Female Horror Writers

I think it's pure bullshit that you have to deal with that kind of crap but basically everything is controlled by rich, old white men and they like to set the standards as low and base as possible.

It's sad, but use your initials - people don't change overnight. I've lost many, many jobs to guys with less experience and skill who did really mediocre jobs shooting projects I was up for, and I've worked on multi-camera jobs where I was the lowest paid operator. When I've brought this up on a professional cinematography forum, I was rather forcefully verbally put in my place by my male collegues for even suggesting that such a thing happened, but I also received off-list responses from some black and some gay cinematographers who sympathized with me and told me some of their own horror stories.

Jessica

I have to face this as well.
But since I'm not trying a big publisher yet, I'm not sure about my name.
It sounds soft.
But I like that Ruby makes you think red... like blood.
heh
or an old hooker
My initials wouldn't look as interesting.

When I was thinking of MY picture for publication, I actually was inspired by Clive Barker's pictures.
Maybe I'm just more in touch with a side of me without gender, but I seriously never considered showing off my boobs for literature.

it's not enough to be awesome, is it?

assholes.

WHen was it ever enough to be awesome? :?

Sometimes it isn't the gender of the name--it's the number of syllables and the style. Meghan Lindholm used to write some interesting/profound urban fantasy novels --they didn't sell. When she changed her name to Robin Hobb and started writing more recognizable heroic fantasy, she became a best-selling author. It's still obvious she's female, but the new pseudonym helped her to recreate herself.

I've written under a joint pseudonym with another writer in the past. Nowadays I just let fans know which parts of that work were mine--most of my audience is male, and they don't seem to have a problem with my female persona.

Regardless of whether you choose to mask your gender by going with initials (I think this is a fine plan, if you're comfortable with it--worked fine for V.C. Andrews ), I definitely think you are wise to avoid any exploitation of your sexuality, if it's not natural to you. Unless the erotic element is very natural to you and a significant aspect of your persona, you have no obligation whatsoever to vamp it up. Agatha Christie never had to show anyone her tits--why should you?

--Arinn

it goes a long way with me but then again, i am merely andrew.

no no, Andrew. I wish there was more of you going around

thank you, ruby. i appreciate that. actually just last night arinn and talked about something very similar to this. and of course at one point i did the whole "if i were in charge..." andrew fantasy jibberish. there are so many talented people here and i would love to be in a position of influence and cold cash so i could give everyone a fair shake.

all i'd ask in return is a strawberry shake.

from checker's.

The more I've thought about, the more stubborn I've decided to become over the idea of going by my initials. I ain't doing that. It's my name or nothing...fuck 'em if they don't want to buy a book by a woman.

Right on!

On a personal note: I have sought out women horror fiction writers because that's just me. And forgive my impetuosity, but I get sick of this scenario:

"Who is your favorite horror author?"

"Oh, you know, King, Clive Barker, Peter Straub..."

To clarify, I like these authors too! But just once I would like to run into someone that says, "Oh, you know, Linda Addison, Poppy Z. Brite, Rebecca Brock..."

You catch my drift? Kick ass and take names later Rebecca!

Been away from the boards for a L-O-N-G time. See what I missed? Damn.

Okay, I am a multi-published horror author. And I too toyed with going by 'Chris' instead of Christina. But the more I thought about it, the more it annoyed me that I'd have to succumb to that crap. No. I won't have it!

My writing is not gory (only a bit), but is more psychological horror. I don't write flowery prose or beautiful passages. I write clear, concise, tight and often barren prose (on purpose!). I play in the worlds of 'what-if' or speculative fiction. I know it's a tough angle - not too many publishers, mostly male writers - but it's me. It's my work. I can't deny my muse and won't sell out by adding romance or something completely contrary to what the story needs to say just to appease an editor. I have to say it was a pleasure working with my latest editor, as he actually 'gets' my work.

While it is tough, I'm tougher! I will not give up. I continue to send my work out - like an army of soldiers - as a constant onslaught to the publishing industry.

I have a a theory: No one in charge has any clue what they actually want.

So you have to just give them what YOU want and hope they like it. Good for you, Chris.

I'm actually neck deep in this argument with Joe Mcgee, a male horror author. He refuses to believe there is prejudice in the industry.

But good grief is there prejudice...

Maybe it's a cop out, but I'm using my initials from now on. I think there is a prejudice, even thoguh people swear there isn't. A few lucky woman--hot ones, BTW--make it as popular horror authors. Sarah Pinborough, Sarah Langan, Alexandra Sokoloff...

I think the prejudice is bigger in small press. Its hard to get the same sort of attention as the guys get.

Probably because he has never experienced it first hand - that seems to cut through the layers of denial pretty quickly.

Try to get him to publicly announce that he's gay and leaving his wife of 20 years to live with his 21 yr. old boyfriend. Find another male horror writer and have him publicly announce he's leaving his wife of 20 yrs. to live with his 21 yr. old girlfriend. Then have the two of them report back to us in a year or two if those announcements have made any difference in their respective careers.

Jessica

My friend Joe is fairly successful. He continuously lectures me on what I do wrong...but I do exactly what he does. My sales vs. his are pretty much incomparable. HIs are in the thousands while mine...aren't. LOL

Even HE, as good a friend he is, sees me, professionally, as a 'newbie', needy, weak, struggling, and just so much in need of his manly advice and 'career boost'. Despite the fact that I've bene writing many years longer than he has, it all boils down to the fact that he's a hot, young, promising writer, so the men in the industry all take him under their wings. I've seen this in action-- I've introduced him to the people I know, and the next thing I know, he's buddy buddy with them, when it's taken me a long time to cultivate relationships.

It's nearly the same with the few other female horror authors I talk to. We all fight tooth and nail for the sales and exposure we get.

I keep telling him, I just want sex from him, not advice or his 'help'. But, typical man he is... LOL

I really hope we're able to change something, one day. I love this industry, but its a little disappointing sometimes.

If it makes you feel any better, it's pretty much the same with female cinematographers too.

Jessica

It's the same with female bear baiters, too.

And female bears.

Jessica

and female bait.

*snork*

Bears - nature's godless, killing machines.

The evil soulless bears caugh brutally raping innocents in a foul beastiality attack

speaking of women writers, kelley Armstrong and Sarah Langan were both recently interviewed for this site and we'll be posting the interviews verrrrrry soon.

There is prejudice, and part of it is what sells. Romance is HOT, erotic romance even hotter, and paranormal erotic romance EXTREMELY hot--to the point where some are burning out on the genre. And who mostly buys and writes romance novels? Women.

Many of us, I think, start out writing romance even if we're mostly mainstream because it's a good way to break into the writing industry. I personally enjoy it and don't see it as "selling out", and I even walked away from a rejection that told me that I had too much plot and not enough smut. For serious.

I write dark. But I like to be realistic about vampires and sex. I've seen the romance novels that have the vampire delicately nipping at her neck and you never see any blood, and that's not what I go for.

I like Poppy Z Brite, btw. I also enjoy LA Banks, Yasmine Galenorn, Charlaine Harris, and Karen Chance. Not all of those authors do horror, but they do "dark" quite nicely.

Just some rambling two cents' worth.

If any of the female Horror writers care to come On ParaWomen Radio please contact me. We had Elizabeth Massie on and loved reading her stuff. Rivals Kings work imho.

Women have to work harder for everything, I don't care what anyone says. And if they wanna fight me about it, i'm down for some jello wrestling.

Hey! I thought I'd replied to this already. I can't find it though.

I write horror. I love horror. I always have. I think where women really fall short is trying to keep up with the wrong kind of horror.

Lots of the "gorefest" horror is based more upon sensation than legitimacy. Hence, SAW. Sure, it's cool the first time you watch it, but you don't return to it and if you do, it doesn't have the same effect. It's sort of a cheap thrill. Every sequel has bombed in comparison to the first.

I think, sometimes, women can get distracted by the sensation and the story suffers. Let's face it, who can do subtly or creepiness better than women? We're the basis of more horror movies than men. From the Grudge and Ringu successes to Carrie, Dark Water, The Haunting of Hill House, Silent Hill, etc. Girls are awesome in horror.

That being said, I do think women need to expand in horror writing. Myself included there. Revulsion comes in many forms and so should horror. If the men are doing it, we should do the opposite.

How many Eli Roths have came and went as opposed to John Carpenter? How many Rob Zombies have shot to stardom and burned out as opposed to Wes Craven? They may not be producing material as they used to, but they're still producing, and they're still getting press for it.

Both Carpenter and Craven didn't focus on violence or gore without introducing some unforgettable characters and fascinating stories. They hit niches that were totally original at the time. Michael Meyers wasn't gory. He wasn't violent, per se. He just stalked through the shadows and killed without real reason.

Now that I've rambled, I will heartily agree. Women are discriminated against in horror. There haven't been any "Lovecraft" or "Blackwood" authors, yet we most certainly have Ann Radcliffe, Mary Wilkins Freeman and
Edith Wharton, just to name a brief few. Where are they mentioned? Women are treated in the genre like lab rats, analyzed, dissected, and completely dismissed. We don't write horror like men, we write to show issues with oppression, feministic fantasies, and other intelligent sounding crap.

Don't feel bad about it. We're all in this together. Women currently (and have for a long time) been a major portion of the horror audience. It's just now getting media attention.

So, we'll write our own stories and make our own way, and eventually, one of us will hit the nail on the head and horror will be sliced wide open for both genders equally.

As for the gothy boobs. I don't know. I have a personal question about this myself. Half of me thinks why not? Any advantage is an advantage. But, the other half thinks it isn't right. I shall have to debate myself further...lol. None of the male authors resorted to Playgirl.

I think that there are more female writers of horror than you may be aware of. Many work under pseudonyms. Good example Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Although this is quite old, I think the trend has continued.

Only a few make it to the mainstream publishers. Of those, even fewer can actually be considered real horror. They mostly seem to write 'edgy' paranormal romance, rather than visceral, gut-wrenching horror. I can only name, on one hand, the NY-published female horror authors who's books are actually shelved in the horror genre.

Mary SanGiovani. Sarah Langan. Sarah Pinborough. Alex Sokoloff. There was another one but her name's on the tip of her tongue...

I think women truly have the edge in horror fiction. We have the emotional capacity to get into readers' heads, hearts, and lives, because we are more emotional. Guys go for the big guns right off. Guts, gore, splatter, etc, etc. I use all the same tricks in my books, but I get the most response from readers because of the emotional horror I've put my characters through. Example: a barren woman having to carry a possessed infant corpse across the state of Florida. On foot. You spend days with this woman, soaking in her dread and sorrow and terror.

Guts and gore and sadistic kllers aren't anything, without the motivation behind the acts (or ax) right?

Sorry, I repeated myself there a few times LOL> Been a while since I read through this thread!

I've found there's even less Female horror playwrights personally. I know they're out there though. I think it's more so that horror theater isn't so raved about in this region right now. It's all domestic drama and social criticisms. And blood and gore is a lot harder to commit on a stage that you'd first think.

I use a pseudonym, I use several actually because my markets are so very different I would rather one employer not suddenly assume things about me when they google me. I don't however use my initials in anyway to hide my gender. The pseudonyms though, are necessary for a number of reasons. Mostly, my legal name is not one that someone could really take seriously for some reason.