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Women in Horror Fiction: Lisa Mannetti

 

Lisa Mannetti’s debut novel, The Gentling Box (2010 Shadowfall Publications), garnered a Bram Stoker Award. She has since been nominated twice for the award in both the short and long fiction categories: (“1925: A Fall River Halloween” and Dissolution). Her story, “Everybody Wins,” was made into a short film by director Paul Leyden starring Malin Ackerman, and was released under the title Bye-Bye Sally. Her work has appeared in Dead Set: A Zombie Anthology (2013 Nightscapes Press) and Zippered Flesh: Tales of Body Enhancements Gone Bad (2012 Smart Rhino Press) Recent short stories include, “Corruption,” in Nightscapes Volume 1 (2013 Nightscapes Press) and “The Hunger Artist” in Zippered Flesh II: More Tales of Body Enhancements Gone Bad (February 2013,, Smart Rhino Press).

 
Mannetti has also authored The New Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (new adult and YA editions from Smart Rhino Publications), Deathwatch, which includes two companion novellas in a single volume, (new edition  December 2013 Nightscape Press), the macabre gag book 51 Fiendish Ways to Leave your Lover( February 2010, Bad Moon Books), as well as non-fiction books and numerous articles and short stories in newspapers, magazines and anthologies. Forthcoming works include additional short stories and a novella about Houdini, The Box Jumper. She is currently working on a paranormal novel, Spy Glass Hill.

Lisa lives in New York.

 

As a side note, Lisa’s story about writing her first book, with 64 pages and 64 chapters, at the age of ten, made me smile, as the Monster Kid is currently involved in a writing project that at this time is about 44 pages and stands at about 15,000 words, with about one chapter per page. Thanks for participating, Lisa!

 

1.) Can you give our readers a brief introduction?

 

I’m five feet tall, weigh 112 pounds, have brown hair and brown eyes—oh wait. You didn’t mean that sort of introduction, did you? Probably not. <Sigh.> I guess it pays to glance at the rest of the questions before plunging in—but you’re absolutely sure you don’t want to hear about my twin cats? No? <Sigh>.

Okay, I learned to read when I was very young (my older brother taught me), and started writing when I was about eight years old. The first novel I wrote (never finished it, because even at age 10 I knew that no matter how I spiced it up with scenes in exotic tombs and with words like “sarcophagus,” and I did, that it wouldn’t work) was only 64 pages long. It also had 64 chapters. It was about twins—but I already know you’re not interested in my obsession with twins—feline or otherwise. Anyhow, this half-baked novel (and its title blessedly escapes me) was a good lesson about listening to your inner voice and knowing sometimes when you hear the words in your mind, “This is crap,” you’re absolutely right.

I wrote the next book (completed and currently and forever abiding inside a trunk, as they say) when I was 24. After that, I wrote more books (fiction and non-fiction—the latter for filthy lucre) and finally, the third novel I completed clicked, was published (The Gentling Box) and garnered a Bram Stoker Award.

 

2.) Why do you write horror?  What draws you to the genre?

Well, for one thing, no matter how bad a day (or year, for that matter) you’re having, you can spread the misery via the creation of your own nasty little literary world, and as a result, you’ll begin to feel that what you’re personally going through looks like a beach picnic.

Seriously—technically, of course, I do write horror. But I like to think of myself (however accurately or not) as a writer per se, first. Not just because I also write satire and black comedy, but because what always interests me most is the true dark side of life—the inherent drama (and sometimes tragedy) that intersects with and sometimes overwhelms my characters’—  and indeed, all—  human situations.  While fear and terror play a big part when tragedy strikes, they are intellectual and visceral by-products of the catastrophe or heartbreak itself. Some characters will be defiant in the face of calamity; others will struggle but eventually succumb—usually because of some inner weakness. A great example is George Hurstwood in Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (for me, a horrific book, and technically mainstream, not horror) who can’t cope, and declines at the same time that Carrie’s arc is in the ascendant.

I have no qualms about including gore to scare the crap out of my readers, but personally I’m more interested in exploring psychological and emotional fright.

 

3.) Can you describe your writing style or the tone you prefer to set for your stories?

I write literary horror—  and words and phrasing are really important to me—  but my work is eminently readable. I’m also drawn (mainly) to historic settings—  but in a way that makes the period and place come alive for my audience. It’s a bit of a personal quirk—  I feel that frequently my imagination expands when I write about other time periods. I do a tremendous amount of research, but it’s really crucial for me to have it evolve naturally and as part of the characters’ points of view and perspectives. There are a lot of tricks an author can employ that make it all seem very immediate and not at all difficult to sink into. One simple way is to pick a topic you’re personally smitten with, and to choose the facts that help the story play out. For the novella about Harry Houdini I’ve just completed, The Box Jumper (39,600 words) I must’ve read 50 books or more, (about Houdini and by Houdini, of course, but also on all kinds of ancillary topics like mentalism, ghosts, demonology, and Spiritualism—to name a few) and I also researched on the fly right through to the very last sentence because I needed to check which anti-psychotic drugs would have been administered in 1956 in asylums.

In several files, which I kept separate from the manuscript, I had something like 30,000 words in notes I gathered from all the books and articles I read; I kept boiling then down as I wrote until, at the end, I had less than 1200 words in the notes with facts or concepts I actually needed to use. By then of course, I was totally immersed in the two periods the novella is set in: the 1920s and the 1950s—i.e. thirty years after Houdini died.

But to me,  immersion doesn’t mean being slavish to the literary style of the time period. I think it means using just enough detail to create verisimilitude, just like when you write any other fiction, to pull the audience into the world you’re constructing.

Last, but not least, it’s also really important to me that my work resonates on many levels—that readers know going in they’re not about to get sucked into the literary equivalent of a B movie, but they’re also in for one hell of a thrill ride.

 

4.) Who are some of your influences?  Are there any women authors who have particularly inspired you to write?

Peter Straub has influenced me the most. Other literary horror writers that captivate me include Robert Dunbar, Tom Piccirilli, Gary Braunbeck, Shirley Jackson, Joe Hill, Elizabeth Massie and Mary Shelley. I’ve also been drawn to the works of Stephen King and reread my favorites often.

Of the writers (not considered part of the horror genre) who inspire me delve into the human dilemma, two stand out: Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote.  I’m also indebted to William Styron, Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (a book that terrifies me right along with Dreiser’s Sister Carrie), the Bronte sisters, Lillian Hellman, and John Irving. Humorists like Mark Twain, Evelyn Waugh, Lilian Hellman, J.P. Donleavy, Jean Kerr and Kingsley Amis have been lifelong favorites.

Nabokov’s Lolita gave me the “permission” to set aside anxiety over salability and questionable subject matter, and go ahead and write my novella, Dissolution, which eventually received a Bram Stoker nomination.

Poets who haunt me include Coleridge, T.S. Eliot, Anne Sexton, and Sylvia Plath.

And I know I’ve left out at least fifty authors I venerate and should be including (and this is no excuse, but I’m getting hungry and have to go fix chicken Genovese for dinner pretty damn soon).

 

5.) What authors do you like to read?  Any recommendations?

I read different types of books depending on what I’m in the mood for—and my interests span the gamut from non-fiction to all types of literature. I think it’s crucial to read in and out of the genre you write in. If I want to read something I’ve loved since childhood, I’ll pull out the Oz books, The Wind in the Willows, Jane Eyre (yes, it’s true, I first read it was when I was about 8 or 9), George MacDonald (especially The Princess and the Goblin) or, say, Grimm’s Fairy Tales. If I feel like having a good laugh: Jean Kerr, Phillip Roth, Heller’s Catch-22; almost anything by Donleavy, Amis, Twain, or Waugh. (Not that they aren’t deadly serious, too). When I crave dark work I read/reread anything by Straub or King—along with whatever new pieces they write.

I almost always have three to five books going at the same time. (Currently reading American Exorcism, by Michael Cuneo; Le Fanu’s Carmilla; Trying to Save Piggy Snead by John Irving, Ghosts of Everest: The Search for Mallory and Irvine; and an old fave, My Antonia.

Contemporary writers I’ve read and enjoyed recently include: Elizabeth Massie, Charles Colyott, Michael Hughes, Corrine De Winter and Sephera Giron in the genre (and again, I know I’m forgetting to mention a ton of people).
6. Where can readers find your work?

On their very own bookshelves and in their e-readers, I hope. No seriously, Nightscape Press has just come out with new digital editions of The Gentling Box and Deathwatch—with print versions due to be released in the next month or so, and available on Amazon, etc.  Nightscapes Vol 1 contains a short story, “Corruption,”) I recently wrote. Weldon Burge of Smart Rhino Publications is re-issuing new digital and print versions of The New Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (both YA and Adult) in a few weeks, and has also published several of my short stories (also available on Amazon, etc.) in Uncommon Assassin, Zippered Flesh and most recently, “The Hunger Artist,” in Zippered Flesh 2.

 

Before I sign off, here’s a quick thanks to Colleen Wanglund for inviting me to be a part of the Women in Horror Month celebration over at Monster Librarian!

And now, I really have got to get that chicken Genovese started—or I’ll end up having to cook it tomorrow; and since I’m famished, I’ll be stuck tonight meanwhile with a goddamn tuna fish sandwich….

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Interested in Lisa Mannetti? Check out Lisa Mannetti’s Amazon page, her website, and this great interview at Little Miss Zombie. With several other authors, Lisa also runs a virtual haunted house inspired by her book The New Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Here is a link to The Chancery House.

Posted on February 13, 2014 by , Reply

Women in Horror Fiction: Elizabeth Massie

Elizabeth Massie’s works are mostly in the horror genre. Her debut novel, Sineater, and her novella, Stephen have both won the Bram Stoker Award. I was surprised to discover that she also writes historical fiction and educational books for children (including Rigby readers– so if you have elementary aged children they may have read one of her books already) but she also writes mainstream fiction, media tie-ins and poetry. Her Tudors novelization (season 3) won the Scribe Award. She is now working on Ameri-Scares (Crossroad Press), a 50 novel series of spooky books for middle grade readers (a few of these are available on Kindle), as well as new novels and short works for adults. Her short story “Abed” has been made into a short film. Her most recent works include the novels Hell Gate (DarkFuse, 2013) ) and Desper Hollow (Apex Books, 2013).

 

1. Can you give our readers a brief introduction?

I’m a ninth generation Virginian…not a deep Southerner as in Spanish moss, ‘gators, and bayous, but more of a “bless your heart,” don’t-honk-your-car-horn-at-someone-unless-he’s-getting-ready-to-run-into-you, and eat Sunday lunch at Grandma’s house kind of Southern. I live in the country four miles from where I was born, so you could say I’m rooted. Of course, you could say lots of other stuff, too, but let’s move on.

I have written stories since I was old enough to hold a pencil, and I love stories in all their forms…books, magazines, plays, film, dance, mime– well, not so much mime. I don’t have an e-book reader but might get one some day. Anyhoo, I’ve been writing and selling horror fiction since the mid-1980’s. My first two short stories were published by the great, legendary magazine, The Horror Show, edited by David Silva. Since then, I’ve had published nine horror novels for adults, four horror novels for younger readers, six collections of horror fiction, and more than 100 short stories in various magazines and anthologies. I also write tons of other stuff, too, but again, let’s move on.

 

2. Why do you write horror?  What draws you to the genre? 

I was a scaredey-cat at a kid. Ultra-sensitive to the world around me. I don’t mean I just sat in the corner and screamed, but it was like going around with a layer of skin rubbed off. Frightening things were everywhere. There was a witch who lived down the street. There was a creepy family who lived across the street, a family we as kids knew would kidnap you and lock you in their attic if you crossed their lawn. There was a disembodied head that lived on top of the radiator in my bedroom, but only at night. There were things in the shadows in the basement that had no form but were just as happy to catch you and chew you up.

And so I’m thinking I got into writing horror because it gave me a way to look at a scary thing and deal with it and sometimes figure a way out of it or even defeat it. In fact, one of my more recent collections– Sundown (Necon E-books) – is dedicated to “All Who Stare Long and Hard into the Darkness to Better Appreciate the Light.” But then again, maybe there are other reasons I, and people like me, write horror. Reasons we’ll never really understand.

 

3. Can you describe your writing style or the tone you prefer to set  for your stories?

It really depends on the story, the market, and my mood when I come up with an idea. More often than not, I write horror that is more character-driven and introspective. I do that because, for the most part, it’s the kind of horror I like to read. Now, I don’t mean soft or mild horror. For example, my short story “Abed” (originally published in Still Dead and now a short film by Ryan Lieske) has been called “one of the most disturbing horror stories ever written.” Yet, it is not a slam-bam, action-packed tale. It’s claustrophobic and terrifying and actually quite sad. That said, I can write– and have written– slam-bam, action-packed horror, too, when that seems to suit the story.

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4. Who are some of your influences?  Are there any women authors who have particularly inspired you to write?

I’m influenced one way or other by most everyone I’ve read. Either, “That person can really write!” and so what can I learn from her/him? Or “That story or novel pretty much sucks!” and so what can I learn that?

Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, I adored several kids’ mystery series like The Happy Hollisters (Jerry West) and Trixie Belden (originally Julie Campbell but then in-house writers picked it up – most likely women and men, both.) By the time I was ten, I was seeking out scary things to read, like the old Alfred Hitchcock anthologies (such as the Ghostly Gallery) and Gold Key’s The Twilight Zone comic books. In looking back, it seems most if not all the Alfred Hitchcock stories were penned by men. From what I can tell, The Twilight Zone comics were written and illustrated by men.

As a young teen I went on to read adult horror and science fiction novels by men such as Ray Bradbury, John Hersey, Julian Gloag, and Robert Bloch. I didn’t discover women horror writers until I was a young adult– Shirley Jackson and Flannery O’Connor, primarily. They seemed like an afterthought among all the male authors. Yet, that imbalance didn’t strike me at the time. I wasn’t tuned into the gender discrepancy. I guess I was more about what made an engaging, terrifying, story rather than if the author was male or female.

So as to which women authors inspired me to write, I’d have to say none, really. I started writing very early… stories were inside me that needed to be told. Then again, maybe I was inspired by every female author I ever read whose name didn’t register on my radar because I was more concerned with the story than with who wrote it.

I was and continue to be inspired by good writing, whomever it is who creates it.

 

5. What authors do you like to read?  Any recommendations?

These days, more women are writing horror than when I was growing up. Or at least more are being published than when I was growing up. I think there will always be more men in the field, though, because I think men generally are more interested in horror than women. It’s just an observation… few women I know (and I know quite a few) enjoy and seek out horror. Many more men friends do. Is that me being naïve or sexist toward my own sex? I don’t think so. But because fewer women are in the field, they do tend to get overlooked more often. There aren’t as many books by “us” on the shelves. And it could be that some readers think women won’t attack horror as boldly as men.

That said, let me recommend the writings of Lisa Mannetti, Billie Sue Mosiman, Nancy Holder, Nancy Kilpatrick, Poppy Z. Brite (now Billy Martin), Yvonne Navarro, Linda Addison, Chesya Burke, Lisa Morton, Monica O’Rourke, Fran Friel, Rhodi Hawk, and Mary SanGiovanni, as well as others, have impressed me as both a reader and a writer. Their works are deep, thought-provoking, memorable, gritty, and scary as all hell. These women deserve more bookshelf space.

 

6. Where can readers find your work?

My most recent works include the novels Hell Gate (DarkFuse, 2013) ) and Desper Hollow (Apex Books, 2013).  I also have short stories out in the 2013 magazine Dark Discoveries #25 and the 2013 anthology Shadow Masters. My website has more listings: www.elizabethmassie.com

 

7. Is there anything else you’d like to share with librarians and readers?

Sometimes we have to look beyond what publishers push and promote to find other gems among the offerings. They are there, and they may be the surprise we were looking for. And someday, we won’t need a Women in Horror month. Those who write well will be as much in the public eye as their male counterparts, and the gender of an author writing horror won’t be a defining issue anymore.

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Want to learn more or check out her work? Visit Elizabeth Massie’s Amazon page, her website, or this article on Wikipedia, which, although it doesn’t have multiple sources, does provide biographical information and a fairly comprehensive, easy to read list of her works.

Come visit again soon! We have a great post  coming up soon from librarian Becky Siegel Spratford, queen of reader’s advisory in the horror genre–  you won’t want to miss it!

 

Posted on February 10, 2014 by , Reply

Women in Horror Fiction: Mary SanGiovanni

Image of Mary SanGiovanni

Mary SanGiovanni is the author of a number of novels, including The Hollower Trilogy–The Hollower (2007 Leisure Books), Found You (2008 Leisure Books) and The Triumvirate (2012 Thunderstorm Books); Thrall (2011 Thunderstorm Books), and Chaos (2013 Thunderstorm Books), a few novellas, including For Emmy (Thunderstorm Books), and her short work has appeared in a number of collections, including her own Under Cover of Night (2002 Flesh & Blood Press) and Is There A Demon in You? (Camelot Books).

 

1. Can you give our readers a brief introduction?

My name is Mary SanGiovanni, and I have written five supernatural horror novels, three novellas, and numerous short stories over the last 15 years or so.  I have a Masters degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, and am a member of The Authors Guild. I’ve been published by both NY publishing houses and small presses, and have been both traditionally and non-traditionally published.  I am currently working on a new novel, a number of short stories, and a new novella, to all hopefully be completed and published this year.

 

2. Why do you write horror?  What draws you to the genre?

I’ve come to the conclusion over time that I write horror for a number of reasons.  For one, there’s a thrill in writing a fun, scary story. But it’s more than that.  With all the injustice in the world, all the unexplained violence, all the senseless brutality that we have little or no control over, preventing, or fixing, fiction gives me an outlet to vicariously re-establish justice in the world, to oversee or control the universe.  Also, I believe essentially in the innate goodness of human beings.  Horror to me is a genre of hope, of survival – in this genre, we can safely explore and learn to cope with a wide range of fears and insecurities.  Often, horror re-establishes perspective on one’s own life, and offers a glimpse into not just the lowest and vilest that humanity has to offer, but also the most heroic, clever, and triumphant.

 

3. Can you describe your writing style or the tone you prefer to set for your stories?

I guess I think of myself as writing supernatural/psychological horror, more quiet than splattery, often with monsters.  I strive to get my work to tap into true fear, whether it’s falling on the disquiet/disturbing side of the spectrum or the flat-out terror end.  To me, graphic depictions of violence or viscera are necessary only so much as a true understanding of the threat – the monster, the killer, what have you – is established.

 

4. Who are some of your influences?  Are there any women authors who have particularly inspired you to write?

I think our particular genre is rich with literary greats.  A few whose work has influenced me noticeably and greatly are Stephen King, Peter Straub, Gary Braunbeck, Ramsey Campbell, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, William Faulkner, Dennis Lehane, Ian McEwan, along with great female writers Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Shirley Jackson, Joyce Carol Oates, Sarah Langan, Beth Massie, and Yvonne Navarro.  Honestly, I think writers can’t help but be influenced by so many sources – not just good books but good movies, video games, art, non-fiction, and music, both inside and outside of the horror genre.  I think just life experience – news, current events, social trends, those special personal moments, those terrible moments, dreams, nightmares, human interaction – it’s all an influence on fiction.

 

5. What authors do you like to read?  Any recommendations?

I’d say work from any of the above-mentioned authors are all valuable reads: King’s IT, The Shining, or Skeleton Crew, Straub’s Ghost Story or Houses Without Doors, Campbell’s Alone With The Horrors, Lehane’s Shutter Island, Lovecraft’s or Poe’s collected works, Langan’s Audrey’s Door, Jackson’s Haunting of Hill House, etc.

6. Where can readers find your work? 

Most of my work is currently available in paperback and e-book on Amazon.  A handy guide to what’s available and where can be found at: http://marysangi.wordpress.com/bookstore-2/.

 

Interested in learning more? Visit Mary SanGiovanni’s Amazon page or her blog.

Come back soon and see who we talk to next!

Posted on February 7, 2014 by , Reply
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