August was Women in Translation month, after finding so many amazing women writing horror in other countries we wanted to keep it going. We decided to focus on regions and countries. This month we decided to start with Mexico and Cuba. We have included both works with translated and untranslated works. As much as possibly we have tried to look at the difference in the horror that is being published in country compared to American horror. It was the differences that are really interesting Mexico The horror coming out of Mexico harks back to a very strong oral tradition; where ancient folklore is mixed with religion. What I found interesting…
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Banned Books Week September 22nd – 28th
It is that time of the year again to celebrate books that have been banned or challenged. To be perfectly transparent, I can’t believe that in this day and age books are still being banned or challenged. Just this week on my twitter feed it was announced that Harry Potter was banned by a Roman Catholic High School In Nashville, Tennessee. Their reasoning behind the ban was that the spells and curses were real. I just want to ruminate on that for a second. The spells and curses from a work of fiction are real. That is absolutely mind boggling. That in the 21st century we are still dealing with…
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LOHF Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month: Chicana Horror by V. Castro
Chicana Horror By V. Castro When I sit down to write, my first instinct is to scoop out my heart and guts for everyone to see because I want people to know I bleed red even though my skin might be brown. You might scoff and say you already know this; however, my blood is also tainted. It is the product of cultures colliding in massacre and heart break. My heart is tainted because some of my experiences in life are tied to the color of my skin and gender, I’m a Latina, and unless you have experienced this, you will never know. When I sit down to write I…
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Guest Post: Derivation of Hag by Kathleen Kaufman
Derivation of Hag By Kathleen Kaufman At San Diego Comic Con, the awesome Brendan Reichs joked that “I wrote a book about my mom and named it Hag.” He wasn’t wrong, the reaction to the title has sparked immediate and sometimes negative reactions. We think of Hag as an insult, an ugly old woman, an unwanted creature, witch with a wart on the end of her nose. It’s all around not something you want to be called. Or is it? The derivation of Hag goes back and back. It is one of very few words that have no masculine form, it is a distinctly female term, used all the way back in the thirteenth…
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LOHF Recommends: Witches
It is that time of the year again. When the leaves starting changing colors and the wind holds the promise of the Autumn that is coming. (Who I am kidding I live in the desert. It is still hot). Children are getting ready to pick out their Halloween costumes. As a little girl I was always a witch, which is probably why I associate Autumn with witches. This month we are paying homage to the wonderful Autumny witch. Hag by Kathleen Kaufman Bunny by Mona Awad Catfish Lullaby by A.C. Wise The Good House by Tanarive Due Grimly Jane by Elle Alexander A Hawk in The Woods by Carrie Laben…
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Guest Post: W is for Witching: An Analysis of the Hawthorne Name and Identity by Stephanie M. Wytovich
W is for Witching: An Analysis of the Hawthorne Name and Identity By Stephanie M. Wytovich The Salem Witch Trails took place in February of 1692 and lasted until May of 1693. This bout of hysteria began in a small colony in Massachusetts due to the accusations of Elizabeth Paris, Ann Putnam and Abigail Williams, all of who started having fits and unexplainable episodes that evoked suspicion of the supernatural. Eventually, these girls informed two judges—Johnathan Corwin and John Hathorne—that their illnesses were caused by the afflictions of three women: Tituba (a slave), Sarah Osborne (an elderly woman), and Sarah Good (a beggar). Now most of us know the escalation…
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Women in Translation Month: Horror Edition
August is Women in Translation month. It is a celebration of stories written by women that have been translated into English. The role of translation in a literary context is to take the story from its original language and translate it into English for publishing in the English speaking countries. That sounds amazing, right? We would be able to read all the amazing stories from around the world. Well, that isn’t necessarily the case. When you really start to look at the numbers, they are dismal. Only 3% of the books published in the United States are translated stories. Whereas, in Europe that number is 10 times higher. Now, before…
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Guest Post: Busting a Gut: Body Horror, Humor, and the Meaning of Life by Amy Vaughn
Bodies are a horror show.* Slice open our bumpy, hairy surfaces, and bright reds, deep purples, and fatty yellows spill out. Inside, we are weird and squishy and complicated, and oh-so-much more fragile than we wish we were. We are our bodies. No shit, huh? But give me a second here. There are at least three different ways this statement is true, and each of them will provoke a fear response if threatened. First, and most straightforwardly, we are our bodies in the corporeal sense: without them we die. Second, we depend on our bodies for our identity, for who we think we are and for how we present ourselves…
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Guest Post: Why Body Horror, or, Why Do We Entertain Ourselves with Grotesque Mutations, Demonic Gestation, Parasitic Infections, and Ghastly Mutilations By Christa Carmen
The type of horror that can be described as ‘body horror’ is astronomical in scope. A quick google search tells you that horror novels as disparate as Frankenstein and Coraline are considered body horror by one website or another, and when you take a few moments to really think about it, most subcategories within the overarching genre could be loosely classified as body horror. The following is a list of why we—horror fans and regular humans alike, because let’s face it, even alleged horror haters have ogled a gnarly rash on their own, formerly pristine skin or stared in morbid fascination at the growing sphere of their or their partner’s baby bump—love body…
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Guest Post: This Undeniable Skin: The Grotesque and Lovely Wonders of Body Horror by Gwendolyn Kiste
This Undeniable Skin: The Grotesque and Lovely Wonders of Body Horror by Gwendolyn Kiste Flesh. Sinew. Bone. Muscle. Nails. Blood. These bodies we occupy are simultaneously beautiful and horrifying. It’s so strange to me how much work is happening within this cage of my bones at every moment. All the heartbeats I never have to coax. All the breaths I never remember taking. It’s at once life-affirming and a little intimidating how much goes on without me ever having a say in it. This is part of the reason why body horror has long fascinated as well as repulsed me—in the best possible way, of course. From my first viewing…
