Halloween Haunts: Halloween Memories in the Basement by Cecilia Kennedy

In a stunning feat of magic, my father, who was rehearsing his role as a terrifying Merlin the Magician for the local YWCA Halloween party, burned a hole in my mother’s underpants. I remember his excitement when he called my mother and me to the rec room basement to announce his latest trick that he was perfecting: passing a lighted cigarette through a handkerchief, but he couldn’t find a handkerchief. Mom’s underpants were the next best thing. We held our breath when we saw the smoke, hoping the white cloth underneath would get by, unscathed. It didn’t. It was the…

StokerCon Souvenir Book Publisher Announced

StokerCon2022 is pleased to announce the publisher for our Souvenir Book: Burial Day! Cynthia and Gerardo Pelayo have already been hard at work with some amazing ideas. We are thrilled with this partnership. Learn more about Burial Day here: https://burialday.com/

Halloween Haunts: I Hear Dead People: Communicating with My Father (and Others) in Spirit by Valerie E. Weich

  My father was a Halloween baby—born on All Hallow’s Eve 1934. So Halloween was extra special in our household—Dad’s birthday and Trick-or-treating. Talk about your sugar high! As a smartass teenager, I used to tell Pop he was a trick instead of a treat. He had no snappy comeback for that one. Our church’s All Hallow’s Eve celebrations for the kids doubled as my father’s annual birthday party. No doubt he would rather have been partying somewhere else. But the party ended on July 2, 2016 when Stage four lung cancer claimed my father. It’s an ugly way to…

StokerCon Scholarship from Hell Open to Submissions

The Scholarship From Hell is the only scholarship offered by HWA that puts the recipient right into the intensive, hands-on workshop environment of Horror University. Horror University takes place during HWA’s annual StokerCon. The winner of the Scholarship From Hell will receive domestic coach airfare (contiguous 48 states) to and from the StokerCon venue, a 4-night stay at the convention, free registration to StokerCon, and as many workshops as you’d like to attend! Be sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter so you don’t miss out! Membership in HWA or StokerCon is not necessary in order to apply. The…

Halloween Haunts: Writing the Female Horror Body by Holly Lyn Walrath

Throughout pop culture, horror, poetry, and literature, we’ve been taught to both hide the female body and see it is horrific. Every October I rewatch some of my favorite horror films, and this year my goal is to watch as many body horror films as I can. As we face a renaissance of feminist horror, I have wondered if the popularity of this genre is tied to empowerment. By remaking the female body as horrific, women creators regain control over the narrative tied to the very skin and bones we inhabit on a daily basis. We creature the body, other…

The Seers’ Table October 2021

The Seers Table September 30, 2021 by HWAWeb Linda D. Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community You can see any of The Seers’ Table posts since inception (March 2016) by going to the HWA main page and selection menu item: “Our Blogs / Diverse Works”. Kate Maruyama introduces: Nicole D. Sconiers is the author of Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair and Rage, a speculative fiction short-story collection that has been taught at colleges and universities around the country. Her short story, “Kim,” was published in the anthology Sycorax’s Daughters, which was a Bram Stoker Award® finalist.…

Halloween Haunts: The Pandemic Party by Naching T. Kassa

The chill of night filled the air. Shadows ruled the world and not even the plump autumn moon could keep them at bay. Halloween had come at last. The children donned their costumes and sat down to wait in the living room of the 1969 trailer home. The oldest, dressed as Blade, tapped his blue flashlight on the arm of the rocking chair, while his sister, a Day of the Dead Cutie, sat nearby. Their baby brother, clad in a Superman costume glared at them both. I, their guide, entered the room and announced the time had come. They all…

Halloween Haunts: Freakling Forever by T.J. Tranchell

We moved a lot when I was a kid—hell, I’ve kept moving even as an adult—so I’ve managed to lose touch with people quickly. Just before my fifth birthday (maybe just before my sixth?), I went back to one neighborhood to deliver a party invitation to my friend Scotty. His own mid-October birthday party was in full swing, and I was asked to stay. Cake and ice cream commenced followed by a trip to a haunted house. I had never been to a haunted house, but I knew the place we were going. The dilapidated structure sat next to the…

Halloween Haunts: Wicca is Alive and Well in Cleveland by Katherine Kerestman

Park your broomsticks on Broadview Road in the artsy, ethnic, and eclectic Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, and visit the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick, where museum owner Steven Intermill will tell you about the cache of artefacts collected by the founder of American Wicca, Raymond Buckland. Born in England to a family of Romani heritage and occultist leanings, Raymond Buckland had studied Wicca there under Gerald Gardner (1884 – 1964), the father of modern Wicca. Buckland collected occult objects, which were first housed in a New York City museum in his own basement from 1966 – 1976,…

Halloween Haunts: The Season Begins by Michael J. Moore

It's that stagnant, nocturnal air—nothing close to warm, but not so cold you need a jacket. Those thin clouds, strewn across a pitch-black sky. It's the moon, hovering just out of reach, a sinister grin beaming down from its pockmarked face. Autumn leaves, rotting by the road. It's that first step onto the dewy lawn, decorated with plastic tombstones and spiderweb-covered trees. Your bag bouncing at your side, nowhere near as full as it should be. It's different for us all, I'm sure. For this horror writer, however, Halloween has never had anything to do with ancient myths from far…

Latinx Horror: Interview with Richie Narvaez

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Richie Narvaez writes in multiple genres about Latinidad, Puerto Rico, urban culture, and social issues. His horror/spec fic story “Room for Rent,” from the anthology LATINX RISING was read by LeVar Burton on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast. Richie’s most recent novel is the historical YA mystery HOLLY HERNANDEZ AND THE DEATH OF DISCO, which received an Agatha Award and an Anthony Award. His latest work is the anthology Noiryorican. Visit him online at www.richienarvaez.com. What inspired you to start writing? I was an awkward, shy kid and there were things going on in my…

Halloween Haunts: Weird Women Take on Halloween: Five Early Halloween Works by Women by Lisa Morton

When we remember holiday ghost tales, we probably go to Charles Dickens and the most famous ghost story of them all, “A Christmas Carol”. Think about Halloween stories, and you might imagine that you’d have to wait until at least the mid-twentieth century, when Robert Bloch and Ray Bradbury rolled around. But here’s one of those historical bits that even the most knowledgeable horror fan might have missed: many of the earliest stories about Halloween were by women. That’s right, not long after Dickens tormented Scrooge with Christmas ghosts, his feminine counterparts were setting their spirits loose on Halloween. After…

Latinx Horror: Interview with Guadalupe García McCall

Guadalupe García McCall is the author of four award-winning YA novels, some stories, and many poems. Among the many accolades bestowed upon her works, her debut novel, UNDER THE MESQUITE, received the prestigious Pura Belpre Author Award and her second book, SUMMER OF THE MARIPOSAS, was an Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Finalist. Though she calls Texas home, she is an Assistant Professor of English at George Fox University and resides with her husband in the Pacific Northwest. Her next book, THE KEEPER, is due from Harper Collins on January 25, 2022. What inspired you…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Romina Garber

Romina Garber is a New York Times and international bestselling author whose books include Lobizona & the ZODIAC series. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and raised in Miami, Florida, Romina landed her first writing gig as a teen—College She Wrote, a weekly Sunday column for the Miami Herald that was later picked up for national syndication—and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She is a graduate of Harvard College and a Virgo to the core. Find her online at: IG: @rominagarber https://rominagarber.com/about/ Twitter: @rominarussell FB: @rominabooks What inspired you to start writing? I was born in Buenos Aires, and I immigrated…

HWA Welcomes Jeff Oliver, bringing Slasher to the Social Media Team

We are excited to welcome Jeff Oliver, the newest member to our Social Media Team, who is helping us birth into existence our very newest social media platform presence on Slasher! For those unfamiliar Slasher, it is an 18+ social network specifically designed for the horror community, our fandom and our content creators. It is a place for horror fans to connect with authors, artists, movies, music, and podcasts, and as such, increasingly, we find our members popping up over there. And so, have established a presence in order to better serve and connect with both HWA members and the…

Latinx Horror: Interview with Gaby Triana

Biography Gaby Triana is the bestselling author of 18 novels for adults and teens, including Moon Child, the Haunted Florida series (Island of Bones, River of Ghosts, City of Spells), Cakespell, Wake the Hollow, Summer of Yesterday, and Paradise Island: A Sam and Colby Story. Her short stories have appeared in the Classic Monsters Unleashed Anthology, Don't Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute Anthology to Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Weird Tales Magazine (Issue #365). Also the host of a YouTube channel, The Witch Haunt, Gaby writes about witchy powers, ghosts, haunted places, and abandoned…

#DisneyMustPlay Update

Over on Writer Beware, @victoriastrauss gives a clear and concise update of what's happening with the #DisneyMustPay Task Force.

Latinx Horror: Interview with David Bowles

Biography David Bowles is a Mexican American author and translator from the US-Mexico border, where he teaches at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Among his award-winning books are Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico, Lords of the Earth, and the graphic novel series Clockwork Curandera. His work has also been published in multiple anthologies, plus venues such as The New York Times, Strange Horizons, Apex Magazine, and Rattle. Find him online at www.davidbowles.us. What inspired you to start writing? My Mexican American family (and our larger community) has longstanding, rich oral traditions. And in my…

Latinx Horror: Interview with Charlie Vázquez

Charlie Vázquez is the author of the novel Contraband (2010, Rebel Satori), the collection Fantasmas: Puerto Rican Tales of the Dead (CV Publishing, 2020), and other books. He’s the former New York City coordinator for Puerto Rico’s Festival de la Palabra and was awarded a Commendation from the City of New York in 2014 for his contributions to Latino literary heritage. Charlie is a founding member of Latino Rebels and a certified mindfulness meditation instructor in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, as taught by David Nichtern. Find him online at www.charlievazquez.com What inspired you to start writing? My maternal…