What I’ve learned in my decade in horror is that horror is nowhere near as popular as I’d first imagined. Don’t get me wrong, it has a large, passionate fan base, just not in the same league as, say, thriller or romance.
Dunno if you’ve noticed, but libraries and bookstores (online bookstores, too) don’t always have dedicated horror sections. Too often I’ve had to rummage for horror novels amongst sci-fi and fantasy, or sometimes in general fiction – which isn’t ideal when you want to browse some blurbs and discover an author you’ve not heard of before. It’s like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. On the rare occasion I find a horror section, I always feel saddened to find it’s mostly filled with Stephen King and urban fantasy.
I’m a huge fan of King. But I like variety better. I’m not knocking urban fantasy either, it’s just not what horror readers expect or hope to find on their already-puny shelf space. Not this horror reader, in any case. Sometimes I see Dean Koontz, James Herbert and Graham Masterton alongside King on those shelves. But where are any of the books written by women horror writers? Because contrary to how it often appears, we exist.
I believe social media is crucially important in giving women writers a platform from which to be seen and heard, which is why Women in Horror Month’s hashtag is such a great tool. So please get searching for and sharing some #WiHM posts.
Let’s change things up and give women in horror more shelf space.
And if you have room on your own virtual bookshelf, my novel A Storytelling of Ravens is on promotion this week for 99c / 99p.
AMAZON * KOBO * APPLE * BARNES & NOBLE * GOOGLE PLAY
It’s kind of like if I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! coincided with the apocalypse.
Kidnapped actress, Callie Crossley, wakes up confused in an isolated cabin in the woods. There are two other captive guests. They tell her they’re surrounded by Whispering Woods and there’s no way out and sometimes the trees talk.
When a man from Callie’s past joins the group, Callie begins to hear things the others cannot — terrible whispers that are filled with death and madness.
Who can she trust?
R. H. DIXON 