Can women write horror?
Well, can we?
Of course, I could argue yes: of course we can. I am a woman and I write horror, so surely it's a no brainer?
If that's the case, where are the female Stephen Kings? The female Clive Barkers? The female James Herberts? I've read horror since I first discovered the delights of The Fog (one of James Herbert's earlier efforts) at around the age of thirteen. I was probably a little too young to read it (a certain orgy scene was definitely an eye-opener), but nevertheless, it introduced me to a whole new genre that is quite often crap (Shaun Huston's "The Slugs"), but sometimes quite wonderful (Barker's "Weaveworld"). It even crossed over with the music I devoured - I am not ashamed to admit I actively sought out a certain H.P. Lovecraft after hearing Metallica's 'The Call of Ktulu' (it took me nearly two years to source a copy of 'The Dunwich Horror' in an anthology. Honestly, at that point, I think it would have been easier to source a copy of the original Necronomicon in my little back-water town...).
I noticed even then that there was a distinct lack of female horror writers. They just didn't seem to exist. We had Judy Blume and Little Women, but they bored me to absolute tears. I did hunt down some female writers who wrote what could be tentatively classified as horror - Anne Rice, Poppy Z Brite, a few short story writers I can't remember the names of (and even - *shudders* - Laurell K Hamilton) - but their stories seemed more romantic (and ALWAYS seemed to have gay vampires in there somewhere, being pretty and melancholy) and lacked the visceral nature of the horror written by their male counterparts.
Yesterday, I spent a little while looking up some publishers who specialise in cosmic / occult horror (the genre I absolutely love to write). I looked up the author list for Arkham House (the publisher I would love to write for)... and as far as I can see, not one of them is female. And this does worry me. I know in this day and age of equality it shouldn't be a worry... but it is. It does make me wonder - can women write horror? Or are we always destined to play second fiddle to our male counterparts? Do we have it in us to paint those visceral pictures, or will we be sidelined in favour of our rather more conventional, chick-lit writing sisters?
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17 Comments
But you've really made me think and I can't off the top of my head think of any!
That's pretty disgraceful isn't it? xxx
Anne Rice.
As for women in metal, I fully agree with you. Although, I was interviewed by this site, which is helping to build the profile of women in heavy music:
http://www.metalmaidens.com/
I found it really hard to be a woman involved in metal music. I remember sitting in our singer's bedroom once, when his mate turned up. I was about 17 or 18 at the time, and the look his mate gave me... I actually felt quite dirty, made even worse when he turned round and said 'well, I'll leave you to your honey session - I mean, your practice session". That's how I was viewed - the band's bike, only involved because she wanted to hang out with the boys. Not because I could actually *play* - oh no. Everyone knows girls can't play...
Maybe it's down to the consumer? Traditionally, the horror audience is male and so the writers are male? I don't see many men clamouring for the next Carrie Vaugn 'Kitty' novel...
http://www.mikegayle.co.uk/
Isn't it a bit of a sad reflection on our expectations as readers? (I am now also very intrigued as to who those male romance writers are... ^_^)
Male horror writers, in addition to all the blood, pus, cerebrospinal fluid, slippery intestines and splattered brains, usually include some undercurrents of kinky sex, and/or downright perviness; while, as you say, female writers tend towards romance!
I'm sure there are female writers who could do that sort of stuff just as well as the males, but I wonder if publishers would shy away from them because ladies aren't 'supposed' to be like that? Maybe it's a cultural prejudice?
In my 'Moonbeast Bayou' novel, one of the characters is raped by a monster and eventually dies from gangrene of the vagina. (It's justified by the plot, honest!) What do you think of that? And does your reaction to it have any bearing on the subject we're discussing?
As for your other question... hmmm, interesting. As a woman, that's pretty extreme - but I could fire back the same thing. If it was a bloke who had his knob flayed open by some alien entity, would that make you feel uncomfortable? It's the old 'why can a woman wander about butt naked in a film and no one bat an eyelid, but even a glimpse of a penis gives it a rock hard (ahem) R rating? A lot of horror can be considered pretty misogynistic, even mainstream stuff, like King, has a definite edge of 'women like it like that'. Remember that scene in IT when Beverly is essentially raped by her husband but still orgasmed? (for the record, I know that some rape victims do orgasm, and it's an animalistic response to danger, tied in with 'fight or flight' response. There are about 5? Fight, flight, fart (defecate), fuck, freeze... I'm sure there are more than that. Are there?) Now THAT I found offensive, because it plays into that abhorrent stereotype that all women who say no want it any way - King makes Beverly agree that she enjoyed it, but then does not explore the idea that she might have only said that to make sure she didn't receive another beating. It's a horrific scene... but one that does leave a bad taste in my mouth, only because I am pretty sure there are some sick fucks out there that saw it as a sex scene and nothing else. Maybe that is why there aren't many female horror writers? Is the genre inherently misogynistic? (Which then leads to the question 'why the hell do I like it if it is?!?!!')
Is horror inherently misogynistic? I don't think so. People have asked the same question about rock and metal. Certainly, some writers (and rockers) are mysoginistic, but I don't think it's a genre problem. I particularly like many Death Metal bands who are classed as 'anithuman', and I also tend to cheer for the monsters in horror. Does that make me a bad person?
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