Pride Month 2025: An Interview with Nico Bell

What is your novel about?

Static Screams is a sci-fi horror about a young woman seeking a cure to her terrifying hallucinations.

Carmen Franco’s untethered mind twists reality into a nightmare filled with relentless hallucinations.

Carmen’s greatest desire is a peaceful life, but despite countless doctors and swallowing a pharmacy’s worth of pills, Carmen can’t escape her disturbing delusions brought forth from a past tragedy.

Enter Dr. Barbara MacDonald, a brilliant psychologist proposing an innovative and experimental treatment program. Barbara ignites a flicker of hope, but Carmen quickly realizes the doctor’s motives aren’t exactly pure. Carmen holds the key to the one thing Barbara covets most in the world, and the determined psychologist intends to obtain it by any means necessary.

Now, Carmen races against the clock to save herself as madness and deception converge. Will she unravel Barbara’s menacing motives before time runs out, or will Carmen fall prey to the dark abyss pulling her in?

What are you looking to express to readers with your work?

Static Screams, specifically, is a book with themes of grief, trauma, and resilience. In general, many of my books and stories are “pink horror,” which means they have feminist themes and focus heavily on the trials of all women living within the patriarchy. I write a lot of queer, fat, and body positive characters with the hope of normalizing these communities within the horror world. Often, these groups are purposefully written as nasty villains in order to solidify hateful, dangerous, and incorrect perceptions. I hope readers of my work see my characters as a protest against those who intentionally spotlight these communities in a harmful manner.

Why choose horror?

I actually used to write romance, but I’ve never really resonated with the idea that there always needs to be a “happy ending.” Instead, I tend to lean more towards the messiness of life.

For me, there’s two types of horror that drew me into the genre. One is psychological horror (like Static Screams) that explores the dark side of relationships between partners, friends, and family. The other is completely off-the-wall, bonkers escapism like Killer Klowns From Outer Space. I tend to oscillate from one sub-genre to the other, both in what I read, watch, and write. For instance, I’m currently writing a horror novelette titled This Cruise Sucks starring a vampire colossal squid. Sometimes, it’s fun to sink into a camp-vibe book to slip out of the world just for a few hours. The fact that there’s so many sub-genres and room for everyone to find a story that resonates is what makes horror great.

Nico Bell is the author of Static Screams and the co-editor of Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology, which was awarded Publisher’s Weekly Booklife Best of 2024. She earned her MFA in Writing from Lindenwood University and is Editor-in-Chief for Mad Axe Media. When she isn’t editing, freelancing, or writing, she can be found playing with her blue heeler dog, Egg.