Women and Horror

The horror genre seems to be dominated by men. When I Google the word “horror” most of the sites that pop up are male oriented and hold little appeal to me. And although I love the work of some of the big names, like Eli Roth, Rob Zombie, Stephen King, and Clive Barker, I feel the themes are getting old and the characters a little stale, and quite frankly guys you’ve had your day, and it’s our turn now. I think it’s time we knew more about the many contemporary female horror directors, producers and writers out there, don’t you? What are you writing and filming? What motivates you? How did you become enamoured with such scary, gory stuff? I want to know all about you nasty women!

The ladies are becoming huge consumers of this genre. Box office successes like the Twilight series are testament to this growth in interest. The movie industry especially needs to take heed and start catering more to our demographic. I guess you could say Twilight (although not exactly my taste) could be to girls and women, what Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings have been to boys and men, a cult classic.

Our creative minds can conjure up some dreadful tales that will have you up at night crying for your mama. Move over Stephen King and Dean Koontz, the girls are setting up camp in Horrorville and we intend to stay.

One of my goals with MsHorror.com is to give a voice and a platform to all the female creatives out there who live and breathe this genre. And of course I want to know what makes them tick. I’m going to be talking to the creators – writers, producers, directors; and to the gals who love to watch and read this stuff. From business professionals, to stay at home moms, from gothic tattoo covered chicks, to suburbanite preppies. I want to interview horror fans from all walks of life and age groups. How many teenage girls stay up way past their bedtimes to binge watch The Walking Dead? How many older ladies out there love a good dose of the macabre? I know one 80 year old who’s a huge Stephen King fan (my mother!)

What do girls like about horror? What kind of horror do we prefer?

I loved Hostel but am not a fan of The Walking Dead. Twilight kind of grew on me, but the vampire theme is getting old. I prefer a mixture of supernatural and psychological thriller – I’m partial to a good mind f**k, if you pardon my French.

So much to talk about…be back soon with more!

Sweet dreams…