Women In Horror Month 2024 : An Interview with Gwendolyn N Nix
What inspired you to start writing?
It’s difficult to pinpoint that definitive moment when the lightbulb went on, I picked up the quill, and I decided I was going to become a writer. But I do remember being very, very young, enamored with books, and was devoted to certain literary characters. There was a lot of inspiration building in the background, some of which seem quite obvious when I look back on it. Dragonlance books where the evil mage became my favorite; watching the film 13 Ghosts and loving what I perceived to be the tarot-esque identities of the ghosts; a Girl Scouts camping trip where we discovered an abandoned cabin rife with haunted house vibes and I entered it alone; folklore told around a campfire about the monsters lurking in our state’s backyard. I remember wanting these stories (even my own experiences) to go deeper, darker, to be even more one-of- a-kind. I love that little thrill, that feeling of discovery where things take a turn into the unexpected. Sure, perhaps the knight is the darling of the realm, but what if he’s secretly bound to an endless god of destruction? Soon, it was like all these experiences and stories had gathered into my brain’s immense magpie-bird treasure chest with nowhere to go, and no outlet. The only solution was to let them free with the pen. And, then I had the liberty to take those stories where I’d always wanted them to go: a place where the anticipation and build-up became immense and I could create things I’d never ever thought possible.
What was it about the horror genre that drew you to it?
My horror preferences generally have a supernatural element. Witches, ghosts, demons, the monster lurking beyond the stars…all that stuff gave me a particular creeping rush. You know what I’m talking about – the sensation where you get a prickle on your neck, you’re hyperaware, your toes are curled, you can’t stop reading because you must know. That moment usually appears when the veil between reality and the Other has thinned and the universe becomes bigger than ever thought possible. Or, all the folklore shaping our world and regaled to simply stories is actually real. I love that moment where things take a turn that I least expect and it’s going to bring out the raw instincts of survival and prove what morals or beliefs actually stand up to the test. I like seeing where characters get comfortable with the darkness, what they can withstand before they reach the threshold, and what they end up settling for. I like certain kinds of horror because it brings the unexpected. That’s not to say that tropes don’t come into play, of course. And sometimes it can be funny or silly or just another addition to a particular story form that’s familiar and welcome. But, I suppose, I’ve had more luck getting that thrill of the unexpected out of the horror genre than in others (for the most part). Long story short, horror has a tendency to surprise me. And I like being surprised.
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 can’t stop myself from including female characters! My natural inclination is to write from the female/femme perspective. When I switched to another perspective (because those were the voices driving the story) it was always obvious that female characters were necessary to balance the world. I loved seeing female characters from the outside, and they showed me what kind of women I like to write about, surpassing me by the kind of female perspectives that emerge. These characters are full of strength and fill the novel with themes of the feminine divine as well as the theme that females/femmes are the building blocks of society and civilization, the emotional and mental strength and support of both communities and inner families. I love exploring that idea: that without them, you don’t just lose a person, but a heading, a home, a berth. She is the glue that binds the characters together. When I write from the female perspective though, I can’t help but dig into the dark corners of that character’s soul. That place where they fight to keep something they desire, how they cling to revenge, how they will fight even death itself to get what they want. My antagonist in the Celestial Scripts trilogy is terrified of non-existence and does everything in her power to cling to some semblance of twisted living – even devouring reincarnated souls to sustain herself. She’s a parasite, in a way, and I love exploring the lengths characters will go to get what they need. Thematically, these characters know they are significant to the world as a whole, and that it’s the social and moral constructs that keep them from reaching their true potential. They own their individuality and refuse to get lost in the tide of being someone they aren’t – because they know in their bones they are significant. And I think that’s something I want to portray to readers. How important and unique each of us is.
What has writing horror taught you about the world and yourself?
That horror can be anything! Never yuck someone’s yum. It can be absolutely grotesque and bloody. It can be funny. It can be mind-provoking. There are so many different flavors to horror and it’s not just one trope or idea. It’s picking aspects from all types of genres and melding them into something different, something weird, something horrifying that says so much about who we all are. And horror is different for each person. Someone, like myself, enjoys cosmic mind- bending horror, while someone else enjoys psychological thrillers and slashers. Everyone’s horror is as unique as their fingerprint. Writing horror for me has let me explore nuances of characters I don’t think I’d have had the bandwidth for in other kinds of genres.
How have you seen the horror genre change over the years? And how do you think it will continue to evolve?
I’ve really enjoyed watching imagination flourish in the horror genre. A reclaiming of the tropes and casting away the fear that you’ll be considered “different” and “twisted” for wanting to read it or wanting to write it. Personally, I love the slipstream effect, watching horror infect other genres to a greater degree and creating these mishmash stories that can’t be placed, that are two, three, or five genres in one book. I’m really enjoying “pink horror” at the moment, dragging women’s perspectives and experiences into the light that, when you look at them, you realize, wow that’s really messed up.
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?
So far, it’s been an upward slope. Women are tough and persistent. I’ll always want more, and I want to see more of those stories that force us to explore the cultural themes we carry within us and try to break free from them. The future is troubling, and I hope women can continue to push and carry us forward, tell the truth through fiction, and find some semblance of healing in the writing of it. I hope we continue to elevate those voices.
Who are some of your favorite female characters in horror?
Erica Slaughter from Something is Killing the Children and Samantha Mackey from Mona Awad’s Bunny.
Who are some women who write horror you recommend our audience check out?
Carmen Maria Machado’s The Husband Stitch is a favorite of mine. Sunny Moraine’s collection of short stories, Singing with All My Skin and Bone is another excellent read, and they have another novella out from Tor Nightfire I’m excited to read. DarkLit Press has some an amazing female/femme lineup that everyone should check out. Seriously. Stuff that will make your skin crawl.
What is one piece of advice you would give horror authors today?
There’s only one. You. You might think you’re writing tropey trash (and hey, embrace it if you are), but no one will write or create like you. Every word you put to the page is unique – all the horrors you dream up and think are distinctive. My own creativity has gotten burned many times because I’ve told myself that I’m just a cog in a machine, I’ll never go viral, I’ll never be on trend, I’m just another voice shouting into the void, why would anything care about my writing, or even understand it? But then you know what happens? I tell my pitch to someone. A friend, someone new, a family member. And every single time they tell me, “Wow, I’ve never heard of that before, how creative.” You can’t see it, but there is only one you in the whole universe. And you must protect that creativity as much as you can. Your art is a special happy place inside of you and it’s easy for life and capitalism and all the “shoulds” of ambition to try to take away that happy place.
And to the women who write horror out there who are just getting started, what advice would you give them?
Protect your creativity! I’m not saying give up your hobbies and your joys to write, write, write. I mean, protect your creativity from internet cruelty, from readers who might not understand your story (and that’s okay, they can have their opinion, too). Protect it from all those “shoulds” – you should be published, you should be making money, you should be churning out all these words by this time in your life. I wish it was easy to throw away all those outside voices, but it won’t be. But I hope new writers will believe in their weird tales, and their bloody stories, and will keep writing because I can’t wait to read them.
Bio:
Gwendolyn N Nix is an editor by day and an author by night, penning the Celestial Scripts trilogy, Sharks of the Wasteland, I Have Asked To Be Where No Storms Come, and the forthcoming Bone Knuckles & the Rose Scavenger. She is the editor of Marvel Xavier’s Institute: School of X. She lives in Montana with her husband, son, and wild gray Labrador. Find her musing at gwendolynnix.com.
