The Seers’ Table October 2022

Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Committee Halloween is the hardest working time for horror writers, but it’s also the most exciting. We have some good reading for you this month! Hope you all enjoy the HWA’s favorite holiday. Rob Costello introduces: Ross Showalter (he/him) is a Deaf queer writer based in the Pacific Northwest. His short stories, personal essays, and critical pieces have been published in The New York Times, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Catapult, Literary Hub, Strange Horizons, CRAFT, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere. His work has been a finalist for the Best of the Net anthology, included on Entropy Magazine’s Best of the Year lists, and supported…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Diana Rodriguez Wallach is a multi-published author of young adult novels. Her most recent, Small Town Monsters, is a YA Latinx horror novel that published in September 2021 through Random House. Her next YA Latinx Horror, Hatchet Girls, comes out Fall 2023 through Delacorte. Additionally, Diana is the author of the Anastasia Phoenix Series (Entangled Publishing). The first book in the series, Proof of Lies, has been optioned for film and was chosen as a finalist for the 2018 International Thriller Awards for Best Young Adult Novel. Additionally, Bustle listed Diana as one of the “Top Nine Latinx Authors to…

Halloween Haunts: What if the Creepy Devil Mask at Your Halloween Party is not a Costume, but is Actually the Face of God? by Katherine Kerestman

An excerpt from Creepy Cat’s Macabre Travels: Prowling around Haunted Towers, Crumbling Castles, and Ghoulish Graveyards by Katherine Kerestman (WordCrafts Press, 2020), in which Creepy Cat visits the Yucatan: The irresistible dark mystery of the pre-Columbian Yucatan peninsula was what beckoned me to Mexico. To this end I booked a hotel in Cancun, which was to be my jumping-off place for an exploration of the eerie secrets of the people who used to live there. The balcony of my Caribbean-facing room afforded a lovely view of melded blue sky and sea, white foaming waves rolling onto the sand. On the…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with André Schuck

ADVERTISING More than 20 years in the advertising market, Andre has edited over 8,000 TV ads for major brands in Brazil, such as Nike, Unilever, Peugeot, Ford, and  Via Varejo.. He also edited TV shows for Discovery Channel, GNT, and Bandeirantes Channel. Nowadays he also works as a Post Production Director attending accounts which are the biggest ones in South America. FEATURE FILMS In 2012, Andre was invited to be the Associate Producer and Editor of the North American documentary “Making Light in Terezin”, shot in Prague, New York, and Los Angeles. In 2016, he edited the feature film “Attachments”,…

Halloween Haunts: Bane Herbs in Fiction by Heddy Johannesen

Do you want to write about bane herbs in your stories? Let me navigate that dangerous territory with you. I will discuss how you can write about bane herbs in your novellas and horror novels accurately. This post tells how to have your character using these herbs, if that character is a witch, warlock or one of the cunning folk, you can portray your character using these herbs the right way if you read this. Bane herbs mean poisonous or toxic herbs. The most beautiful plants are often the deadliest. The plants listed below certainly fall in that category. That…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with K. Garcia Ley

K. Garcia Ley was born in the Dominican Republic, and moved from NYC, to northern New Jersey, to the Derwood, MD, graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice and specialized in why good people do bad things, a topic she frequently questions in my stories. She participated in VONA in 2020 with Tananarive Due, and A World of Black Writers/Hurston workshop with Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Her dark science fantasy, Long Live Anacaona Guey, was nominated for Pushcart Prize, and another piece placed second in the Voyage YA First Chapters contest. Currently, she has five…

Halloween Haunts: You Look Like Death by Kayla Woods

What is the most dangerous part of Halloween? The lore of Halloween attempts to instill in us the fear of razor blades in apples and needles in chocolate bars. We have learned that most children do not have to worry about falling prey to these dangers. Realistically, parents should worry about their children crossing the street without looking while wearing a dark costume. Pet parents need to ensure that bowls of chocolate candies are not left unattended around opportunistic pups. Anyone wearing a costume around a lit Jack-O-lantern should take care to not catch fire. When I Googled the phrase…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Greg McWhorter

Dr. Greg McWhorter is a Latinx (half-Colombian) writer who resides in Southern California. Since the 1980s, he has written for newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and film. McWhorter has been a guest speaker at several universities, TV shows, film documentaries, and the San Diego Comic-Con. Both his nonfiction and fiction have appeared in many newspapers, magazines, journals, and anthologies. He currently has two published books of his horror fiction available. He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association. He enjoys traveling and sharing his love of writing with writers around the world. What inspired you to start writing? My…

Halloween Haunts: The Spooky Place by Stephen Mark Rainey

From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, the local chapter of the Jaycees in my Virginia hometown put on an annual haunted castle event, set in a massive, abandoned warehouse in a nearby hamlet called Koehler (which could well have qualified as a real-life model for H.P. Lovecraft’s Dunwich). The old warehouse is a hulking stone monstrosity set in a forested area on the banks of the Smith River. No matter the season, the place looks like an honest-to-god haunted castle. For Halloween, one could hardly choose a more imposing and appropriate location to host a fearsome good time. From the…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Susan X. Bradley

Susan spent her childhood in South Texas, about ten miles from the U.S.-Mexican border. As a child, she spent the summers in Mexico with her grandparents and extended family. Inspired by Nancy Drew, Susan frequently created mysteries that her siblings and cousins could solve during these vacations. She began writing young adult mystery novels featuring strong Latina characters and is committed to creating and celebrating diverse characters. Her books, Unraveled and Uncovered, were published by Evernight Teen while she was completing her Master in Fine Arts: Writing for Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Her class curriculum exposed her to…

Halloween Haunts: For the Love of a (Mostly) Black Cat by Sumiko Saulson

On October 31, 2009 something magical happened. That was the day that my then-fiance Gregory Hug and I adopted the approximately three-year-old predominantly black tuxedo cat we would come to know as Bootsy Catlins from Oakland Animal Services. We had been looking for a cat on Craiglist when we found a special Oakland Animal Services had on black and mostly black cats for Halloween. As a couple of goths, we were completely tickled by the idea of adopting a black cat, so we came in. The kind woman working at Oakland Animal Services explained to us that thousands of years…

Halloween Haunts 2022 – It Begins

Welcome, one and all, to the Halloween Haunts for 2022. 31 days of essays, stories, images and ideas that show why the Halloween People are the best people. Visit each day to hear from a wide variety of members of the Horror Writers Associations as they share their tales of All Hallow's. Kevin Wetmore Halloween Haunts Coordinator 2022

MEET POET TIMOTHY P. FLYNN

The HWA has a rich tradition of dark poetry even before the late Peter Adam Salomon founded both the acclaimed Poetry Showcase series and National Dark Poetry Day, celebrated every year on October 7, the day Edgar Allan Poe died. The HWA poetry blog is proud to share poets of all experience levels that write dark things with poetic flourish. From that rich vein, I'm proud to share an interview with Timothy P. Flynn, winner of of the 2021 HWA Dark Poetry Scholarship, as interviewed by Angela Yuriko Smith. MEET POET TIMOTHY P. FLYNN What was your first exposure to poetry,…

Nuts and Bolts: Interview with Aurora Gorealis

In the tradition of such sinister seductresses as Vampira and Elvira, Aurora Gorealis is a Baltimore-based horror host who weaves dark magic from a combination of campy movies, sassy attitude, and the occasional pun of dubious quality. Since 2017, Aurora (aka: Melissa LaMartina) has been playing the character during “Shocktail Hour” at the Golden West Café in Baltimore, combining live comedy and screenings of off-the-wall classics such as “Phantom of the Paradise” and “House on Haunted Hill” (complete with William Castle-style gimmicks). In the October issue of the Horror Writers Association newsletter, available to members only, she shares some personal…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Juan Manuel Pérez

Juan Manuel Pérez, a Mexican-American poet of Indigenous descent and the Poet Laureate for Corpus Christi, Texas (2019-2020), is the author of numerous poetry books including Another Menudo Sunday (2007), O' Dark Heaven: A Response to Suzette Haden Elgin's Definition of Horror (2009), WUI: Written Under the Influence of Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. (2011), Live From La Pryor: The Poetry of Juan Manuel Perez: A Zavala Country Native Son, Volume I (2014), Sex, Lies, and Chupacabras (2015), Space In Pieces (2020), Screw The Wall! And Other Brown People Poems (2020), Planet Of The Zombie Zonnets: Seasons One And Two (2021), Casual…

MHI: Life Goes On The Way It Does — How Writing Is My Saviour

Trigger Warning: This article addresses mental health. Life Goes On The Way It Does — How Writing Is My Saviour By Claire Fitzpatrick “It is as if my life were magically run by two electric currents: joyous positive and despairing negative—whichever is running at the moment dominates my life, floods it.” ― Silvia Plath This is my second attempt at writing this. Well, that’s lie. I did write a draft and then didn’t edit it. Because I couldn’t. Not because I didn’t want to. But because I physically couldn’t. Over the past few months, for various reasons, I’ve felt as…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Robert Perez

Robert Perez sleeps at the bottom of the ocean. Urban legend whispers that the writer can be summoned into your dreams if you read his work to a jack-o-lantern. You can find his poems and stories in the Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase Volumes II, III, IV (Special Mention), and V, The Literary Hatchet #13 & #14, Deadlights Magazine #1, Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove, and Community of Magic Pens. He is currently working on obtaining a master’s degree in counseling psychology at the University of Colorado Denver. Follow @_TheLeader on twitter to keep up with future projects. What inspired…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Michael J Moore

My name is Michael J Moore. I'm the author of Highway Twenty, which made the 2019 Bram Stoker preliminary ballot for Superior Achievement in a Novel, as well a other books and short stories. I'm an active member of the HWA, and a journalist who writes with an emphasis on social and racial justice. I'm Mexican on my mother's side, and though white-passable, I strongly identify with my Latinx heritage. Please feel free to Google "Michael J Moore author" to learn more about me. What inspired you to start writing? Life. Love. Hate. Joy. Instability. I’ve always been somebody who…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Amparo Ortiz

Amparo Ortiz is the author of the BLAZEWRATH GAMES duology. She was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and currently lives on the island’s northeastern coast. She’s published short story comics in MARVEL’S VOICES: COMUNIDADES #1 and in the Eisner-award winning PUERTO RICO STRONG. She’s also co-editor of OUR SHADOWS HAVE CLAWS, a horror anthology featuring myths and monsters from Latin America. When she's not writing, she teaches ESL as a college professor and watches a lot of Kpop videos. Learn more about her projects at www.amparoortiz.com What inspired you to start writing? Horror and fantasy movies! I watched so…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Rosemary Thorne

Rosemary Thorne (she/her) is a bilingual Spanish writer, researcher, and translator living in Madrid, Spain. She was born in 1968, year of shocking revolutions, beautiful women and great wine. Due to the fact that in the 90s Spanish publishing companies would not consider Horror, her first stories in her mother tongue are abominable entities that want to terrify but can’t. Her first novel, El Pacto de las 12 uvas, took her twenty years to finish, and she finally published it in December 2021. In 2019 she became an HWA member and began to write horror in English,  setting free her…