Theo Van Alst

INDIGENOUS HERITAGE IN HORROR MONTH: INTERVIEW WITH THEO VAN ALST

What inspired you to start writing?   I wrote here and there my whole life, gave it a half-hearted shot in my 20s, but I don’t think I had all that much to say then, mostly opinions and essays, and I had a GED, so not much training in writing or anything at all, really. When I went to college in my 30s, I wrote a bit more, but life was too busy then for me to really give it the attention it needed, deserved. I published an edited volume of Stephen Graham Jones’s work when I was 50 —…

Veterans in Horror Spotlight 2023: Jack Finn

Jack Finn Biography Jack Finn is a folk horror author and 20-year Navy veteran living in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest. He is a lifelong believer that the Tooth Fairy proves you can trade body parts for cold, hard cash. Jack's debut horror novel, The Seven Deaths of Prince Vlad, was released in February 2023, and he is the author of two anthologies, Hell Shall Make You Fear Again and Legend of the Deer Woman. His short story, They Come When You Sleep, was recently included in Terrorcore Publishing's Doors of Darkness anthology. Jack is on Instagram and Twitter @TheRealJackFinn.…

Indigenous Heritage in Horror Month: Interview with Andrea L. Rogers

Andrea L. Rogers is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but currently attends The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where she is a doctoral student in English. Andrea graduated with an MFA from the Institute for American Indian Arts. Andrea has three wonderful children. She taught Art and HS English in public schools for 14 years. Her work includes essays, picture books, middle grade stories and one comic. So far. "Hellhound in No Man’s Land,” is in A Howl: An Indigenous Anthology of Wolves, Werewolves, and Rougarou. Her piece was illustrated by Jordanna George.…

HWA Calls For 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award Nominations

HWA Calls For 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award Nominations The Horror Writers Association calls for suggestions and nominations from the membership for the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual whose work has substantially influenced the horror genre. While this award is often presented to a writer, it may also be given for influential accomplishments in other creative fields. The award is presented each year during HWA's gala presentation of the Bram Stoker Awards at StokerCon. To be eligible for this award, a candidate must either be at least sixty years of age by…

Indigenous Heritage in Horror Month: Interview with Erika Wurth

  Erika T. Wurth’s novel White Horse is a New York Times editors pick, a Good Morning America buzz pick, and an Indie Next, Target book of the Month, and BOTM Pick. She is both a Kenyon and Sewanee fellow, has been published in The Kenyon Review, Buzzfeed, and The Writer’s Chronicle, and is a narrative artist for the Meow Wolf Denver installation. She is an urban Native of Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee descent. She lives in Denver with her partner, step-kids and two incredibly fluffy dogs. What inspired you to start writing? You know, I’m not really sure! I know that one…

Veterans in Horror Spotlight 2023: Thomas A. Bradley

Thomas A. Bradley Biography Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I live in Drexel Hill, PA with my wife, Linda, and our rescue German shepherd, Bullet. I served with the Army Medical Corps during Vietnam. I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Microbiology, my Master's work done in Virology. I have worked for a number of biotech companies. My short stories have appeared in several magazines, both print and online. When it comes to writing horror, I prefer to stick to the old-school style rather than the slash and hack. "Allow the imagination to fill in the gaps...the mind can conjure darker better…

Veterans In Horror Spotlight 2023: Mark Allen

Mark Allen Biography Born in Jacksonville, Texas, 1961. I can remember when LBJ was President. U.S. Navy, retired 1980-2001. I was a U.S. Navy Independent Duty Hospital Corpsman (HM-8425) and a Fleet Marine Force (FMF) Warfare Specialist. Deployments included the Middle East, North Africa, Central America. We went to a few places; we did a few things. Retired May, 2001.   Book Recommendation: Just Before Dawn  My new novel, Just Before Dawn, dropped on Friday, October 6, 2023. In this sequel to my critically acclaimed debut novel, Nocturnal, the Vampire once again aids the police, this time looking for a…

The Seers’ Table November 2023

Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community Kate Maruyama here. Spooky reading is a joy year ‘round for those of us at the Seers’ Table, but November, with its shortened days and gray skies, amps up the mood a bit. This month there is some poetry in the mix, along with some pizza and New Orleans. So, grab a cup of something warm, curl up, and dig in! Linda D. Addison recommends: Carol Edwards is a northern California native transplanted to southern Arizona. She lives and works in relative seclusion with her books, plants, and pets (two dogs,…

Un-Settling Horrortellers: Introduction to Indigenous Heritage Month 2023 By Shane Hawk

By Shane Hawk The captivity narrative. The Indian burial ground. The noble savage. The magical Native. Do any of these sound familiar? They’re just a small sampling of negative tropes against Natives that have been tirelessly employed over the last few centuries. Native Americans, Indigenous Americans, Turtle Islanders—whatever you want to call us—comprise one percent of the publishing industry, but dammit, we are smashing down the walls of our literary prisons and removing our metaphorical muzzles because we’ve got some shit to say, and we’ve grown tired of non-Natives writing us a certain way. Indigenous Heritage Month begins every November…

PANEL INSIGHTS: REFLECTIONS ON THREE MHI PANELS

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…

Halloween Haunts: On Being a Halloween Expert by Lisa Morton

Halloween Haunts: On Being a Halloween Expert by Lisa Morton   "How did you become a Halloween expert?" At this point in my life, I can't begin to tell you how many times I've answered that question; I can't even tell you how many times I've done it over the last few months. We might as well get it out of the way here: I never planned to be a Halloween expert, and really fell into it almost by accident. Back around 2001, I'd just finished a film book for the publisher McFarland & Co., Inc. and because we'd had…

HWA ANNOUNCES SUMMER SCARES READING PROGRAM 2024 Spokesperson and Timeline

The Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot, Booklist, and NoveList®, a division of EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), is proud to announce the fifth annual Summer Scares Reading Program. Summer Scares is a reading program that provides libraries and schools with an annual list of recommended horror titles for adult, young adult (teen), and middle grade readers. It introduces readers and librarians to new authors and helps start conversations extending beyond the books from each list and promote reading for years to come. Summer Scares is proud to announce the 2024 spokesperson, author Clay McLeod…

Halloween Haunts: The Wolf Girl of Portsmouth, Rhode Island by L. E. Daniels

Halloween Haunts: The Wolf Girl of Portsmouth, Rhode Island by L. E. Daniels   “‘Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!’” That’s Dad, performing Bram Stoker in a well-oiled accent. Howls rolled slowly across the walls and I felt each one weave up the legs of my chair and along the rungs of my ribs. Secretly, I levitated at the kitchen table. Every Halloween through the seventies and eighties, Dad propped speakers against the windows and the needle crackled with The Language and Music of the Wolves. One side is narrated by Robert Redford…but the…

Halloween Haunts: Halloween Reading by Kevin Wetmore

Halloween Haunts: Halloween Reading by Kevin Wetmore My non-horror friends always get a little excited that they can relate to me better for a few weeks. “We’re watching some scary movies this week,” I am told. Or, “I’m going to read a horror novel.” And I am genuinely happy that they are willing to embrace the dark even for this brief period. I am happy to give recommendations and congratulate them for watching a scary movie in October or picking up a horror novel around Halloween. But, my friends, we are the Halloween People. We read scary stuff all year…

Halloween Haunts: The Last Trick or Treat by Alison Armstrong

Halloween Haunts: The Last Trick or Treat by Alison Armstrong The last time I went trick or treating was the moment I realized my childhood was fading. Every year I looked forward to the magic of Halloween, a time when monsters (Dracula, the Wolfman, and their ilk) emerged from their protective lairs and roamed the neighborhood streets in childlike form. Often nearby cousins would join me in the celebration. Afterwards, as we gathered at my house and compared our sugary loot from the evening, we would start planning our next year’s costume. Much more than the candy I collected, however,…

Halloween Haunts: How to be Safe in the Cemetery by Loren Rhoads

Halloween Haunts: How to be Safe in the Cemetery by Loren Rhoads   One foggy summer day, I explored the historic cemeteries a mile outside of Pescadero, California. The grass was ankle-high on the Protestant side, but over my knees on the Catholic side. Holes the size of juice glasses riddled the ground, but I never saw a mouse or gopher poke his head out. Where there is prey, there will be predators. I kept an eye out for snakes. When I could, I walked on the graves’ copings. I’d nearly finished my exploration and was headed cross-country down the…

Halloween Haunts: Our Love Story as Told by Halloween by Jessica Hobbs

Halloween Haunts: Our Love Story as Told by Halloween by Jessica Hobbs   As my husband and I approach our anniversary of seventeen years together – an unusually long time for a pair of artists still in their 30s – I can’t help but look back on all we’ve been through, from touring gigs to Hollywood dreams to a broken marriage healed through tenacity and witchcraft, and notice how Halloween tells the story of the people we’ve become.   There are no seasons in Los Angeles. For some, the mild climate is the point of living here, but for me,…

Halloween Haunts: The Ghost with the Ruby, Ruby Lips by Naching T. Kassa

Halloween Haunts: The Ghost with the Ruby, Ruby Lips by Naching T. Kassa   A few years ago, during Halloween Haunts, I shared one of my most favorite scary stories with you. It was, “The Ghost with One Bloody Finger.” https://horror.org/halloween-haunts-the-ghost-with-one-bloody-finger-by-naching-t-kassa/). In that post, I talked about my love of scary stories and how the kids in my small, rural elementary school loved it. I also mentioned two other stories. The first was an oldie but a goodie, “The Man with the Golden Arm,” and the other was today’s story, “The Ghost with the Ruby, Ruby Lips.” I learned this…

Halloween Haunts: Licensing on Halloween by Rosemary Thorne

Halloween Haunts: Licensing on Halloween by Rosemary Thorne   Children are not the only ones going door to door setting up dealings on Halloween. There are sorcerers too, knocking on the darkest gates of all realms to renew their practicing licenses. If you pay the right attention, you will see us running up and down not as cheerful as candy-holders: the endeavours we must carry out on that night are hideous, hair-raising, abominable. Those are the mandates of the Ones behind the veil in its thinnest. I usually take my time to anticipate events and make calculations to have everything…

Halloween Haunts: All The Treats! by Linda D. Addison

Halloween Haunts: All The Treats! by Linda D. Addison   Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays my whole life. As a child the idea of dressing up that one day and going house to house to collect candy was magical. Back then, no one worried about being poisoned or razors in fruit. I felt stronger and magical in costume then in regular clothes. The thin awkward kid who read books all the time and didn’t talk much could become a powerful witch, one of my favorite costumes, and no doubt the easiest for my mother to create, since…