Disability Pride Month Interviews: Meet Corinne Pollard

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

Hello! I’m Corinne Pollard and I’m a UK horror writer of short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. I’ve been published in indie horror for a few years now in over forty anthologies such as with Black Hare Press, Carnage House Publishing, Inky Bones Press, Graveside Press, Three Cousins Publishing, The Ravens Quoth Press and Raven Tale Publishing. I’m a member of the British Fantasy Society which is a great society for the speculative genres and not just fantasy. I write book reviews, articles, and the weekly newsletter for The Horror Tree website. Also I run a creative writing group in my neighborhood, promoting horror as much as possible. 

What drew you to the horror genre?

My writing naturally goes to the dark side of fantasy. I was brought up on fantasy such as Narnia and Lord of the Rings and while I do love my folklore and fairy tales, I love it more when things creep, bump in the night, make you flinch, scream, and disgust you with terrifying gore. I love the paranormal, monsters, gothic, vampires, werewolves, evil witches, ghosts, supernatural, and body horror. You can thank Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Susan Hill and Angela Carter for inspiring and enticing me to the horror. 

What do you find scary within the horror genre?

I’m a scaredy cat so everything in horror scares me haha. My work explores the fantastical that turns into a nightmare, but it’s through this process that the reader can identify their fears. I write cos I too am afraid and I draw upon what I’m scared of. Sometimes this has been my disability, other times the impact by other people. No other genre has such a physical reaction that lingers with you even when you’re stopped reading, and I've always been drawn to that with the desire to achieve it with my writing. 

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

Stay true to the horror you wish to portray. There’s a pressure to conform, to depict characters without disability when you wish to portray disability as well as characters with disability to conform to hurtful stereotypes. Produce your content when you can and not when anyone else says so. Your health comes first no matter what. Lastly, be proud of yourself and your accomplishments. Your voice, mind and creativity matters and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. 

Where can folks find you these days?

You can find me (Corinne Pollard) lurking on Bluesky @corinnepwriter.bsky.social, Instagram & Threads @Corinnepwriter, and my website, corinnepollard.wordpress.com. Also if you wish to keep updated on any horror writing advice, fiction, or what I’m up to on a weekly occurrence, check out The Horror Tree newsletter.   
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Bio:

Corinne Pollard is a disabled UK horror writer and poet, published with Black Hare Press, Carnage House Publishing, Inky Bones Press, Graveside Press, Three Cousins Publishing, The Ravens Quoth Press, Raven Tale Publishing, A Coup of Owls Press, and The Stygian Lepus. Corinne writes reviews and the weekly newsletter for The Horror Tree. Aside from writing, Corinne enjoys metal music, visiting graveyards, and shopping for books to read. Follow her dark world on https://linktr.ee/corinnepollard