Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.

My name is Hannah Graves. I am a disabled, chronically ill, nonbinary lesbian. I am married to the most wonderful woman who puts up with an awful lot of me quoting Longlegs and we have several animals, including my cockatiel, Bananakin. I’ve been into horror for as long as I can remember; my mom used to read me Clive Barker books when I was too young to read on my own.
 
As to how I contribute, there are various ways. I help run a dark fiction indie press called Dead Fox Publishing. I write, from short stories to novellas to collections. I review books and films. I try to uplift and spread the word of any indie creator that I run across. I want to get a podcast running with my wife, but we're still trying to find time for it.
 
What drew you to the horror genre?

I can’t remember life before horror, so… I’m not really sure how to answer this one. I guess perhaps because I had a horrible upbringing, which wasn’t fun at all, I found interest in horror, which was also horrible but in a fun way. Does that sound weird? It was escapism for me and that never ending quest to try to find something that genuinely scares me. (I’ve only found two things so far. You have to guess.)
 
If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume that features either disabled creators or characters, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend?

For characters - Rotten Tommy by David Sodergren. The main character is a late diagnosed Autistic woman, and I have never felt more seen or heard. I know some people don’t consider Autism a disability, but it is for me, and so I count that here. Also, it has a cursed children’s program and it’s David Sodergren—what more do I need to say?
 
For authors – Kylie Lee Baker. Autistic with chronic illnesses/invisible disabilities. I have never had a miss with this author and I will literally follow Kylie to the end of the world and back.
 
What do you find scary within the horror genre?

The psychological aspect of it. The way it messes with your mind. When it’s quiet and it creeps up on you and you’re left sitting there afterward, dwelling on every moment like you’re seeing a painting for the first time. A good example of this is Penpal by Dathan Auerbach. There’s no jump scares in that and it’s slow build and unease, so I think some people don’t give it the chance it deserves. I’d rather face a killer or a supernatural creature any day of the week than that book.
 
What advice would you give to the next generation of disabled horror content creators coming into the horror genre?

Don’t let anyone stop you. That includes yourself. It doesn’t matter how slow you may have to create, how many times your brain or body may not cooperate, just… keep going. Late is better than never, right? And never, EVER feel the need to be someone else’s inspiration. Create because you want to. Create because you love it. Create because you have to. But always do it for yourself first and foremost because you’re going to get burnt out if you’re trying to live as an inspiration constantly.
 
Where can folks find you these days?
​
I am spooks.hannah on Threads and Instagram and my website is http://www.hannah-graves.com ! 

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.

Hi! My name is A.L. Davidson, I am a genre romance author specializing in horror, sci-fi, and paranormal stories! I got my start in the horrormance sphere, and I almost exclusively tell stories with queer and disability rep at the forefront. I like to take realistic relationships, queerness, and disabilities and give them horrific twists that weren't often highlighted back when I first started writing. Thankfully, that's changed, but I will always make those priorities in my narratives. I'm also a regular horror movie podcast guest (former host) and frequent many of my local book events as one of the few front and center horror authors in my area. I live in a pretty fantasy-forward space, so it feels nice to get to be the weirdo showing up in goth outfits while everyone else is in big ball gowns!
 
What drew you to the horror genre?

I've always been into the scary stuff. I don't know what other kids were watching, but my evenings were spent in the company of Scooby-Doo and Ghost Hunters. Once I hit my twenties and had more freedom to do what I wanted, I started binging a bunch of "must watch" horror films and found myself falling in love with the genre in new ways. It was kind of natural that I'd end up here. My jobs outside of writing have been a haunted manor house docent and an assistant funeral director, so the creepy things are what I'm drawn to. I love dabbling in the many subgenres of horror, too. There's always something new to explore, and it's so intrinsically tied to romance - and being a hopeless romantic it was the perfect avenue for my writing career to take off with.
 
If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume that is queer or queer coded, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend? 

I highly recommend the manga series The Summer Hikaru Died by Mokumokuren - the anime adaptation and light novel versions are also excellent if you'd prefer those routes, as well. It is a gorgeous story about death, queer suppression and awakenings, small town gossip, folk horror, and self-discovery. Right from page one it draws you in with shocking horror and beautiful imagery about friends uncovering each other's darkest parts while wrestling with the repercussions in rural Japan. It's haunting and well worth the read.

Who are some queer content creators in horror you think more people should discover?

I recently discovered an amazing horror YouTuber by the name of Girl On Film who does deep dives into horror through a queer and disabled lens, with a focus on costuming, history, iconography, and feminism. Every single video is full of deep, thought-provoking looks at what makes horror unique across its many subgenres. With several video series such as "Men Writing Women" which asks questions like "is Saw sexist or feminist?" and "The Fashion of Horror", Girl on Film is a video essayist I highly recommend more people watch.

I've also recently become a big fan of Zane Parker, another YouTuber who does incredible deep dives into films both queer and horror based through a Black lens that isn't afraid to tackle the big conversations when it comes to rep of all sorts in the realm of cinema. Also a big shoutout to my friends over at Voices From The Mausoleum, they do amazing work keeping up with horror news while also championing LGBTQIA+ rights, charities, and voices. They go beyond film into books, comics, and video games, so they're an amazing source for horror news!
 
What advice would you give to the next generation of queer horror content creators coming into the horror genre?

Try everything and do so without fear. Horror is so expansive, there's literally nothing stopping you from jumping around when it comes to subgenres, writing styles, the movies you watch and review, the things you talk about. Horror is bold, so you should be, too. Find the weird things nobody talks about, bring up the interesting subjects, write the absolutely absurd thing people tell you not to. Now more than ever we need queer voices, and horror is often so reflective of real world events and fears, so tackling those things and documenting them - be it through a video essay or a novel or painting - matters more than you know.
 
Where can folks find you these days?

I can be found at disturbancesbyalycia.weebly.com - it's my main website with all of the important links, including my library for my books - and my main social is instagram where you can find me under MaybeMockingbird!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.

Hello, my name is Haralambi Markov and I’m a Bulgarian-born writer working in English. I also work as an editor here and there, and when I’m not writing I create collages. I’m on a very slow quest to try every single art form. Hopefully, I’ll end in my 70s. 

I’ve been writing weird and horrific stories for the past 15 years, and am putting out my first short story collection The Language of Knives: Stories on July 7, 2026 from Mythic Delirium Books.

What drew you to the horror genre?

I didn’t come into writing horror until way, way later into my writing journey, having been raised on works by Pratchett and Tolkien in translation. My fascination with high fantasy didn’t last long and my interests slowly shifted towards dark fantasy and urban fantasy, then weird fiction and horror. Horror has been much more present in my life as a viewer. There’s nothing quite like getting scared out of your skin and it’s that catharsis that brings me back to the genre. I love how light I feel after a good scare and I wanted to chase the same release in my own fiction. 

If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume that is queer or queer coded, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend?

I’m so torn on what to choose! Ultimately, I’d say Queer for Fear, which is a documentary series that interviews horror creators and explores the history of queerness in horror across literature and film. As someone based outside the United States, I had a challenging time educating myself on queer horror for quite some time. I’d pick up bits and pieces from online spaces, but Queer for Fear feels like a proper education. It’s four episodes from Carmen Maria Machado to Peaches Christ.

What are some areas of queer horror you think are under-explored?

I would say horror that’s not solely rooted in our trauma as queer people, but rather horror that befalls characters who happen to be gay.

I say this as someone who has explored trauma related to queerness in my fiction. I am well aware that living in a violent world doesn’t really predispose towards decentering homophobia in our narratives, and there’s a lot of power in processing such experiences in horror. I have included queer joy in my collection The Language of Knives before the horror kicks in. 

If we’re talking about genre, I’d like more zombie fiction with queer representation.

What do you find scary within the horror genre?

Ghosts and body horror aside, I find the uncertainty in reality and truth utterly chilling. The idea of safety anywhere (be it in your home, or mind, or body) being completely compromised terrifies me, especially when there’s not much you can do about it but figure out how to survive. 

What advice would you give to the next generation of queer horror content creators coming into the horror genre?

I’m going to go with advice that I’ve been given. Read your contemporaries and read your predecessors. There’s such power to knowing where you belong in the context of queer and queer-coded horror.

As a horror fan in a small country, the only easily accessible horror media I’ve had prior to the Internet have been blockbusters and old movies that would occasionally find their way on late night cable TV. Certainly nothing queer. Right now, we’re privileged to live in a time when we can find queer narratives with ease, but that wasn’t always the case and might not always be the case with the way the political pendulum swings. It’s important to know each other and keep a record of each other’s work.

Where can folks find you these days?

I mostly stay away from online spaces, but you can find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Bio:


Haralambi Markov is a Bulgarian fiction writer and editor with a background in content creation. They were the first ever Bulgarian to be accepted to attend the Clarion Writers’ Workshop in 2014. Their short story “The Language of Knives” was long-listed for the Nebula award for Best Short Story and their essay “My Father, My Private Monster” made it onto the Stoker long list for non-fiction in 2025. Their work has appeared in Reactor, Uncanny Magazine, Evil in Technicolor, Weird Fiction Review, Stories for Chip, Eurasian Monsters and Fractured Reveries. They were part of the team of BonFIYAH 2021.
 
Their debut short story collection, The Language of Knives: Stories, is scheduled to come out on July 7, 2026 from Mythic Delirium Books. 

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.

Hey! My name's Taylor Z. Adams (she/they) and I'm a transbian horror author hailing from Toledo, OH! I've primarily found my footing in the splatterpunk subgenre, but above all else, I write things that are weird and aggressively queer.  

What drew you to the horror genre?

Horror is something that I've been around my entire life, so there's always been a natural draw to it. My dad used to be on the crew for a lot of low-budget B-movie slashers, my mom is a huge zombie buff, and my older sibling had a big collection of Goosebumps books that I used to steal growing up. I've loved horror for as long as I can remember; I pretty much had no other choice! 

If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume that is queer or queer coded, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend?

Narrowing it down to one choice is brutal. It's a toss up for me between the film I Saw The TV Glow and the book Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. Both had profound impacts on me as a trans person, with Exquisite Corpse in particular being the reason I decided to become a writer. 

What positive changes have you seen happening in the horror community regarding LGBTQIA+ creators and content and what are some areas the community can still improve?

In recent years, I've noticed a lot more people are willing to listen to queer voices, and the voices of other marginalized groups in general. It feels like there's less of a divide between "normal" horror and "queer" horror, made by queer people. More cisgender and heterosexual people have checked out my work and raved about it than I ever anticipated, which I'm super grateful for!

However, I do still feel that people like to unintentionally "other" us. While I think a lot of people's hearts are in the right place, I see a lot of lists like "trans authors you should check out", and then a list of "women authors you should check out" a few weeks later, and very rarely are trans women included in that list. To be a bit silly, it sometimes feels like "there's male authors, there's female authors, and then there's the gays," which is something I feel the community as a whole can be better about.

What advice would you give to the next generation of queer horror content creators coming into the horror genre?

Be bold. Times are tough right now for the LGBTQ+ community, and it's more important than ever to speak out and be visible. The world is actively trying to silence us, so don't let them. Your story deserves to be told, and your voice deserves to be heard.

Where can folks find you these days?

You can primarily find me on FaceBook! Just look up Taylor Z. Adams and add me as a friend, if you'd like. Or follow me on Instagram @tayloradamsbooks!
  
Bio:
Taylor Z. Adams (she/they) writes horror that's strange, gay, and emotionally unwell. Their work explores the queer experience, grief, obsession, identity, trauma—or anything else that might be considered upsetting.

When not writing about emotionally unhinged girls, Taylor can be found drinking too much coffee, blushing over sapphic romances, moshing at hardcore punk shows, or posting cryptic nonsense on social media.

If you enjoy their work, light a candle and perform a blood ritual as an offering ... or just follow her on social media: @tayloradamsbooks

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.

My name is Temple, but writing-wise I go by TT Madden (they/she). I've always been writing, and always been writing horror, but the first big horror thing I actually put out into the world was my work on two "seasons" of a Blair Witch tabletop game. That was a ton of fun to make, but also really made me want to shy away from anything big budget or "Hollywoody" and just do my own thing and write for myself without getting caught up in studio-esque nonsense. Since then I've been writing my own books (currently seven, including one with Timber Ghost Press, with four more in the pipe). I write a lot about the intersections of my own identity (trans, mixed-race) always with some weird, surreal horror thrown in there.

What drew you to the horror genre?

I always loved Goosebumps and other spooky stuff for kids like The Addams Family, and the weird parts of kids movies always freaked me out and fascinated me, like nightmare or the air conditioning unit in The Brave Little Toaster. Old horror movies like the original Universal Monsters were also something I could watch with my family since they were a little more "appropriate." But then I watched The Mummy in theaters at nine years old and that was really all she wrote (yes, of course, I am also bisexual, pretty sure that was in the fine print when I got the ticket). I still love everything genre-related, but since then horror has always been my main one.
 
If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume that is queer or queer coded, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend?

There's obviously a ton of excellent modern horror, but for a personal recommendation I'd have to reach back in time to The Old Dark House for a few reasons. First, because it's one of James Whale's most underseen films, and also to show that queerness has always been around, it's certainly not a new phenomenon. It was before the strictest implementation of the Hays Code, but definitely plays with the time's queer coding. It also subverts expectations in some interesting ways.
 
When folks look back at the LGBTQIA+ movement of today’s day and age, what do you think the defining characteristic will be?

I think it will be defined by resilience and transgression, especially in horror prose and poetry. In the last few years I feel like there have been crazy-radical jumps in horror creators pushing the envelope to its absolute limit. Film is moving a little slower (which is natural). Every few months there's something new and wild that gets everyone talking, like an I Saw the TV Glow. But with horror books it seems like they're just getting absolutely cranked out every week. We're getting stuff like We Are Always Tender With Our Dead or You Were Never Meant to Be Human with a frankly delicious regularity, and it's all insane, groundbreaking stuff. And I think that makes a ton of sense. Right now queerphobia of all kinds is at an all-time high, especially with this administration, where simple existence is a sin, and the president is actively threatening us with death. Queer people (like any minority) already have to fight twice as hard to take up half as much space, and now with even more vitriol aimed against us, it's clearly coming out in the art we're making.

What are some areas of queer horror you think are under-explored?

There's a questioning and a certain kind of ambiguity that I'd like to see more in the genre. Very often there are stories of queer characters who are out and fighting oppression of one kind or another or on a journey to discover their own queerness, whatever that may be. But I haven't seen a lot of horror where a character experiments and finds out X or Y isn't for them. Maybe a character wonders if they're gay, and decides they're not, they're bisexual, or maybe just straight, but they needed that experimental room to find out. There's a lot of certainty to queerness in modern horror, which makes sense, and I think a little more ambiguity in our characters is okay. Hell, it took me until I was almost thirty to start using they/them pronouns, and five years later that I finally understood I was actually trans.

What do you find scary within the horror genre?

My personal biggest fear in horror is mass hysteria. Blood, guts, twisted monsters, anything else I'm basically cool. But any time there's a crowd of people that are going nuts, that gets too real for me. The scariest part of The Mist for sure. Touched By Shadows by Vaughn Jackson and Brom's Slewfoot both have mass paranoia stuff in them that made those books really hard for me to finish. There's even a part in the new Fantastic Four that got me. But for some reason I don't seem to be super affected by zombies.
 
What advice would you give to the next generation of queer horror content creators coming into the horror genre?

I would say to not chase a trend, and to make something that is uniquely you. You see it in every field, but in this current horror boom it's been much more obvious. One of the most recent ones is how in 2024 there was an absolute onslaught of announced Steamboat Willie horror when the character entered the public domain. In film you can see everyone chasing that sweet, sweet Terrifier cash with characters that are just Art the Clown with the serial numbers filed off. On the prose side extreme horror is a huge genre which a ton of presses call for, but then say "Oh, we actually don't want [several extreme things that are part of the extreme horror genre]." All of it has a sort of clout-chasing air to it, where you can tell people aren't passionate about it, they're just following what's cool. So, as cliche as it may seem, I'd say create the thing that only you could create, something you're passionate about. The worst thing a piece of art can do is make you feel bored. There's nothing like experiencing a piece of art that'll make you go "Oh, shit, this person really has some feels about this."

Where can folks find you these days?
​
People can find me on my website, ttmaddenwrites.carrd.co, or on Instagram and Bluesky as @ttmaddenwrites

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.

I'm Jes Malitoris, a trans-enby horror and dark fantasy author from Durham, NC. I am an affiliate HWA member, active in the Carolinas chapter, and a reader for the horror lit mag Necksnap. I also have a recently launched writing craft blog that isn't specific to horror writers, per say, but I definitely am planning posts from the perspective of a writer interested in how to create tension or effective horror. My short fiction has been published in multiple horror and specfic lit mags, such as Cosmic Horror Monthly and The Skull & Laurel, and in anthologies from Crystal Lake and Neon Hemlock. I'll also be talking about non-binary authors in horror at StokerCon and have an upcoming panel on queer horror at home in Durham next month!

What drew you to the horror genre?

Like so many people, The Mummy (1999) changed my life. I was only 9 when it came out so I wasn't allowed to watch it until it came out on DVD, and even then I was required to watch the "behind the scenes" sections with my dad so I could see clearly that it wasn't real. 20 minutes into the BTS I demanded to watch the actual movie because it looked so cool, and I was right. From there, I started investigating more classic monsters on my own and stumbled on The Blair Witch Project, and I still don't know why my parents let me watch it ALONE at only 12. By then I was totally hooked on the rollercoaster feeling that horror could provide, especially films that focused on tension rather than jump scares.

It only dawned on my a few years ago to try writing it, but I love how it challenges me and lets me be the weirdest version of myself.

What positive changes have you seen happening in the horror community regarding LGBTQIA+ creators and content and what are some areas the community can still improve?

My dad and I do a two-person horror book club together, and one of the cool things has been literally accidentally reading almost exclusively queer horror. I feel so lucky that there is so much glorious and wonderful queer and genderqueer horror out there.

On the other hand, I've seen the conversation about bisexual people not actually being queer or bisexuality not even being real AGAIN. IT SUCKS. It really sucks to get that reaction from within the queer community. This is not exclusive to the horror community but it comes up again and again with regard to who gets to write queer stories, and whether their queerness is enough. Truly, these kinds of reactions from other queer people are why I did not call myself bisexual until I was 28 despite experiencing attraction to women from a young age (HELLO!!?!?! THE MUMMY!?!?!) because I believed that those people had more knowledge of queerness than I did and if they said I couldn't be bisexual, then I guess I wasn't. And then seeing it again with non-binary identity. These perspectives are incredibly hurtful and damaging, and I find that in a genre with so much potential to exceed the bounds of reality it is particularly confusing and disappointing.

What do you find scary within the horror genre?

Very few horror books scare me, but one of the things that I love so much about horror is that there is a whole spectrum of emotions to seek out from creators. Fear and tension, horror and disgust, and even joy and catharsis. I don't tend to find a lot "scary" in books, but I thrive off brutal tension. T. Kingfisher's What Moves the Dead has a scene in it that gave me chills because the scene was so tense, as did the climax of Mariko Koike's The Graveyard Apartment. The entirety of Jeff VanderMeer's Authority made me outright paranoid.

I have a special place in my heart for body horror, especially as a nonbinary author with a difficult relationship with my own body. A book that lives rent-free in my head and has substantially influenced my own writing of and thinking about body horror is Jade Song's Chlorine. It has an incredible trans allegory and a scene that made me feel sick, but in a way that was deeply powerful and, oddly enough, positive. It made me realize the difference between gore that is focused on the dehumanization of the human body and other forms of body horror in which the horror is about the relationship of the reader and/or character to their body. When it comes to writing horror, I try to pursue these two angles: tension and anxiety, and the character's relationship to their body.

What advice would you give to the next generation of queer horror content creators coming into the horror genre?

Let yourself be weird. The flourishing of indie horror really has created incredible possibilities for horror writers. Don't hold yourself back by being worried about whether you'll find an audience. Horror is a genre that I believe lends itself to queer writing, not just in terms of sexuality/gender but in terms of the kind of worldview that is slippery, that resists, that refuses a clear definition. Seize it!

Where can folks find you these days?

I am on Instagram/Threads (@JesWritesHorror), X, and Bluesky (@JesWrites). I am also working on some more posts for my writing craft blog, where I most recently posted about how to identify scam emails and basics of developing writerly voice. In person, I have a whole bunch of appearances coming up at StokerCon and locally! I have a few exciting announcements I'm sitting on, so I definitely recommend that folks follow me on social media, where I post most of my updates.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.

I am a gay novelist, playwright, and educator, currently living in Missoula, Montana, where I am the director of theatre at Hellgate High School. I have always been obsessed with horror, ever since I was very wee and fell in love with the Wicked Witch of the West, followed by the American Werewolf in London, all the Gremlins, and then every vampire in every film and novel ever. Growing up, I wished and wished for queer leading characters in the horror novels and movies I imbibed while telling myself that, one day, I'd write the stories I wish existed. That's what I'm fortunate enough to do now. I am the author of Black Forest from Inkshares, about a young gay man who sees disturbing visions of dead people and falls in love with a dude at college who may or may not be a demon (so, pretty typical university experience); Haunt Me, Then, from Horrorsmith, what I've dubbed "Big Gay Montana Wuthering Heights" with a soupcon of Hitchcock's Vertigo, and where I truly dived into my passion for creating what I call "Montana Gothic," a genre specific to  the empty plains and rotted, abandoned homestead that litter the prairie; adaptations of Dracula and Frankenstein from Theatrefolk; and, ta da, coming this year from Timber Ghost: There's No Such Thing as a School for Witches, where I explore queer wrath. And witchcraft.

What drew you to the horror genre?

The Wicked Witch of the West showed up on television one Thanksgiving when I was three or four during an annual rerun of The Wizard of Oz, and I was immediately like: where is the woman and how can I become her best friend? She was terrifying and loud, and I was terrifying and loud (or maybe just loud), and she really coveted those Ruby Slippers, which I longed for as well (and which my mother replicated for me for my birthday one year). I discovered Stephen King soon after, when I was seven and my mother was reading 'Salem's Lot, illustrated with photos from the 1979 made-for-TV adaptation. Included was a photo of Reggie Nalder as the rat-befanged Mr. Barlow, and I demanded to know more about him and every other monster in the world. Not long after that, my best friend loaned me a tape they'd recorded from the Movie Channel that included An American Werewolf in London and Silver Bullet, which ushered in my obsession with (and, to this day, intense fear of) werewolves. I wrote to Stephen King not long after, encouraged by my fabulous mother, and asked him straight up for a copy of Cycle of the Werewolf, the novelette on which Silver Bullet is based. Knowing  full well I was a Montana second grader, King sent me an autographed copy of both novel and screenplay, (which got me featured in the local paper, by the by). The next summer Fright Night awakened strange stirrings within me after I highly enjoyed the scene where Jerry the vampire seduces lonely horror-obsessed teen Evil Ed, and I was off to the vampire races (The Lost Boys didn't hurt either). Witches, werewolves, and vampires: my unholy triumvirate, and the reason I'm answering these questions today. 

What do you find scary within the horror genre?

The disintegration of personality terrifies and fascinates me; it's the reason Shirley Jackson is my favorite author. I read The Haunting of Hill House in high school, and while, yes, the ghosts (or whatever) haunting Hill House are freaky, Eleanor, the protagonist, and how she deals (or doesn't) with the reality crumbling around her is the scariest thing of all. Also, homophobic, racist, xenophobic people in small towns (Jackson depicted these American fiends quite well indeed); I grew up with them, they scare the hell out of me to this day, but they're also the monsters behind the townspeople in No Such Thing as a School for Witches, so I probably owe them a dedication in the page before the title page or something. 

People who lose their personalities and become something else scare me quite thoroughly as well (see The Stepford Wives, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and 'Salem's Lot). They look like who they say they are, or who they used to be, but they aren't that person anymore; also, whatever special attributes and personality quirks and peccadillos that made them who they were are gone. I like who I am; I like my quirks and peccadillos; to lose all of them while still looking like myself and probably being enslaved by an evil, higher power is the scariest idea of all.

Also, werewolves. Werewolves freak me out.
 
What advice would you give to the next generation of queer horror content creators coming into the horror genre? 

Write what you want to read. Don't be afraid (well, maybe be afraid of the content you're creating; after all, if you can't scare yourself, who can you scare?). Use your experiences: you are unique and valuable. Don't be afraid of not being perceived as universal. Don't be afraid to be niche. Ask yourself: what are your goals for writing? What do you want to accomplish? And do you maybe want more than that? Are you ready for the public eye? Have a routine. Set aside a specific time to write and do not let anyone take that away from you, especially not yourself. Turn off social media while you write (I need to be better at this one). You have a story to tell and no one else can tell it like you. There are not enough queer voices. Let yours be heard.

Where can folks find you these days?

You can find me at @bylaramiedean on Instagram. My website is bylaramiedean.com, and you can check out my novels and plays and even procure them for yourself if you choose; I've also stocked it full of photos and videos and other cool minutiae for you to explore.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.

I am a playwright and author who works in themed entertainment, which means I get to ride rollercoasters as part of my day job. My ancestry is European and Native American (Cherokee and Chickahominy decent). I’m fascinated with my ancestors and enjoy hanging out with them at night in their burial grounds. Love living in my hometown of Los Angeles with my wife and our two dogs, Harry and Agatha.

My Beckett Coven book series starts this September from Rowan Prose Publishing with Whispers of the Pale Witch. The second book, Lies of the Bishop Stone, comes out in 2027. Working on the third one right now. Hopefully we can get that out to readers in 2028.

The Beckett Coven series was born from the discovery that I am a Salem Witch Trials descendant. That means my ancestors were either accused, accusers, or part of the court proceedings during the Massachusetts witch panic of 1692. Unfortunately, my family were solidly on the accuser side. I also have a couple of tenth great-grandparents who took part in the witch mark search on June 2nd, 1692. 

My MC, Kylie Beckett, is a twenty-four-year-old queer, mixed-race forensic photographer, who returns to her birthplace of Salem, Massachusetts. She wants to learn more about the disappearance of her mother decades ago. Instead she discovers that some secrets are best kept buried and no one can escape the whispers of the Pale Witch.

What drew you to the horror genre?

I mean I’ve been scaring people for years. My first one-act play was about Jack the Ripper. A few years ago, I published an updated version of it, Black Mary, that’s even more terrifying and off the rails than the first one. I guess I became creepier as I got older. 

My favorite part about that play when we put it on at my university, California Lutheran University, was watching the whole audience lean forward, completely engaged in the action of the two characters. But after Jack kills his victim, he turns around and breaks the fourth wall with the audience. We did it with a wraparound staging, which made the effect even more unnerving. As he gives his last few lines, he stalks the audience. It was fascinating watching all of them unconsciously lean back as he did this. For me as a horror playwright and author, that was gold. It let me know I did my job.

When I decided to write a novel series, of course I went straight to a horror/thriller storyline. This time the horror was revolved around witch trials and baneful witchcraft.

If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume that is queer or queer coded, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend?

I love the Morbid podcast. Ash, one of the cohosts, is queer and has a trans husband, so they do lean very queer friendly and it’s spooky as hell.

Also, the Circle Is Podcast is a very queer friendly witchy podcast that I just adore. Occult author and tarotist, Mat Auryn, and the one and only Rachel True (The Craft) talking all things witchy and Tarot. What more could you want?

What positive changes have you seen happening in the horror community regarding LGBTQIA+ creators and content and what are some areas the community can still improve?

I’m new to the queer horror book scene, so I’m probably not the best person to answer this question. I was pleasantly surprised that there is a queer horror sub-genre. I’m a queer author and the Beckett Coven series has queer characters in it, but I wanted my characters to primarily be interesting people, who just happen to be queer, as opposed to them needing to be queer in order to tell the story. Although there are a few queer-specific moments in it, for the most part my books are about someone coming out as a witch as opposed to someone coming out as queer. Which I guess is a bit of a metaphor for queer folks.

When folks look back at the LGBTQIA+ movement of today’s day and age, what do you think the defining characteristic will be?

That we didn’t give up. I am old enough now to have lived through a time when it was absolutely not okay for anyone to come out. Now I’m married to a wonderful wife and we have a great life together. If you had told me when I was a teenager that’s how my life would be in my fifties, I would have said you were nuts. Tremendous progress has been made, but we are living in a time where nothing is truly permanent. Everything is on the table to be rolled back to a time when we didn’t have the rights and freedoms that we have today. Some things have already been taken away. Unfortunately, that censoring movement may continue, and if it does, we have to continue to fight against it. Being out and visible and not in the closet makes it much harder to pretend we don’t exist.

What are some areas of queer horror you think are under-explored?

I’m interested in queer characters just being everyday characters as opposed to an anomaly or a stereotype. Several of my characters just happen to be gay, but the story they are part of would still be the same story whether they were queer or not. There are a couple of subplots in the first book that are queer in nature. One character’s past causes her to be unable to act with a clear mind when she needs to. What happened to her is because she’s queer. Just like in the Salem Witch Trials, she was othered and put into a bad situation. To me there are many real-life situations that queer folks have gone through that can be turned into horror. Conversion therapy is absolutely something that can be explored further as a queer horror motif. It’s not actual “therapy”. It’s just something awful that’s inflicted on our community. I went through a light version of it when I was young. All it did was delay me coming out of the closet. It didn’t change who I am. Unfortunately, many young people are still being forced into it.

What do you find scary within the horror genre?

People scarier than monsters. That’s what I leaned into in the Beckett Coven series. My villain is just a regular human being, but how she handles her past trauma and becomes a demon herself is far more frightening to me than any kind of monster. My mother suffered from mental illness. She was nowhere near what my villain is, but how her illness affected her was also no walk in the park, either. There are definitely lived experiences that colored how I wrote and talked about mental illness in this book series. 

The Salem Witch Trials were also terrifying. What the accusers did to their neighbors was awful. We often look at the witch trials from the point of view of the girls being afflicted by the accused “witches”. In reality, it was the afflicted girls and the adults, who enabled, encouraged, and conspired with them, either consciously or unconsciously, were the monstrous and evil ones not the people they accused. They were the true devils in Salem. 

There’s a psychological concept called violent innocence in which a person or group of people use righteous reasons to do something terrible for the good of the community. That’s exactly what went on in Salem. One can argue that we haven’t come that far from three hundred years ago. The truly terrifying thing for me was to discover that my ancestors were one of two families who did most of the accusing during the first four months of the witch trials. Their complaints resulted in a couple dozen deaths and almost a hundred more victims losing their minds and going into debt because of being thrown into prison for months on end. In the case of my Ingersoll family, they were considered by their neighbors to be moderate and respectable people. Even “good” people can be monsters.

Who are some queer content creators in horror you think more people should discover?

I hope these are people folks already know about. Rob Costello is a Lamda Award winning author and editor of We Mostly Come Out At Night. I love anthologies. They’re a great quick read, especially something spooky right before bed, when I don’t have a lot of time at the end of the day. (Yes, I know I’m weird that way.) Jessica Drake-Thomas wrote Hollow Girls. People disappearing into the woods with a magical element. I’m all over that.

What advice would you give to the next generation of queer horror content creators coming into the horror genre?

Keep writing no matter what. Writing is a compulsion for me. I’ve been doing it since I was six (if you believe my mother). You get better at it over time. Sometimes you ebb and flow from it, but I’ve always come back to a story when it was ripe to write. People love to be scared. Either on roller coasters, in a movie theater, or while reading a book. There will always be room for scary stories to haunt our minds. Find what scares you the most and have the guts to write about it.

Where can folks find you these days?

My website is beckettcoven.com. I have a hunt you can go on and find the spooky locations in Whispers of the Pale Witch, along with a character page and event notifications. You can also find me on Insta, Threads, TikTok, Bluesky, X, Substack, and YouTube @beckettcoven. On Facebook, I started a Beckett Coven Readers group where I’m hoping we can have lively discussions after the first book comes out this September. Good Reads and BookBub are also places you can catch me and my book series.

Shall we begin?

Bio:
Drawn to theater from an early age, S.A. Sizemore began writing professionally while studying
theater arts in college. After producing several plays regionally in Southern California, Sizemore pivoted to the themed entertainment industry. Whispers of the Pale Witch is the first installment of the Beckett Coven series and inspired by Sizemore’s ancestral connection to the Salem Witch Trials. She is a full member of the Dramatists Guild of America, a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, and resides in California with her wife and two dogs, Agatha and Harry.
​
www.beckettcoven.com
@beckettcoven (socials)Whispers of the Pale Witch pre-order link: https://books2read.com/u/4EvXVY
Goodreads: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1432502558353371/