I’ve been wanting to organize an event around Women in Horror Month for some time now. About six weeks ago, I simply decided to just do it. Just in case you didn’t know, women horror writers rule. They have created the most amazing and supportive community I’ve ever had the pleasure to be associated with, and I can’t wait to introduce some of my favorite writing poets, authors, and academics working in the field. This is going to be one hell of a party, folks. Grab your hats!
On Friday, February 14, 2020, the satellite chapter of HWAColorado will be hosting a Bloody Valentine event to celebrate #WomeninHorrorMonth. This event will be held at the Cottonwood Center for the Arts (427 E Colorado Ave, Colorado Springs) from 7-10 pm. This event is free and open to the public.
Fiction is the focus in the main gallery with live and pre-recorded readings by L. C. Barlow, J. A. Campbell, Hillary Dodge, Angie Hodapp, Kate Jonez, Gwendolyn Kiste, DeAnna Knippling, Shannon Lawrence, b.e. Scully, Angie Sylvaine, Sarah Read, and Mercedes Murdock Yardley. In the upstairs theater, the program includes poetry readings by Linda D. Addison, Andrea Blythe, Marge Simon, and Stephanie M. Wytovich. There will also be an academic segment featuring “Mapping the Collective Body of Frankenstein’s Brides” by Carina Bissett, a reading by academic Alex Scully from the anthology Birthing Monsters: Frankenstein’s Cabinet of Curiosities and Cruelties, an excerpt from Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson, and a presentation by the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference co-chair Michele Brittany. Additional programming upstairs is still being finalized.
We have secured more than thirty-seven signed books by award-winning authors and editors nationwide to give away as door prizes. In addition to signed editions featuring all of the presenting authors and academics, a selection of other books collected so far include Uncommon Miracles by Julie C. Day, The Monstrous Feminine: Dark Tales of Dangerous Women published by Scary Dairy Press, Deadmen Walking and Death Doesn’t Bargain by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, The Manufacturer of Sorrow by Michelle Scalise, Fabulous Beasts by Priya Sharma, The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith, Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer, and The Line-up: 20 Provocative Women Writers, edited by Richard Thomas. Other authors and publishers who have committed to sending signed books include Hex Publishers, Lisa Morton, and Jeani Reactor at The Horror ‘Zine. The support for this event has been fabulous, and we’ve been receiving new signed books by authors each week.
To stay updated on this event, please consider Liking our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HWAColoSpgs/) and following us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/CosHorror). You can also indicate your interest in attending on the event link (facebook.com/events/519546195564049/).
Carina Bissett 
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