It’s always been a dream of mine to claim a spot on the table of contents at Apex Magazine. In May 2023 (Issue 138), this dream came true with the publication of my essay “Words Wielded by Women.”
This 8,000 word nonfiction retrospective looks at the horror genre from its early inception and influences to the ground-breaking work being done by contemporary authors and editors including Ellen Datlow, Julie C. Day, Tananarive Due, Paula Guran, Gwendolyn Kiste, EV Knight, Kathe Koja, Lisa Morton, Lee Murray, Lindy Ryan, Angela Slatter, Sara Tantlinger, Ann VanderMeer, and more.
Last summer, when I began digging into the incredible reach of horror and the roles women have played in the development of the genre, I found I had a lot to say about the subject. Over the years, I’ve personally had pushback when it comes to defining my work as horror, especially since I tend to move across traditional genre conventions. Curious to see if this was an anomaly, I reached out to other female writers and quickly discovered that I’m not the only one. So, after three months of research and more than two dozen interviews, I found myself with this massive piece complete with detailed footnotes and an extensive bibliography. Only then did I realize that the resulting essay was much too long to publish in traditional venues. With only the slightest thread of hope, I reached out to the editors at Apex Magazine, and to my immense surprise they decided to take a chance on it, despite its length. I’m so glad they did! You can read the essay in its entirety HERE.
“If you’re a fan of Monster, She Wrote by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson or if you’re looking to fill your TBR pile with more fantastic women horror writers, then this is an essay you won’t want to skip!”—Lesley Conner, Editor, Apex Magazine
In addition to the nonfiction feature article “Words Wielded by Women” at Apex Magazine, I also wrote an academic essay on women’s roles in the genre over the last two decades. In March 2023, “The Future of Horror: Evolution or Revolution?” was published in The Evolution of Horror in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Simon Bacon.
“We don’t have to claim a space,” says award-winning author Kathe Koja. “It belongs to us. It has always belonged to us.”
This fierce generation of women horror writers refuses to be pushed back into the shadows. They write about their hungers, bodies, and desires, and they do so without fear of judgment or recrimination. They will not be erased from the pages of their own stories, nor will they bear the domination of patriarchal conventions and genre constraints. Those times are relics of the past. The future is progress, and women in horror are determined to pave the way.
—Carina Bissett, excerpt from “The Future of Horror: Evolution or Revolution?”
Carina Bissett 