duality to the rural setting that could either cut you like a blade or feed you the best comfort food you’ve ever tasted, and I wanted that present in this novella. 

 How did you come up with the stars/MCs of this book?

Max is very cool – she’s the older sister who, at 19, already runs her own demon-killing business. I’ve always wanted an older sibling to look up to, and she is my personification of that ideal. Eldon is the younger brother, the 17-year-old kid still unsure of his future and his standing in life. He grudgingly looks up to his sister for her business acumen and telepath superpower, but he has some pretty cool gifts of his own as well.

 Which of your characters do you relate to the most? Why?

Eldon is a character that I drew on my teenage self to write. He means well and is a sarcastic, joke-a-minute hoot in social settings. But there is also a tenderness and an empathetic affect he has, and a fervent desire to prove his worth. I can relate to all of that! Although sadly, I can’t make objects levitate in the air. Believe me, I’ve tried.

Is there a particular message that you hope readers will take from the book?

Demons are everywhere! Just kidding, but only slightly. Who is the real villain in life? I think if you scroll through recent news headlines, you’ll see that the most heinous things weren’t caused by Cthulhu, Dracula, and their cronies, but by human beings like you and I. That’s why it’s important to confront evil and pursue justice, even at the cost of personal comfort and safety. Heck, you might even get some personal growth in the process! If you don’t die first, that is. 

 What’s your favourite scene?

I love everything that happens in the barn. Usually the most mundane, practical setting on a farm, this particular barn is oozing with unnerving atmosphere and twists that expose people’s true natures. It’s also where I figured out how to write a funny story that can still pack some scares, action, and a bit of pathos. I can’t wait for the readers to experience it for themselves!

 THE STITCH UP

What’s your writing Kryptonite?

Marketing myself! Uuugh…

What one thing would/did you give up to be a writer?

All other hobbies.

How many half-finished and unpublished books do you have right now?

Three, at least.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve researched?

Prussian train-depot architecture.

What book from your childhood do you remember the best?

Pet Sematary. Seriously.
Thanks for chatting with us, Mike. This interview is all stitched up.
Learn more about Mike via the links provided, and remember to add Max Demons Slayed, LLC to your TBR list.
Want more? Catch up on all the Dissecting Author Interviews on the Black Hare Press website:

 

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