Women in Horror Month – Interview with Corrine De Winter

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting interviews with award-winning authors. Following is an interview with Corrine De Winter, who won the Bram Stoker Award in 2004 for her poetry collection, “The Women At The Funeral.” Tell us a little about your Bram Stoker Award-winning work(s). Inspirations? Influences? Anecdotes about the writing or critical reaction? CD: My collection of poetry “The Women At The Funeral” was the Stoker Award Winner. I have always leaned toward the dark side in my writing, and this collection was inspired by many writers and as usual, my own experiences…

Women in Horror Month – Interview with Rena Mason

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting interviews with award-winning authors. Following is an interview with Rena Mason, who won the Bram Stoker award in 2014 for her short story, “Ruminations,” in 2013 for her first novel, The Evolutionist, and won the Silver Hammer Award in 2014 for volunteer work. Tell us a little about your Bram Stoker Award-winning work(s). Inspirations? Influences? Anecdotes about the writing or critical reaction? RM: I wrote The Evolutionist in Olympia, Washington after moving from Las Vegas where I’d lived for nearly a decade. Writing the story was a catharsis of the time I’d…

Women in Horror Month – Interview with Sèphera Girón

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting interviews with award-winning authors. Following is an interview with Sèphera Girón who won the Silver Hammer award for volunteer work in 2008. Tell us a little about your experience with the Horror Writers Association and how it has influenced your own writing. SG: I joined the Horror Writers Association when it was Horror Writers of America back around 1992 or so. I was one of the ones, back when we used to hang out on an online platform called "Genie" through the SFF-NET community, that rallied for a…

Women in Horror Month – Interview with Elizabeth Massie

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting interviews with award-winning authors. Following is an interview with Elizabeth Massie, who won the Bram Stoker award in 1990 for her short fiction, “Stephen,” and in 1992 for her first novel, Sineater.   Tell us a little about your Bram Stoker Award-winning work(s). Inspirations? Influences? Anecdotes about the writing or critical reaction?  I’ve won the Bram Stoker Award twice, for my first novel Sineater and my novella, “Stephen.” Sineater was inspired, believe it or not, by a made-for-TV movie in which Lindsay Wagner played a nurse who went…

Women in Horror Month – Interview with Ellen Datlow

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting interviews with award-winning authors and editors. Following is an interview with Ellen Datlow, who has won the Bram Stoker award multiple times for anthologies including: The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror, 13th Annual Collection with Terri Windling (2000); The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, 17th Annual Collection with Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant (2004); Haunted Legends with Nick Mamatas (2010); and Fearful Symmetries (2014). She also won the Lifetime Achievement Award (2010). Tell us a little about your Bram Stoker Award-winning work(s). Inspirations? Influences? Anecdotes about the…

Women in Horror Month – Interview with Paula Guran

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting interviews with award-winning authors and editors. Following is an interview with Paula Guran, who won the Bram Stoker award in 1998 and 1999 for her non-fiction work, “DarkEcho.” Tell us a little about your Bram Stoker Award-winning work(s). Inspirations? Influences? Anecdotes about the writing or critical reaction? PG: It was a very long time ago. At the time it was notable for things that may not seem remarkable now. I was the first person to be given “active” status on professional digital credits alone. The awards were for…

Women in Horror Month – Interview with Kathe Koja

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting interviews with award-winning authors. Following is an interview with Kathe Koja, who won the Bram Stoker award in 1991 for her novel The Cipher.   Tell us a little about your Bram Stoker Award-winning work(s). Inspirations? Influences? Anecdotes about the writing or critical reaction? KK: THE CIPHER was my first novel, and its genesis is as inscrutable as all fiction, as the Funhole it presents as a fact—who knows where the stories come from? I don’t think in terms of genre when I write, so I discovered that THE…

Women in Horror Month – Interview with Linda Addison

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting interviews with award-winning authors. Following is an interview with Linda Addison, who has won four Bram Stoker Awards for her poetry collections: Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes (2001); Being Full of Light, Insubstantial (2007); How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend (2011); and Four Elements with Charlee Jacob, Marge Simon and Rain Graves (2014).   Tell us a little about your Bram Stoker Award-winning work(s). Inspirations? Influences? Anecdotes about the writing or critical reaction? LA: I won my first Bram Stoker for my poetry collection Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey…

Women in Horror Month – Interview with Nancy Etchemendy

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting interviews with award-winning authors. Following is an interview with Nancy Etchemendy, who won the Bram Stoker Award for her short fiction, "Nimitseahpah," in 2004; Young Readers novel, The Power of Un, in 2000; and Young Readers short story, "Bigger Than Death," in 1998.   Tell us a little about your Bram Stoker Award-winning work(s). Inspirations? Influences? Anecdotes about the writing or critical reaction? NE: Two of my Stoker-award-winning works, “Bigger than Death” (1998) and “The Power of Un” (2000), won in the “Work for Young Readers” category, which was very…

Women in Horror Month – Interview with Mercedes M. Yardley

February is Women in Horror Month! The HWA is celebrating by posting daily interviews with award-winning authors. Starting off the month is an interview with Mercedes M. Yardley, who won the Bram Stoker Award in 2015 for her long fiction piece, Little Dead Red.   Tell us a little about your Bram Stoker Award-winning work(s). Inspirations? Influences? Anecdotes about the writing or critical reaction? MMY: My winning piece was a novella titled Little Dead Red. LDR is a modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood that’s deeply rooted in real tragedies. It has to do with sexual abuse, kidnapping, guilt, revenge,…
Scary Out There with Kaitlin Ward

Scary Out There with Kaitlin Ward

NOTE: Listeners, this was our first attempt at an audio interview. We know there is a slight echo and the background noise isn’t ideal, but bear with us as we creep into the world of audio interviews. Thanks for your understanding and patience! Hello Horror Fanatics! Today Scary Out There is sitting down with Kaitlin Ward, the author of Bleeding Earth (Adaptive Books, February 2016). Listen as Kaitlin discusses how she came up with the idea for Bleeding Earth, why it's important for children and teens to read horror, and more. Kaitlin Ward grew up on a dairy farm in Monroe,…
In March: “Found Poetry” with Terrie Leigh Relf & HWA Poetry Showcase Announcement

In March: “Found Poetry” with Terrie Leigh Relf & HWA Poetry Showcase Announcement

Poet Terrie Leigh Relf talks about “Found Poetry” and shares a little bit of herself and her own work this month. Personally, before reading this article, I’d never heard of “Found Poetry” and it’s a fascinating literary field. Special thanks to Terrie for pulling back the curtain a little on a lesser known form of poetry. ☠ What Is Found Poetry and Where-Oh-Where Can It Be? by Terrie Leigh Relf While on staff at Alban Lake Publishing, one of our regular contributors and a writer friend, Lauren McBride, asked me about found poetry. When she requested an article on this…
Women in Horror: Part Eighteen

Women in Horror: Part Eighteen

 It may be March but I'm still rolling with WiHM! Today, my dear friends, is the final article. Yes...it's true. Please do not weep, do not lose hope, we will meet again. For now we can explore a great viewpoint on the whole concept of Women in Horror from editor, author, anthologist & all-round great friend...Joe Myndhardt...   Female authors, characters and inspirations… and those who have a problem with them. by Joe Mynhardt I learned something over the last few days; I learned that there is still a lot prejudice when it comes to the work of female authors.…
Women in Horror: Part Seventeen

Women in Horror: Part Seventeen

Today we're joined by author Roh Morgon on what horror means to her...     It’s an honor to have been selected to participate in the HWA’s recognition of Women in Horror Month.     Examining the accomplishments of women in this genre has forced me to look closer at my own work and determine whether or not it actually belongs in the horror category.   Before discussing the contributions of women writers to the horror genre, we should first conduct a brief examination of the genre itself.   Horror.   The word conjures images of screaming women, dripping blades,…
Women in Horror: Part Sixteen

Women in Horror: Part Sixteen

Hello & welcome back to our feature special series for WiHM! You'll all have noticed a gap in the posting of these articles & I can only apologise for that. I've been down with a horrible virus & couldn't get any work done...but I'm back now & ready to finish what we've started! Today we welcome author & editor Sandy DeLuca. This lovely lady barely needs an introduction, author of Messages from the Dead & Hell's Door amongst many others, artist & anthologist. For our series she decided to concentrate on a Woman in Horror from the world of film, rather than the print...     Gale Anne Hurd of “The…
Women in Horror: Part Fifteen

Women in Horror: Part Fifteen

  Here we are again, still celebrating Women in Horror Month & going strong! Chantal Noordeloos, author of Deeply Twisted & Coyote-The Outlander, is here to talk about stereotypes & categorisation...     Every February we explore the world of ladies in the horror genre. We shine the limelight on female authors, directors, actresses, and perhaps even the female characters in their books. As a woman who writes horror I’m very grateful for this little bit of illumination. Most of us still struggle to make a name for ourselves, and a lot of women suffer from a stigma that’s been…
Women in Horror: Part Fourteen

Women in Horror: Part Fourteen

Welcome to our next installment of HWA's Women in Horror Month! Today we have the delectable Rena Mason joining us & she's talking about the writers who inspired her...         One of the first “horror” novels I remember reading in my pre-teen years, because it was popular, was Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews. It left me wanting more, so as simple as it sounds, I chose my next book because the cover art had a similar “creepy girl” feel to it. Both books also had strong female protagonists. The second book just happened to be…

Women in Horror: Part Thirteen

Here we are at lucky number thirteen of WiHM!  Today we're joined by author Kami Garcia & she's telling all about the reactions she faced when she announced that she was going to write horror fiction...       Why would you ever want to write a horror novel?—that was the question people kept asking when my solo novel, Unbreakable, released last Fall. The same people who had never questioned my choice of genre when I was writing Southern Gothic were suddenly thrown by the word horror. They associated it with violence and gore, instead of the elements at the…
Women in Horror: Part Twelve

Women in Horror: Part Twelve

Today we are joined by Carol MacAllister, author of The BlackMoor Tales...     Toni Morrison, author, whose work won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 is generally categorized as most interested in presenting the human condition of African Americans through her work. Her characters are African Americans, but even though she addresses racism, it is curious to note that she easily crosses the borders of reality and dips into horror to paint her scenes.   BELOVED, her novel ranked as one of American’s best works, relies on the element of a ghostly main protagonist who follows all the…
Women in Horror: Part Eleven

Women in Horror: Part Eleven

Today we have something a little different, Leigh M Lane covers a few of the theories surrounding the whole role women have i  Horror Fiction... Women’s Roles in Horror—Playing the Victim?   I’ve been thinking a lot lately about roles versus expectations in horror writing. There are many who deny that there continues to exist gender bias in horror, and to those people I must ask: Then why is there a Women in Horror Month? If there were no problem, we’d also have a Men in Horror Month … or would we?   I don’t want to foster any false…