Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.
My name is Jolene Marie Richardson and I am a costume designer, fashion historian and writer. I have costume designed films such as Cannibal Mukbang, Scare Package 2, and assisted on Hell House Lineage, along with a few other horror films. As a historian I’ve been able to take my role as a costume designer and further examine our work through the movies we love. I have a lecture series on various films, and genres and how costume design and history tie into the story telling. I have also written some bylines on costumes in horror for Fangoria. 
 

What drew you to the horror genre?
I’ve always loved Halloween, the idea of dressing up and getting scared was always fun for me. I found horror films through my dad who taught me not to be scared of them, and led me down the rabbit hole of learning how movies were made. Now as an adult I appreciate how the genre allows you to explore your inner emotions, thoughts, feels on small scales of the self and on larger societal scales. The genre brings comfort and allows the catharsis of the moment to be digested easily. It’s a place to come together, to be the outcast is celebrated, and it allows for others to feel heard. 
 

If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend?
As a history nerd I love the podcast After Dark, through the History Hit channel, it explores the dark side of real history. 


When folks look back at the Women in Horror movement of today’s day and age, what do you think the defining characteristic will be?
I hope that they see a group who is fearless in letting their voices be heard. Who has stories to tell and finds a way to tell them. This is a group of women that supports each other, protects one another, and lifts each other up. Cheering each other on from the sidelines. It really is a community of incredible women who are facing the real horrors of the world, with a pen, a camera, or for me safety pins, and creating beautiful humans (and non humans) on screen to comfort those that need it. 


Who are some women in horror you think more people should discover?
Shouting out my friends! Jackie Hughes an incredible makeup artist and my work wife, Aimee Kuge is a brilliant writer and director (Cannibal Mukbang) Sarah Lyons, another incredible writer/director (The Woods), and Molly Henery writer, lover of Werewolves and the feral women who hold up this genre. 
 

Where can folks find you these days?
You can find me on Instagram @JoleneMarie_Designs and that’s where you can see what I’m working on and when my next lectures will be.

Bio:
Jolene Marie Richardson is a costume designer and fashion historian whose work can been seen across theatre and film. Most notably in Cannibal Mukbang, The Last Drive In (S3&4), Scare Package 2, Crybaby Bridge, and Hell House Lineage (ACD). Jolene also has a lecture series on costume design in film that spans across genres, which you can find upcoming lectures through her IG. She also has a few bylines within the pages and online in Fangoria Magazine. 

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.
My name is Christina Bergling, and I am a published horror author and genre enthusiast. I contribute to the genre by creating and promoting. My main creation is, obviously, writing novels, novellas, and short stories. However, I also promote the genre and knowledge about the genre. I write about horror, analyze horror, and speak about horror at conferences and events. Horror is often a misunderstood genre, and sometimes, people need help understanding its place and contribution to media and society. My writing tends to focus on the horror inherent in the people and the real world.

What drew you to the horror genre?
Horror always naturally spoke to me. When I was young, I preferred Halloween and the spooky.  I had a lot of nightmares as a child, so scary and macabre things felt familiar and made me feel more normal. My family never really understood. They always assumed it was some damage or delinquency in me. However, I was drawn to the choice, being able to decide that I wanted to be scared with the knowledge that I would be safe in the end.

If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend?
I obviously have to recommend books. The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage, and Maeve Fly by CJ Leede are three very different horror novels written by women, all of which cracked me open and made a home inside my chest. The Reformatory is blistering historical fiction that weaves supernatural horror with the realities of racism to rival the experience of reading Kindred by Octavia Butler. Baby Teeth exploits the competitive dynamics in a mother-daughter relationship until they are positively terrifying. And Maeve Fly is raw, unhinged girlhood on a rampage. Each of these books is brilliant and mind-changing in their own ways, and I highly recommend them all.

What are some areas of horror you think are under-explored?
I think horror from the female perspective is still underexplored. As well as queer horror and horror from communities other than white men. Some of the most innovative recent horror comes from "new" voices. Movies like Sinners and The Substance broke out of genre cliches, and audiences really responded to them. Horror can live anywhere, and I love seeing the developing trend of exploring it in new places. 

One taboo I have encountered is an avoidance of motherhood horror. Beyond Rosemary's Baby where the mother is victim, I want to see more like Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton where it is the horror (a potentially demonic child, maybe) but also just the horror of motherhood and womanhood. I wrote a post-partum horror short that was challenging to publish, but I think horror is the perfect genre to explore these uncomfortable topics.

What do you find scary within the horror genre?
I find the same things scary within horror than I do in real life. Humans. I think most of society works to soften and hide our darkest natures. Horror flays humanity open and lays us bare in all our monstrosity. Seeing what we are capable of, what humans consistently do to each other, is the most terrifying thing there is.

Who are some women in horror you think more people should discover?
As far as women horror writers, I think people should seek out CJ Leede, Tananarive Due, Zoje Stage, Rachel Harrison, Alma Katsu, Jean-Nicole Rivers, Tatiana Schlote-Bonne, Ania Ahlborn, Lindsey King-Miller, Angela Sylvaine, Marissa Yarrow, and so many more! As far as filmmakers, I really enjoy the work of Coralie Fargeat (Revenge even before The Substance) and Toby Poser (Adams Family Films).

What advice would you give to the next generation of women coming into the horror genre?
Create under your name. Don't feel like you need to obscure your gender under initials or pen names. People need to see you. And create fearlessly. Horror is for breaking boundaries.
 
Where can folks find you these days?
My website is christinabergling.com. 
You can find me on Instagram/Threads @fierypen. 
All my other links are at linktr.ee/chrstnabergling.

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

I’m Hope Madden, horror obsessed lunatic. For the last dozen years, I’ve co-hosted a podcast and live event called Fright Club. We record a top-5 style podcast (best heartbreaks in horror, best feminist high school horror, that kind of thing) at a film center on Ohio State Campus, and then we screen one of the films on the list. That came first, then in 2022, my first horror novella, Roost, came out from Off Limits Press. The same year my first horror short story was published in an anthology, and since then I’ve had close to a dozen short stories and a second novella, Killer Pictures, published.

And in 2022 I also wrote and directed my first feature film, Obstacle Corpse, which is streaming now on Tubi, Prime and other platforms. I’ve also made nine short horror films.
 
What drew you to the horror genre?
I was afraid of everything as a little kid, and I think horror helped me control that fear. It’s a bit like a child re-reading the same children’s book again and again because knowing every word gives them a sense of control in an overwhelming world. Reading and watching horror made me feel better prepared for every scary thing.
 
If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend?
 
It seems obvious, but Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the original novel, for countless reasons. It’s a masterpiece, it’s an endlessly engaging and amazing read, it’s a revolution of science fiction and horror. But for me, also, I eventually came to see it as an account written by a teenage girl who’d given up her family and her life to be recreated by a grown man, in his libertine image; a man who looked no further than creation, and later realized that he had no real interest in her, his creation. In the context of her life and marriage, this aching masterpiece is also the most resonant, timeless, honest depiction of the harm men do that you’ll ever read. Plus, it’s a great story.
 
What positive changes have you seen happening in the horror community and what are some areas the community can still improve?
I think filmmakers like Jane Schoenbrun and writers like Hailey Piper are helping us redefine community and empowerment in horror, because their work is so undeniable and so genuinely new, fresh and necessary that the genre could not help but take notice. Just as a reader and moviegoer, I am overjoyed at seeing and reading stories from perspectives and based in experiences that nobody else has ever offered in 200 years of cinema and eons of literature.

And though I think, especially in literature, the horror genre has been at the forefront of presenting “unlikeable” women as protagonists, we could do better. This is my favorite, favorite thing to read and write. When I think of rejection notifications and less-than-stellar reviews I’ve received, they have almost always lamented the unlikeable main character. I love women who don’t care if you like them. I want to see more of them everywhere.
 
When folks look back at the Women in Horror movement of today’s day and age, what do you think the defining characteristic will be?
Rage. 
 
What advice would you give to the next generation of women coming into the horror genre?
Collaborate a lot and work across platforms. Turn your short story into a podcast script, turn your feature screenplay into a novella, write them simultaneously—the strengths in format and style one medium demands actually brings something to your work in another medium, and the more success you have with one medium the likelier you are to find success for the same project in another medium.
 
Where can folks find you these days?
 
Podcasts and short films are on all the socials at @maddwolfcolumbus and my own writing is at hopemadden.com.

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

I've been reading, playing, and watching horror media since when I was probably too young to be doing so. While I still won't go into basements by myself and definitely will not play with Ouija boards, I have found a love for the genre that can border on being all consuming at times.  When I'm not engaging  in some sort of horror medium, I enjoy hiking (the steeper the trail the better), gardening (bugs are a whole other horror), or doing my day job as a 911 dispatcher.

I wrote a book about women in horror movies which explores whether or not the genre is misogynistic, and how women have shaped horror since the beginning. Lately, I have been focusing on more fiction writing, but I will talk with just about anyone about horror, the different nuances of the genre, and how it reflects our everyday lives.
 
What drew you to the horror genre?

Horror really centers women in a way that you don't always see in other genres.  I also just like being afraid in a "safe" way. At the end of the movie, book, or game, you can go back to living a regular life free of evil clowns and malevolent spirits. Plus, the genre isn't afraid to just do its own thing, which can make it a lot more fun than other genres.
 
If you could recommend one creation of horror that everyone should consume, whether that be a book, podcast, movie, art, etc., what would you recommend?

This might be a cliche, but Alien, one hundred percent. You have a mysterious monster, a well developed cast, and an amazing Final Girl in the shape of Ellen Ripley. It carries several other tropes, such as not believing the woman character, a hidden traitor, and corporate greed as an enemy, and handles them really well. Considering it has only two main areas (the human ship and the alien ship), it has very detailed world building that has led to so much more content. I could go on about this movie forever.
 
What positive changes have you seen happening in the horror community and what are some areas the community can still improve?

Some days I'm so proud of the community because it feels like we are one of the more accepting communities out of the genres. Then there are days when I need to remind myself that it's okay to let people have their (wrong) opinions not based in fact.
 
Who are some women in horror you think more people should discover?

I don't know about discovering, but I'm hoping to see more from Coralie Fargeat and Nia DaCosta.
 
What advice would you give to the next generation of women coming into the horror genre?

Don't be afraid to UNAPOLOGETICALLY be yourself. Don't worry about what everyone else likes or doesn't like. There are going to be other people who enjoy what you do just as much. Try out different subgenres, because you never know what kind of new obsession you might find.  Take up space and make your voice heard.
 
Where can folks find you these days?

You can find me primarily on Instagram at @ModernMonstress. I also have a Threads and TikTok account under that name, but I'm not on those as much as I am Instagram.

Bio:
Kim grew up in the wilds of New York City, only to find greater happiness in the wilds of the Pennsylvania mountains. Being a full time writer will probably always be a dream, but at least it's a good one. She's about to publish her fifth book, an underwater body horror, and is super excited about it. In the meantime, she spends as much time outdoors as possible, and crawling around on the floor in the dark to scare her partner, Kyle. She's also a shark nerd, and thinks she'd survive giving a Great White a nose boop.

Links:
Website
Instagram

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

I am Tiffany Jean Solod, also known as TJ, a lifelong storyteller shaped by a childhood spent moving across cultures and continents due to my father’s U.S. Army career. Living in places like Panama, Germany, and across the American South exposed me early to folklore, mythology, and the darker edges of storytelling that never quite fit into neat, happy endings. My academic background is in English Literature and Education, including a Bachelor’s degree with a focus on Children’s Literature and a Master’s in Secondary English Education, and I spent more than thirteen years teaching literature and writing at the middle school, high school, and college levels.

I was first published in 2023 with Rise of the Wicked: Creation, followed by Rise of the Wicked: Sacrifice in 2024, beginning a trilogy that reimagines classic monsters through a modern, science driven lens. My work blends horror and science fiction with ethical questions, emotional realism, and character driven dread, often exploring what happens when humanity itself becomes the monster. 

Through both my novels and my short fiction collections, I aim to honor the roots of horror while pushing it forward, especially by centering flawed characters, moral ambiguity, and the quiet horrors that linger long after the last page.

What drew you to the horror genre? 

My earliest introduction to horror came through folklore and regional legends tied to the places I lived as a child, particularly during my time in Germany, where fairy tales were cautionary, brutal, and deeply unsettling rather than sanitized. As a young reader, I devoured R.L. Stine, which opened the door to darker stories, and that door fully swung open when my father handed me Watchers by Dean Koontz. Soon after, I was reading Koontz, Stephen King, and anything else I could get my hands on.

The moment horror truly took hold was when I first read Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Studying Mary Shelley and other Romantic and Victorian writers showed me that horror has always been a space for philosophy, grief, morality, and societal critique. To this day, I am most drawn to supernatural horror and classic monsters, though I still appreciate a well executed slasher. Horror, for me, is where fear and empathy meet.

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

I will always champion the classics. With a background in English Literature, I studied the origins and evolution of monsters, and Frankenstein remains foundational not just for horror, but for speculative fiction as a whole. Another personal favorite is Coleridge’s Christabel, which captures uncanny dread, moral ambiguity, and feminine power in ways that still feel unsettling today. These works remind us that horror has always been intellectual, emotional, and deeply human.

What positive changes have you seen happening in the horror community and what are some areas the community can still improve?
 
The increased visibility of women in horror has been a powerful and long overdue shift. More women are writing, publishing, directing, and reshaping the genre across all mediums. That said, there is still room for growth when it comes to recognition. Horror as we know it began with a woman (Shelley), and acknowledging that legacy, both historically and in modern spaces, is essential.

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

I think it will be defined by liberation. Women breaking free from imposed boundaries, refusing to write small or safe stories, and reclaiming a genre that was never meant to exclude us in the first place. There is a sense of authorship and ownership happening now that feels both revolutionary and inevitable.

What are some areas of horror you think are under-explored?
 
Dark fairy tales that operate on an epic scale. Stories that combine myth, horror, and sweeping narratives while retaining emotional intimacy and genuine terror. There is so much untapped potential there.

I am actively planning a story in that realm, and plan to give it my full attention when I finish my Rise of the Wicked trilogy.

What do you find scary within the horror genre?

Possession stories genuinely terrify me, perhaps because they strip away autonomy and identity. Also, clowns. I do not like clowns at all. 

What advice would you give to the next generation of women coming into the horror genre?

Do not wait for permission. Write the stories that unsettle you, even if they do not fit market trends or expectations. Study the roots of the genre, but do not be afraid to dismantle and rebuild them. Horror thrives on honesty, and your perspective is not a weakness, it is the point.

Where can folks find you these days?

Physically, I am in the Charlotte, North Carolina region.

Mentally, that is a terrifying concept. Are you sure you want to know?

Spiritually, you will likely find me haunting a coffee shop or bookstore.

For updates, news, and to purchase my books, you can visit my website.

For a quick guide to purchase links: books2read.com/TJSolod

Bio:
Tiffany Jean Solod (Williams), was born in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, and had a diverse upbringing due to her father's US Army career, living in various locations like Panama, North Carolina, Germany, and Pennsylvania. When her father retired in 1994, her mother, an educator, settled the family in Sanford, North Carolina. After graduating from Lee County Senior High in 2002, TJ initially studied music at Campbell University but left and later transferred to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), graduating in 2011 with a BA in English with a minor focus on Children's Literature and Childhood studies. Later she returned to UNCC and received a Master's degree in Secondary English Education in 2016.

TJ taught for over 13 years in public education. Mostly in English Literature at the high school level, but also taught Middle School ELA as well as college adjunct courses in writing, and college transfer success.

She transitioned to a new role working for a local community college building integrated education training in October of 2024.

TJ has been a writer her entire life, but was first published in 2023 with her first novel, Rise of the Wicked: Creation and went on to publish the sequel in 2024. Her primary genre of writing is Fiction and she prefers to write in the sub-genres of Horror and SciFi, but she also dabbles in other areas as well.

TJ currently lives in the Charlotte NC area with her husband and three children, as well as two dogs and two cats. She loves music, whiskey, wine, good food (especially sushi and tacos), firepit nights, movies, walking and yoga. She also prefers to curl up with a good book and a cup of hot tea and recommends everyone tries it.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you contribute to the horror genre.
 
My name is Sara Fitzgerald. I am new to horror, but I love it, and I’m off to a good start. I won First Place in the horror category in the Eagle Mountain Contest in 2025. I have two pieces in Darkness 102: Advanced Lessons Were Learned. I also have a horror short story in Twisted Tales and another short story coming out this fall in Collective Madness. I’m not quite sure it’s a true horror novel, but I have a terrifying serial killer in the book, Consumed, under my pen name, Vivian Cline.

What drew you to the horror genre?
 
I have always loved horror movies, one of the main things I have in common with my husband. About a year and a half ago, I was feeling stuck with my writing, basically bored. I saw that a nearby university had a horror writing course through continuing education. I liked the instructor, Johnny Worthen, and it was in October, which I thought was fun and scary. That was the start of my horror writing. 

What do you find scary within the horror genre?
 
What I find truly scary is body horror, for example, the movie The Ugly Stepsister. The kind of horror I love is monsters. For example, I loved the new Frankenstein movie on Netflix.
 
Who are some women in horror you think more people should discover?
 
Elizabeth Suggs. Not only is she a brilliant and talented horror writer, but she is also the publisher of Collective Tales Publishing. She creates anthologies with her partner, Jonathan Reddoch, that are truly horrifying. Plus, she is committed to showcasing diverse voices.

Where can folks find you these days?
 
The best way to keep track of me is on my Instagram page, @sarafitzgeraldbooks. If you are interested in my scary serial killer book, my pen name is Vivian Cline, and my novel is Consumed. Instagram page @vivianclineauthor.

Here are some links to my work;
 
Darkness 102: Advanced Lessons Were Learned
Twisted Tales
Consumed by Vivian Cline 

Bio:
Sara Fitzgerald is an award-winning, multi-published author. Sara has won numerous awards. Recently, she won the prestigious Gold Quill Award from the League of Utah Writers in 2025 for her novella Making a Mess of Things and the Silver Quill Award in 2024 for her novella A Kiss for Kate. She won first place in the horror category in the Eagle Mountain Writing Contest in 2025.
​
Sara makes her home in Salt Lake City with her husband, daughter, and their zany American Eskimo dog, Glitter. She loves writing, watercolor painting, and spending time with her family.