A few days late in posting this due to podcasts and events, but I’m delighted to share the release of Why I Love Horror, edited by Becky Spratford, gathering essays from many of us horror authors on why we love the genre so much. I’m honored to be part of with my essay “The Giant Footprint of Horror,” about a certain giant monster and what horrors means to me.

There are so many wonderful essays in here, personal stories and studies on why we love the things that creep us out in fiction.

Becky also joined Alma Katsu, one of the contributors, in talking with People magazine, and they both gave lovely shout-outs to many of us in “Why Is Horror Having a Moment? Authors Alma Katsu and Becky Spratford Break It Down (Exclusive)”.

“Then there are authors like Rachel Harrison, Gwendolyn Kiste and Hailey Piper who take the experiences and rage of simply being a woman and use the guardrails of horror to create something wholly new. As a result, they are bringing so many women readers to what used to be thought of as a male-dominated genre.”

This past weekend was the 40th anniversary of Wes Craven’s horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, and I had the honor of writing a retrospective on the whole series, “I’m Just a (Freddy) Girl” looking at everything from the nightmarish original, through the sequels, Freddy Krueger’s fight with Jason Voorhees, a little on the TV show, and the 2010 remake. I adore this series, and I had fun looking over its history and legacy. I was also cognizant of how different movies mean a lot to different fans and sought the positive in each, regardless of my personal opinions (though those are here too).

I hope you check it out, and sweet dreams!

Short update as we approach mid-July!

First, Becky Spratford wrote “The Scares Keep Growing | Horror Preview 2023” for Library Journal, which highlighted a bunch of the exciting horror books coming in the second half of the year (there are many!), among them my upcoming novel from Titan Books, A Light Most Hateful.

And just today, Neil McRobert published “These Are the Writers Shaping Horror’s Next Golden Age” for Esquire Magazine! It’s a deep dive into horror’s recent surge in popularity, both for the past decade and right now, plus profile and interview bits for several of us. I was excited to get to be part of it!

That’s it for now. In two weeks, my Splatter Western novel Cruel Angels Past Sundown releases from Death’s Head Press. So soon!