I only yesterday found out that this is a thing! February is the Women in Horror month!! How did I not know this? So I thought I had better get in on this thing, as I am both a woman and a writer of horror.
Traditionally, women have had a hard time in the horror genre. It is dominated by Kings and other manly things like that, but there are some spectacular notables in the genre. Off the top of my head, I get the Dark Lady herself: Anne Rice, whose vampire novels still top the genre lists. Shirley Jackson, author of “The Haunting of Hill House” is another top-selling author who excels and creeping people out. And of course the Mother of all Women in Horror: Mary Shelley, who defied the stigma and the times to write “Frankenstein” in 1818.
Of the newer writers of horror, I am sadly in the dark. Searching for more of my gender in this genre I find unfamiliar names, some of which have been around a while! I guess I’ve never really sought out horror specifically written by women before. Is that my bad? Or is it that I truly don’t care what gender the writer is? Personally, while I totally want to support my fellow females, and feel we really do rate equal standing in the genre, I don’t think anyone should purchase a book based on what sex, race, creed, or nationality the author is. They should buy the book based on whether they like what the book’s about.
That being said, I have found a few female horror writers that I want to check out. Looking around the #WiHM7 page, these authors have stood out for me, and I will be checking out their books.
Maquel A. Jacob has a short story collection “Welcome Despair” published, and a sci-fi horror (she says like Event Horizon… OMG!) and vampire novel in the works. I feel she is my kinda peep because she often gets her ideas from dreams, just like me! She is also not afraid of gore and likes aliens, demons and vampires. Totally keeping my eye on this girl! http://horrortree.com/women-in-horror-month-special-interview-with-maquel-a-jacob/
E. A. Black has written a lot of short horror stories that have appeared in collections like “Zippered Flesh 2: More Tales Of Body Enhancements Gone Bad”, which gives me chills from the title alone. The excerpt they give from Infection that appears in “Teeming Terrors”, is both enthralling and creepy. I’m a ‘bug’ person, owning tarantulas that I call ‘my babies’, and I was chewing my nails while wanting to read the rest of the story! https://ninadarc.wordpress.com/2016/02/18/women-in-horror-month-2016-featured-author-e-a-black-elizabethablack-wihm7/
Carrie Ryan author of “The Forest of Hands and Teeth”, which is not only a teen dystopian but also a zombie book. I have read “Hare Moon: An Original Forest of Hands and Teeth Story” and I like it. Now I have to read the rest of them! My husband, who is on a Zombie kick, found the set and recommended I take a look. A New York Times Best Seller, she takes Zombies out of the corny, testosterone zone and into creative creep! http://www.carrieryan.com/fht/
While I would one day love to be compared with these great horror writing chickas, right now I will be fangirling the girls! I invite you to do the same, and if you have a female horror writer that you feel needs a heads up, DO TELL!
I’ve been meaning to check out JH Moncrieff for a while. I even have her book. Just haven’t read it yet. (too many books, too little time). Like you, though, I’ve never really thought of looking for books based on gender. I can kind of see both sides. Making the designation isn’t really equality. But there’s the discoverability factor to consider. There’s too much “default white male” out there, and it can be good to actively seek books written from another perspective.
I don’t think about it most of the time either. In fact I was surprised to find “The Haunting of Hill House” to be by a woman, I never knew that.
That one, I did know, but only because I loved it so much that I looked up the author to find more she had written 🙂 When I’m choosing a book casually, I often don’t even look at who wrote it until after I’m done, unless, of course, the reason I’m reading is because I already know I like that author’s work. Man, I miss reading casually.