Pride Month Interviews: Meet Jes Malitoris

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.