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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with María Pilar Conn

My name is María Pilar Conn and I am an established writer of gothic mystery and poetry in the Spanish language. I live in Spain, in the region of Murcia in a small fishing town, Cabo de Palos. My mother was born here, in Sevilla, and I grew up between both countries, though I am still a US citizen. I have two published mystery novels, La Casa del Marqués, and my new novel, La Canción del Baladre, two poetry books, La Almendra y el Maíz and Paseando con Schopenhauer, plus a book on cake sculpture. I am translating at this…

Latinx in Horror: Interview with Nathan Castellanos

I was born and raised in Highland Park, CA. My mother came to California in the 80s after my Abuelo had worked the fields here in LA county, saving money to bring his family from Guadalajara. She married my father, who came from an Anglo/Jewish background. Cultural differences instigated their divorce when I was fairly young, which led to me developing a very independent (and sometimes rebellious) nature early on. This sparked my interest in things such as punk rock music, existentialist philosophy, Buddhism, comic books, sci and horror novels, and alternative subcultures of various sorts. Essentially, having a mother…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with B.F. Vega

My name is Beulah Vega (she/her), but I write and am listed as a member of the HWA under B.F. Vega. I am both a first-generation American and a descendant of some of the first colonists. My father was an undocumented worker from a small town in Mexico, and he met my mother (who had ancestors on the Mayflower) while they were both migrant workers. I am, of course, mixed race, and I think that's important to focus on these days. There are so many of us, Mixt, and we rarely get the recognition or belonging that 'pure' blood does.…

Latinx in Horror: Interview with Katherine Quevedo

Katherine Quevedo was born and raised near Portland, Oregon, where she works as an analyst and lives with her husband and two sons. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Nightmare Magazine, Fireside Magazine, Triangulation: Habitats, Factor Four Magazine, Apparition Literary Magazine, Flame Tree Publishing’s Christmas Gothic, and elsewhere. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Rhysling Award and been longlisted for the Kingdoms in the Wild 2022 Poetry Prize. Her debut mini-chapbook, The Inca Weaver’s Tales, is forthcoming from Sword & Kettle Press in their New Cosmologies series. Find her at www.katherinequevedo.com What inspired you to start writing? I’ve been drawn to writing ever…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Angela Acosta

Angela Acosta (she/her/ella) is a poet and scholar of Mexican and European descent who grew up in Gainesville, Florida. She won the 2015 Rhina P. Espaillat Award from West Chester University. Her speculative poetry has or will appear in On Spec, Eye to the Telescope, Radon Journal, MacroMacrocosm, and Shoreline of Infinity. Her work has been featured in Latinx magazines like Panochazine, Somos en Escrito, and Latinx Audio Lit Mag. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in Iberian Studies at The Ohio State University and resides in Columbus, Ohio. She enjoys rock climbing and biking in her free time. Professional…

Latinx in Horror: Interview with Valerie Valdes

Valerie Valdes lives in an elaborate meme palace with her husband and kids, where she writes, edits and moonlights as a muse. When she isn’t working, she enjoys playing video games and admiring the outdoors from the safety of her living room. Her debut novel Chilling Effect was shortlisted for the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award, and was named one of Library Journal’s best SF/fantasy novels of 2019. Valerie is co-editor of Escape Pod, and her short fiction and poetry have been featured in Uncanny Magazine and Nightmare Magazine. What inspired you to start writing? I’ve had the writing tide…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Jose Nateras

Jose Nateras is an L.A. based Writer and Filmmaker from Chicago. A graduate of Loyola University Chicago, Jose has his MFA in Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). A screenwriter and playwright, Jose is also a contributor for The A.V. Club and elsewhere. His debut novel, Testament, was published by Ninestar Press. One of his feature-length horror screenplays, Zero Feet Away, was included on 2021’s Bloodlist and has been optioned by Village Roadshow Pictures/Brillstein Entertainment Partners where it is currently in development. Another, Departing Seniors, is currently in production. He can be found on Twitter:…

Latinx in Horror: Interview with A.E. Santana

A.E. Santana (she/her) is a Southern California native who grew up in a farming community surrounded by the Sonoran Desert. A lover of horror and fantasy, her works can be found in Latinx Screams, Demonic Carnival III, and other horror anthologies. She is the managing editor for Kelp Journal & Books, the moderator for the horror book club, The Thing in the Labyrinth, and the communications manager for Full Circle Players in Riverside, California. A.E. Santana is a member of the Horror Writers Association, the Denver Horror Collective, and has been a moderator for several horror panels, including "No Longer the Scream Queen: Women’s Roles in…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with LP Hernandez

LP Hernandez is an author of horror and speculative fiction. His stories have been featured in anthologies from Dark Matter Magazine, Cemetery Gates Media, and Sinister Smile Press among others. He is a regular contributor to The NoSleep Podcast and was privileged to helm the Season 16 finale. He has two short story collections including the recently released and fully illustrated The Rat King. His novella, Stargazers, was published under the My Dark Library banner with Cemetery Gates Media. When not writing, LP serves as a medical administrator in the U.S. Air Force. He is a husband, father, and a…

Latinx in Horror: Interview with A.P. Thayer

My name is A.P. Thayer and I'm a queer Xicano writer based out of Los Angeles. I write speculative fiction with a heavy horror bent, but try to blend genres as much as possible. My work has appeared in Space Fantasy Magazine, Dark Recesses Press, Uncharted Magazine, Los Suelos, Murder Park After Dark, and Glitter + Ashes, among others. I am also a staff member of Constelación Magazine. My heritage is a big part of not only what I write but my platform. I love talking about it, too! What inspired you to start writing? I jokingly tell people that my need for control is…

Latinx Heritage in Horror: Interview with Manuel Arenas

Manuel Arenas is a writer of verse and prose in the Gothic Horror tradition. His work has appeared in various anthologies and journals including Spectral Realms, and Penumbra, both from Hippocampus Press. In 2021 he released his first collection of poetry and prose, Book of Shadows: Grim Tales and Gothic Fancies, from Jackanapes Press. He currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona, where he pens his dark ditties sheltered behind heavy curtains, as he shuns the oppressive orb which glares down on him from the cloudless, dust-filled sky. What inspired you to start writing? I was always into storytelling, even in grade…

Latinx in Horror: Interview with Ann Dávila Cardinal

Ann Dávila Cardinal is a writer and the Director of Recruitment for Vermont College of Fine Arts where she earned her MFA in Writing. She comes from a long line of Puerto Rican writers, including father and son poets Virgilio and José Antonio Dávila, and her cousin, award-winning fiction writer Tere Dávila. Her young adult horror novels include Five Midnights, Category Five, and the upcoming Breakup From Hell (1/3/23). The Storyteller’s Death, (10/4/22), a work of magical realism, is her first novel for adults. Ann lives with her husband in Vermont in a small house with a scary basement.  What inspired…