Pride Month Interviews: Meet Laramie Dean

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.