Tag Archives: horror author

Dark Wisdom Webinar: THE HORROR OF THE CRITIQUE (w/Henry Snider) | Feb. 25 @ 7 pm

Posted on by

Love writing? Interested in joining a critique group? Unsure about how to comment on another author’s work?

This interactive virtual lecture will guide you through the process of finding a group that’s right for you, how to offer constructive critiques useful to authors, and in doing so find shortcomings and strengths in your own writing.

* Is a writing group for you? * Picking the right kind of group * Critiquing vs. editing * How to critique * Receiving a critique * Social vs. professional interaction with your group * Helpful books *

Reserve your free ticket via Eventbrite to receive Zoom link via email.

Henry Snider has created and managed award-winning writing groups, provided editing services for authors, offered classes, lectured, provided writing contests for high schools, and served the writing community for over 25 years.

Dark Lit Market: THE DOLL ROOM by Claire L. Fishback

Posted on by

Every #TERRORTUESDAY we’ll be sharing another DHC member’s published work from our DARK LIT MARKET!

This week, we’ve got THE DOLL ROOM by Claire L. Fishback.

A room with many small doors, a dream hitchhiker, furniture that moves itself. A middle-aged housewife who desperately wants to be noticed. In these pages you’ll find strange encounters, dolls with secrets, and creepy children. Haunted ears. A long-lost daughter come home. Nightmares come true.

Stories that explore grief, time, relationships, decisions, and everything in between.

Stories that haunt… and inspire.

Welcome to The Doll Room.

The 4th Circle: Interview with Brenda Tolian

Posted on by

– Interview by Desi D

  1. What attracted you to write horror?

BRENDA: Horror, for me, is a way to explore in safety the oddity of what it means to be a woman. Often, it’s unclear the roles we are retrofitted into and often in opposition to actual reality that resides inside.

Trauma is something that each woman has experienced in differing ways, and we try to make sense of it. Horror is, for me, the best medium to express that. We are stepping into the abyss and symbolically cutting out meaning to that which escaped definition or seeks understanding. Naming the monsters is the ultimate power over them. Horror calls us to be creative, and women are fine-tuned to be creators.

  1. As a writer, how would you describe your muse? And your process?

BRENDA: The Red Monk wrote that, “Anyone who confuses his Mistress for his Muse is in real trouble.” A writer shared that with me once, and so I decided that I would do away with both in a sense.

My stories are driven by research, news, oral tales, and experiences; I suppose if I have a muse, he or she is in a box somewhere hopelessly forgotten under my bed. My process is rigid, I teach during the week, and my weekends are spent writing. I am an introvert and find more pleasure in hours of writing than socializing. I start early, around 5 a.m., and work till at least one in the afternoon, if not longer. I submit regularly and accept the decline notes as a challenge to improve. I read as much as I write in differing genres finding that this helps the process.

  1. Who has been your biggest inspiration for writing horror? And why?

BRENDA: I have a T-shirt I wear that simply says Nabokov, Kafka, Stephen Graham Jones, if that tells you anything. I also adore the writing of Owl Goingback and Mario Acevedo. I find that I am inspired by my intellectual conversations with Joy Yehle and Adrianne Montoya, both strong in the ways of horror. They, along with Stanley Wiater, helped me think about my graduate research into the topic of women within horror.

In some ways, however, my biggest inspiration comes from my twin daughters, who have taught me how to be strong and pushed me to do everything possible to pursue writing and education. So, for me, it’s not a who but communities of writers such as Denver Horror Collective and Regis University that inspire me in my work.

  1. What is it about the art of storytelling that excites you? And, of course, what is the next story we can look forward to reading from you?

BRENDA: The art of storytelling is the power of voice. So many are voiceless, and their stories are buried in the news, time, or within. As women, we are not always allowed to speak our truth or are victimized for doing so. The female body endures violence often in silence, so writing is a way to touch the cuts symbolically. I also attempt to give voice to nature that is often ravaged in similar ways to the female vessel.

My “Blood Mountain” story is, of course, in DHC’s CONSUMED: TALES INSPIRED BY THE WENDIGO. And just last week, another story, “Snake Man” came out in TWISTED PULP MAGAZINE. Currently, I am finishing my collection of “Blood Mountain” stories about, which, as it happens, is also my graduate thesis. I will be presenting academic work at the Southwestern Popular/American Culture Convention and Stoker Con this spring. I also have a hybrid novella in final edits, and hope to find a home for my “Blood Mountain” collection when it is defended and finished.

Tickets for All Hallows Improv Scarytelling on Oct. 25

Posted on by

Halloween is a sacred time for dark fiction readers and writers alike. On Sunday, October 25 at 7 p.m. (MT), Denver Horror Collective is proud to present a first-of-its-kind, improvisational horror storytelling event via Zoom sure to spook and scar anyone misfortunate enough to attend.

Thriller master Carter Wilson (author of The Dead Girl in 2A and Mister Tender’s Girl) and a formidable roster of nine seasoned and emerging Colorado horror writers will exhibit their dark arts by spinning three original horror tales on the spot, round-robin style, while you watch and listen from the (relative) safety of your home.

All Hallows Improv Scarytelling is a fundraiser for the November publication of CONSUMED: Tales Inspired by the Wendigo, Denver Horror Collective’s second horror fiction anthology featuring Wrath James White, Dana Fredsti, Owl Goingback, Steve Tem, and others, and edited by Hollie & Henry Snider.

Early bird general admission tickets are on sale via Eventbrite for $5 until October 24 when the price goes up to $10. All attendees get the chance to kick off the stories using their very own prompts.

The 4th Circle: Interview with Bobby Crew

Posted on by

Interview by Desi D

  1. What’s your favorite line in a book/movie? And why?

This is probably the most difficult question I have ever been asked. The first line that popped up in my head was, “The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones,” by William Shakespeare from Julius Caesar. 

I love this line for many reasons. Someone can be a good person almost all their life and then ruin their entire memory in a single act of violence or a single horrible decision. As a reader and writer, I love a good villain, and I think the greatest villains are those that aren’t entirely bad, those who have been warped into believing that the evil they do is justified or necessary. I love the unreliable narrator’s perspective because you can show this happening throughout the book through the eyes of the main character.

  1. As a writer, how would you describe your muse? And your process?

My muse is a dark, vile, torturous, goth sprite, and she is easiest to summon at night with offerings of wine and the shitty day I’ve had. 

Writing has always been a way for me to escape and empty out my emotional energy. I love the creative process. Creating has always been my way to retreat to another world…granted, this other world is always horrifying. 

I have been writing horror since I was eight years old. I draw inspiration from dreams, and sometimes I warp personal traumas into supernatural abstractions. I’ve always been a night owl, so usually once everyone else is asleep and I’m truly alone, I get to play in the dark corners of my mind. 

  1. What author has been your biggest inspiration to write? And why?

I probably owe my entire desire to write to R. L. Stine. I hated reading when I was 7, and then I was introduced to the Goosebumps books. I immediately fell in love. I lived two buildings down from a big library, and I used to go there by myself to borrow them. I spent a lot of time at the library as a little kid. 

When I was 8, I decided to try writing creepy stories of my own. My parents were a little worried at my violent and graphic content, but they let me be, encouraged me, and I have been writing ever since. 

  1. What is it about writing that excites you? And of course, what’s the next story we can look forward to reading from you? 

I love creating worlds, characters, stories, and trying to create that creepy atmosphere in writing. Once I complete a draft, there is always this exciting rush, and I’m just like, “Wow, did I really just pull all of these pages out of my head?” 

I’ve recently published a collection of horror stories called Dining with Devils, seven stories that explore what happens when you get a little too close to your demons. I’m currently working on my first novel called Helping Hands, it’s a working title, and probably the most thought-provoking and thematic horror story I have ever written. It has a lot of cultish and sexual undertones and explores how we can take even the most beautiful messages and turn them into horrifying realities.