Trivia / The Amulet

• McDowell conceived of this novel as a screenplay for an anthology film of several horror stories all interlinked by a mysterious amulet. He was so amused by the concept of coming up with death after creepy, violent death that he couldn't bear to take any of them out, meaning that the script was far too long for a feature film (and he was told by several agents that there was no market for anthologies), so he ended up rewriting the screenplay as a novel.
• McDowell was born in the wiregrass region of south Alabama where the novel is set, and was very familiar with the region (and as is evident from the book, not particularly fond of it; he moved away at a very young age and never returned. One can suspect that growing up in rural Alabama in the 1950s and early 60s wasn't great for a young gay man.)