WOMEN IN HORROR RECOGNITION MONTH: FABULOUS FEMALE WRITERS

In honor of Women In Horror Recognition Month, I hereby present three inventive and inspirational female writers. 






 
CHARLAINE HARRIS
Perhaps an obvious choice for a Trubie like myself, but I feel Charlaine Harris is worth a spot on today's list, for her urban fantasy series The Sookie Stackhouse Novels, also known as The Southern Vampire Mysteries.

Charlaine Harris (2010)

For those of you who don't know the story plot (I don't even wanna know if you're out there): The telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse works in a bar in the fictional Northern Louisiana town Bon Temp, where she meets and falls in love with the 160 year old vampire Bill Compton. Each book in the series follows Sookie through her adventures amongst vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters and other supernatural beings. Currently completing the 13th and closing novel, Charlaine Harris has created a detailed mythology and alternative reality that has to come to terms with the supernatural being... natural.

I'm usually not rooting for today's urban fantasy, but the Sookie Stackhouse novels have everything a girl could dream of; sexy supes, eventful drama, addictive characters, love triangles, gruesome murders and a sexual tension that would blow away any Harlequin novel.

Other trivia: The first book in the series, Dead Until Dark, won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery in 2001. The books now serve as material for HBO's hit series True Blood.

ELIZABETH HAND

Published in 2007 by Dark Horse Comics, Pandora's Bride is one of a series of paperback originals featuring the classic Universal monsters; Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, and this - based on The Bride of Frankenstein, written by Elizabeth Hand.

Elizabeth Hand (2002)

The book opens where The Bride of Frankenstein (the film) left off. Rejected by The Bride, The Monster blows up the laboratory. As he is busy being consumed by flames, The Bride picks up Dr. Pretorius and escapes through a breach in the wall. Intent on seeking vengeance upon the world that stripped her of her free will and turned her into a scientific experiment, The Bride flees all the way to Berlin and enters the erotic and criminal underworld of the Weimar Era.

Pandora's Bride is respectful to its classic film, as it still allows itself to reinterpret and transgress freely. It journeys through an alternative universe people with adventurous underworld characters. The story is all about character, as it takes the reader through rich atmosphere and extraordinary adventures before reaching its climax. 

Other trivia: Elizabeth Hand’s novels and short stories have been rewarded with such prestigious prizes as science fiction’s Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award and the International Horror Guild Award.


KELLY LINK 

Kelly Link (2005)

I first read Kelly Link in the anthology The Living Dead where one of her short stories, Some Zombie Contingency Plan, was published. The short story was first published in Kelly Link's own collection Magic For Beginners (which also includes another great zombie story called The Hortlak). She's considered to be a short fiction specialist and her stories have, besides Magic For Beginners, been collected in two other volumes: Stranger Things Happen and Pretty Monsters.

Kelly Link's writing is original and entertaining to read. She has a deft use of irony, a new approach to teenage alienation, a believable portrayal of supernatural beings and quirky characters, mixed in a great blend in science fiction and fantasy. Although most of her stories were written for young adults, the are every bit as evocative for adult readers.

Other trivia: Kelly Link's short stories have been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award and she's a World Fantasy, Nebula, Locus, and British Science Fiction Association Award Winner. She has also sold the film rights to her story The Wizards of Perfil.


Last but not least: I also wanna do a shout-out for two of my absolute favorite classic female writers; Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) and Shirley Jackson (The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle).

For those of you who like short-stories, check out East of the Web and their index of (female) horror shorts - amongst them Kate Peterson's Appearance, Kay Sexton's Starving Makes It Fat and Crystal Arbogast's Hobnail.