appreciating women in horror

In better late than never news, my post for the last day of Women in Horror Recognition Month has been up for a few days at the Black Static blog. I wrote about Caitlin R. Kiernan’s The Red Tree, a book which, as you will see from my piece, I like quite a lot.

One of the things I touched on in my piece is my ambivalence about the month, and the idea of being a “woman writer” instead of just a writer. (Yes, I know I can be both.) But I can’t deny that, now in its second year of its existence, the month certainly has raised awareness within the genre and got people talking more about these issues. And I have become a lot more aware of women who work in the field, in both film and fiction. These are good things. There have been some terrific pieces and interviews and appreciations and other contributions by people online all month long which really demonstrate what a rich and diverse field this is, and how many approaches one can take to “horror” and that it’s not all slasher films and buckets of gore (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

I have some other thoughts on these issues, but I keep typing and deleting, typing and deleting, so I think I’ll save them for another, more articulate day.