Horror Writers Association

Mental Health Initiative

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 …

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. …

REVIEW: The Children of Red Peak by Craig Dilouie

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Novel Review by Sheri White

Plot Summary:

David, Deacon, and Beth were friends as children, all three living on a compound. Although run by a man of strong faith and a belief in God, the kids lead a relatively normal life. Then the leader, Jeremiah Peele, goes to check out the scene of a miracle he heard about. He takes the miracle as a sign the apocalypse is imminent. The commune moves to the mountain, now becoming an apocalypse cult. The children’s lives change drastically for the worse. They live in shacks, half starving, no school, no playing. Just praying …

REVIEW: Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

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cover art for the novel WHALEFALLDaniel Kraus’ novel, WHALEFALL, was reviewed by the HWA’s Mental Health Initiative Notable Works readers.

On its surface, WHALEFALL is a story of Jay Gardiner, a young man swallowed by a sperm whale. His determination to escape the whale is charted on one timeline, while the backstory of significant life events is traced on another. Jay is Jonah, his old self annihilated in the belly of the beast, and his biblical journey becomes something deeply personal. The dive is not just into the ocean, but into the unexplored depths of Jay’s depression, grief, survivor guilt, abuse, and most importantly, reaction …

HOLISTIC HORRORS: An interview with Dave Jeffery

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Trigger Warning: This article addresses mental health.

An interview with Dave Jeffery

Today on Holistic Horrors I have the privilege to interview my HWA Wellness Committee co-chair, Dave Jeffery, about his short story, “A Latent Lament for Heather Menzies”, which appears in Strange Tales of Terror (editor Eugene Johnson from Independent Legions). In the story the protagonist suffers from late-stage dementia, including aphasia and immobility. It’s a tough topic, and one Dave treats with sensitivity and poignancy.

Thanks for joining us, Dave.

 …

YOU WILL NEVER BE FREE OF ME

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Trigger Warning: This article addresses mental health.

Henry Corrigan is a bestselling author, husband, father, and bisexual creative who loves to write every kind of story. His debut horror novel, A Man in Pieces, won the Silver Medal from Literary Titan and went to #1 in U.S. Horror Fiction on Amazon. Always an avid reader, Henry started writing poetry in middle school, but it wasn’t until he started writing erotica in high school that he really learned the mechanics of writing. What started out as private stories and love letters, soon became publications in anthologies. As a member of the …

Notable Works from the Mental Health Initiative

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Background

There is an established link between mental health stigma and poor recovery from mental illness. Stigma is hurtful and demeaning, and drives those who experience it to isolate themselves and deters them from talking about their issues. This, in turn, fosters a climate of deterioration and impedes recovery. Therefore, it is important that, as writers of horror, we recognise this when depicting mental illness in our work.

The primary purpose of the Notable Books initiative is to provide the HWA membership with examples of genre literature that balance high quality storytelling with sensitivity and understanding when depicting mental illness …

REVIEW: Riptide by Dan Rabarts

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RIPTIDE by DAN RABARTS
Short story review by Lee Murray

A multiple winner of the Australian Shadows and Sir Julius Vogel Awards, Kiwi Dan Rabarts (Ngāti Porou) is well known in Antipodean horror circles, his body of work comprising novels, novellas, short fiction, screenplays, and poetry. Of these, his short story, “Riptide”, which appears in Simon Dewar’s anthology Suspended in Dusk II (2018, Grey Matter Press), is arguably his most powerful work and my personal favourite. Perhaps the story appeals to me because it is set on a nameless beach in Aotearoa, somewhere that I might have walked myself, or …

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