If you're even tangentially associated with the horror field, you're likely to be familiar with today's guest. An author, reviewer, fan fiction creator, and just general all-around good person, Christine Morgan is no stranger to fans of horror and bizarro. (And if you're nice to her, you just might receive a batch of cookies or a demented doll in the mail - or both!)
About Christine Morgan:
Christine Morgan divides her writing time among many genres, from horror to historical, from superheroes to smut, anything in between and combinations thereof. She's a future crazy-cat-lady and a longtime gamer, who enjoys British television, cheesy action/disaster movies, cooking and crafts.
Her short stories have appeared in dozens of anthologies. Her most recent novels include MURDER GIRLS, HIS BLOOD, and THE HORNED ONES: CORNUCOPIA. She'll have a collection of bloodthirsty Viking tales coming out in 2017.
She also edits (her current ongoing project being the Fossil Lake Anthology series), is a regular contributor to The Horror Fiction Review, and recently relocated to Portland where she's delighted to be involved with the horror and bizarro writer scene.
You can find her on her personal Facebook, business Facebook, Twitter, and her website.
Interview:
SK: How are you involved in the world of horror?
CM: First, foremost, and always as a reader and fan. Horror's been my genre of choice for as long as I can remember, since watching old monster movies with my dad and sneaking paperbacks from my grandpa's shelf he had to keep in the garage. I knew I wanted to write horror but held back for a long time, thinking I couldn't do it, thinking I should stick with fantasy ... but I got over that. These days, I write, I review (been a regular contributor to The Horror Fiction Review for a lot of years now), I dabble in editing, and I enjoy horror media in many forms. I also do freaky doll-modifications, many of which tend toward horror, or are from books and movies.
SK: Who or what terrifies you?
CM: I felt ridiculously proud of myself recently when, leading up to a medical procedure, I was asked if I was claustrophobic and I was able to say no. It's, like, one of the few phobias I don't have. Creepy-crawlies is probably the big one; things with too many legs or not enough legs freak me right the heck out. Heights. Depths (oceanic; I have a real dread/fascination for undersea horrors). Of course, the bigger-scope things like death and loss and loneliness; particularly with the abovementioned medical procedures, I've developed an even keener appreciation for fearing helplessness, loss of dignity, unfinished business, that sort of thing.
SK: Are there unique challenges to being a woman in horror or do you feel like gender is irrelevant?
CM: I don't know how unique they are after all this time. I was a gamer girl in the 1980s and looooong since sick of any of that "girls can't/don't, are too nice, only play healers, only want romance" nonsense. Girls, and women of any age, can be goddamn vicious. It's absurd we still have to point out Mary Shelley spearheading the genre, or the ages of women telling scary stories going back to the dawn of time ... look at our fairy tales, how many of those are pure horror stories ... the Grimm brothers get the credit for collecting them but it was women telling those tales. At this point in my life, I mostly just sigh and eyeroll, though I do reserve the right to smack people with copies of Monica O'Rourke's books, for instance.
SK: Who are your favorite female horror icons?
CM: I just namedropped Monica, though I don't know if she quite counts as an icon just yet; same could be said for so many of my contemporary sisters. There are a LOT of super-talented, super-skilled ladies out there. Icons, though, I'm never sure how to define that. Characters? Personae? Mythological figures? I mean, yes, okay, maybe a lot of the myths casting the evil as feminine were more of the same patriarchy arglebargle, but look at some of those fearsome goddesses of old. Look at the blood and moon-magic and powers of creation and destruction. Awesome stuff.
SK: What are you working on/promoting currently? Why should folks check it out?
CM: Currently-currently, I'm working on pretty much bupkus, recovering from cancer surgery and radiation treatments and a whole cavalcade of health adventures. But, once I can finally knock my brain back into shape, I have the first in a series of psychic detective novels to finish up and send off, and I'm working on (with Ed Lee's permission!) a sequel to LUCIFER'S LOTTERY, and have two other extreme horror novels lined up. Plus, of course, there are always the anthology calls. I am a sucker for tempting themed anthology calls. As for promoting, the two biggies are THE RAVEN'S TABLE, my Viking collection from Word Horde, and the gooshy succubus book SPERMJACKERS FROM HELL from Deadite Press.
About SPERMJACKERS FROM HELL:
Let’s summon a succubus, they said. It’ll be fun, they said…
I have some friends and we had a crazy idea: let’s summon a demon. Not just any demon but a sexy devil chick that will do anything we want—even butt stuff. It’ll be easy. It’s not like it’s going to work. Monsters aren’t real.
We were wrong. Really fucking wrong.
The demon is not what we thought and it’s making horrible things happen. People are cutting into each other's junk, some guy is fucking his dog, and sex slugs from Hell are raping us and stealing our semen in order to build a goddamn hive!
We didn’t mean for any of this. But we’re gonna fix it... Just after a few more beers and bong hits.
From Christine Morgan, author of MYTHIC LUST: THE MINOTAUR, and THE RAVEN'S TABLE: VIKING STORIES, comes a sleazy and deviant satire about sex, occultism, and nerd culture.
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