Category: Guest Post

At first, he’s relaxed. He helps himself to food from the fridge; it’s going to be a long night. He’s there to watch for ghostly activity – the signs of spirits at work. Sounds ridiculous.

 He finds a chicken leg. Tasty. Then he decides to cook a juicy steak. Finds a frying pan. Puts it on the hob to heat up. 

The steak, on the counter, moves. 
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The Humor of Horror

By: Kathrin Hutson

This may seem like a bit of an odd place to start, writing about humor and horror at the same time. I am, however, a huge fan of dichotomies and turning tropes on their heads. The last time I had the privilege of writing for The Horror Tree, I did very much the same thing—comparing the darkness and intensity of what I write with the upbeat, light-filled, perfectly happy person I am in my daily life. There’s a balance that has to be maintained when we’re writing anything, especially a genre like horror or any dark fiction that has a propensity for sucking us down into unexplored emotional territory (oftentimes intentionally unexplored). 

This balance with the humor of horror appears in the actual writing or creating of any dark, grueling, terrifying work of art, no matter the medium. 
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WiHM and Why Allies Are Important

By Somer Canon

It’s Women in Horror Month again. An interesting time, to be honest. It’s interesting as a fan of the horror genre and it’s interesting as a female horror creator. It’s interesting being introduced to new (to me) women creating in the horror genre, especially if I’m being introduced by their fans. There’s an enthusiasm that comes with those sorts of introductions that are intriguing and make one want to look into further that creator. This is also the best time of year to take stock of just how many people you’ve reached in your career, who remembers you and your works when asked to shine the light on a female creative. It can be nice.

Yet, we still have to have this month to make sure that we don’t creep back into the scenery and end up forgotten by many. Part of it is because there are less of us. This is a male-dominated industry and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it can make being a woman in a man’s playground difficult. We don’t tend to stand out as oddballs in this field. We tend to be overlooked, underestimated, and just plain forgotten. I don’t like it. My male contemporaries don’t like it. So how do we fix this?

I think Women in Horror Month is a great start, by highlighting women and their works and making sure our names are put out there year after year. But it’s a complicated process for many of us. We wish there was no need for a month that reminded people that women are out there creating horror that can stand toe-to-toe with the work of any man, yet we have to acknowledge that need as well. And acknowledging that need can wear on even the most gracious and patient women in our ranks. We don’t want to come off as tired or bitter or defeated, but sometimes that’s just how we feel knowing that come the first day of the month following Women in Horror Month, it’s back to business as usual and names of female creators are sometimes forgotten. 
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Taking Back Our Voices: The Necessity of Representation in Horror

By Spinster Eskie

There’s a new thing I do before watching any movie I suspect will include a rape scene. I check the name of the director to see if it is male or female, and because the nuances of gender make names less of a giveaway, I then investigate further by reading the filmmaker’s Wikipedia bio before deciding if I am willing and able to stomach the content I am about to view. But why should I care? Why does the identity of the filmmaker matter so much? There are plenty of artists that imagine rather than experience. The reason it matters is that bias is inherent within the artist and any themes relevant to my gender and/or queer experience means that I expect to connect with the art.

Since the internet emerged well after I had already become a horror connoisseur, being able to diligently research filmmakers before watching their babies thrive upon my television screen, is a relatively new habit. In the 90s I couldn’t always cherry-pick to the extent that I do now and my options were limited, as far as gender identities went. Carrie and Rosemary were fabulously chilling and inspiring characters, but they were, of course, invented by men.

My father, a charismatic, sadistic horror fiend introduced me to the genre at my most absorbent age, but I liked the girls I saw the most. Lydia and Elvira dazzled me. Frankenstein’s Bride enticed me, and knowing that she was conceived by a female author was encouraging when I began to write, myself, and discovered that alongside Mary Shelley were Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Toni Morrison, and Shirley Jackson. All members of this beautiful, sinister club known as horror, but all names that were unfairly overshadowed by the white cis men that have ruled the genre, as well as the industry, for decades. (more…)

Title: Finding Humor in What Scares You

by Lana Cooper

I come from a long line of people who crack jokes at inappropriate times as a coping mechanism. Throughout my childhood, my parents always found the humor in seemingly dire situations. When Dad’s hours got cut at the factory, Mom joked that at least she wouldn’t have to worry about him spending money. 

When my younger brother was beaten up in the school bathroom by a bully, Mom made up a song parody to the tune of “Smokin’ in the Boys Room,” recounting my brother’s assault in verse. It made him laugh after a harrowing experience and gave us something to do as we figured out what action to take. 

When I ran afoul of the nuns during my stint in Catholic school for reading Stephen King novels and trashy tabloids during Sustained Silent Reading, Dad encouraged me to take it with a grain of salt, saying, “Don’t worry, kiddo! They’ll kick you out soon enough! You’ll be back with your friends in public school before you know it. Don’t let them stop you from being you.” 

It was my parents’ knack for finding humor in situations that seemed scary to a kid (or an adult, for that matter) that reinforced the power of laughter to help you regain the upper hand when things seem out of control. While my parents often leaned on gallows humor during situations that most would never find funny, it was the ability to elicit laughter that gave them a moment of pause – to make a plan and take action to protect those they loved and to make sure everyone was safe and in good spirits. 

Fast-forward years later when my mother was in the hospital for Whipple surgery for pancreatic cancer, Dad kept cracking “Code Brown” bedpan jokes in the waiting room whenever there was an announcement on the hospital intercom system. While Mom was undergoing a grueling eight-hour surgery, poop humor was something that Dad leveraged to divert our minds from the grim possibility that she might not make it.

Two years later, I remember being at my disco-loving mother’s viewing and noting the irony that we were playing “Staying Alive” from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack (one of her favorites) shortly before we buried her. It wasn’t lost on me just how much Mom herself would have laughed at that twist.

All of those experiences reinforced for me that finding the humor in what scares you is like throwing a flashlight on the dark corners, exposing what’s there – or what’s not. I think it’s why I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of horror and humor in the stories I write. 

What Scares the Things That Scare Us?  (more…)

Field Notes, what are they?
By: Florence B. Caghens

Writing field notes is a good habit to get into. All you need is a notebook and a pen. You can take it with you anywhere, and write in it anywhere.

When I take field notes, I make a quick note of the date, time, and location. Over time this has developed into a quick shorthand. E.G. 4/fe/18.am.b’t. Which translates to the morning of the 4th of February 2018 in Belfast.

This can help when you look back on them. To expand on the field note in question. It can take you back to the time when you first wrote that field note. Which can help jog your memory, which in turn helps to expand on the field note.

Field notes can literally be anything. Do not be put off by the name, they are just quick observational notes. Notice how the light shines through a window, and lights on something? Write that down. When you look back on it, what is the light? What is the source of the light?
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