Horror Writers Association

Posts byAngela Yuriko Smith, Author at Horror Writers Association [ 224 ]

PANEL INSIGHTS: REFLECTIONS ON THREE MHI PANELS

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In this month’s column, Del Gibson and Lee Murray discuss the recent HWA Weird & Wonderful Panel, P.M. Raymond reflects on the StokerCon 2023 Self-Care for Horror Writers Panel, while Anton Cancre offers a heartfelt response to the StokerCon 2023 Everyone Must Get Stoned Panel on addiction. 

WEIRD AND WONDERFUL: A CONVERSATION

Del Gibson & Lee Murray

TRIGGER WARNING: This article discusses mental illness

In August 2023, as part of the HWA Halloween in July promotion, in support of the HWA scholarship programme, the Wellness Committee offered Weird & Wonderful, a panel discussion on their Mental Health Initiative. Moderated by …

HOLISTIC HORRORS PANEL REPORT: SENSE AND SENSITIVITY & ESSAY: PORTRAYALS OF DEMENTIA IN HORROR

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(Trigger Warning: Articles in this column discuss mental health/illness)

HOLISTIC HORRORS PANEL REPORT: SENSE AND SENSITIVITY & ESSAY: PORTRAYALS OF DEMENTIA IN HORROR By Lee Murray

In this column, I’m pleased to offer a report of the inspirational virtual panel on sensitive treatments of mental illness in horror, a discussion moderated by HWA Wellness co-chair Dave Jeffery and including an expert panel of speakers, which was published in June 2023 at our annual StokerCon convention. Also in this column is a short personal essay incorporating my takeaways from that panel discussion as they relate to three short stories on the …

HOLISTIC HORRORS: PANEL REPORT: SENSE AND SENSITIVITY & ESSAY: PORTRAYALS OF DEMENTIA IN HORROR

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Written by Lee Murray

(Trigger Warning: Articles in this column discuss mental health/illness)

In this column, I’m pleased to offer a report of the inspirational virtual panel on sensitive treatments of mental illness in horror, a discussion moderated by HWA Wellness co-chair Dave Jeffery and including an expert panel of speakers, which was published in June 2023 at our annual StokerCon convention. Also in this column is a short personal essay incorporating my takeaways from that panel discussion as they relate to three short stories on the subject of dementia and caregiving: Dave Jeffery’s “Once” which is published in its …

MHI: HOW HORROR CAN OFFER SOLACE

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The following post contains this writer’s individual experiences and opinions.  This post should not be interpreted as mental health diagnosis or treatment. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact your nearest mental health center or local emergency services. 

Written by Nicole Henning

[Trigger Warning: This article addresses mental health/illness]

Straining to see in the darkness, the slightest shift of light looks like movement in the perpetual gloom. Your ears are homing in on any sound for an indication of what direction the impending danger could come from. In this experience of veritable sensory deprivation, you may find …

Announcing HWA POETRY SHOWCASE X Selectees

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Congratulations to all the poets and poems that made the HWA Poetry Showcase X, and thank you to everyone who submitted. There were nearly 300 poems submitted, all excellent. It was difficult to whittle down to just 50 poets. For everyone not on this list, you should feel proud. If we could include all 300 submissions we would. Each of these poems was worth it.

Thank you to this year’s judges: Eugen Bacon, Katherine Quevedo, Colleen Anderson and Timothy Flynn for all their hard work that went into creating this list. I appreciate everything you did. Next year Showcase 11…

MHI: WRITING HORROR WITH PTSD…AND THERAPY WITH STEPHEN KING’S IT

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*The following post contains this writer’s individual experiences and opinions.  This post should not be interpreted as mental health diagnosis or treatment. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact your nearest mental health center or local emergency services. 

Written by Brooklyn Ann

Disclaimer: What I am sharing is my personal experience in what is working for me when it comes to my mental health issues. Everybody’s experiences and issues are different, and what works for me won’t necessarily work on everyone. I am not endorsing any specific methods or treatments. But I do hope that sharing my …

MHI: Mental Monsters by Senah Lloyd

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*The following post contains this writer’s individual experiences and opinions.  This post should not be interpreted as mental health diagnosis or treatment. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact your nearest mental health center or local emergency services. 

(You possibly guessed from that blurb that I am a mental health professional and you’d be correct. I’m also a horror fan and writer and am a person in recovery from a depressive episode that has been my worst one yet.)

I’m glad to see efforts to encourage discussion about mental health and to break down stereotypes and stigma. …

Poets of the Dark: Interview with Denise Dumars

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Denise Dumars has published hundreds of poems in journals, magazines, and anthologies, as well as authoring several volumes of poetry. She has been nominated for the Rhysling Award for speculative poetry several times, the Dwarf Stars award for poems of under 10 lines, and her book, Paranormal Romance: Poems Romancing the Paranormal, was nominated for the Elgin award. She is currently nominated for the Pushcart Prize. A retired college English professor, Denise is a fulltime writer now, writing fiction and nonfiction as well as poetry. Denise speaks on poetry and reads poetry at various conferences and conventions, including the …

Poets of the Dark: Interview with Amanda Worthington

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Amanda Worthington is a writer of the speculative whose work is alternately dark and whimsical. When she’s not writing, she’s probably enjoying the great outdoors, reading, working a crossword, or cuddling one of her 3 floofy cats. Her newest release is No Quarter: A Novella in Verse.

What sparked your interest in horror poetry? Was there a particular event or work that inspired you to delve into the darker side of poetry?

When I was about 12, I returned home from school one day and confessed that I hated reading because it was boring. My bibliophile mother would have …

Poets of the Dark: Interview with Colleen Anderson

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Colleen Anderson is a Canadian author writing fiction and poetry and has had two collections and over 300 poems published in such venues as Grievous Angel, Polu Texni, The Future Fire, HWA Poetry Showcase and many others. She is a member of HWA and SFPA and a Canada Council grant recipient for writing. She has performed her work before audiences in the US, UK and Canada and has placed in the Balticon, Rannu, Crucible and Wax poetry competitions. Colleen also enjoys editing and co-edited Canadian anthologies Playground of Lost Toys (Aurora nominated) and Tesseracts 17, and her solo anthology

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Poets of the Dark: Interview with Madison McSweeney

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Madison McSweeney is the author of The Doom That Came to Mellonville (Filthy Loot), The Forest Dreams With Teeth (Demain Publishing), and the poetry chapbook Fringewood (Alien Buddha Press). Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies like Zombie Punks F*ck Off (Weirdpunk/CLASH), American Gothic Short Stories (Flame Tree), and Nightmare Sky (Death Knell Press). She lives in Ottawa, Canada, tweets from @MMcSw13 and blogs at www.madisonmcsweeney.com

What sparked your interest in horror poetry? Was there a particular event or work that inspired you to delve into the darker side of poetry?

The first poem I can remember writing back …

Poets of the Dark: Interview with Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert

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Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert is a Technical Services Librarian who writes short fiction and poetry in the horror, scifi, and dark fantasy genres. Her short stories have appeared in the anthologies Dastardly Damsels (forthcoming), Wicked Women, The Final Summons, and Killing It Softly (Vol.1). Read her poetry in the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. VI, the anthologies Beneath Strange Stars and Wicked Witches, and in The Wayfarer: A Journal of Contemplative Literature.

She published a short collection of poetry, Interview with the Faerie (Part One) and Other Poems of Darkness and Light in 2013. When not …

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