February is Women in Horror Month
February is Women in Horror Month. For me, this means I have a great opportunity to learn about other authors as well as promote myself. Sunbury Press has published a few of these women, such as: The Weeping Woman, a ghostly mystery centered on Mexican legend, by Patricia Santos Marcantonio; The Ghosts of Laurelford, a paranormal suspense, by Margaret Meacham; and Seeking Samiel, a supernatural quest where the anti-Christ seeks the devil—Samiel, her lover by, Catherine Jordan.
Then, there are the women characters of horror. Studying them has been a great lesson and who doesn’t love the bad-ass chicks, such as: Alma/Eva in Ghost Story, Annie in Misery, Miriam in The Hunger, Lucy in Dracula, and Rynn in The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane. Claudia in Interview with the Vampire, Rebecca and Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca, and last but not least, The Bible’s Jezebel.
Those women are not delicate, sensitive or passive. They are good and bad, sweet and salty, and they will dish out whatever they are backhanded. They have dark feelings and fears that every woman can identify with in some capacity. Like reaching out and taking something, no matter what the violent cost, just because they want it.
Which brings me to my novel titled, Seeking Samiel, where the female antagonist, Eva, is the self proclaimed anti-Christ, the Lamia, seeking out her long lost lover, Samiel. She is based on the Lamia folklore and is half serpent, half female, demon and human. All men, with the exception of one, play a role in her life as surrogate chumps and wind up on her dinner table when she is finished them. Burp.
Women are not supposed to like violence or gore, or be overly aggressive. We are usually the weaker sex, sensitive—the victim. But, what am I to take away from a book that portrays my gender as a victim of circumstances, silly and weak and thereby deserving of the predictable fate on the pages? Eva is no victim. She is a horrible woman. I loved writing about her and fleshing out her nature. As a horror writer, I don’t know how successful I am at scaring, but my favorite female authors and female characters have influenced my writing, for the better, I hope.
Thomas M. Malafarina -- Author of Horror 