WIHM & Black History Month

As I write this, I'm waiting to hear whether my grandma has died. She's at my aunt's home on steady morphine. They didn't think she'd make it through the day, but she did. She's a strong, stubborn woman, and my last living grandparent. I woke up to the news that she was probably dying, and I'm afraid I'll be waking up tomorrow to the news that she has. So I'm not feeling incredibly creative about a post.

I was hoping to post about the Bloody Valentine event that occurred on Friday, but get this: my new laptop doesn't have a slot for an SD card. What?? So until I get an adapter, I can't post pictures! I'll post about it next week instead. But I can tell you that it was a successful event. And here's a photo of myself and my two co-hosts, taken by a guest (and friend, author M.H. Boroson) at the event.

For today, how about some articles that recommend female horror authors and writers in the African diaspora, in tribute to Women in Horror Month and Black History Month?

Nightfire recommended 9 Female Horror Authors You Should Read This Women in Horror Month.

Kat Clay posted 40+ Free Horror Stories by Australian Women.

Goodreads lists Female Horror Authors.

The Lineup did 13 Female Horror Writers You Should be Reading.

Scott Wood Makes Lists made a list of 28 MORE Black Picture Books That Aren't About Boycotts, Buses, or Basketball.

The Portalist posted Black Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors You Need to Read.

From last year, Essence made a list of 11 Books Written by Black Authors We Can't Wait to Read in 2019.

Goodreads did Popular Top 50 Black Authors Books.

Buzzfeed did 42 Amazing Books Written by Black Authors.

The book I finished this week was Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

It's more of a novella, actually. I quite enjoyed it. It's told from the viewpoint of the young girl in the front (though she's 18, I think). She lives with her sister, her uncle, and her cat, and she has a free range life, cavorting through the fields. Something isn't right, though. We discover that the rest of her family was killed, with her older sister accused of the crime. The townspeople view them as murderers and mistreat them. The story, as with many of Shirley Jackson's tales, touches on small town mentality, and how isolating it can be to not be accepted by your neighbors.

I've been watching Good Girls this week.

For some reason, it didn't catch my attention when it first started, but I decided to give it another try. Now I'm binge watching it. If nothing else, it's a commentary on how quickly things can spiral out of control when you make a bad decision.

I've been watching The Outsider, based on the Stephen King novel, with my husband the last couple nights.

I'll give anything with Jason Bateman a go. We're both enjoying it. At the beginning, it plays out like a regular crime film, but then the supernatural elements start to show themselves. We're not done with the season yet (I'm not sure if the whole season's even done on HBO). The mood is dark, as it should be, and the storyline is compelling. Be warned that it's about child rapes and murders, though you never see them, as it's about the people accused of the murders/rapes.

In tribute to Valentine's Day, I watched the 1981 version of My Bloody Valentine for the first time.

As much as I love Jensen Ackles, this version was better than the one made in the 2000s. It's a classic slasher, down to the harbinger who rails at everyone at the bar about how they're all going to die. The mine workers and their girlfriends wave him off, of course, and make their way to the fated mine, despite deaths occurring in the town.

I also watched a short film entitled Catcalls.

You probably haven't heard of it unless you have Shudder. It's only about 9 minutes long. But it's a good short. I didn't realize it was a short film until it ended, and then I was disappointed, because I would definitely watch a full length film with this premise.

Currently reading: Cinder

Do you have any specific female horror authors or stories to recommend? How about black authors and books? How was your Valentine's Day? What are you watching? What are you reading? Any books, TV shows, or movies you'd like to recommend? What about new music?

May you find your Muse.

Truly Horrible Women - WIHM Guest Post - J.H. Moncrieff

If you haven't signed up for my book release blog hop (March 15), there's still time: CLICK HERE to SIGN UP.

Also, you may have noticed I now have a newsletter signup in the right column under the "About Me" section. I intend to send no more than one per month, and only in months when I have an actual announcement (book/magazine releases, basically).

This week's woman in horror is one you might recognize from blogging circles already. She posts true stories about serial killers and creepy events. Today, she's talking about Truly Horrible Women:

Since we’re celebrating Women in Horror this month, it’s only fitting to ask why women have such a tough time getting a fair shake in this genre.

Part of it is undoubtedly still skepticism that the so-called “fairer sex” have the ability to make their readers cringe, shiver, or gasp the way male writers do.

Which is BS, of course. Here are five true accounts that prove the female of the species can be just as deadly as the male.

Katherine Knight

Many a woman has grown frustrated by a partner’s unwillingness to pop the question. When Katherine’s boyfriend John Price refused to marry her or let her move into his home, she had a most unusual way of expressing her displeasure.

After having sex with Price on February 29, 2000, Katherine waited until he fell asleep. The Australian woman then stabbed him at least 37 times, skinned him, and hung his skin from a meat hook. As if that weren’t enough, she decapitated him and lovingly roasted parts of his body with a variety of vegetables. She invited Price’s children over for dinner, clearly intending to serve them their own father.

Thankfully, Price’s employer became concerned when the man didn’t show up for work, and went to the house to investigate. After seeing blood at the front door, the employer and a co-worker notified police, who discovered Price’s head in a pot on the stove.

Gwendolyn Graham and Cathy Wood

Nurses are supposed to heal, right? During the late eighties, Michigan nurse’s aides Gwendolyn and Cathy had a bizarre concept of what “taking care of their patients” meant.

Bored of the same old routine at the Alpine Manor Nursing Home and desperate to prove their love for each other, Gwendolyn and Cathy developed a macabre game. They started murdering their elderly patients, choosing victims whose initials would spell “MURDER.”

When that grew too taxing, the women decided to count each murder as a day, feeling that every killing bonded them for life. After the two women split, Cathy told her ex-husband about the five murders, and he eventually went to the cops. The nurses’ diabolical murder plot came to light after some good ol’ fashioned police interrogation.

Belle Gunness

A Norwegian-American serial killer, Belle is suspected to have murdered over forty people in Indiana in the 1800s, including her husbands and children.

Belle used ads asking for husbands to lure men with money to her farm. Once they were on her property, she served them dinner and then split their heads with a meat chopper while they were eating. Other times she simply poisoned their coffee.

When a hired man and would-be suitor threatened to betray her, a mysterious fire broke out at the Gunness residence. Once the smoke cleared, the bodies of Belle’s three children and a headless woman were found. Originally believed to be Belle, the decapitated corpse was eventually ruled out, as it had belonged to a 5’3” woman, while Belle was at least six feet tall and weighed over two hundred pounds.

So many remains were found on her property after the fire that it was impossible to tell how many victims she had claimed, especially since she had fed several to her hogs. To this day, Belle has never been found, though for years there were reported sightings of her across the United States.

Amelia Dyer

Single mothers have never had it easy, but back in England’s Victorian age, they faced ostracism and worse. Some of the most desperate turned to so-called “baby farmers,” women who would temporarily adopt their infants for a fee and care for them until the mothers were able to return for their children.

One of those baby farmers was Amelia Dyer, who had originally trained as a nurse. While there is some indication that Amelia intended to care for the children, she quickly realized her profits would be greater if the infants died. And thus began her career as a murderess. She would wind tape around the babies’ necks and watch in delight as they suffocated.

Imagine the horror of the mothers who came to Amelia, distraught and begging for their children, only to be told their babies were no more. The law finally caught up with the baby farmer when the body of an infant girl was fished out of the Thames. The corpse had been wrapped in paper marked with the name of the alias Amelia was currently using.

During her trial, Amelia plead insanity and was executed by hanging in June 1896. It is estimated she could have murdered as many as four-hundred children, making her one of the most prolific serial killers of all time.

Juana Barraza

In the late ’90s and beyond, a serial killer stalked Mexico City’s elderly women, strangling them to death. Because of the strength required to manually strangle, police were convinced the killer was a man.

They were wrong.

So persistent was their belief in female fragility that, even when several witnesses reported seeing a woman leave the scene of the murders, the police clung to their theory that the killer was a man. They detained and questioned transvestite prostitutes, putting them through a brutal, humiliating investigation.

Justice caught up with Juana when a tenant discovered his freshly murdered landlord and called police, who were able to nab the serial killer before she could escape.

Instead of the man they had been searching for, their murderer was a forty-eight-year-old single mother of four who could bench press over two hundred pounds. Juana was well known as The Silent Lady, a professional wrestler in the sport of luche libra – Mexican masked wrestling. Wearing a butterfly mask and hot-pink spandex, she was a stunning sight in more ways than one.

*

Reviewers have described J.H. Moncrieff’s work as early Gillian Flynn with a little Ray Bradbury and Stephen King thrown in for good measure.

She won Harlequin's international search for “the next Gillian Flynn” in 2016. Monsters in Our Wake, her deep-sea thriller with Severed Press, hit the top of Amazon’s horror bestsellers list, beating King's re-released It to the top spot. Her supernatural suspense GhostWriters series has earned rave reviews from Kirkus, BlueInk, and Library Journal.

Moncrieff began her writing career as a journalist, tracking down snipers and canoeing through crocodile-infested waters. Her articles have appeared in many publications, including Chatelaine, FLARE, Writer’s Digest, and The Globe and Mail.

When not writing, she loves exploring the world's most haunted places, advocating for animal rights, and summoning her inner ninja in muay thai class.

 Website: http://www.jhmoncrieff.com

Books: http://www.jhmoncrieff.com/books/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jhmoncrieff/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JH_Moncrieff

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/jhmoncrieff

Thanks, J.H.! This reminds me of a tour I did of a prison museum in Canon City. It had been an all women's prison adjacent to a men's prison (still open). They detailed how late the prison was opened, compared to the men's prison, and how hard it was to get a conviction of a woman, due to the fact no one believed women could commit crimes. They were treated far better than the men, too, and prison life was fairly cushy.

#

Now for some links. Please bear in mind that I'm not endorsing them, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

Sycamore Review is seeking poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and art. Pays $50 for fiction/nonfiction and $25 for poetry. Reading window closes March 31.

Arachne Press is seeking stories and poems for the peace-themed anthology An Outbreak of Peace. Up to 2500 words. Pays in royalties. Deadline March 31.

Pantheon Magazine is seeking dark short fiction with a transformation theme for Gorgon: Stories of Emergence. Up to 2000 words. Pays $.06/word. Deadline for this theme is March 31.

Post Mortem Press is seeking short stories written by women for the anthology She's Lost Control. Up to 10,000 words. Pays $.0005/word plus royalties. Deadline March 31.

JMS Books is seeking queer and erotic romance with an astrology theme for the anthology What's Your Sign? 12,000 words or more. Pays quarterly royalties. Deadline March 31.

Writer's Co-op is seeking weird short stories and poetry for their anthology The Rabbit Hole. Up to 5000 words. Pays in royalties (or you can donate them to the Against Malaria Foundation.) Deadline March 31.

Circlet Press is seeking short erotic stories involving tentacles (must be consensual) for Safe, Sane, Consentacle. 2500 to 8500 words. Pays $25. Deadline March 31.

Mojo is seeking fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Pays $15. Deadline March 31.

Have you heard of any of these women before? Do you think women can be as terrifying as men? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share? What woman in horror would you recommend? 

 May you find your Muse.

Dark Enchantments - WIHM Guest Post - Ashley Dioses

If you haven't signed up for my cover reveal (March 1) or book release blog hop (March 15), there's still time: CLICK HERE to SIGN UP.

Also, you may have noticed I now have a newsletter signup in the right column under the "About Me" section. I intend to send no more than one per month, and only in months when I have an actual announcement (book/magazine releases, basically).

This week's woman in horror is Ashley Dioses. We "met" online after being published in the same magazine, only to then be in yet another mutual publication not long after. (Bloodbond and The Literary Hatchet.)

The following piece first appeared in the Official Newsletter of the Horror Writer's Association, December 2015/Volume 25, Issue 185.

Dark Enchantments:

I was in middle school when Edgar Allan Poe became my influence in becoming a poet of dark and Gothic verse. I have always been a huge horror and fantasy fan and he filled my horror craving in poetry. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I found my craving for fantasy and dark fantasy poetry fulfilled as well.

The poetry of Clark Ashton Smith struck me in a way only Poe had struck me before. His poems were rich in imagination and his words were so spell-binding that they read like an enchantment from my lips. His poem “The Witch with Eyes of Amber” is such an example.

The Witch with Eyes of Amber

I met a witch with amber eyes

Who slowly sang a scarlet rune,

Shifting to an icy laughter

Like the laughter of the moon.

Red as a wanton's was her mouth,

And fair the breast she bade me take

With a word that clove and clung

Burning like a furnace-flake.

But from her bright and lifted bosom,

When I touched it with my hand,

Came the many-needled coldness

Of a glacier-taken land.

And, lo! the witch with eyes of amber

Vanished like a blown-out flame

Leaving but the lichen-eaten

Stone that bore a blotted name.

With those first two rich, enticing lines, that poem begs to be read aloud and so should all poetry. A poem should be written in such a way that it enchants all who hear it. For dark poetry as well, a poem should begin with a grabbing line and end with a line that will haunt the reader after they’ve finished it, just like any horror fiction piece.

Smith is known for using elaborate and, oftentimes, difficult vocabulary, but one needs not a dictionary to evoke stunning imagery. My poem “Witch’s Love,” published in Centipede Press’ Weird Fiction Review 5, compares a witch’s lover to various images of nature and is written in iambic tetrameter, which lends itself to a musical beat when read aloud.

Witch’s Love

Twin moons of palest crystal set

In cerulean eyes; star-fire

Enflames his crown with ruby jets

As red as Hades’ grandest pyre.

My lavender and rosehip blend,

Enchanted with my witch’s touch,

Was not used as I did intend;

His heart, at once, was in my clutch.

His taste is honey on my lips,

His silver tongue is sweeter still,

His touch is silk on my soft hips,

His love is master of my will.

He is the cosmos and its ice,

The oak and its deep steadfast roots,

The green absinthe and its high price,

The diamond from the ash and soot.

In only me his interest peaks,

For I alone enrapture him.

In me my magick love he seeks,

For I choose love not on a whim.

I am his witch and he, my love.

He, my desire, for only I

Can melt his ice from skies above,  

And temper his poisonous high.

Each line is wrought with words to evoke one of the senses and creates a picture to shape the reader’s imagination. The vivid colors, the thick lavender scents, the smooth feeling of silk, and the sweet taste of honey can all be conjured forth with a reading.

I’ve heard that not all poetry should be beautiful, but doesn’t the very word inspire beauty? When you watch movies and a character executes a memorable line, isn’t it often remarked as being almost poetic? When you watch a romance, doesn’t poetry come to mind? Well, when it comes to horror, beauty can be a bit more subjective.

The beauty of words and the evocative images they evoke are not just limited to fantasy or even dark fantasy for that matter. This is also what makes it fun to write dark, horror-filled verse. Is your poem aimed to inspire fear or is it written to disgust your audience? What senses would you want to conjure up? Make your audience taste the blood spilled in your verse, conjure that metallic taste, and that sticky hot mess on their fingertips. Make your audience feel the cold steel of that dagger or the acidic taste of poison on their lips. Inspire fear with the magic of words that will slice through the tension-filled air.

My poem “Carathis,” published in Hippocampus Press’ Spectral Realms No. 1, and also chosen for Ellen Datlow’s Year’s Best Horror Volume Seven recommended reading list, is written after the character from William Beckford’s Vathek. She is a dark sorceress who is the epitome of evil and, in writing this poem, I tried to replicate the sense of dread I felt when she appeared on the page.

Carathis

Her skin of burnished bronze, so silken to the touch;

Her hair of blackest midnight, wafting scents of such

Intoxicating aphrodisiacs; and her

Enticing eyes of hazel that made weak hearts stir,

Belonged to the dark Sorceress of high Samarah.

Fools only would court this dark queen whose mouth is marah.

Her heart was ice within a cage of blackened bone.

Carathis was her name, and she would rule alone.

Inside the high witch-tower of her dark delights,

She decked her walls with hanging bodies all alight.

Her floors were red, her followers were all deaf mutes,

And mummies who attended to her brews of newts.

Emitting fumes of mummies and the blazing flames

Frequently filled her working space as, without shame,

She practiced rituals, with offerings spread out.

Her tainted mind had found for certain, without doubt,

An entrance to the Palace of Subterranean Fire.

A place of treasures and rare knowledge to desire.

Such sacrifices of serpents and scorpions

Soon insufficient grew, and fresh new champions

Were needed to appease her gods of pain and Death.

Servants, friends, children were the same, for every breath

Could easily be stilled, for passage down below.

Reciting savage incantations soon let go

Her earthly limits, and she entered down with bliss

Into the palace where, awaiting, was Eblis.

He greeted her as newly hired within his ranks,

And offered food and wine, which eagerly, she drank.

He gave free range of his grand palace, and she soon

Surveyed every dark corridor. How she did swoon

When finally she came upon her long sought prize:

The talismans of Soliman that held the skies

And conquered all beneath them! Quickly grabbing one,

Her heart burst into flames with a heat like the sun!

Explosive cachinnation pierced the many halls

As her shrill screams forever echoed in his walls.

- After William Beckford’s Vathek

A poem should have beautiful language. Beautiful language, not necessarily the theme, makes a beautiful poem. If you describe the stiffened contours of a lifeless lover or the mangled cadaver of your latest plaything, then describe it richly, beautifully, darkly. Show the details of her crimson-stained hair or conjure the scent of his aged and rotting flesh. Do not spare a single psychotic notion in your verse.

David Park Barnitz, the author of the Book of Jade, is a perfect example of an author who could spin such enchanting language while describing a corpse. For example, consider these lines from Barnitz’s poem “The Grotesques”: “As one that the sweet pangs of passion bore. / And from its passionate mouth’s corrupted sore, / And from its lips that are no longer red,” (8-10). A dark romance with a fallen lover makes me wonder how long ago those lips were still red! I can feel his passion and can imagine the corpse from these lines. It creates a heavier blow than simply telling me he has lain with a dead body. The language is striking here as it is with the rest of the poem.

Now enough of love! Excuse the romance, and let’s get back to the horror. Not everyone wants romance in their horror and dark verses but that doesn’t excuse the lack of that enthralling language. Let’s look at another one of Barnitz’s poems, “Corpse.” “A dead corpse crowned with a crown of gold / Sits throned beneath the sky’s gigantic pall; / Gold garments from its rotted shoulders fall,” (1-3). A very fitting image for the title and it does not disappoint.

With a title as captivating as “Corpse,” you should expect the poem to cover, well, the corpse. A lot of images come to mind when reading or hearing that word. If you have such a title that you have your poem wrapped around, do not disappoint your readers with lack of imagery. Make your images, your lines, your verse more haunting than any image they can conjure up.

If you aim to strike fear, rather than repulsion, with your verse, not too many examples can instill the demise of Man and conquer that feeling with the last two lines of Poe’s “The Conqueror Worm.” “That the play is the tragedy, ‘Man,’/ And its hero, the Conqueror Worm,” (39, 40). Whether you wish to instill fear, repulsion, or drear lamentation, do it with your language. Even if the horror is subtle and only hinted at, enthrall them with your language. Poe did an excellent job at hinting at the demise of his narrator in these famous last lines from “The Raven.” “And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor/ Shall be lifted—nevermore!” (107, 108).

Spin your dark enchantment around your readers and spellbind them with words they can ever be haunted by.

Ashley Dioses is a writer of dark fantasy, horror, and weird poetry from southern California.  She is the author of Diary of a Sorceress, a dark poetry collection published by Hippocampus Press.  Her poetry has appeared in Weird Fiction Review, Spectral Realms, Weirdbook Magazine, Black Wings, and elsewhere.  Her poem “Carathis,” published in Spectral Realms 1, appeared in Ellen Datlow’s full recommended Best Horror of the Year Volume Seven list. She has also appeared in the Horror Writers Association Poetry Showcase 2016 for her poem “Ghoul Mistress.”  She is an Active member in the HWA and a member of the SFPA.  She blogs at fiendlover.blogspot.com.

To purchase a copy of Diary of a Sorceress, click here: HIPPOCAMPUS PRESS.

Thanks, Ashley! Aside from Poe, I haven't read a lot of horror poetry, but it deserves another look, and I hope others will check it out, too.

Now for some links. Bear in mind I'm not endorsing these, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence before submitting.

Accepting Submissions:

This one's a bit different than usual. Alsina Publishing puts out short stories with the intention of learning languages through storytelling. 400 to 1200 words. Pays royalties on stories per read.

Fictional Pairings Magazine is seeking science fiction, mystery, and fantasy short stories. 200 to 1000 words. They will be pairing your story with a piece of music on Bandcamp. Pays up to $1.25.

Manawaker Studio is seeking flash fiction for their podcast. Ideal length is 800 words, but they will take a bit above or below. Pays a half cent/word.

Dark City Soul Magazine is seeking crime flash fiction. Up to 1000 words. Pays $5 per story.

Blue Marble Review is seeking stories appropriate for middle school and up. Up to 2500 words. Also accept poetry, nonfiction, and art. Pays $25 per published piece.

Dakka Press Presents is seeking stories appropriate for podcasting. Should be 20 to 30 minutes when read. Genre fiction and popcorn reads. Pays 1.5 cents per word up to 3500 words, and .4 cents per word after that.

Foundry is seeking poetry of various types. Pays $10 per poem.

Bosley Gravel's Cavalcade of Terror is seeking horror and dark fiction flash fiction. Up to 1000 words. Pays $5.

The Sunlight Press is seeking personal essays, fiction, poetry, reviews, art, and photography. Word limits vary per type of submission. Paying market, but does not specify how much.

Vanity Projection is seeking humorous essays and satire. Pays $5 per piece.

Have you read any dark poetry? Were you aware that horror came in the flavor of poem? Any of these links of interest? Anything to share?

May you find your Muse.

WIMH - Time to Check Out Some Women

February is Women in Horror Month! The 8th annual, in fact, though I first heard about it two years ago.

WIHM is intended to bring attention to women in all aspects of horror, whether writers, directors, or any number of other artistic ladies who like it scary-style. As one of these women, I figured I'd do my part and tell you about some other ladies in horror that you may not have heard of.

FILM/TV

The Soska Sisters (Twisted Twins Productions) are a relatively new discovery for me. You can catch them on Netflix with their show Hellevator, a "reality" show that puts people in a horror setting and makes them solve puzzles of different types or they get locked up in the dungeon. With snakes. And spiders. And showers of blood. All while these two giggle malevolently at the torture. Imagine my surprise when I realized they were also responsible for the film American Mary, starring Katharine Isabelle of Gingersnaps fame. Not only that, but they had a piece in the short film anthology ABCs of Death 2. Now I know they've got other films, which I look forward to watching. Starting with Dead Hooker in a Trunk.

If you'd like to check out more female horror filmmakers, here's a great Rolling Stone article featuring a few, including Jennifer Kent (Babadook) and Karyn Kusama (Jennifer's Body and The Invitation).

Just want movies with female protagonists? Check out this list from Dazed. Or go watch Teeth, American Mary, Gingersnaps, Housebound, Scream, Cabin in the Woods, Resident Evil, or Alien. Sygourney Weaver, Milla Jovovich, and Katharine Isabelle are three of my favorite bad-ass ladies from this list. (Fun fact: I'm watching an episode of Rosewood while I type this up, and Katharine Isabelle is making an appearance on this show.)

As far as TV, if you have Netflix, I highly recommend Santa Clarita Diet, starring Drew Barrymore. This isn't one for scares, but it's a fantastic horror comedy. American Horror Story (also available on Netflix, though not a Netflix original) is also female-centric in many ways. Scream Queens and Crazyhead are both horror comedies out right now.

Also, be sure to check out horror anthologies, like The ABCs of Death, V/H/S, and others. These often feature shorts by female directors, and at least one of these was produced by a woman.

BOOKS/SHORT STORIES

Despite what you may have heard, there's no shortage of female horror authors. We number fewer than the guys, but we're here. Some better known horror authors include Joyce Carol Oates, Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, Kathe Koja, Lisa Tuttle, Gemma Files, Tananarive Due, and Poppy Z. Brite. Here are a couple longer lists: Hellnotes, Goodreads.

For specific books I'd recommend, try Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale for some classic stories to get you started. Then look up some of the lists out there of best new horror in 2016.

Since it's also Black History Month, here's a great list (plus links within it to other lists) of black women in horror put together by Sumiko Saulson. (Also check out the Graveyard Shift Sisters, who are doing 28 Days of Black Women in Horror, which includes actresses, writers, and more.)

There are two wonderful female editors who put together horror anthologies: Ellen Datlow and Paula Guran. Check out any anthology put together by these two, and you're sure to find a ton of great horror fiction, much of it written by women. Both do Best of anthologies that I highly recommend to help you jump in and discover the current best horror authors.

Nightmare Magazine did an all-female issue entitled Women Destroy Horror. It's still available for purchase HERE.

This should be enough to get you started. And, of course, check out my publications tab if you'd like to read something of mine!

Do you have a favorite female-driven horror film? A favorite female horror author? Please post your favorite women in horror, whether they be actresses (scream queens), directors, producers, authors, or editors, in the comments!

May you find your Muse.

The Scariest Women Around

Did you know February is Women in Horror Month? I didn't either! Here it is, more than halfway through the month, and I've only just discovered this. Even worse, it's the SIXTH annual WIHM. What?

In celebration of Women in Horror Month, I'm passing along The Top 25 Women Horror Writers You Haven't Heard of But Probably Should Have, by Hellnotes that M.B. Partlow told me about, and adding one book by each of these women to the Best Horror list I'm doing, wherein I read a book that has been claimed to be one of the best and do a review every other Friday.

Now, technically WIHM is all about supporting females in horror films, but I'm choosing to see it as supporting all women involved in horror, be it film, writing, or other visual arts. After all, there are those who still don't take women in horror seriously. We don't know about blood and horror? Have you BEEN in a delivery room? How do girls know they've become women? Blood, that's how. We've got it down pat.

And, as addressed in my Psycho Horror Lovers Unite post, most of the horror fans I know are female. Comments on the post bore this out, as well. If that's so, shouldn't there be more women writing horror or producing/directing/writing horror films?

In all fairness, there are already books by women on the best horror list I'm reading. In fact, I've read the Kathe Koja book mentioned in the Hellnotes list and even done my review on it already. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but neither were a couple of the other books, whether by men or women. The women from this list who are already featured in the best horror lists I'm reading through are Caitlin R. Kiernan, Tananarive Due, and Kathe Koja. That leaves 22 women for me to read in addition to the rest of the list.

Have you read books by any of these 25 women? Did you know about WIHM? Do you think women are seen as scary as much as men are?

May you find your Muse.