Halloween Haunts: Of Horror, Hope, and Halloween by Dave Jeffery and Lee Murray

There is nothing that says ‘horror’ more than the Halloween holidays. Ask any fan of all things macabre for their favourite time of year and their obvious response is October, the Season of the Witch. Take this annual blog series, for example. Halloween Haunts exists as a celebration, a cornerstone of the horror writing community, a time of year when all of our passions are distilled into a month of festivities. For horror fans, especially writers, Halloween lauds the awe and wonder of the fantastic and the innate terror of something unknown and otherworldly, and in doing so has us…

Halloween Haunts: Hauntingly Normal by Susan Schwartz

Writing and researching the paranormal always seemed natural to me after growing up in a haunted house. We moved after the previous owner had passed away. She was a sweet elderly lady, who was well-loved in the neighborhood. The owner didn’t want it empty for too long a time. Being right down the street, the move didn’t take too long at all. I noticed the strange sensations after a couple of weeks. Nothing specific, I would just get weird feelings about the house and the strange noises it made, especially after dark. Why is it always after dark? Footsteps down…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Karlo Yeager Rodriguez

Karlo Yeager Rodriguez is from the enchanted isle of Puerto Rico, but moved to Balitmore, Maryland some years ago. He lives there with his partner and one very odd dog. His work has appeared in Clowns: the Unlikely Coulrophobia Remix, Galaxy's Edge #32 and Nature Magazine. Connect with Karlo via his blog, alineofink.com or through Facebook at facebook.com/unalineanegra What inspired you to start writing? Reading. Really - I was an early reader, and was drawn from an early age to old fairy tales (Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen), which in their original forms always managed to contain elements of horror.…

Halloween Haunts: Beheading Delight by Rosemary Thorne

I love to time-travel to be beheaded: I use the thin veils that Halloween procures for the living and the dead to go through the portals after pronouncing the right words and spells. For a good decapitation, my favorite destination is London 17th century. I used to go to Paris 18th century just because it has a better reputation, madame Guillotine and all. Still, after a couple of decades of being chopped off in continental Europe, I began to look for a different experience. I don't know: the French became too passionate for my taste. I look forward to a…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Ángel Isián

Ángel Isián is the Puerto Rican author of El cuco te va a comer (The Cuco’s going to eat you, 2020), a collection of horror short stories that received an honorable mention in the International Latino Book Awards, 2021. Together with Melvin Rodríguez, he helped edit the first anthology of contemporary horror stories from Puerto Rico, No cierres los ojos (Don’t close your eyes, 2016). He has published horror stories and poetry in various anthologies and magazines. He works as an English teacher and is coeditor of Libros Eikon, a small independent publisher of Puerto Rican horror, fantasy, and sci-fi.…

Halloween Haunts: A Halloween Urban Legend: The Bunnyman by Pamela K. Kinney

Everyone knows the urban legends of the man with the hook in Lover’s Lane, the Halloween campus murder, and the babysitter story. Still here in Virginia, we have the Bunnyman. This serial killer wears a bunny costume. I know; you ask what’s scary about someone dressed as the Easter Bunny? What does he even have to do with Halloween anyway? Well, for one thing, he carries a hatchet, and not an Easter basket of decorated eggs. You never want to meet him at the Bunnyman Bridge when the clock strikes midnight on Halloween. Otherwise, he might add you to his…

CELEBRATING DARK POETRY DAY

Edgar Allen Poe's ink ceased to flow 174 years ago today and dark poets everywhere honor his legacy on this National Day of Recognition. October 7, the day Edgar Allan Poe died, is National Dark Poetry Day. Originated in 2018 by HWA Poetry Showcase founder Peter Adam Salomon, himself an accomplished poet with three poetry collections and a Bram Stoker Award®-nominated novelist. Peter's work has been performed by The Radiophonic Workshop on BBC Radio 6. "Dark poetry has existed for centuries," said Peter Adam Salomon. "One of the oldest surviving works of literature is the Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Kevin M. Casin

Kevin (he/they) is a gay, Latine fiction writer, and cardiovascular research scientist. His fiction work appears (or forthcoming) in Idle Ink, Medusa Tales Magazine, Pyre Magazine, and more. He is Editor/Publisher of Tree and Stone Magazine, an HWA/SFWA/Codex member, and First Reader for Interstellar Flight Press. For more about him, please see his website: https://kevinmcasin.wordpress.com/. Please follow his Twitter: @kevinthedruid. Latine Statement I fully and completely respect my fellow latine who identify as latinX. This is statement is about my choice to use latine and shed light on this very important and vibrant debate around the term “LatinX”. I think…

Halloween Beyond: Beyond Last Year’s Haunt by Kate Maruyama

Last year, I wrote a Halloween Haunts about my favorite Halloween traditions at my friend Miguel’s house, and how I missed it so much during the pandemic. Last winter, I wrote a novella set against that very Halloween, starring Beto, the King of Halloween, based on Miguel. The novella: Halloween Beyond: A Gentleman’s Suit, is part of a triptych of novellas by myself, Lisa Morton and Lucy A. Snyder. Each novella is its own story but all pass through a Halloween Superstore called Halloween Beyond and all our protagonists encounter a tricksy clerk there, named Maeve. A Gentleman’s Suit takes…

MHI: NATIONAL RECOVERY MONTH “WHY WILL YOU SAY THAT I AM MAD?”

Trigger warning: Contains frank discussion of substance abuse, treatment, and recovery. NATIONAL RECOVERY MONTH “WHY WILL YOU SAY THAT I AM MAD?” BY MARK MATTHEWS Shake someone’s hand and recite that introduction, “Hi, my name is Mark and I’m an alcoholic” at an AA meeting, and that years ago you used to drink vodka every morning to stop the shakes, praying you wouldn’t vomit, and you’ll receive a warm blanket of support, understanding, and acceptance. Do it at your next job interview or when you meet your fiancés parents—well, not so much. September is national recovery month, which exists “to…

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…