(bell chimes) (typewriter whirs) (lighthearted music) - I am Alma Katsu and this is "The Fervor."

It's set at the end of World War II and there's a mysterious disease that's going through the internment camps that causes people to get incredibly aggressive and fight each other and then they usually pass away.

And so some of the residents of one of the internment camps is trying to get to the bottom of this.

And at the same time, we're seeing in the outside world that the contagion is starting to leak into the general public.

- You've taken some of history's most frightening moments.

You're talking about the "Titanic" sinking, and "The Donner Party," and you've turned these into horror novels.

And I wondered, is the mindset, okay, these are horrible events, I'm now gonna make 'em scarier.

- Well, you know, I didn't expect to be the Irwin Allen of, you know, (laughs) writing historical novels, but "The Donner Party" story did very well and they were like, "Okay, what natural, I mean, what disaster are you gonna pick next?"

So what's bigger disaster in the public's mind than the "Titanic?"

The real change came when we came to "The Fervor," publishing industry.

You know, knowledge was that audiences were getting a little bit tired of a lot of historical periods.

So they said at the time, World War II stories were very popular.

And because my family has a personal connection to the internment, I thought that, you know, that was a great story to try to bring to life.

- I love to ask this of horror writers.

What scares you?

- So you know, I'll tell you the truth 'cause as an analyst, that's our motto, right?

Truth to power.

You tell the truth.

Almost nothing scares me.

'cause I worked Genocides and Mass Atrocities, and I saw real horror, right, what people have really done to other people.

And that's what I mean, life can be really horrible.

And that's what I try to show, like, especially in the horror novels, it's not the monster that's gonna get you, it's the monster in the human (laughs) that's gonna get you.

- Alma, it has been such a pleasure.

- Oh, thank you, this has been a lot of fun.

- And thank you for watching "A Word on Words."

I'm Jeremy Finley.

Remember, keep reading.

(bell chimes) I could have interviewed you for another half-hour.

- [Alma] Oh, you're so sweet.

- [Jeremy] No, I mean, literally I was like, I was losing myself in what you were talking about.

- Oh, - I mean, absolutely.

Just fascinating.

I could sit and for like, "Mm, good stuff."

- That's so kind of you.

- Good stuff.