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Articles Guest Articles Women in Horror Month

Guest Article from Jillian Maria

They say “write what you know,” and I do. Most of the time, it’s on purpose — I’ll draw on my own mannerisms and reactions to make characters believable, or I’ll pull on tropes that I like and subvert the ones that I don’t.

But sometimes, I write what I know without even realizing that I’m doing it.

My main project, with the working title of Songbird, just finished its second draft recently. In it, a girl named Elizabeth is kidnapped by an evil, immortal witch known only as the Mistress who locks her in a bird cage, curses her to grow feathers that slowly suck the life out of her, and forces her to sing on a stage every night.

Like all of my horror-based projects, I drew on fears that I knew I had. Cages, body horror, public speaking (or, well, singing, in Elizabeth’s case). But when reading through the draft with fresh eyes, I noticed something a little more insidious lurking in between the lines.

When Elizabeth is kidnapped, her clothes are taken from her and replaced by a white dress while she’s unconscious. The Mistress has the power to give commands that are physically impossible to disobey using only her voice. At one point, Elizabeth notes that her body hasn’t really felt like her own since the moment she woke up in the cage. The feathers turn it from a home home to a tomb of hollow bones for her to rot in. And the Mistress’s voice turns her mind against her, too.

From a young age, I was raised with the knowledge that someone could, at any time, override my desires and force me into an encounter that I did not ask for or want, leaving me feeling much like Elizabeth does in Songbird.

Now, make no mistake — sexual assault, and the resulting crises that stem from the loss of autonomy and consent, does not just happen to women. It’s something that can happen to any gender.

But from a very young age, I was taught to never leave my drink alone in an unfamiliar place. I was sent off to college with a can of pepper spray. Whenever I tell my mom that I’m going out with friends, she inevitably tells me carpool so I don’t have to drive through the city alone after dark. I am an adult, and I should be self-sufficient, but I always make sure someone knows where I’m going, who I will be with, and what time I intend to be home.

I have been raised with these expectations, with this fear, because I am a woman. There’s no way around it. Every time I mention it to my friends, it only confirms my suspicions — my female friends will inevitably share my experience, while my male friends are more often than not surprised.

I didn’t realize how pervasively that fear cropped up in my own writing until I read it. Indeed, most of the horror in Songbird stems from the absolute helplessness Elizabeth feels when confronted with a villain that she physically cannot say “no” to. It stems from the same fear that puts the pepper spray in my purse, the same fear that makes me bring my drink with me to the bathroom when I’m out at the bar.

There’s something a little disturbing about the fact that I didn’t recognize it for what it was until after I was finished writing it. It’s because I’m so used to it. I’ve known this fear for as long as I can remember. Sometimes, I even forget that it isn’t something normal, that I shouldn’t have to feel this way.

Of course, we’re making strides as a society. We’re getting better at identifying abusers, at punishing them. But I have to wonder how many generations it will take before little girls aren’t raised with the inherent fear that my friends and I have learned.

Jillian Maria can be found on twitter here

You can find Jillian on tumblr here

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Articles Interviews Women in Horror Month

Interview – Kaitlin Statz

One of the things I enjoy most about The White Vault is the variety
of characters. The fact that they’re all from diverse backgrounds adds a
level of realism to a research team. How did you go about coming up with this concept?

I didn’t feel as though I was creating something new when I decided upon the characters and their backgrounds. I created the characters required to tell the story and weave an intricate story of found-footage and missing information. Similarly to your statement, I feel it is far more fictional to believe a research team on Svalbard would be filled with nothing but broody Americans!

When I was doing my graduate research, the people in the lab and the fellow students next to me in seminars hailed from around the world. Research and scientific pursuits are not limited to English-speaking countries or single-minded academic Lonely Hearts with a dark romantic past.

I attempted to create the people I’ve met, worked with, befriended, and hated.  Wonderful people all their own who would have a reason to go home, wherever that home may be.

 

Do you have a process for character creation? I personally use
Dungeons and Dragons character sheets, it’s a trick I stole from an
author friend (Charity Langley) and find it allows me to think of things
I normally wouldn’t.
 

Though I do play D&D and love the process of character creation there, I take a very different track for my writing pursuits. I have a booklet where each person is given a page, starting with simple information, and then I look at the same questions people are told to ask about their own lives.

-What are their goals?

-What are their favorite things?

-What do they want out of this stage of their life?

-What have they learned recently that will influence future choices?

I do leave some things unwritten, as I never know when I’ll need to weave in a new memory or reaction, and because I can never write down everything.

 

I love the sense of isolation and dread that the show evokes, the
episodes are always a perfect length and I usually have to stop working
(Sorry boss) when I’m listening to the episodes. Is isolation something
that personally scares you?

There are certain people I would never wish to be isolated from, and I feel less frightened of isolation than I do imprisonment. I’ve always enjoyed exploration, hiking, seeing the world, and I draw much of my inspiration from my travels. I don’t mind hiking through the woods with two or three other people, cutting us off from others and used to enjoy long solitary walks home through Swedish forests in the winter. What I fear is the bunker, the prison it creates in the storm. The idea that this may be the last place I’d ever get to see. That’s terrifying for me.

 

Do you have any special routines when you write? Certain music you
have to listen to? A special room?

Tea and quiet. A hot pot of tea on my desk or side table is the sign I’m about to sit down to write.

If I am going to work for hours at a time writing page after page, I only remember to get up and stretch when I go to pour another cup and nothing comes out.

I’m also a very heavy researcher, so I’ll try to have all my information up and ready before I begin. If I take a moment to Google a bit of information, I don’t know how long I’ll be stuck in the abyss of the Internet.

 

You also write for Liberty, which is a Science-Fiction podcast. Do you
have a preference between Sci-Fi and horror when it comes to writing?

I prefer writing horror, but I’ve written a few pieces in several genres. My preference for writing horror is why we started the Liberty: Tales from the Tower series, where I get to blend our sci-fi world with it’s own mythos of terror.  Liberty: Critical Research has some scary elements here and there, but it is far more a tale of survival and understanding.

Writing horror feels more visceral. I want to wiggle my words under my listeners’ skin, have them thinking about it while cooking dinner or when they’re stepping out of the shower on a dark night. That’s a goal, and I’ll strive to reach it. Just as a comedian wants people to laugh.

 

What is your favorite genre to read?

Horror.

To be a writer, you have to write.

To be a good writer, you have to read, write, and practice.

I read horrors, new and old, short stories to novels, and when I’m working or driving I’ll listen to horror audiobooks and horror podcasts. I’m a consumer storytelling.

But, when it dawns on me that I should take a break from horror, I tend to enjoy high fantasy.

 

Are there any tropes you actively look to avoid in your writing?

I try to avoid a collection of tropes I lump together as the ‘idiotic characters’.

It’s okay to create someone who is naïve, someone with a healthy amount of disbelief, but when faced with changes to their life they should react accordingly.
If your friend comes screaming down the hill saying something attacked her, she’s bleeding and wide-eyed, I don’t care if she’s drunk or high, you don’t wander into the woods looking for the thing. You drive her to a hospital, or lock yourself in the car until you are sober enough to drive.

When I’m writing and I think to myself ‘Why are they doing this? This is idiotic’, I have to assess if this is their only option. The circumstances have to reach extremes before intelligent adults make poor choices and I prefer to write intelligent characters.

 

Do you have any projects coming up we should be on the lookout for?

Yes and no. Season 2 of The White Vault is going to release in October of 2018. Also, we have a mini-series spin-off for The White Vault called ‘Artifact’ that will release to patrons and supporters in a few months.

As the writer for Fool and Scholar Productions, I can say that we are working on several new ideas, but they are still mysterious, lurking in the shadows until the time is right.

 

You can find Kaitlin on Twitter here

You can find The White Vault on twitter here

You can support Kaitlin’s work through Patreon here

 

Categories
Articles Interviews Women in Horror Month

Interview – Lou Yardley

How long have you been writing for?

On and off for as long as I could read and write, but in 2016 I decided to make a proper go of it. I’d taken part in NaNoWriMo a couple of times in the years before that (with varying levels success), but I hadn’t written anything that I thought I’d could share with someone else. By the time 2016 rolled around, I’d completed a 4 year degree and found myself in desperate need of a project. The novel I began writing in that year’s NaNoWriMo became that project. Wow, that wasn’t a straightforward answer, was it?

What is it about horror that made you think ‘This is the genre for me’?

I’ve always been drawn to the darker things in life. I don’t think I’m evil or anything like that, but when I first watched Star Wars, I rooted for Darth Vader and when I watched He-Man, I wanted Skeletor to win. The baddies just always seemed so much more interesting than the good guys. It’s like the goodies were bound by a set of rules, while the baddies were free to do as they pleased. There’s a song by Greensky Bluegrass called “Burn Them” that goes “What a relief from the pressure to just be hated / And learn that being bad ain’t nothing but a pleasure”. There’s something in that idea that’s rather appealing.

Anyway, when I discovered horror (largely through this dude called Stephen King…. I wonder if anyone’s ever heard of him?), I was able to really embrace this darkness. BUT, rather than rooting for the baddies, I discovered characters. King’s characters are rarely completely good or completely bad (I mean, Pennywise is just a being that has to feed, right? Everybody’s gotta eat…), they just make decisions that can be perceived as being good or bad. Horror, for me, is not about the body count or the blood, guts and gore (although I do like those things to feature heavily in the stories I read and write), it’s about human beings. It’s about being human. It’s about how fear can either drive us to being extremely heroic or can see us running to the hills. Whenever I read a horror story or watch a movie, I ask myself what I would do in that situation. Sometimes I’d do what the character is doing, others I wouldn’t. I’d love to say that I’d always fight against the big baddie, but, more often than not, I’d probably just end up hiding in a cupboard or something.

Any tips for combatting writer’s block?

HIT IT WITH A SPOON!

I have two ways of combating writer’s block: Stop writing or keep writing. That seems like the least helpful answer in the world, but trust me.

If I’m really stuck and I have other things I can do, I’ll stop writing. I’ll go for a walk, or read a book or talk to my cats about their plans for world domination. Then, the next day, I’ll go back to it and find that the words are miraculously there. It’s some kind of witchcraft… I don’t know how it works… maybe I sold my soul to Skeletor when I was a child…

The second option is to just power through it and keep writing no matter what. Even if it’s complete gibberish about how much a character likes spaghetti (maybe it reminds them of our lord and saviour Cthulu? Mmm… tentacles… )…. it usually serves to wake up the creative muscles again. Fair enough, you do have to delete a load of words afterwards, but it does work.

Any rituals you have before starting a new story?

This is disappointingly boring, but… No. Sorry!

How do you handle character creation? I find using Dungeons and Dragons character sheets helpful but it’s fun to see the many ways other people go about this.

I’m not sure if this makes sense, but my characters already tend to be pretty full in my head before I start writing. Sure, I find out things about them along the way, but I usually have a good idea of what they look like and how they act straightaway. Most of the time this is the bit that’s clearest in my head… I’m one of those people who tends to make it up as they go along when it comes to plot (I know how I want it to end, I just haven’t planned out the journey yet), so my stories are character and situation driven. I often find that new characters crop up along the way and, when that happens, I’ll start with a name and the character will develop around that.

Any projects coming up (or currently out) you’d like to share with us?

I do!

I have a series called “The Others” that currently has two novels in it (“The Other’s Voice” and “The Others: A Bleak Reflection”). A third and final installment will be along within the next year or so. I also have a novella called “Jingle Bells” and a short story called “Lydia”. Oh, and there’s a piece of flash fiction called “Wasted Time” that’s lurking out there on the internet somewhere.

But, the project I’m most excited about is called “Hellhound”. I’m in the editing phase of it at the moment and I’m hoping to publish it later this year. I’ve had a great time writing it, so I hope it’s as much fun to read as it was to write.

How can we support your work?

My stories are available digitally from loads of places, including Kindle, Kobo, iBooks, etc. Just go to your favourite store and search for “Lou Yardley”. If I’m not there, let me know! Print books are currently only available from Amazon, louyardley.com and CreateSpace. I’m planning to try a different distribution method with “Hellhound” as it would be wonderful to see it in some bricks and mortar stores.

If you don’t want to buy a book yet (or if you have them already – if so, thank you!) then it would be great if you could follow me on Twitter (I’m @LouciferSpeaks) or give me a ‘like’ on Facebook – http://facebook.com/louyardley. Shares and retweets are always appreciated. Plus, reviews on Goodreads, Amazon and other eBook retailers are fab!

Any advice to people just starting out in their writing careers?

 

I’m still starting out myself, so I’m by no means an expert. But, I would say this:

 

  1. Give it a go, you’ll probably surprise yourself.
  2. Be active on social media, but not TOO active. You need time to write!
  3. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Pretty much every author I’ve communicated with online has been amazing.
  4. If people do help you, remember to thank them.
  5. Be excellent to each other.

 

Categories
Articles Interviews Women in Horror Month

Interview – Jennifer McCarthy

How did you get the idea for Final Girl Designs?

I have always loved horror. The concept of the final girl has always resonated with me. I recently wrote a blog about it which you can find here https://finalgirldesigns.wordpress.com/.

I have been making jewellery for over 20years. My love for horror was reignited when I started going to the Rock and Shock convention in Worcester, MA. Things kind of clicked into place for me and it just  made sense to bring my two passions together.

Do you have a favourite piece that you’ve made?

I don’t have a specific favorite piece. But, I love to incorporate vintage materials into my work. My favorite thing to do is breathe new life into old broken and neglected jewellery.

I love the aesthetic behind your pieces, how do you go about crafting your designs?

Thank you! My work is assemblage, I find cool things and put them together to make other cool things. I source my materials from around the world and make my designs based on what I find. A lot of what is on the site now has a weaponry theme.That was the first place my mind went when thinking of a final girl jewellery concept.But, spooky things in general make me happy so I make what speaks to me. The important thing to me is that I make original things. You can get Jason mask stuff anywhere. My designs have a distinct style that you will not find just anywhere.

How can we support your work?

Please visit my website and my blog

How long does it take to make each piece?

The actual assemblage doesn’t really take that long. But, if I have a design in mind and I need a specific element for it I will search high and low until I find exactly what I want. That can take hours and hours. I have a specific bracelet design right now that needs a certain finishing touch that I have been searching for for months.

Any special products coming out in the next little while our readers should be aware of?

I am working on putting together some cameo necklaces that will be out after my Halloween collection comes down.

I also wanted to mention that the Movie Crypt podcast with Adam Green and Joe Lynch has played a huge role in my current creative path. Hearing the struggles and successes of other artists has been very motivating. I recently had the opportunity to donate to their Save a Yorkie charity podcast they did in December. They held a silent auction. It was an honor just to see my jewellery on the auction site with Hatchet props and all the other cool movie memorabilia and other stuff. Adam and Joe were gracious enough to give me a special thank you in episode 241 where they interview MJ Bassett. To be able to connect with artists you respect and look up to and have them appreciate your work is the most amazing feeling in the world.

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How I found Horror….for women in horror month

A short introduction of how I found Horror

I was 8 years old, it was a sunny afternoon. I was walking home from school with some friends when my Mum and Dad shouted me over from their car, they were going to visit my Grandma and they had missed me walking out of the school. I started to cross the busy road, when I misheard my friends’ older sister say, “go now”. I started to cross and was inadvertently hit by a car, I bounced across the bonnet and into the windscreen, hitting the road with a bang. My school satchel went one way and one of my shoes went another. The road was silent, my little brother was screaming in the back of the car and my Mum and Dad looked on in obvious horror, I stood up off the floor and limped over to my Mum and Dad in shock. My poor friend at the other side of the road had thought I was dead! The lady driver was screaming, and my Mum had to calm her down!! I got into the car and then decided I couldn’t move my legs, my Dad drove us to the hospital where I was checked over, they said I was lucky and didn’t have anything other than a huge bruise across my hips and legs, and arms where my tiny 8 year old body had impacted with the car and then the road.

That night every time I closed my eyes I saw a car driving towards me and I would sit up panicking. It was around the late 80s when this happened, so I don’t really think they treated PTSD very well back then! I went downstairs to be comforted by my parents, I sat on my Dads knee and cried. I know you are thinking “what has this got to do with Horror?” but this day was the first time I was introduced to Freddy Krueger.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, Robert Englund, 1984, (c) New Line/courtesy Everett Collection

 

Let me explain! My parents had friends round, and they happened to be watching Nightmare on Elm Street on video, because I had appeared in the room so upset, the film was still playing. I remember as I was sat cuddled up on my Dads knee, calming down and wiping my tears away, I sneakily began watching it, and I wasn’t scared, I was intrigued. I think once my Dad realised I was starting to notice what was on TV he said ‘this film isn’t for your eyes Sarah’ and I responded with “its ok, I’m not scared I quite like it!” obviously the grown ups laughed, and I was taken back to bed

 

By age 10, along with my best friend Antony I was watching every horror film I could get my hands on, back in the day of video stores, we used to beg our parents to let us pick a scary film to watch, as long as they weren’t ‘rude’ they agreed (probably just to shut us up) and gradually we began to watch all the classics; Hellraiser, Poltergeist, more Nightmare on Elm Street, Amityville, Pet Semetary…to name but a few!!! Then one day, a man we referred to simply as ‘The Video Man’ who used to drive around with a van full of videos, park up and charge for rental, and come back the following week to swap around, appeared with a ‘banned’ film. It was called ‘Evil Dead’

My friends Grandma happened to be babysitting that night, so we set the video up, fizzing with excitement and apprehension about what we were about to watch, back in the late 80s – early 90s two kids wouldn’t have seen any trailers about films like this, and we certainly didn’t have google. So we literally were going in blindly, not even knowing what the film was about.

Antony’s grandma sat there obliviously knitting by lamplight whilst we got our pop and crisps out, and switched off the ‘big’ light, got cuddled up in front of the TV set and pressed play. It was amazing. It was the scariest most horrifying thing we had ever seen, several times we screamed and covered our eyes, and as things escalated I remember we submitted and shouted to Grandma to ‘turn it off turn it off!!’ she did and eyes wide we discussed how good it was but far too scary to watch the rest. I think I had nightmares that night. We would only completely watch the rest of Evil Dead when we were 16.

So Horror was my life now, whether it was sitting religiously every week, watching the latest horror-based TV programme, or reading the latest horror fiction, researching true ghost stories, or watching the latest Horror film as soon as it came out. Horror was my true love and it would never go away.

 

30 Years later I am still obsessed, a couple of years ago I suffered with my own mental health, and had to take time off work. I eventually went to see a counsellor, and one session covered how I should take time out for myself, and do something I love. I told her, felling a little embarrassed, that I loved nothing more than to watch a good horror (or a bad horror – I would still give it a try) I kind of expected her to say ‘oh no, that’s the last thing you want to do – you need to start meditating or going for a run’ but she didn’t, and to my surprise she responded with ‘Horror is a great outlet for you, if its something you love and enjoy then it cannot be doing you any harm, keep doing it’

So I did. I regularly get told by my Mum that I should watch something, fluffy and nice, something about love, or romance or a feel-good film. (please note I do love thrillers, comedies and other genres too) but I tell her, NOTHING beats a Horror film, nothing beats a scare or the goosebumps on your skin when you watch a film that scares the hell out of you.

It was other people who commented that I should review the Horror that I watch (because I watch so many) and share it on social media, which is how ‘Little Psycho’ was born. A way I could briefly give my opinion to whoever may be reading, about horror/thrillers that I got to see. I have always dreamt of writing and I have thought about many ideas for a good book over the years, covering a range of topics. However, as the saying goes….’write what you know’ and one thing I certainly know….is what scares me!! Maybe one day that horror novel/story will come to me and I will be able to share it with the world, maybe not. However nothing, and nobody will quell my passion for the genre. I am a proud woman of horror, and even when I am 100 I will still be loading up whatever device may exist, with the latest Horror film, popcorn in hand, scaring myself silly.

 

 

 

 

Sarah

@Illberightbackk

Little Psycho