The Challenges of Writing a Spook Show by David Lucarelli

Before there were TV horror hosts, haunted houses, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, there were spook shows. Now a nearly forgotten bit of Americana, these once incredibly popular shows toured around the country on the movie theater circuit from the 1940’s through the 1960’s. In some ways the last vestige of vaudeville, they featured comedy, spooky magic, a little burlesque and often a séance. A half-century before it was a term, the spook shows were also on the cutting edge of “immersive” theater. The climax of every show was a “blackout sequence,” in which the audience was placed in…

Halloween in the Shadows by Amanda Trujillo

“My name is Victoria Winters and my journey is beginning...a journey that will take me to a strange, dark house, high atop Widows’ Hill.  A house called Collinwood…” So begins the first episode of “Dark Shadows" (DS), a popular 1960's soap opera featuring an otherworldly cast of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, witches and other spooks germane to the Halloween season.  As each episode opens with a monologue to set the scene, so it opens with a view of “Collinwood,” the sprawling chateau where the show’s action unfolds. The image of Collinwood, with its tower, dormers, and multiple chimneys, is as iconic…

Too Close to Home by Marlena Frank

I love reading about haunted houses. The Haunting of Hill House is still one of my absolute favorite ghost stories. But I find it very difficult to write about them, especially since I grew up in a haunted house in a very haunted neighborhood. I hadn’t realized when I was younger my hometown was as haunted as it is. My family had a number of strange, unexplainable events happen when we lived there. We encountered shadows on the road that headlights couldn’t pierce, disembodied voices in the house that sounded like family members who weren’t there, and even saw full…

Interview Spotlight: Rhonda Jackson Joseph

Happy Wednesday! Welcome back to another interview spotlight, a new feature for this year’s Halloween Haunts. Today Halloween Haunts catches up with Dr. Rhonda Jackson Joseph who is a Texas-based HWA academic member. Her poetry is featured in the recently released HWA Poetry Showcase V. Halloween Haunts:  Welcome to Halloween Haunts Rhonda! We met at the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference earlier this year when you co-presented “When We Are the Monsters: Female Monsters and the Subversion of Patriarchy” with Elsa Carruthers. As a professor by trade, I thought we could start with what drew you to become a member of…

Sounds of Halloween by Naching T. Kassa

The room is dark. Dim, red light shines from the electronic device as it whirs softly. White noise sounds followed by a menacing voice. Gooseflesh rises with that tone. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! Muhahahahahahaha! So began one of my favorite programs. And, no, it wasn’t on television. In the days before cable television, satellite television, and streaming Netflix, there were (depending on where you lived) only a few channels on the dial. Most entertainment came in the form of a VHS tape if you didn’t like the TV shows, but there…

Horror World Building Tips by Joanna Nelius

I tend to look at world building in horror as half technical, half psychological. We’re writing about fear at its core, trying to tap into what makes us the most afraid. But we can’t do that without knowing how to capitalize on all that adrenaline just waiting to be released. One of the main things to remember when world building, especially for horror, is to strike a balance between the suspension of disbelief and logic. If you’re creating a serial killer or monster with supernatural powers, for instance, there should be some limitations on what they can and can’t do…

National Dark Poetry Day by Peter Adam Salomon

One of the oldest surviving works of literature is the Epic of Gilgamesh. It dates back to the 18th Century BCE. For those unfamiliar with the story, here’s a short recap: Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, is friends with Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods as Gilgamesh’s peer to distract him from oppressing the people of Uruk. Together, they journey to the Cedar Mountain to defeat Humbaba, its monstrous guardian. Later they kill the Bull of Heaven, which the goddess Ishtar sends to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. As a punishment for these actions, the gods sentence Enkidu…

Publisher Tips from Kate at Omnium Gatherum by Kate Jonez

Happy Octoberween—the holiday for people who celebrate all month long! For many years now, I’ve been working with new authors as chief editor at the Bram Stoker Award ® winning small press Omnium Gatherum. I also critique, edit and ghostwrite fiction and non-fiction for clients with a wide variety of experience levels. I suspect this is the reason that I get asked fairly often if I have any advice for new authors. In honor of the season, I’ll be doling out this advice like tasty, tasty Halloween candy. In the journey to becoming an author there are many possible routes…

Interview Spotlight: Sean Patrick Traver

Happy Friday everyone! Today, Halloween Haunts catches up with horror writer Sean Patrick Traver, author of The Temple Tree & Towerseries and the recent novella, Wraith Ladies Who Lunch. Both are in print and available at Amazon. Halloween Haunts:  As a life-long resident of Los Angeles, Sean you often set your stories, such as your recent Wraith Ladies Who Lunchand Red Witch: The Tales of Ingrid Redstone(The Temple Tree & Towerseries), in LA. Can you discuss why it is important to write what you know? Sean Patrick Traver: Well, I figure it gives me a big advantage over writing things I…

Halloween – Haunted Places of New Zealand by Dan Rabarts & Lee Murray

In our Underworld Gothic blogpost last year, we pointed out that Halloween isn’t really a thing down under in New Zealand. It’s true: hardly anyone goes trick-or-treating, you don’t see plastic skeletons propped up in our front yards, and, in fact, most households don’t even buy candyin preparation for the holiday. In that post, we summarised our thoughts on why Halloween is such a non-event here, including the observation that ghosts and the supernatural are an everyday thing in Aotearoa. In fact, when it comes to ghosts, New Zealanders are spoiled for choice. So, instead of making excuses about why…

Wings of the Seraph by Jeffrey LeBlanc

The most magical time of year—Halloween! Bring on the costumes, candy, and the monsters. Let’s focus on the creeping villain, the slimily misunderstood, the tortured, and the turned. Monsters of all types hover, slither and ooze from above and below. Is it the mausoleum darkness of the year or the pervading chill of dread and death they bring? Maybe it’s a little of both. I kick off Halloween on the Horror Writer’s blog with a poem to set the mood for this ghastly occasion. I hope you and our fellow ghouls enjoy. Check out the excerpt from the full horror novel…

How to throw a Halloween Soiree by Heddy Johannesen

First create spooky invitations for all of your friends, whether furry, human or undead. Or jazz a Facebook party event page and invite them there. Plan it ahead of time. Then enter your kitchen, summon your inner kitchen witch and throw open your cupboards. After a good scrub clean, evaluate what ingredients you have. Then brew some good munchies for your party ahead of time. Then dig up your best Halloween decorations from last year. Or if you are like me and other weird people, you left your decorations up all year from the last creepy shindig. A black spidery…

Halloween Haunts 2018 – Welcome!

It was three years ago that I was editing my second academic anthology, which was on space horror films. As an academic-focused writer/editor, not a fiction writer, the Horror Writers Association was not on my list of organizations that I was considering to join. However, as an independent scholar without a higher institution to call home, I was seeking a community of like-minded individuals. Since I qualified for HWA’s academic member status, I paid my dues and made my home with the Los Angeles Chapter. In the first months, I felt like a duck among the swans of fiction writers,…

The Seers’ Table October 2018

The Seers Table! Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community We have some creepy reading to take you up to Halloween! Linda Addison recommends Brian Barr is a fiction author of novels, short stories, and comics. Along with Chuck Amadori, Barr is the co-creator and co-writer of Empress, a comic book series with art by Sullivan Suad, Zilson Costa, Marcelo Salaza, Geraldo Filho, and Matheus Bronca. He is NOT the author of God’s Plan for Us, written by a different Brian Barr. His debut novel is Carolina Daemonic, Book I: Confederate Shadows. His second novel is Psychological Revenge:…
Evil Teachers and Beyond: 5 School Scare Sources

Evil Teachers and Beyond: 5 School Scare Sources

The days are getting shorter and cooler, and ravaged store displays are picked-over, having only straggling survivors among the pencils, notebooks, and backpacks. Children and teens have mysteriously vanished from public places on weekdays… It’s Back to School season! In honor of returning yellow school buses, here are five school aspects to be mined for your horror stories. 1) Mind Control From preschool to high school, kids spend a large portion of their day having someone else tell them what to do. Wear this. Eat now. Do this work now. You need the bathroom? The break’s in 15 minutes, so…

2018 Scholarship Winners Announced!

HWA is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2018 scholarships: Mary Rojotte, Tiffany Liang, Ingrid L. Taylor, Bill Camp, and Joseph Maddrey. Read more about each of the winning candidates.

The Seers’ Table September 2018

The Seers Table Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community September is National Preparedness Month, so prepare to read something different! Linda Addison recommends doungjai gam‘s short fiction has appeared in LampLight, Distant Dying Ember, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, Wicked Haunted, and the Necon E-Books Best of Flash Fiction Anthology series. Born in Thailand, she currently resides in southern Connecticut. Her first collection of poetry and short-shorts is currently available: glass slipper dreams, shattered. This book is filled with work that takes our breath away with a turn of a phrase, a dark play on…
Writing Prompt: A Family Fear

Writing Prompt: A Family Fear

Young Horror brings you writing prompts to energize your week with spooky idea inspiration. Are you writing picture books, chapter books, middle grade, or YA? Your next great idea could be sparked right here. Check back every first Monday of the month for inspiration. Share your ideas and discuss in the comments below. Look out for our September feature article: Found Footage Horror, on the third Thursday. Parents can pass on their own fears to their children. Do you jump every time you see a spider in the house? Little Jimmy is picking up those cues, and he'll either torture you by…