And hello to you! Welcome to Day One of my Women In Horror Month Challenge. Today I’m introducing what Women In Horror Month is all about, and why it’s important to me.
Women in Horror Month
There are a lot of people who believe horror is not for women and I think that Women In Horror Month seeks to address that by highlighting the directors, movies, make up artists, writers, artists and more who love this genre. An international initiative, WiHM showcases the assorted works of women in Horror, with movie screenings, blog features and well-worth checking out their Facebook page to see if there are any events near you, but also to discover new authors and filmmakers and more.
What Women In Horror Month Means to Me
I’ve frequently been told that I’m ‘too nice’, ‘too funny’ or gods forbid ‘too normal’ to write horror, as if it’s the preserve of the twisted or depraved in society, those who don’t really belong. The fact is I’ve loved horror since I was a child and ghostly bedtime stories were a prerequisite for a spooky nights sleep.
I still love horror, from assorted movies, many of which I review on my site, as well as reading horror shorts and novels. However, there are still so many artists and creators I’m eager to discover, which is why I love Women In Horror Month.
I also want to subvert some of the stereotypes surrounding women in horror. Joss Whedon is often quoted as saying that his career has been about subverting stereotypes and I think the horror genre is one of the few where women can frequently ‘best’ the demons, be they serial killers, aliens, monsters or even school bullies.
I believe that to make somebody scared, to understand their deepest fears and truly terrify them is a highly personal thing. There’s a level of trust that you’ll take your reader on a scary journey, and deliver them safely home for hot coco at bedtime, having battled all the demons and survived with minor scratches. A lot of my short stories feature creatures, spectral entities and things that go bump in the night. And it would seem that you lovely readers would agree that women can write horror with my collection of spooky tales ‘Weird Wild’ having 4.5* on Amazon.
I hope you’ll enjoy my collection of Women In Horror Month Daily Challenges and I’d love to hear what makes you scared.