Women in Horror Month Interview Series: Introduction by Lindy Ryan
Women in Horror Month HWA Interview Series: Introduction by Lindy Ryan
From literature to film and everywhere between, Women in Horror Month (WiHM) celebrates and amplifies the contributions of women in the genre. This annual event embraces all those in horror who identify as women—championing a special sisterhood amongst women who shine brightest in the dark.
Though historically underrepresented and oft-ignored, from Mary Shelley’s creation of Frankenstein—one of the most lasting and reanimated icons of the genre—women have always been at the heart of horror. We have been victims and tropes, Final Girls and Pretty Dead Girls, and caricatures by design that have persisted from Greek myth to modern day. Now, women in horror are breaking free of the shackles that have kept us quiet, our voices taking the lead with works as far-ranging, dynamic, and monstrous as the female experience itself. The horrors wrung from our pens often speak from places of personal terror, our words echoes of heartache, of trauma, of fury. We fight, we bleed, and we write.
From self-published work to Big 5 imprints, the voices of women in horror span novels, short/long fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, screenplays, poetry collections, podcasts, and more. Likewise, certain sub-genres of horror speak uniquely to us, and in these subgenres female voices are flourishing, wielding strength and beauty in the most terrible and terrifying of topics. In the larger literary community, women are taking on more roles as editors and publishers, many spear-heading efforts to amplify our voices during the resurgence of independent horror. Like Final Girls, women in horror have proven that we can do more than simply survive—we can thrive.
The Horror Writers Association is celebrating WiHM by presenting an interview series that celebrates our work. Some of these names you’ll recognize, others are new, but all contribute to the ever-expanding voices of women in horror.
Lindy Ryan is an award-winning author-editor, director, professor, and noisy advocate for women in horror. She is the founder of Black Spot Books, where she currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Independent Book Publishers Association and is the co-chair of the Horror Writers Association Publishers Council. Ryan was named one of Publishers Weekly‘s 2020 Star Watch Honorees. In addition to her work in horror, Ryan has published numerous academic texts, and writes clean romance under the name Lindy Miller, where her books have won several awards and been adapted for screen. On social @LindyRyanWrites and at www.LindyMillerRyan.com
