Author: Selene MacLeod

Welcome to The Horror Tree, and thank you for participating in Women In Horror Month. First, tell us a bit about yourself and your interest in horror.

For me, horror has always been around. As kids, we would try to scare the hell out of each other with ghost and monster stories or by hiding and jumping out. The transition to adulthood didn’t change my love of a good scare.

Why is Women In Horror Month important, and what do you say to someone who says ‘Oh, I don’t care if it’s by a man, a woman, etc., as long as it’s a good story’?”
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L. Marie Wood is an award-winning psychological horror author and screenwriter.  She won the Golden Stake Award for The Promise Keeper.  Wood’s short fiction has been published widely, most recently in  Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire and Bram Stoker Award Finalist anthology, Sycorax’s Daughters.  Learn more at www.lmariewood.com.

Welcome to The Horror Tree, and thank you for participating in Women In Horror Month. First, tell us a bit about yourself and your interest in horror.

I have been a fan of psychological horror since I was very young and began writing when I was around 5 years old. Three of my novels have been published with more to come, three short story collections as well, and a few novellas that will be released in the near future. I am also a screenwriter and have been lucky enough to have won a few awards in the past few years. When I am not writing novels or screenplays or short stories, I am teaching people to do so (I am an English Professor and mentor).

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Editor’s Note: Disclaimer, this paragraph includes an affiliate link which means a small portion of the sale at no additional expense to you may go to Horror Tree. Gemma didn’t include it in her interview, but her latest novel, ‘That Endlessness‘ is due out today!

Welcome to The Horror Tree, and thank you for participating in Women In Horror Month. First, tell us a bit about yourself and your interest in horror.

Formerly a film critic, journalist, screenwriter and teacher, Gemma Files has been an award-winning horror author since 1999. She has published for collections of short work, three collections of speculative poetry, a Weird Western trilogy, a story-cycle and a stand-alone novel (Experimental Film, which won the 2015 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel and the 2016 Sunburst award for Best Adult Novel). She has a new story collection upcoming from Grimscribe Press (In This Endlessness, Our End, February 2021).

My interest in horror, meanwhile…horror has always been my meat, pretty much from the beginning. As Yukio Mishima once put it, “my heart’s yearning has always been for night, and death, and blood.”
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Welcome to The Horror Tree, and thank you for participating in Women In Horror Month. First, tell us a bit about yourself and your interest in horror.
Thank you for having me! This standard greeting takes on a new layer of meaning When talking about certain kinds of horror, eep! My dad raised me on horror starting at age 5. We used to make popcorn and watch the Friday night local TV horror movie, which back in the day was never rated higher than PG. As myself and as Kate Morgan and I write dystopian, vampires, Lovecraftian, and supernatural thrillers.In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, “Life’s no fun without a good scare.”

Why is Women In Horror Month important, and what do you say to someone who says ‘Oh, I don’t care if it’s by a man, a woman, etc., as long as it’s a good story’?”
Because I still talk ot so many men who won’t pick up a book if it’s written by a woman. I’m glad to be among the pioneers working to change this mindset. And to anyone who lets the above statement come out of their mouths, I have a whole list at my fingertips of great horror written by women to suggest to them. With a smile.
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1. Welcome to The Horror Tree, and thank you for participating in Women In Horror Month. First, tell us a bit about yourself and your interest in horror. 

My love of horror goes back to nights I’d sneak out of bed after my mom went to sleep and watch Creature Features with my stepdad. I graduated to daily walks up to the local video rental store the summer we got our first VCR, and by high school I was reading Stephen King and convincing my English teacher that it was perfectly acceptable for my essay-writing practice. About twelve years ago I started writing what would become my first paranormal romance/supernatural suspense novel and I was hooked. Since then I’ve been published in contemporary and paranormal romance and horror. I write inclusive stories featuring quirky—often creepy—and relatable characters full of hope, love, and rock ‘n’ roll. Even the contemporary romances flirt with horror. I love showing my macabre side whenever possible.

2. Why is Women In Horror Month important, and what do you say to someone who says ‘Oh, I don’t care if it’s by a man, a woman, etc., as long as it’s a good story’?”

Horror has long been considered to be too harsh for the gentle lady’s discerning taste. I call bullshit. While I agree that anyone can write a good story, the inner machinations of the female mind can be utterly terrifying, and our stories are deserving of respect. I love a good spin on a classic fright or a brand-new creation, and there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing women triumph over evil. There’s just something empowering about channeling our frustrations into ghoulish and ghastly adventures where we’re in control of our own destiny.

3. Who are some Women In Horror (or other women) who have influenced your work, and why?

I was lucky to find a local tribe of women through HorrorAddicts.net that love the dark side as much as I do. We’ve participated in a few readings at the San Mateo Public Library where I’ve heard Emerian Rich, Sumiko Saulson, E.M. Markoff, and Mercy Hollow read deliciously sinister stories that had me on the edge of my seat. Beyond that, I’m grateful to Mary Shelley for creating my favorite creature, Frankenstein’s Monster, and to Anne Rice for combining history, drama, and lore with love and horror in her Vampire Chronicles and The Mayfair Witches stories. 

4. 2020 will probably be remembered as a TERRIBLE year for many of us; tell me something GOOD that happened in the past 12 months.

I had such big plans for 2020! I was going to do three horror conventions in Northern California with my gal pals, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. But I found solace in horror this past year like I haven’t in a long time. I subscribed to Shudder and attended the online version of the Salem Horror Fest. I watched a ton of great horror films like Host, Spiral, and The Mortuary Collection, which were fresh, diverse, and unexpected treats during a really dark time! I also wrote an homage to my horror hero, Edgar Allan Poe, called “The House Must Fall,” which will be featured in this spring’s gothic horror collection, Haunts and Hellions, from HorrorAddicts.net Press. I also had a flash fiction story called “Human Sacrifice” be chosen for publication in Queer Sci Fi’s Annual Flash Fiction Collection titled Innovation. Writing these stories stretched me as an author and I can’t wait to write more!

5. What have you got planned for Women in Horror Month, and the coming months of 2021? 

When I’m not writing fiction, I write music reviews and recommendations for HorrorAddicts.net, and for Women in Horror month, I wrote a piece called Women in Metal. It features musicians and artists in today’s metal world who infuse their love of horror into their lyrics and the imagery in their videos. I’ve been a metal fan for as long as I’ve loved horror, and for me they are forever intertwined. It’s a marriage of the best kind, combining sound and vision into the sweetest creation imaginable complete with blood, lust, and darkness. What more could you want out of life?

6. Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers? Thanks for participating in Women in Horror Month! 

I love connecting with fellow lovers of horror and sharing recommendations and I’d love to extend an invitation to visit my brand of Rock ‘n’ Romance for your reading pleasure. Besides the gothic horror anthology this Spring I’ll also be releasing the next installment of my supernatural suspense series in late summer and I’ll be releasing the next wacky paranormal romance as part of Robyn Peterman’s Magic and Mayhem Universe in October in time for Halloween. You can subscribe to my website at www.rlmerrillauthor.com for blog posts and monthly newsletter or follow me on the socials @rlmerrillauthor. Thanks for spreading the horror love and inviting me to play!

Selene – Welcome to the Horror Tree, and thank you for agreeing to an interview with us. First off, tell us a bit about yourself. 

Justin – Hey, Selene! Thanks for having me. It’s been a funky year for everyone, so thank you for continuing to promote the horror community during these difficult times. So, about me? Eeep! I’m not terribly exciting but here goes. I love writing, of course, but also the outdoors. The wife and I live somewhere “up north” on the Mississippi river and really enjoy boating, kayaking, paddleboarding, hiking, etc. My writing space offers up great views of the river and is inspiring to say the least. The rest of my limited time is divided up among family events and…paranormal investigation (which has been quite limited this year as one would expect). I dig the normal stuff too: sports, fantasy football, golf, and playing volleyball (when appropriate).

Selene – What about the horror genre draws you?

Justin – It evokes emotion and stimulates critical thought. And I’ve always been attracted to what scares us. I grew up watching horror movies with my mother. Watched the Amityville Horror at seven and never looked back. Then it was a stream of Alien, Halloween, Friday the Thirteenth, and so on. A little later in life, I got into horror fiction with Ramsey Campbell, John Coyne, Rick Hautala, some King, and then a dude named Brian Keene. Keene, especially, motivated me to start writing and see what I was capable of. I tend to be drawn towards horror more extreme (Keene, Ketchum, Laymon, Everson) because you get the visceral along with the chills. A great combination. I’m also a sucker for coming of age work. Love it, because nothing is as raw and visceral and optimistic as youth.

Selene – Your most recent novel, Seven Cleopatra Hill, came out in April. Tell us about it.

Justin – I was so thrilled when Silver Shamrock Publishing took a chance on this story! What some peeps may not know is that I researched and used a real (purportedly) dark ritual as the centerpiece for the novel. I chopped it up, of course, so no one could try it at home. We don’t need any more demons floating around…lol. *Looks around nervously* Anyway, SCH is part supernatural thriller and part coming-of-age horror story. I needed something to trap folks in the heights, thus the thirty-year-blizzard became my plot device. Within the blizzard a ritual-born abomination which terrorizes both the town and a Romance writer’s convention at the Jerome Grand Hotel. Carnage ensues.

Selene – I was surprised to find out it was actually the fourth in a series, Bruised. Do you have to have read the other books to enjoy Seven Cleopatra Hill? Tell us about the Bruised series.

Justin – Actually, SCH is a standalone novel which lays a few Easter eggs for those who have enjoyed the Bruised series. So, nope, no need to read the Bruised series to enjoy this one. However, I will say, if you want to enjoy Miles and Janey to the fullest, then go ahead and get the Bruised series under your belt first. The original Bruised novel is a distinct work of coming-of-age horror which follows a girl named Jewel who is having some problems at home and Jason, the boy who loves her and who is desperate to help her. The final two books in the series (Wednesday’s Child and The Gullies) feature Jason (and his kids Miles and Janey) as an adult. Bruised is written from Jason’s perspective and the final two are written from Tracey’s (another prominent character from Bruised).

Selene – I really enjoyed the young characters, Miles and Janey. How do you develop your characters, and is it just a coincidence Miles shares a name with the kid from The Turn of the Screw? 

Justin – Ha ha! Yes, just a coincidence on the name. But thank you for making the reference. Also, thank you so much for your kind words about Janey and Miles. Coming-of-age is my wheelhouse and they are my favorite characters-children. How do I develop my characters? I wish I had some super-fancy formula or sophisticated process to share, but I go a lot by feel. I develop a vague outline of the character out ahead and flesh it in as intuition and plot dictates. I knew from the beginning that I wanted two ghost-hunting kids who feared nothing and would dive into any gruesome situation with vigor. I also knew I wanted a character who feared many things but was in denial about these fears…thus James was born of the pen (or the keyboard such as it is).

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