Women in Horror: Interview with Nancy Holder
Nancy Holder is a New York Times bestselling author and recipient of six Bram Stoker Awards. In 2019 she was named a Grand Master by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. She has served HWA as vice president and a member of the board of trustees. She and her co-writer Alan Philipson are writing comic book series for Moonstone and IFG, as well as a short story for the 50th-anniversary celebration of Kolchak the Night Stalker. Her most recent solo publication is “Chickens for Chompy,” a short story in the forthcoming Diablo House anthology from Clover Press.
What inspired you to start writing?
My father and my grandmother both encouraged me to write after I wrote my first story in the second grade. It was about a merman lumberjack who chops down seaweed for a living. A bad merman captures his mermaid girlfriend in a fishing net and the lumberjack frees her with his seaweed axe. My maiden name is Jones and my father thought it would be just so funny if I told people that “Nancy Jones” was a pseudonym. That was pretty much his basis for encouraging me at first. I just seemed to do a lot of writing when I was a little kid. I wrote a very long horse short story in the fourth grade. Then I wrote a fantasy novel in the sixth grade. However, my original plan was to be a ballet dancer.
What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it?
I don’t know. I was very timid as a little girl, but I was drawn to horror anyway. I read lots of horror comics but I had to turn them facedown at night before I went to bed. I had a string puppet but I cut all its strings and stuffed it into a suitcase I had for doll clothes so it wouldn’t attack me at night. One night I became convinced that the person snuggling in bed with me was not my mother, but an escaped clown from the circus. I had a big, scary imagination. I would lie awake at night with my heart thundering. But I still watched horror movies on TV anyway. I have no idea why I did this to myself, and why I still do it. It just feels natural, even though it is nerve-wracking.
Do you make a conscious effort to include female characters and themes in your writing and if so, what do you want to portray?
I think all of my horror novels have female main characters. I’ve never given it any thought. I just wrote them. In our young adult dark fantasy series, WICKED, Debbie Viguié and I made a point of emphasizing the pressure our main character is under to protect and lead her coven. She does some pretty bad stuff to gain power to keep her people safe. I know I wanted to emphasize that it’s easy to criticize a leader, much harder to be one.
What has writing horror taught you about the world and yourself?
That even in the darkest place, there is hope. Really and truly.
How have you seen the horror genre change over the years? And how do you think it will continue to evolve?
The horror genre has exploded! There are all kinds of subgenres now, and the Big Five (or Four or Three) no longer hold sway over creative output. The means of production have never been in the hands of the workers like they are now. There are new, experimental venues and so many amazing, inventive creators making amazing stories. It’s an exciting time to be a horror writer and a horror reader, too.
How do you feel women have been represented thus far in the genre and what hopes do you have for representation in the genre going forward?
When I started out, female characters were often batshit crazy, or women in the fridge, or final girls. Next came women characters whose entire identity was that they were strong. Now there are all kinds of female characters—flawed, layered, complex. Main characters are not always heroines. I love the evolution of the representation of women as it has been unfolding and continuing to grow, with women depicted as actual people and not trope-y plot devices.
Who are some of your favorite female characters in horror?
My once and future Slayer, Buffy. The Buffy vampire, Drusilla. Eleanor in The Haunting of Hill House. Ripley in the Alien franchise. Katniss Everdeen. Lyra of His Dark Materials. La Llorona. Santa Muerte. Maman Brigitte.
Who are some women who write horror you recommend our audience check out?
I tend not to name names of living writers because I have so many friends who are horror writers. I adore Shirley Jackson. And my own wonderful co-author, the late Melanie Tem. Anne Rice. Tanith Lee. Mary Shelley. Angela Carter. Elizabeth Gaskell. Charlotte Riddell.
What is one piece of advice you would give horror authors today?
The same advice I always give: read, read, read. Write, write, write. Create a writing practice that you can maintain consistently. Finish things. Send them out. Don’t bother giving up because eventually, you’ll give it another go anyway.
And to the women who write horror out there who are just getting started, what advice would you give them?
Be persistent. “No” does not mean “never.” Try again. Try not to defer. If someone is steamrolling you, be like Kamala Harris: Smile confidently and say, “I am speaking.” And have something to say.
