Latinx in Horror: Interview with Ann Dávila Cardinal

Ann Dávila Cardinal is a writer and the Director of Recruitment for Vermont College of Fine Arts where she earned her MFA in Writing. She comes from a long line of Puerto Rican writers, including father and son poets Virgilio and José Antonio Dávila, and her cousin, award-winning fiction writer Tere Dávila. Her young adult horror novels include Five Midnights, Category Five, and the upcoming Breakup From Hell (1/3/23). The Storyteller’s Death, (10/4/22), a work of magical realism, is her first novel for adults. Ann lives with her husband in Vermont in a small house with a scary basement.  What inspired…
Introduction to Latinx Heritage in Horror 2022

Introduction to Latinx Heritage in Horror 2022

Intro to Latinx Heritage in Horror by Rosemary Thorne Things are looking great for the Latinx Horror community in 2022, and here is some proof of it. Apart from being nominated Bram Stoker Award for "Best Horror Novel for the second time," Cina Pelayo delivered a great edition of the "2022 Souvenir anthology," and will be Guest of Honor at StokerCon Pittsburgh 2023. Concurrently, Gabino Iglesias' last novel has made it to The New York Times, confirming Spanglish is trendy and "barrio noir" a valid subgenre. Many other Latinx authors are paving the road and accomplishing goals in the States…

Veterans in Horror Spotlight coming this November

The HWA is going to be running a month-long Veterans in Horror Spotlight this November coordinated by HWA member and former Marine, David Rose. We are inviting any and all veteran members to join us. If you are a horror author, poet, or non-fiction horror writer (or writer of dark fantasy or other related genres) who is a military veteran (defined as a former service member of any uniformed, national military), or if you would like to nominate such an author, please send an email message to veterans@horror.org by September 30, 2022. In the message, please include: - The name of the author…

HWA Honors Latinx Heritage Month for the Second Year

As the Horror Writers Association launches its second year of the Latinx Heritage in Horror interview series, we are looking to interview authors we did not interview last year. If you are a horror author, poet, or non-fiction horror writer (or writer of dark fantasy or other related genres) who is of Latinx/Hispanic heritage, or if you would like to nominate such an author, please send an email message to Sumiko Saulson at sumikoska@yahoo.com In the intro, please include: - The name of the author - Email, or other contact info for the author - Briefly, why this author is…

In Memoriam: Valjeanne Jeffers

On behalf of the Horror Writers Association, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to the friends, family, and fans of Valjeanne Jeffers, and to her longtime boyfriend, poet Quinton Veal. Valjeanne was a proud member of the Horror Writers Association, a warm presence in the horror writing community, and on the speculative fiction convention circuit. Her contributions to the horror genre were many, including her werewolf series The Immortals, and short stories appearing in numerous horror anthologies, including Black Magic Women, Slay: Tales of the Vampire Noire, and the Bram Stoker nominated Sycorax’s Daughters. She deftly combined horror…

Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islanders Heritage in Horror: Interview with Naching T. Kassa

Naching T. Kassa is a wife, mother, and horror writer. She serves as an assistant at Crystal Lake Publishing, as an interviewer at HorrorAddicts.net, and is a proud member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Horror Writers Association. You can find her work on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Naching-T-Kassa/e/B005ZGHTI0 What inspired you to start writing? When I was in second grade, I realized I could write stories for my classmates. I wrote and illustrated stories about monsters and all kinds of fun, scary things. My friends really liked them, and this inspired me to write more. What was it about the…

Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islanders Heritage in Horror: Interview with Lehua Parker

LEHUA PARKER writes speculative fiction for kids and adults, often set in her native Hawai‘i. Her award-winning and best-selling series include the Niuhi Shark Saga trilogy, Lauele Fractured Folktales, and Chicken Skin Stories, along with many other plays, poems, short stories, novels, and essays. Her short stories have appeared in Va: Stories by Women of the Moana, Bamboo Ridge, and Sharks in an Inland Sea, and her plays performed by The Honolulu Theatre for Youth. A Kamehameha Schools graduate, Lehua is a passionate advocate of indigenous voices and authentic representation in media. She is a frequent speaker at conferences, schools, and symposiums, and mentors…

Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islanders Heritage in Horror: Interview with Lopaka Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui is the author of four spooky story compilations about Hawaii and the people who live there; “Haunted Hawaiian Nights,” “The Legend of Morgan’s Corner,” “Mysteries of Honolulu,” and “Mysteries of Hawai‘i.” As a Master Storyteller, Lopaka has received a special citation from the Hawai‘i State Legislature in 2020 for perpetuating and celebrating local culture, history, language, and folklore through storytelling and knowledge of the Islands’ history and legends. In between scaring people and finishing his first novel, Lopaka enjoys spoiling his dog, Pi, and teaching his grandkids all about the classic horror stories and movies he grew up…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Aaron Dries

Author, artist, and filmmaker, Aaron Dries was born and raised in New South Wales, Australia. His novels include the award-winning House of Sighs, The Fallen Boys, A Place for Sinners, Where the Dead Go to Die (with Mark Allan Gunnells), and the novellas The Sound of his Bones Breaking, And the Night Growled Back, and the highly acclaimed Dirty Heads. Cut to Care, released in 2022, is his first collection of short stories. Aaron Dries is one host of the popular podcast, Let the Cat In, also co-founded Elsewhere Productions, and is a member of both the Australasian Horror Writers…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Ridley Harker

Ridley Harker is a gay, transgender author and editor from St. Louis, Missouri. His debut queer body horror novel, Parasite, is available from Ninestar Press in June 2022. He was also featured in the transgender and non-binary gothic horror anthology Listen (Ninestar Press, October 2022). Ridley currently lives in the Middle of Nowhere with his two dogs, a grumpy old snake, and a host of pet tarantulas. Please visit his website at www.ridleyharker.com, and follow him on Twitter @RidleyHarker. What inspired you to start writing? I wrote my first ‘book’ in pre-kindergarten. It was about an unseen monster living in…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Mark Allan Gunnells

Mark Allan Gunnells loves to tell stories. He has since he was a kid, penning one-page tales that were Twilight Zone knockoffs. He likes to think he has gotten a little better since then. He loves reader feedback, and above all he loves telling stories. He lives in Greer, SC, with his husband Craig A. Metcalf. What inspired you to start writing? Honestly, my desire to make up stories and write them down goes back so far I can’t say exactly what initially sparked it. I think I just fell in love with stories, and once I realized they were…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Damian Serbu

Damian Serbu is an author of gay horror/speculative fiction. After over twenty years of teaching history at the collegiate level, he now writes full time. He lives in the Chicagoland area with his husband and two dogs. You can find him at www.DamianSerbu.com, or keep up with his latest ramblings at https://twitter.com/DamianSerbu and https://www.facebook.com/damian.serbu. What inspired you to start writing? I was inspired to write because of the stories running around in my head! For as long as I can remember, I created fictional narratives and characters in my mind. I found the process exciting and a release from everyday…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Briana Morgan

Briana Morgan (she/her) a queer, disabled horror author and playwright. Her books include The Reyes Incident, Mouth Full of Ashes, The Tricker-Treater and Other Stories, Unboxed: A Play, and more. She's also a member of the Horror Writers Association. When not writing, you can find her watching horror movies, reading disturbing books, or playing video games. What inspired you to start writing? My grandfather was a storyteller. Whenever he visited us, he’d tell my brother and me all kinds of stories—some recounted from legends and family history, but most of them made-up off the top of his head. He also…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Crystal Romero

Award winning author, Crystal M. Romero, no relation to George A. Romero, writes Lesbian Speculative Fiction (aka: Horror). A graduate of San Jose State University, her first novel, The Veil of Sorrow, printed under the name Crystal Michallet-Romero was a Masters’ final project for a Gothic Literature class in which she was enrolled. It went on to win a Gold Crown Literary Society Award for Speculative Fiction and was nominated for a Gaylatic Spectrum Award. Crystal Fell in love with the zombie genre at a young age. She enjoys both film and television shows depicting post-zombie-apocalypse worlds. Despite this, Valley…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Roberto Carrasco

Roberto Carrasco was that kid who had an imaginary friend called Blue Eye. When they played Dungeons and Dragons he always asked to be a wizard. He wrote stories starring dragons that instead of eyes had pineapples, good monsters, and extraterrestrial princesses. When he was old enough to know the world, he knew the world and lived many adventures thinking that some of them would reveal to him the meaning of life. But life didn't seem to make much sense so he published a rage-filled novel called So Sweet, So Bitter which was read by 172 people. Then he got…

A Point of Pride: Interview with James Bennett

James Bennett is a British writer raised in Sussex and South Africa. His travels have furnished him with an abiding love of diverse cultures, history, and mythology. His short fiction has appeared internationally and his debut novel 'Chasing Embers' was shortlisted for Best Newcomer at the British Fantasy Awards 2017. His latest fiction can be found in the well-received 'The Book of Queer Saints', BFS Horizons and The Dark magazine. He also has a story in 'There's More of Us Than You Know', a new anthology from Bloodrites Books in support of The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Steve Berman

Steve Berman is the Lambda Literary Award-winning editor and publisher behind Lethe Press, one of the oldest queer and weird publishers around. He has sold over a hundred articles and short stories. His novel, Vintage, about an adolescent boy who meets the ghost of his dream and discovers this leads to nightmares, was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award. Steve released a collection of gay horror stories last year--Fit for Consumption received a starred review from Kirkus and praise from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. Steve works for Deerfield Academy, an eminent boarding school in Western Massachusetts. There may…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Cody Sisco

Cody Sisco is an author, editor, publisher, and literary community organizer. His LGBT psychological science fiction series includes two novels thus far, Broken Mirror and Tortured Echoes. He is a freelance editor specializing in genre-bending fiction and an editor for Running Wild Press. In 2017, he co-founded Made in L.A. Writers, an indie author co-op dedicated to the support and appreciation of independent authors. His startup BookSwell is a literary events and media production company dedicated to lifting up marginalized voices and connecting readers and writers in Southern California and beyond. He serves as a Co-Executive on the Board of Governors for the Editorial Freelancers Association and as…

A Point of Pride: Interview with Lucy A. Snyder

Lucy A. Snyder is the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated and five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of 15 books and over 100 published short stories. Her most recent titles are the collections Halloween Season and Exposed Nerves (both from Raw Dog Screaming Press) and the forthcoming apocalyptic horror novel Sister, Maiden, Monster (Tor Nightfire). She lives in Ohio with a jungle of houseplants, a clowder of cats, and an insomnia of housemates. What inspired you to start writing? I wanted to become a writer pretty much from the moment I became an avid reader. And Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time was…

Update Regarding Scam Emails

Notice to HWA Members When you fill out your profile on WildApricot, you set both "Public" and "Private" information. Members see more than the public, but the public can get your email if you put it in the "Public" section. This can be beneficial to you if an agent or other professional is looking to contact you. The drawback is you may receive the occasional spam email. We rarely have this happen, but it does. As many of you are aware, we recently were affected by a spam email message. As a reminder, if you received this message, claiming you've…