Join Toni as she talks to her special guest Alice Collins about the bury your gays trope and representation in the horror community.
Welcome to the Ladies of Horror Fiction podcast. I’m yourhost Toni with The Misadventures of a Reader. One of the main purposes of theLOHF has always been to promote diversity in horror every day. June is pridemonth and I have a special guest today we are going to be talking about thebury your gays trope and the inclusiveness of the horror community.
My special guest is Alice Collins who writes the trapped bygender column for Bloody disgusting. The LOHF recently published a guest postby Alice about the use of descriptors and how they define people.
Diversity in Horror
Over the last year or so I have seen the question Why is diversityimportant? If the authors were as good as a,b or c, wouldn’t we be seeing theirwork more often. Why do we need to have x,y and z characters in horror novels?The answer to this question is complex and I am not sure I am really qualifiedto give an answer. But I will tell you my thoughts.
Humans have the shared experience of being human. However, thereis more to a human’s life experience then just being human. They love, work andlive their day to day lives. Each person’s experience valid and offers a newand different perspective on the shared human experience. This is why diversityin any genre is so important. As a reader when you read a book that is written adiverse author you are getting a story that is told from a perspective that isdifferent than your own. Readers can learn something from that other perspectivethat may not have occurred to them before.
Diversity also allows a genre to grow and evolve. When thereare varied voices the genre itself will grow. Diversity will bring new readersto the genre. A reader who may not necessarily been a fan of horror may pick upa book and continue to read in the genre. This will allow more people to come tothe genre. Thus, in turn growing the reader base. Really a simple concept whenyou think about it. The evolution of the genre will allow for more interestingreading, more concepts to play with and mesh together. How could this not befor the betterment of the genre? Personally, it is a win/win all the wayaround.
The last point where diversity is very important is that of recognitionof yourself. For a long time in the horror genre to see a woman would be to seea victim. A victim who had been raped, tortured and put through some of the ghastliestthings imaginable. However, this ischanging slowly. It is important for people to see themselves in the storiesthat they are reading. When you see someone like yourself in popular media thenyou have a feeling of belonging. Not the feeling of otherness that oftenaccompanies being different than the majority in a genre.
These are only my thoughts on diversity in horror. Lets keephorror inclusive and evolving for everyone.
If you would like more information about Alice’s article regarding the bury your gay’s trope can be found on Films and Fishnets by clicking here. The movies that Alice and I talked about on the podcast are listed in the article as well as her sources. If you would like to know more about Alice please check out her guest post on the LOHF site.
LOHF Pride Month Recommendations
- Danvars: The Reckoning by Rebecca McNutt
- Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
- The Bloody Mary Series by Hillary Monahan
- Grave Matter by Juno Dawson
- City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
- Fist of the Spider Woman edited by Amber Dawn
- F4 by Larissa Elaine Glasser
- The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
- The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R Kiernan
- Devil’s Call by J. Danielle Dorn
Em and Alex’s #pridehorrorthon goodreads group.
What I am currently reading
New Music for Old Rituals by Tracy Fahey
Synopsis: New Music for Old Rituals brings together a selectionof stories that illustrate the pervasive power of the past in the present.Together they present a strange yet familiar country where cautionary talesstill server a purpose: Where sacred sites of sea and forest, valley and fortshold power. Where old legends live and where new myths are born within thesepages. Bog bodies sleep, contagion rages, ancient rituals are enacted. Battles arefought, ghosts linger and time stutters. Fails and turns back on itself.
Diabhal By Kathleen Kaufman
Synopsis: Ceit Robertson, age ten, is the next Matrarc to the society, a cultish matriarchal group living in an inconspicuous cul-de-sac in Venice beach. When Ceit’s mother is attacked by spirits from the old world a failed exorcism results in Ceit’s exile into the foster care system in Los Angeles. She eventually lands in the infamous MacLaren Hall, a very real and historically auspicious center for the disturbed and abandoned children in El Monte, CA. Diabhal is the sympathetic story of the devil in Los Angeles. The exploration of the true nature of evil and how intention colors what our definition of wickedness truly is. Ceit grows into a force of nature, as she contains the potential and the mythology of the darkest degree but discovers that perhaps the devil is not what we should truly fear. Diabhal releases October 29th just in time for Halloween.
New Releases for June
- Five Midnights | Ann Davila Cardinal | June 4
- Haunted,The | Danielle Vega |June 4
- This House of Wounds | Georgina Bruce | June 4
- DeepRoots (The InnsmouthLegacy #2) | Ruthanna Emrys | June 11
- Teeth in the Mist | Dawn Kurtagich | June 11
- Hungry Ghost, The | Dalena Storm | June 11
- Poison Thread, The | Laura Purcell | June 18
- When I Arrived At The Castle | Emily Carroll | June 19
- Howl | Renee Miller | June 27
- In the Shadow of Spindrift House | Mira Grant | June 30
The release that I am most looking forward to this month I WhenI arrived at The Castle By Emily Carroll and here is the synopsis:
“A castle, a killer, and prey all boundand blurred by lust and blood.”
Like many before her that have never come back,she’s made it to the Countess’ castle determined to snuff out the horror, butshe could never be prepared for what hides within its turrets; what unfurlsunder its fluttering flags.
LOHF Community News
This month is Pride month. Make sure that you check out someof the amazing guest posts that we have for the month!!
LOHF Presents stories of horror is taking submissions forJuly. The theme of the month is Creature!! Make sure that you get yoursubmissions into LOHFPod@gmail.combefore July 1st.
Laurie has started our very own good reads group. Make surethat you join so that you can stay up on read alongs and our current reads.
We are now on Facebook as well. So make sure that you connectwith us there as well.
Horror Community News
Gingernuts of Horror has put together a horror blogger tribewith a badge. If you are a horror blogger make sure that you join the horrorblogger tribe.
If you would like to reach out to the LOHFpodcast, our emailaddress is LOHFPod@gmail.com. We would love to hear about new releases, news inthe community, and suggestions for the podcast. You can find out more about themembers of the Ladies of Horror Fiction via our website at www.ladiesofhorrorfiction.com.
The music for this episode is from Nicolas Gasparini atthedarkpiano.com
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