PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I don’t think we talk about horror authors enough. There are plenty of things spotlighting filmmakers and directors, actors, even screenwriters, but horror authors are rarely mentioned. I’m a big reader and would love to hear more from these writers who can bring on the nightmares. This is one of the reasons I’m super excited about the new TV series by Philip Gelatt (The Spine of Night), First Word on Horror. This docuseries profiles several popular horror authors as they discuss their writing, relationship with horror, and tidbits about their lives while reading some of their work.
To celebrate the release of the show, I chatted author Elizabeth Hand (A Haunting on the Hill; Hokuloa Road) about how she became a part of the show, why she loves horror, and more!
PopHorror: I am loving the show, First Word on Horror, and your segment was no exception. I’m super excited to talk to you about it today. How were you approached for the series and what made you want to say yes?
Elizabeth Hand: Philip got in touch with me by email and he told me about some of the other writers involved and I just said, “Yeah!” I know all their work and I know Paul and Laird from various conventions, and I’ve met Stephen a couple of times, again on the convention circuit. I’ve read and reviewed Mariana Enriquez’s work although I haven’t met her. So I knew all their work and I knew some of them, and I was like, how cool is this that I have a chance to do something that involves these people? So yeah, I did not think twice. I said yes in a heartbeat.
PopHorror: It is a great selection of just fabulous writers, and I think that we don’t talk about horror writers enough, so I really appreciate you wanting to be a part of this. How did you decide on your short story, The Bacchae, being used in the show?
Elizabeth Hand: I think that was Philip’s suggestion, but it seemed to fit the themes that were emerging during the course of the interview of female rage and pushing back against men, and violence against women. It was also the right length, so I edited it a bit. It was fun to read it. When that first came out, I could not get an American publisher to take it on so David Pringle at Interzone, which is a UK magazine, published it. There were several letters to the editor by male letter writers who were not happy with it, so I felt like okay, my work here is done.
PopHorror: I thought it was a perfect choice! And thank you for sharing with us. You got very personal and candid about your own trauma, and I know that it takes a lot to share something so personal with such a large audience. Thank you for letting us glimpse that side of your life. Something else that really stood out to me was when you were talking about discovering your favorite writers and you said, “Women can do this? Maybe I can do this too!” and I loved that a lot. I wrote it down and I thought, that’s how we should be thinking. It’s not just a man’s thing. That’s something that really stood out to me.
Elizabeth Hand: Thank you!
PopHorror: What is it that draws you back to the horror genre?
Elizabeth Hand: I think for whatever reason; I just tend to skew dark. Even when I was really young, I loved ghost stories, I loved monsters. I have a four-year-old granddaughter who seems to be like that and my daughter says, “Geeze, she takes after you.I don’t know where she gets it from,” because my daughter’s not like that. So, I think that there probably is some kind of odd genetic factor involved. I had a very happy childhood. I didn’t have any dark undercurrents in my childhood whatsoever. But those were the stories that I loved. I loved monster movies. I loved hearing ghost stories, reading ghost stories. From a very early age, I wanted to write ghost stories, and ghost stories, that term encompassed… It was a big umbrella. It covered ghost stories, haunted house stories, horror stories, all kinds of supernatural stories, but also noir. As I got older I fell in love with noir film and then noir fiction. I think it’s just something in my nature. For good or bad – probably for bad – the world continues to provide us with lots of material to draw on for writing dark fiction. There’s no lack of inspiration right now.
PopHorror: Which I love. You said that it’s in your nature but that your daughter isn’t really into it but that your granddaughter is embracing it, which I love to hear. Why do you feel that some people embrace it more than others?
Elizabeth Hand: Well, I don’t know. It’s fun. It’s cool. I wonder why more people don’t. Why doesn’t everybody embrace it? I mean, the goth, the gothic, is something that for hundreds of years has been so influential in style – in fashion, in literature, in art, in film, in music – it’s kind of the gift that goes on giving as far as a mode or a mood for transmitting art. I guess I really truly don’t understand why more people don’t go for it. People tell me, “Yeah, I don’t read scary stuff,” and I’m like, “Really? Why not?” I kind of get it. I don’t exclusively watch scary stuff. I find it hard watching scary movies because what I’ve learned is that the music freaks me out. It really upsets me so I can turn the sound off and then I can watch it. It really doesn’t matter what happens. If there’s heads flying or blood or gore or anything else, then I can watch it but creepy music really upsets me. I guess I understand it. To me, it seems like such a universal part of nature to be drawn to spooky stories. The earliest stories that we have are dark stories and so I was just following that thread.
PopHorror: Thank you, I love that. I have just one last question for you today. What is your favorite scary movie?
Elizabeth Hand: My favorite scary movie… Oh, geeze. That’s a hard question. I’m trying to think, there’s so many. It’s kind of hard to pick one. I think Blade Runner is a really frightening movie, but the original Nosferatu, that’s a beautiful scary movie. Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, that’s a great scary movie because he made it on such a low budget it really harkens back to other ones. I’m trying to think of more recent ones. I really want to see Heretic, the Hugh Grant movie. I haven’t seen that one yet, but I hear it’s supposed to be really good. The original Wicker Man. I love folk horror so anytime there’s a folk horror film I try to check it out. What’s my favorite scary movie? All of them!
Thank you so much to Elizabeth for taking the time to speak with us. First Word on Horror is now on Substack!
