Horror Writers Association
Email us.
Discord
YouTube
Slasher TV
HWA on Instagram
TikTok
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me

Asian Heritage in Horror: Interview with Hannah Yang

Share

Hannah Yang is a Chinese-American speculative fiction author who writes about all things strange and surreal. Her work has appeared in Apex Magazine, The Dark Magazine, and Nightmare Magazine, among other places. Her short story “Eating Bitterness” was a finalist for the 2021 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards.

Hannah grew up writing in the rainy suburbs of Seattle and got her BA at Yale University. She now lives in Colorado, which she finds obnoxiously sunny. When she’s not writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing guitar, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work at hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang, or subscribe to her newsletter for publication updates.

What inspired you to start writing?

Impatience. The first thing I ever remember writing was A Series of Unfortunate Events fanfiction, back in elementary school, because the next book in the series hadn’t come out yet. I didn’t have the patience to wait for Lemony Snicket to finish it, so I just wrote my own (terrible) version instead. 

In all seriousness, though, I don’t think there’s ever just one moment that inspires you to start writing. You have to get re-inspired with each new story you tackle. It’s an endless, ongoing process of finding new reasons to keep writing.  

Personally, I’m always intrigued by questions that start with a strange image. For example, my short story “Eating Bitterness” started with the mental image of a girl with a second mouth on her neck. That was a concept I couldn’t let go of until I’d explained it to myself. Many of my stories start with an image like that, and that’s how I re-inspire myself.

What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it?

I actually fell into horror by accident. It’s become one of my favorite genres to write, but for a long time, I didn’t engage with the horror genre because it scared me too much. In college, I considered myself primarily a fantasy writer. Then, over the years, my fantasy stories got darker and darker.

As for “why horror?”—I think fear is one of our most visceral emotions, and that gives it a lot of power. Horror lets you tap into parts of yourself that you keep politely tucked out of sight most of the time. 

Do you make a conscious effort to include Asian and/or Pacific Islander characters and themes in your writing, and if so, what do you want to portray?

When I first started writing as a kid, all my protagonists were white. All the books and stories I consumed had white protagonists, just because publishing in the US wasn’t very diverse yet, so I thought that was the way stories had to be. It was a really pivotal moment in high school when I realized, “Wait a second. I’m allowed to write Asian protagonists.” That seems so obvious now, but it had never occurred to me that I was allowed

Now, including AAPI characters often just happens naturally, because all my stories begin with lived experiences. When my protagonists are Chinese-American, in particular, it’s not necessarily because I’m trying to make a point, but just because that’s finally become the default option for me. 

What has writing horror taught you about the world and yourself?

That we’re not alone.

I remember, when “Eating Bitterness” came out, I got messages from readers that were like, Yes. This is exactly what it’s like. That was the first horror story I published, and I wasn’t expecting it to resonate with so many people, but I got an outpouring of responses.  

Sometimes, we’re too close to our own cultural norms to see them clearly. And with speculative fiction, you can take something invisible, like emotional labor, and translate it into something physical, like a mouth on someone’s neck. I think there’s something really beautiful about that—about taking something that’s so often invisible or unnoticed in our society, and putting it on the page, and seeing everyone connect around that shared experience.

How have you seen the horror genre change over the years? And how do you think it will continue to evolve?

So, I’m relatively new to horror! I started writing horror stories in late 2020. I didn’t start reading horror until around then, either, so I’m sorry to say that I missed out on a lot of fantastic stories that are older than that, which I’m slowly catching up on now. 

Because of all that, I’m definitely not an expert on the evolution of the horror genre. But just based on what I’ve read and heard, it seems to me like we’re breaking new ground, and I’m thrilled to see it. There’s more room for diverse voices than ever before, and more intersectionality within that space, too.

How do you feel the Asian and/or Pacific Islander communities have been represented thus far in the genre, and what hopes do you have for representation in the genre going forward?

I feel hopeful—and also grateful! A lot of groundbreaking AAPI writers paved the way for me to enter the genre when I did. By the time I started writing horror, we were already moving away from the era when most Asian characters in mainstream media were written in two-dimensional ways.

There’s still a lot more progress to be made, both for Asian diaspora communities in Western countries and for writers in Asia. I’d love to see more mainstream opportunities open up for both of those groups.

Who are some of your favorite Asian and/or Pacific Islander characters in horror?

I adored Kang Sae-byeok and Ali Abdul in Squid Games. I also loved Alon from The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco. 

Who are some Asian and/or Pacific Islander horror authors you recommend our audience check out?

There are so many fantastic horror authors crushing it out here. Isabel Yap, Fatima Taqvi, Cassandra Khaw, Rin Chupeco, Usman T. Malik, Ai Jiang.

What is one piece of advice you would give horror authors today?

One of my favorite tips is “Write what you know.” It’s a piece of advice that often gets a bad rap, because a lot of people think “Write what you know” means you shouldn’t write about monsters and ghosts and aliens, because you’ve never encountered them in the real world. 

I see “Write what you know” more as a reminder to give your stories an authentic emotional core. What fears keep you up at night? What experiences have you had that resemble your characters’ experiences? What does this story mean to you?

If you can ground your story in what you’ve lived and experienced, it will resonate with readers. Knowing where your monsters come from within you will make them so much more powerful. 

And to the Asian and/or Pacific Islander writers out there who are just getting started, what advice would you give them?

Authenticity is the key to originality.

Don’t listen to anyone who tells you your work is “derivative” because it’s similar to the work of other AAPI authors they’ve read before.

Ten writers could write about their lived experiences, and even if those are similar lived experiences, they’re still producing ten deeply original stories. Just be fully yourself, and don’t let anyone tell you that that’s not enough. 

Comments are closed.

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial