Chilling Chat: Episode #215 – Sumiko Saulson

Sumiko Saulson is an award-winning author of Afrosurrealist and multicultural sci-fi and horror. Zhe is the editor of the anthologies and collections Black Magic Women, Scry of Lust, Black Celebration, and Wickedly Abled. Zhe is the winner of the 2016 HWA StokerCon “Scholarship from Hell”, 2017 BCC Voice “Reframing the Other” contest, and 2018 AWW “Afrosurrealist Writer Award.”
Zhe has an AA in English from Berkeley City College, and writes a column called “Writing While Black” for a national Black Newspaper, the San Francisco Bay View.

NTK: How old were you when you discovered horror?

SS: Both of my parents were huge horror fans. They played horror movies and television programs in the home when I was a kid. My mom got mad at my dad for taking her to see Rosemary’s Baby when she was eight months pregnant with me. Her favorite TV series was Dark Shadows, and she watched it all the time when she was pregnant with me, and when I was an infant. I remember seeing It’s Alive at the drive-in theater when I was five. My brother and I saw a lot of old seventies horror classics as little children, so it started very early for me.

NTK: Who was the first horror character you felt represented you, the one you could identify with the most?

SS: Without a doubt, Kevin Foree is Peter in the original 1978 Dawn of the Dead movie. That was the first horror film I saw with an African American protagonist. I was very excited and rooted for him. Afterward, my dad tried to show me the original Night of the Living Dead starring Duane Jones as Ben, but I just found it depressing. He fights through all of the zombies only to be more or less racially profiled and killed at the end. I preferred the triumphant, action-hero-like Peter. I imagine that the scene where he contemplates suicide, then decides to go for it and try to escape, is a nod to the first movie.

NTK: Who is your favorite horror author?

SS: When I was 10, I read my first horror novel, which was Peter Straub’s, Ghost Story. This lead to me reading Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Talisman when I was 12, which lead to a more or less lifetime love of Stephen King. However, LA Banks and Christopher Rice have both usurped his title since. I do not currently have a favorite horror author. Over the past four years, I have had a series of deaths of family members and close friends, and my concentration has become too poor for pleasure reading. I have stuck with assigned readings, which, when I was in college a couple of years ago, lead to an increase in my already large collection of owned and read Toni Morrison novels. I still believe that Sula and Beloved both belong in the annals of horror and perhaps The Bluest Eye as well.

NTK: What is your favorite horror novel?

SS: The Stand. Heh. I feel so basic right now.

NTK: What inspired your story, “My Clockwork Valentine?”

SS: In addition to the obvious Alice in Wonderland themes, Clockwork Valentine is very heavily inspired by my adolescent love for Edgar Allen Poe. Blanche Lapin—literally, White Rabbit in French—is being stalked through a gruesome ball that has very obvious nods to Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death.” There is also a pretty obvious nod to “A Tell-Tale Heart” you will undoubtedly notice. And the names of the characters are all French names inspired by Alice in Wonderland characters. It was really fun mixing the two mythologies together, in order to come up with a wholly original piece. But I think that in terms of tone, it’s very much an homage and a love letter to my early horror influence, Edgar Allen Poe.

NTK: As a person of color, how has your experience in the horror writing community been?

SS: It’s been a mixed bag, although there have been a lot of good experiences. I find that the African American and African Diaspora speculative fiction communities – that is, Black Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Weird, Horror, etc.. writers are very supportive of one another. Women in Horror are also very supportive of each other. And there are a lot of allies. But there are definitely glass ceilings in mainstream horror, and the old boy’s club gets resentful when people break through them or try to shake things up. There are still far too many people who believe that only a middle-aged white cisgender heterosexual man is qualified to write horror.

NTK: You are the Social Media Manager for the Horror Writers Association. What would you like Horror Addicts to know about this organization? How does it benefit horror writers? 

SS: As you probably have noticed, since I came on board, the Horror Writers Association’s blog and social media are afire with various ways to showcase, highlight, and promote not only our own writers but writers throughout the horror community. But Halloween Haunts, Summer Scares, and other series specifically highlight the works of members. Additionally, you can post to our calendar, to our email bulletin Quickbites (which nonmembers can subscribe to but only members can promote in), our online calendar, and more! There are local chapters where you can get a lot of support. For example, my local chapter, the San Francisco Bay Area chapter, has a booth every year at the Bay Area Book Festival. It’s a professional association for horror writers, best known for the annual StokerCon, where people can receive the prestigious Bram Stoker Award. Being in a room with so many other horror writers from around the country and around the world is truly invigorating, and an awesome opportunity to network.

NTK: You also received the Richard Laymon President’s Award for Service at the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards. What was it like to be presented with this honor?

SS: It was very exciting and also deeply touching to receive the award. It was an open acknowledgment of all of the work I have put in to make sure that the HWA is inviting to people of all cultures, marginalized groups, ethnic and racial identities, and members of the LGBTQ community, by putting together a series of diversity celebrating interviews. Those interviews are now spreading out to other groups, as people are inspired! So we will have a member spotlight coming up soon, as well as a series highlighting Veterans, and we recently had a Mental Health initiative. None of those were done by me, but I feel that by spearheading the Pride interview series—the first of its kind—last year—I got the ball rolling. And this also brings a lot of fresh new content to our social media and our blog. Anyway, it was nice being acknowledged.

NTK: What does the future hold for you? What works do Horror Addicts have to look forward to?

SS: Somnalia: The Metamorphoses of Flynn Keahi will be coming out on Mocha Memoirs Press next year. I have a short story in an anthology called In Trouble, edited by EF Schrader, which is going to raise money for Planned Parenthood, coming out next year, and a story in Blerdrotica 2: Couples Therapy, edited by Penelope Flynn. Both of those stories center on LGBTQ characters, specifically trans people of color. And I have an essay in Joe Vallese’s exciting It Came From The Closet: Queer Reflections on Cinema coming out later this year. I just came out with a book of poetry, The Rat King. Oh! And last year’s collection of poetry and short stories, Within Me Without Me, recently won the Ladies of Horror Reader’s Choice Award!

Addicts, you can find Sumiko on Facebook, Twitter, and Tik-Tok as @sumikoska. Zhe can be found on Instagram as @sumikosaulson.

Chilling Chat: Episode #204 – Comika Hartford

Comika began her career writing and performing at the historic LORRAINE HANSBERRY THEATER in her hometown of San Francisco with Rhodessa Jones’ award-winning company Cultural Odyssey before graduating from Emerson College in Boston. She’s a co-producer of the LGBTQ series DYKE CENTRAL *available on Amazon Prime* the horror/sci-fi podcast DOMESTICATED and is co-founder of DOPE SISTA magazine out of Atlanta. As a life-long fan of cutting edge episodic television she went on to win the IndieFEST Award for Excellence, The Independent Shorts Awards Platinum Award, Top Shorts Best Web Series and the Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival Best New Media Award for her original web series THE GREY AREA as well as Best Plot Twist from The Horror Bowl Awards and best horror short at the Phoenix Monthly Film Festival for her thriller anthology pilot HINTERLAND ZOO, Episode 1.

 NTK: Welcome to Chilling Chat, Comika! When did you first discover horror and what got you interested in it?

CH: Well, it was actually an accident, I got my mom’s friend to let me watch Jaws when I was five and I was so traumatized that I could only take shallow baths for months! Years later, I was fascinated by the bts shots of the production, once I saw it was all pretend the drama and power of the storytelling had me. Been a horror weirdo ever since!

NTK: What is your favorite horror movie and why? 

CH: I’ll always love Alien and not just because I share a birthday with our queen Sigourney Weaver, but I’m loving the psychological gutting of Squid Game. (I know it’s not a movie…but it kinda is!)

NTK: What is your favorite horror television show and why? 

CH: I’m loving Two Sentence Horror series, Melody Cooper is killing it! 

NTK: What is your favorite horror novel and why? 

CH: Oooh… Gonna have to go with Le Fanu’s Carmilla, it’s so deliciously bisexual.

NTK: How is acting in horror different from acting in a drama?  

CH: It isn’t. By that I mean it’s still making the unreal feel real. However, the supernatural elements create stakes that are radically different than other genres and that’s why we all love heavy hitters like Toni Colette or Colman Domingo. They bring their bloody guts and soul to the work.

NTK: Which do you enjoy most? Producing, directing, acting, or writing? 

CH: Ah, I’m really just a creepy writer lurking by a shrubbery. In a Michael Myers mask. 

NTK: Love it! As an LGBTQ woman of color, what do you enjoy most about the horror community? 

CH: Elvira. *smiles in fangirl*

NTK: As a fan of The Twilight Zone, what do you think of the new reboot with Jordan Peele? 

CH: Ah-Mazing! I think Serling would be proud, he was all about social commentary. His screenplay Seven Days in May is very timely after the Capitol riot. 

NTK: What is the one question you wish an interviewer to ask you? And what is the answer to that question?

CH: Q: Are you really a witch, or are you just joking?

        A: *quietly strokes the toad in my purse*

NTK: (Laughs.) That’s great. When you’re writing and you create a character, does that character have free will? Or do you control everything they do? 

CH: They literally lead me around. I’m just following their footsteps to the ending.

NTK: What piece of advice do you have for the up-and-coming horror creative?

CH: Write that shit. Edit later. Nothing comes out perfect. So. Write. That. Shit. 

NTK: What does the future hold for you? What works do Horror Addicts have to look forward to?

CH: My micro episode horror series The Interview will be on the Rizzle App later this year & my award-winning web series The Grey Area is on the Paraflixx platform. I have some larger things coming up in 2022 that I can’t share yet… But soon. Sooooon! *pets toad again witchily*

NTK: Thank you for chatting with us, Comika!

CH: Thank you!

#HauntsandHellions: The Inspiration Behind “The House Must Fall.”

The Inspiration Behind “The House Must Fall.”

By R.L. Merrill

“The House Must Fall” was inspired by my love of all things Edgar Allan Poe, specifically the “House of Usher.” I absolutely loved the story and the Vincent Price film. I thought a gay retelling of the tale would be delightful. I strayed a bit from the original, but I’d like to think Eddie would approve. I love local Bay Area history, so when I was looking for a location, I came across the magnificently macabre-looking Millbrae Mansion, which sadly burned down in the mid-1950s. The opening to the story has our hero Sterling Mackey, heir to the Mackey family out of Virginia City, Nevada, traveling across the fog-covered San Francisco Bay and up a steep slope toward a menacing manor cut into the peninsula hillside. Once I had that picture in my mind, the words poured out.

The romance between the doomed Montgomery and the determined Sterling tugged at my heartstrings, and I don’t think I’m done writing about them. I pictured these two university men with more money than they could spend in a lifetime, enjoying the lavish lifestyle provided by California’s Gold Rush…how much mischief—and trouble—they could get into, and yet their love is strong despite the fact society would not approve.

I’m grateful to HorrorAddicts.net Press for giving me the chance to share this tale of longing and dread with you and I can’t wait to dive back into my incredible state’s history to write more horror stories. If you like “The House Must Fall,” be sure to check out the Gone With The Dead anthology for my story “A Piece Of Him,” the Dark Divinations anthology for “Breaking Bread,” as well as my shared-world story “The Fourth Man” in The Banes of Lake’s Crossing collection.

R.L. Merrill brings you stories of Hope, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll featuring quirky and relatable characters. Whether she’s writing contemporary, paranormal, or supernatural, she loves to give readers a shiver with compelling stories that will stay with you long after. You can find her connecting with readers on social media, educating America’s youth, raising two brilliant teenagers, writing horror-infused music reviews for HorrorAddicts.net, trying desperately to get that back piece finished in the tattoo chair, or headbanging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area! Stay Tuned for more Rock ‘n’ Romance.          

Chilling Chat: Haunts & Hellions – Emily Blue

Emily Blue is a ghostwriter and top-rated freelancer on Upwork.com. She pens sickly-sweet romance novels so she can afford to buy food for her pet parrot (and overlord.) When not writing, she collects craft materials and occasionally uses them.

She has stories published in A Room is Locked: An Anthology, Volume 1 of The Monsters We Forgot anthology, and Clockwork Dragons.

Her story, “Lady of Graywing Manor,” appears in Haunts & Hellions: A Gothic Romance Anthology. 

NTK: How did you become interested in Gothic Literature?

EB: Fantasy was, and always will be, my first love as a writer, but gothic stories hold a special place in my heart. I’ve always liked horror, darkness, mysteries, moody atmospheres, basically everything that defines the feeling of the genre. But it’s the human element that interests me most. What drives people? What motivates them? How do they react in a situation and why? Can they adapt? Or not? How far can a person be pushed? I always want the answers to those questions and gothic literature creates perfect opportunities to ask them.

NTK: How do you define “romance”?

EB: Romance is a feeling that runs deeper than the purely physical. It’s more than lusting, though it is a desire. It’s an action, a reaction, a mood, a situation. But that could mean anything to anyone. To me, if you strip romance of all its meat and tendon and gristle, down to the skeleton, it is a willingness to do something that doesn’t have to be done.

You don’t have to stop and watch the sunset. You don’t have to kiss and look into the eyes of someone else. But you want to. For you, and for them, you want that. So, you do it. And that’s romance.

NTK: What is your favorite Gothic horror story?

EB: It’s a little stereotypical, but I’ve always enjoyed Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. My favorite story from Poe is “The Masque of the Red Death.” I’m really into plague stories and apocalyptic fiction and “The Masque of the Red Death” hits all the right notes for me, as well as being beautifully descriptive.

And my favorite story from Lovecraft is “The Outsider” because I am also a wretched creature who occasionally leaves my dwelling to seek out human contact.

NTK: Do you have a favorite Gothic horror movie? What attracted you to this film?

EB: I’d have to say The Woman in Black really made an impression on me when I saw it in theaters. My mom and I like to go see horror movies together. The movie theater setting really, really enhances a good horror film. The Woman in Black just hits you and keeps hitting you, and the scenes in the marsh… You should go watch it if you haven’t. Watch it on the biggest screen you can get. Turn the lights off, too.

NTK: Are your characters based on real people?

EB: Not for this story, no.

NTK: Do you use an outline to write? Or do you write by the seat of your pants? 

EB: For short stories, I often write out the series of events before I go to write the story. Not always, but pretty often. I had to, and wanted to, do research for this story. A lot of that didn’t make it into the story, but that wasn’t what it was for. Knowing the technology of the time and how life went for the average person helps to create a framework for the story, potentially influencing the decisions the characters make. You probably can’t just flip a switch to turn on the lights if electricity wasn’t a common household commodity, and you can’t use matches to light a lantern if matches weren’t on the market yet. Small things, small details, which really are important.

NTK: Do your characters have free will? Or do you decide their fate?

EB: Sometimes they have free will. But Clara and Freesia did exactly what I expected them to.

NTK: What are you most afraid of?

EB: The ocean. Whales. Being alone. Being alone in the ocean with a whale.

NTK: What is your favorite romance?

EB: Does my own relationship qualify?

NTK: Who is your favorite horror author?

EB: Some of Stephen King’s work resonates with me no matter how often I read it. I also like H. P. Lovecraft, Harlan Ellison, Edgar Allan Poe, and Robert McCammon, among others. I could never pick just one when I like so many different aspects of each.

NTK: What does the future hold for you? What books, short stories, or works do Horror Addicts have to look forward to? 

EB: I don’t know what the future has in store for me. My current project is a titled Reeds Don’t Break, a novel about loss, love, antique stores, and lake spirits. I’m in the process of editing. No idea when it will be done. I’m not rushing it. It’s too special to me for that.

Addicts, you can find Emily on Amazon and Twitter.

Chilling Chat: Haunts & Hellions – R.L. Merrill

R.L. Merrill brings you stories of Hope, Love, and Rock ‘n’ Roll featuring quirky and relatable characters. Whether she’s writing contemporary, paranormal, or supernatural, she loves to give readers a shiver with compelling stories that will stay with you long after. You can find her connecting with readers on social media, educating America’s youth, raising two brilliant teenagers, writing horror-infused music reviews for HorrorAddicts.net, trying desperately to get that back piece finished in the tattoo chair, or headbanging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area! Stay Tuned for more Rock ‘n’ Romance.

Her story, “The House Must Fall,” appears in Haunts and Hellions: A Gothic Romance Anthology.        

 NTK: How did you become interested in Gothic Literature?

RLM: The moment I learned a woman named Mary Shelley created Frankenstein’s Monster. Or when I watched Vincent Price in the House of Usher. Or when I read a YA mystery (still trying to find this book as I forgot the title) about a young woman determined to learn the dark secrets about the Bronte sisters on the misty moors. Edgar Allan Poe is my literary hero, vampires are real, and someday I will live in a house with a secret passage.

NTK: How do you define “romance”?

RLM: Romance has two distinct meanings for me. I write romance novels, which are about the journey between lovers and must have a Happily Ever After (HEA) or a Happily For Now (HFN) ending. But romance, generally, is about channeling wants and desires and yearning for another. Romance is how we express our love of another, and there are many flavors of romance. I love it all, from the sticky sweet to the creepy dark. It’s what makes the world go round, am I right?

NTK: What is your favorite Gothic horror story?

RLM: I’d have to say Frankenstein, followed closely by Dracula, but I’m also a huge fan of Poe’s stories such as “Ligeia” and “House of Usher,” not to mention “The Raven,” which is my favorite.

NTK: Do you have a favorite Gothic horror movie? What attracted you to this film?

RLM: The Legacy, 1978. It stars Katherine Ross and Sam Elliot as Americans drawn into the bloody family history of a mysterious man in England. It’s gorgeous—of course I’m talking about the house and the cinematography and not the young real-life couple and Sam Elliot shirtless—and it’s creepy and it will suck you in until the end.

NTK: Are your characters based on real people?

RLM: Not the human characters, but I modeled Mercer Manor on the real-life Millbrae Mansion, which sadly burned down in the mid-1900s. It was an incredible home, elaborate and mysterious in 1800s California history. Someday, I will at least go to visit the site where it was located. I also did research on the founding of the University of California, Berkeley, and I can’t wait to go back and walk the paths that Montgomery and Sterling would have passed as some of the first students of the new school.

NTK: Do you use an outline to write? Or do you write by the seat of your pants?

RLM: I’m a plotser. I tend to write a synopsis now, but much of the story is organic and comes to me as I write.

NTK: Do your characters have free will? Or do you decide their fate?

RLM: It’s interesting you ask this, because I’d say fate plays a huge role in both my contemporary and paranormal romances as well as my horror tales. I’ll let readers be the judge.

NTK: What are you most afraid of?

RLM: Kids. My own children in peril, but also elementary-aged kids.

I also have this recurring nightmare. I’m in a dark club and I’m watching a comedian, and for some reason he targets me. And then he’s coming down off the stage and he’s saying horrible, awful things about me, to me, and he keeps getting closer and closer, and the rest of the crowd joins in laughing at me until they’re all crowded around me, sucking all of the oxygen out of the room, and they’re pressing in on me and laughing while I scream and tuck into a ball and then they’ve devoured me.

And zombies.

NTK: What is your favorite romance?

RLM: The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, which I’d describe as a gothic romance. Rowan and Michael have a love for the ages. Also, in contemporary, Then the Stars Fall by Brandon Witt is incredibly beautiful. I’d also have to include the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. I recently watched the show and remembered how much I loved their romance.

NTK: Who is your favorite horror author?

RLM: I cut my teeth on Stephen King and then discovered Anne Rice. Their stories changed my life and when I decided to start writing, I kept their stories and the feelings I got from them in the back of my mind and I tell myself someday I want to write books that leave readers with similar feelings.

NTK: What does the future hold for you? What books, short stories, or works do Horror Addicts have to look forward to?

RLM: June will bring a contemporary LGBTQ romance as part of the Love Is All charity anthology. August will see the release of my M/F contemporary romance, More Than a Spanish Tour, which is based on my 2018 trip to Spain. In September, I will release the follow-up to last year’s supernatural suspense Healer, called Connection. Horror Addicts just might dig this series because while there’s romance, there’s also a boarding school full of child victims of trauma who have been gifted with unimaginable powers and an evil megalomaniac hell-bent on revenge. I’ve got a revenge tale as part of the Wicked Intentions anthology in October as well as a new funny paranormal romance tale in the Magic and Mayhem Universe. So yeah, the rest of this year will be super busy, but I can’t wait to get these stories into the hands of readers!

Addicts, you can find R.L. on Amazon, Twitter, and Instagram.

Chilling Chat: Haunts & Hellions – N.C. Northcott

Author N.C. Northcott was born in London and now resides on a plateau near a river with two cats and Yorkshire Terrier. They love writing urban and historical fantasy but also dabble in horror, steampunk, science fiction, mystery/thriller and romantic comedy. An avid photographer who also dabbles in painting and procrastination, their next project is an urban fantasy about a transgender sorceress set in modern-day America, near Boston. As they just invested in a magical electric bread maker, there will be somewhat less writing and considerably more sandwiches in their future.

Their story, “The Siren and Bowery Jack” appears in Haunts & Hellions: A Gothic Romance Anthology.

NTK: How did you become interested in Gothic Literature?

NCN: I read Dracula when I was younger.

NTK: How do you define “romance”?

NCN: Where love is a primary motivator of the story, not just some side gig for the heroine.

NTK: What is your favorite Gothic horror story?

NCN: Dracula.

NTK: Do you have a favorite Gothic horror movie? What attracted you to this film?

NCN: The Others with Nicole Kidman. It has a cool (though obvious) twist and isn’t too shock-and-guts in terms of its horror.

NTK: Are your characters based on real people?

NCN: The protagonists… no. But some of the other characters were real people, historically.

NTK: Do you use an outline to write? Or do you write by the seat of your pants?

NCN: Yes. I have used an outline with great success but now tend to write a list of scenic/plot needs and then write from the seat of my pants. An excellent book for people like me is Take Your Pants Off by Libby Hawker. Reading it changed how I write, for the better.

NTK: Do your characters have free will? Or do you decide their fate?

NCN: In this story they have free will in the moments, but because the story had to go somewhere specific, I was the puppet master all the way. That’s not always the case with my novels. A key villain in my current WIP suddenly became a heroine and I had to change her name and back story.

NTK: What are you most afraid of?

NCN: Losing my animals (two cats and a dog) and my home.

NTK: What is your favorite romance?

NCN:  Movie: You’ve Got Mail. Novel: Replay by Ken Grimwood.

NTK: Who is your favorite horror author?

NCN: Stephen King or Dean Koontz.

NTK: What does the future hold for you? What books, short stories, or works do Horror Addicts have to look forward to?

NCN: So so much! I just finished draft two of an urban fantasy set in Boston, am editing my rom-com set in Toronto, am researching a scifi ecothriller set on another planet, my agent is trying to find homes for one scifi novel, one literary thriller, and one mystery series. Oh, and I applied to go to the moon on SpaceX’s Starship in 2023 with Yusaka Maezawa. Dream big or stay home!

#HauntsandHellions: The Inspiration Behind “The Siren and Bowery Jack.”

The The Inspiration Behind “The Siren and Bowery Jack.”

By N.C. Northcott

“The Siren and Bowery Jack” was inspired by the long history of misogyny and male violence against women and my desire to speak out against it. I wanted to write a steampunk love story about a literal monster/creature who wasn’t in fact the true monster of the story. I also wanted a VERY strong woman whose powers were underestimated by the men around her, a woman (like all women back then) who was seen as nothing more than a disposable tool by the users and violators who ran the world in New York in the late 19^th century.

I don’t believe fiction should have happy endings for the villains. No trials, no sneaky lawyers, no redemption. Their ending should be as dark and violent as their lives and their actions. Eye-for-an-eye stuff. I want the reader to fist pump when they read the end of my story, to be terrified for the protagonist all along, but then to cheer when the antagonist meets their end. Of course, the reader should also feel guilty for feeling that way, because we’re not supposed to be happy when a person is punished without due process and proper legal representation. Maybe sometimes evil should be eradicated. In fiction we can do that.

With regards to the romance, I wanted a love so strong that it transcended species, with a mythological creature/monster loved so much by a human who didn’t care about their differences. Of course, my heroine is humanoid, so the relationship breaks fewer taboos. I’m not ready to write a minotaur/human love story, yet.

Writing and researching this story has now inspired me to plan and plot an entire novel about 19^th century human trafficking in the tenements of New York City.

Author N.C. Northcott (they/them) was born in London and now resides on a plateau near a river with two cats and Yorkshire Terrier. They love writing urban and historical fantasy but also dabble in horror, steampunk, science fiction, mystery/thriller and romantic comedy. An avid photographer who also dabbles in painting and procrastination, their next project is an urban fantasy about a transgender sorceress set in modern-day America, near Boston. As they just invested in a magical electric bread maker, there will be somewhat less writing and considerably more sandwiches in their future.

Kbatz Krafts: Love is Love Skeleton Wreath

I was going to wait and do this project as a morose February Valentine, but after my His and Hers Three Dimensional Skeleton Frames, I was too excited about this Love is Love Skeleton Wreath!

Despite dollar store skeletons in hand, part of the delay here was originally seeking an oval frame – two skeletons, a few roses, an ornate black surround, goth splendor, fin. However, new thrift frames went to the latest additions in the Lenticular Gallery, and the large wreath frame dismissed from the Mini Skeleton Wreath now took center stage. The floral stash provided red flowers, purple pop, and black leaves, but when I came upon my feathers drawer, I knew this was destined for rainbow flair! The black elements were ditched in favor of green leaves and green feathers stolen from a St. Patrick’s Day boa to go with the abundant orange, yellow, blue, and light purple feathers. Wrapping the frame in red tulle also found in the craft stash provided a solid base for hot gluing the red flowers and green leaves around the top half of the frame. Next came the skeleton couple, who were surprisingly cumbersome folks! The legs were removed, but an arm on either one was also displaced so their rib cages and skulls could be glued together. Without so much surface area on their little bones, it took a lot of hot glue pressed and held in place until the skeletons set. Rather than distinct hair or hat, this hugging, universal, eternal couple was glued as is to the bottom of the wreath with their arms bent and glued in place for more love and support.

The rainbow spread was arraigned and laid out before the purple flowers were glued along the bottom to finish the frame coverage and hide the skeletal ends. Working from their center across helped keep the assorted blooms semi-symmetrical before the orange, yellow, blue, green, and light purple feathers filled in the gaps. The red flowers already stood out with goth glam, leaving no need for red feathers, but the two different purplish shades became the requisite indigo and violet. Being one who prefers black or dark aesthetics, I didn’t have more colorful rainbow motifs, but that’s okay. Using what was in the craft stash required more outside the box thinking, and by eliminating black accents that would scream Halloween, this colorful goth décor can be hung up for fall, February, or Pride. At $3 for the frame and skeletons and maybe $7 worth counting flowers and feathers cost, this done in a day whimsical wreath is affordable, unique, sentimental, and fabulous!

Revisit more Kbatz Krafts including:

Re-Purposed Black Topiaries

Drab to Glam Lampshades

DIY Flower Pens

Upgrading Masquerade Masks

For more Project Photos, Follow Kbatz Krafts on Facebook! 

Chilling Chat: Episode #185 – Kathrin Hutson

International Bestselling Author Kathrin Hutson has been writing Dark Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and LGBTQ Speculative Fiction since 2000. With her wildly messed-up heroes, excruciating circumstances, impossible decisions, and Happily Never Afters, she’s a firm believer in piling on the intense action, showing a little character skin, and never skimping on violent means to bloody ends. Kathrin is an active member of SFWA and HWA and lives in Colorado with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. 

Kathrin is a lady of incredible strength and humor. We discussed characters, inner demons, and real-life horror.

NTK: Welcome to Chilling Chat, Kathrin! Thank you for joining me today.

KH: Thanks for having me, Naching!

NTK: How old were you when you became interested in the darker side of things?

KH: I was ten. It probably started before that, but I’m not sure I can remember much before then.

NTK: What got you interested?

KH: I think the interest first came about as a way to process and orient myself within some fairly heavy changes in my life at the time. When I started reading and writing dark fiction and horror, my parents were going through a divorce that… well, we’ll just say it wasn’t exactly pretty. I’d just moved up to a log cabin in Pine Junction, Colorado, which was where my dad lived for years after that. I was isolated from friends (the few I had) and far removed from school and really any other kids. I don’t know if I can say exactly why, but going through my own darkness and “ten-year-old horror” made me turn not to the happier, fluffier side of fiction but to the complete opposite. I also went to a Catholic elementary school at the time, which also wasn’t very pretty. And I managed to sneak It by Stephen King into the school in my backpack and read that thing every chance I got.

I think it was more of an escape from my own life at the time and all the things I didn’t want to think about as a ten-year-old. A lot of the time, reading dark fiction and horror makes the scariest parts of real-life seem pretty okay in comparison.

NTK: Is Stephen King your favorite author? Who has influenced you in your writing?

KH: He is definitely on my list of favorites. Come on, it’s impossible to just pick one, right? His Dark Tower series is definitely my all-time favorite series. It would have to be since I’m reading it through for the 10th time right now. And I can definitely admit that his writing has seriously influenced my own. Beyond Stephen King, I’ve gotten a lot of influence (content more than style) from H.P. Lovecraft, Anne Rice, Neil Gaiman, and Jacqueline Carey. I definitely include those authors on my favorites list as well.

NTK: What is your favorite horror novel?

KH: When I’m thinking about my “favorite” horror novels, I end up going straight for the ones that creeped me out the most! Which, oddly enough, are books that I’ve then set aside and said, “Okay, I made it through. What a ride! Probably won’t pick that one up again.” The first favorite in that regard – and still a favorite horror novel all around, if we’re not mashing genres – would probably still be It. And coming in at a close second is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. That one made me feel so gross when I finished it – in the best way, of course – that I considered giving it away immediately lol! Yet it remains on my bookshelf. Maybe I’ll work my way up to revisiting it one day. Who knows? I also really, really loved Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, which I know is a lot different than either of the others. That book was definitely my first foray into psychological horror where I actually very much rooted for the main character, despite him being the “horror”. The same thing goes for You by Caroline Kepnes. Yes, I read it before it became a show. No, I haven’t seen the show. But I love an author’s ability to show the insanely dark side of a main character, of a villain, and make the reader enjoy, appreciate, and feel empathy for them even when knowing how awful they are. That’s also something I try to emulate in my own work with morally gray – or completely blacked-out – characters of my own.

See? It’s way too hard to just pick one!

NTK: Do you have a favorite horror movie?

KH: For the longest time, my favorite horror movie was The Ring. I saw that when I was ten or eleven. I remember walking around the gym during PE class and trying to tell my best friend about it. I got goosebumps, and my eyes started watering, and I just couldn’t shut up about it. Which I’m sure she really appreciated…

I honestly don’t watch horror movies – or movies in general – nearly as much as I read. But more recently, I really fell in love with this year’s remake of Invisible Man. Thankfully, I watched it at home with my husband, because I was shouting so loud at the screen that the movie theater would’ve been an awful experience for everyone else around me. That might take the prize for favorite horror movie. I thought it was fantastic.

NTK: (Laughs.)  Do you have a favorite television show?

KH: Oh, yeah! Come to think of it, I actually do watch way more shows than movies. Maybe it’s the 45-50 minutes that I can handle one at a time and still have more to look forward to!

I just finished watching the Netflix Original Dark. Oooohhh. That was incredible. Very creepy and dark and nihilistic in so many ways. And right up there with it is Amazon’s War of the Worlds. I know that’s more commonly considered Sci-Fi, but it has a lot of horror elements too. And then, of course, because I’m also a huge fan of Dark Fantasy – and I mean Grimdark dark bordering on Horror, or maybe just Horror in fantasy worlds – Netflix’s Witcher just got me on every level. I’ve read those books as well and played the videogames and I binge-watched that series like I haven’t watched anything in a very long time.

I also have to give props to Castle Rock and The Outsider. Stephen King’s just hard to get away from, right? By why would you want to? 

NTK: Indeed! (Laughs.) What inspires you? And what inspired you to write Sleepwater Beat and the series it originates from?

KH: What inspires me? A little bit of everything. Not really an answer though, right? I just love the places that dark fiction allows me to explore – or enjoy when I’m reading and watching shows. There’s that sense of taboo, of wondering how far I can really go in putting vivid characters first, fantastic story second, and then all the horror, despair, blood and gore, surprise, and chaos I can fit into one book. It’s a balancing act, which is super fun.

I guess I can say I’m inspired to write into such dark places by the fact that I’ve lived through my fair share of them personally. My parents’ divorce was just the start, but it eventually stretched down a long road that can to a head with heroin addiction and almost not making it out of that one. I know what it’s like to struggle with internal demons. I know what hopelessness and terror feel like on a very real level. And I draw from that in everything I write, no matter what level of horror the story contains. It’s usually quite a bit

The Blue Helix series, Sleepwater Beat and Sleepwater Static so far – there will be more – came from a desire to expose some of the darker, less-explored, marginalized communities in our world through a fictional lens and a noir, Dystopian flavor. That’s especially important with Dystopian Sci-Fi as a genre, and this series went to a place I never expected when both books released with incredibly eerie timeliness – when our reality was already so closely reflecting what I’d written months beforehand in each book. And these books are only set 11 years in the future! I can’t take credit for what happens in our real-world But I wanted to shed light on the fears, struggles, pain, and injustices faced by so many marginalized communities, hopefully, to open up more discussion about these things. In a way, I’m writing about what may seem “scary” to others in order to show that it isn’t actually as scary as they may think. At least not in the way they think it is.

And there’s plenty of psychological horror in this series, fistfights, explosions, creepy interactions, and chaos. My favorite combo 

NTK: It’s amazing how those things formed and shaped you and your writing. Since your stories are character-driven, do you allow your characters free will? Or do you plan their every move?

KH: (Laughs.) I’ve given up on trying to plan my own every move. My characters wouldn’t make it very far if I tried to hold them in an iron grip. They have as much free will as I can offer them while keeping on the general path of the story. Sometimes they learn their lessons quickly. Other times, I have to bash them over the head repeatedly. And even then, it takes a lot for them to climb back out of the pits I throw them into. Some of them never do. Or they make it out again and are completely changed, not always for the better. My characters are always surprising me, and that’s part of the fun. I rarely outline books, and even then, it’s a loose few thousand words from beginning to end. I definitely don’t sketch out my characters before I write them. That’s just my own best method for letting them grow organically, and it keeps things interesting. I get bored fairly easily if I already know exactly what’s going to happen.

NTK: You’ve talked about many of the real-life horrors which have shaped your life. Do you believe in curses? And if so, which is your favorite?

KH: That’s definitely one of the coolest questions! As far as whether or not I believe in curses, I’ll say that the only curses we truly live through are the ones we cast on ourselves. Knowingly or unknowingly. Just like with any curse, it takes a lot of work and dedication to “remove” said curse. I guess I’m living proof that it can be done.

And then that might be my favorite kind of curse to write or read/watch, too. The kind where the character’s greatest strength is also their greatest downfall. Where their own personal “hero” is also their “villain”. The scariest demons to face are the ones that have always been a part of us.

Okay, and there’s also Murphy’s Law lol! That feels like a curse, and when done the right way, it’s just so much fun.

NTK: Do you have a favorite curse word?

KH: Fuck. Always and forever, FUCK.

NTK: Kathrin, what does the future hold for you? What works do Horror Addicts have to look forward to?

KH: This is super exciting. I have at least one more book in the Blue Helix series coming down the pipeline. Book 3 will be a wild ride and probably the most violent out of all of them, if I’m being honest.

I’m also working on a new LGBTQ+ Dark Fantasy series, Vessel Broken, that is way darker and bloodier than any of my other fantasy to date with an insane occult influence. I’m aiming to have the first book, Imlach Fractured, out in November 2020, so there’s not much longer to wait. I’m so thrilled with this series, though. It’s brutal. I mean, the first chapter is a demonic ritual turned epic bloodbath, and everybody dies! Except for the main character. I swear that’s not a spoiler And I’m so excited to keep going deeper and darker and really let it take over with this series.

NTK: Thank you for chatting with me, Kathrin! You’ve been a wonderful guest.

KH: Thanks so much for having me! This was a lot of fun.

Addicts, you can find Kathrin on Facebook, Twitter, Her Author Site, Her Author Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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