CHRISTINA SNG: I hope to see exciting new ideas and stories bringing horror to the masses, like how Linda Addison\u2019s poem inspired Jamal Hodge\u2019s film MOURNING MEAL and how Josh Malerman\u2019s BIRD BOX was simply revolutionary to me. And on that note, blind readings. That\u2019s the most equitable way really. Let the work sell itself.<\/p>\n
STEPHANIE M. WYTOVICH: I want to see a horror genre that is more inclusive and diverse (especially with our anthology TOCs), and I think we\u2019re making strides to get there, but I also think we need to continue to be welcoming and supportive of book reviewers and all the work that they do for us. For instance, Ladies of Horror Fiction<\/a><\/em> is doing a magnificent job of promoting and supporting women in the field, and then services like Nightworms<\/a><\/em>,<\/em> which is a monthly curated horror-to-read-and-review delivery service, is a unique approach to reading\/reviewing, not to mention a wonderful marketing tool to\/for our genre.<\/p>\n Accept the fact that change requires action. A correction is needed before things become equal (and once that happens, we can stop trying so hard). This is where we are, on the verge of great changes, but we\u2019re not there yet. To get there, you do have to plan some outreach. If you want talented women and people of color to contribute to your anthology, you might have to introduce yourself. You might have to be explicit in stating how open you are to diversity in fiction.<\/p>\n JULIA BENALLY: My hopes for the future of horror is that regardless of gender, people can publish good horror stories that send chills up the spine, that there won’t be anymore of this backbiting, statement-making, and offended-at-everything-under-the-sun bull crap that’s going on now, and that strong male and female characters can be accepted together, along with the weak ones, be whatever gender they may, and that writers can follow the one rule of writing that’s been torn down, that we can create whatever we want, and that every mold, old and new, can just be obliterated along with those who try to make molds. I think the best way is in the individual author’s hands. We don’t have to submit to this.<\/p>\n SABA SYED RAZVI: I\u2019ve been really delighted by the popularity of spooky poetry and stories, lately. I hope that we continue to see more books of poetry, more collections of short fiction, more anthologies, and more novellas in the future. I\u2019m pleased, too, that more films, television shows, and graphic novels are including the efforts of women. I love the idea that the horror industry can move toward a more equitable space. I hope that the field of horror continues to embrace the marginalized, the nonconformists, the weird, the rebellious, the unexpected. I hope it continues to embrace notions of intersectionality, transcendence, transgression, multiculturalism, gender equality in its topics, texts, and artworks in addition to its authors. The more we start to hear these varied voices tell stories, the more we are likely to hear what it is they are saying, too. I think that Speculative Literature in general, and Horror in particular, have always asked us to consider the things that challenge our senses of comfort, safety, and stability \u2014 and as long as we continue to push that envelope and do just that, instead of falling into formulaic traps that ask us to consider only purity of approach, or scarcity of expression, or conformist attitudes toward what frightens and delights us, we have a good chance of discovering newer kinds of horror \u2014 not just new monsters, but new approaches to the feeling of being alive, afraid, and energized by the fear that all of those things are as precarious as our ideas of what the world should be. As our world changes \u2014 and isn\u2019t it always changing? \u2014 our awareness of what scares us in the world should change, too.<\/p>\n SARAH READ: I want to make sure Women in Horror Month is inclusive for all who identify as female in any way, to any extent, and it needs to work at being inclusive for women of color and women with disabilities, too. It needs to keep its focus intersectional, or it does more harm than good and shouldn’t exist at all. I hope that inclusiveness will enrich the genre with delicious new horrors of diverse imaginations.<\/p>\n What’s next for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n CHRISTINA SNG: I hope to finish my next poetry collection by the first half of the year which is ambitious because life gets pretty busy and I only have the night to work on my poetry. If I fall asleep, that time is gone so chocolate is my best friend. I also have a children\u2019s chapbook to complete, a haiku book to finish editing, and a novel in three parts to begin. If only time turners exist…<\/p>\n STEPHANIE M. WYTOVICH: Right now, I\u2019m finishing up an apocalyptic science fiction poetry collection titled, The Apocalyptic Mannequin<\/em>, and it\u2019s going on two years in the making right now, so it\u2019s definitely my baby at the moment. I wanted to push myself to work on something new for my readers, and while there\u2019s still a lot of my personal style in the book, the subject matter, approach, and themes are a tad different.<\/p>\n![\"S.P.](\"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/SPMiskowski.jpg\")
<\/a>S.P. MISKOWSKI: We can all recognize that the genre has room to grow. Competitiveness in horror is self-defeating. It makes people look stupid and bitter. More diversity, a wider range of styles and approaches and experiences, can only make things more interesting.<\/p>\n![\"Emily](\"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Emily-Cataneo.jpg\")
<\/a>EMILY B. CATANEO: Gatekeepers are so important. We are all socialized to respond to specific stories about specific types of characters, and oftentimes, that socialization corresponds to our identities. If our gatekeepers were all socialized to respond to the same kind of story, well, that won\u2019t lead to breadth and variety in our genre. We need more gatekeepers from different backgrounds and with different tastes, and we also just need more: more magazines, more anthologies, more publishers. There\u2019s room for all of us in this field; we simply need to make that room.<\/p>\n
![\"Pariahs\"](\"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Pariahs.jpg\")
<\/a>I\u2019m also working to put out weird horror novelette this spring titled, The Dangers of Surviving a Slit Throat. <\/em>This, too, is a bit different from me as it\u2019s my first attempt at something bizzaro (ish), and it\u2019s something that I\u2019ve wanted to write ever since my aunt gifted me an antique radio. Matthew Revert did the cover art for it, too, so I\u2019m beyond excited to put it in everyone\u2019s hands soon!<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/The-Bone-Weavers-Orchard.jpg\")
<\/a>SARAH READ: I’ll be doing lots to promote my new novel, of course, and I’ll be at StokerCon and WisCon this year. I’ve just sold my debut collection to Trepidatio, so I’ll be working on that as well! And I’ll be wrapping up edits on my second novel shortly and sending that off into the world. I’m currently writing my third novel. I’ve had a few short story invites for 2019, so hopefully those all come to fruition. Pantheon Magazine will be taking a short hiatus while our publisher finishes up a new degree (and while I do this three books in one year madness), so I’ll have a little more writing time this year! I plan to put it to good use. I’ll also be spending time in Denver, New Orleans, and Chicago, hawking books so I can buy more books.<\/p>\n