This month we asked a number of women horror writers to answer some questions for us about who they are, what they write, what it’s like to be a woman writer in the horror genre, and what they read and recommend for horror readers. The first person to respond to our questions was Angeline Hawkes, a writer of historical horror published primarily by small presses and independent publishers.

Angeline Hawkes is the author of Blood Alone (2013 ND3 Press), The Commandments (2012 ND3 Press), Shades of Blood and Shadow (2009 Dark Regions Press) and Symphony for the Forgotten (2008 Daverana Enterprises). She has collaborated with her husband Christopher Fulbright on such books as Sorrow Creek (2012 Delirium Books), Black Mercy Falls (2011 Delirium Books), and Scavengers (2011 Elder Signs Press). Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including Frontier Cthulhu: Ancient Horrors in the New World (2007 Chaosium), Beneath the Surface: 13+ Shocking Tales of Terror (2008 Shroud Publishing), and Dark Light (2012 MARLvision Publishing).

1. Can you give our readers a brief introduction?

I have been writing horror and (mostly) dark fantasy professionally since 2000. Before that my earliest publication credit was in 1981 – that makes me sound ancient, but in reality, I was only 11 at the time.  My earliest publications from age 11-19 were poetry and various non-fiction/journalism related work. I went through college on scholarship (East Texas State University which is now Texas A&M University-Commerce) and many of those scholarships were based on my writing and publications. In fact, for most of them my publications were the real selling point that persuaded scholarship committees in my favor.  I taught high school and middle school, then retired to write full-time. Since 2000, I have churned out quite a few short stories, but from 2006 to the present, I have been concentrating on longer works – collections, novellas, novels. I write independently and collaboratively with my husband, Christopher Fulbright. My collection, The Commandments, was a Bram Stoker Award finalist, and I have some short stories in a couple of anthologies that were finalists for various awards.  In my personal life, I’m a mom to four skin babies and 1 fur baby. I don’t do anything “just a little”.  Kids, writing – I’m a hard worker and don’t have an off switch.

2. Why do you write horror?  What draws you to the genre?

I have always been drawn to the supernatural. I wrote ghost and monster stories as a young child. I think my earliest horror story was probably written around age eight. I was raised in a very religious environment where there was a heavy influence on sin, Hell, and the general end of the world apocalyptic type of lifestyle. I always say that the Bible is the ultimate horror book. Contained between those pages is just about every horror you can cook up. So, religion would definitely have a huge influence on my draw to the horror genre. The cycle of sin and redemption, good and evil – it all translates well into horror. I didn’t start out to be a horror writer, professionally. I thought I was writing historical fiction. I finally had an editor reply that although he loved everything I had submitted and previously submitted, I just WAS NOT writing historical fiction – I was writing HORROR. Imagine my surprise. I started re-reading everything I had written and came to the same conclusion. I just didn’t see it before it was pointed out.

3. Can you describe your writing style or the tone you prefer to set for your stories?

I write primarily historical horror and loosely earth-based heroic fantasy. Both of those require an immersion into the era I’m writing about at the time. So, I tend to find my influences in ages past, more than with modern writers. My writing style has been described by many people as “British” in tone and style. I see that a little. Probably because my biggest literary influences were British writers: Shakespeare, Dickens, Hardy, etc. I was an English teacher with a specialty on British Literature. Makes sense. Also, if you take into consideration my early influences of the King James Bible, that style of writing comes naturally. I think my writing is one of “building”. I like to set a firm foundation full of atmosphere. I want the reader to feel, see, hear, smell – to BE in the story. Then the story climbs to a – sometimes – sudden climax and BAM! – the conclusion is upon you. When I read reviews that mention anything the reviewer “didn’t like”, the comments are always that the story was too short or that the conclusion was too sudden or that they wanted more. I don’t necessarily see these as “bad” reviews. Life isn’t a neat and tidy thing, is it? When the story is done, it’s done. Sometimes the conclusion isn’t all wrapped up with a shiny bow – because in real life, stories aren’t always wrapped up in shiny bows. The reader gets to know what the character(s) gets to know…and sometimes the character never knows. My work has been compared to Lovecraft, Moore and Blackwood. I’m flattered, but I can only hope to stand in the shadow of such masters.

 4. Are there any women authors who have particularly inspired you to write?

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, was a big influence in my adolescence. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, was terrifying to me, I think because there were so many elements that I could relate to in my restrictive upbringing. I knew people like the people in her novel. It was scary. Mary Shelley, Louisa May Alcott, George Eliot, Margaret Mitchell, Madeleine L’Engle, C.L. Moore– some of these are typical answers. I’ve never been a reader who selected my material based on the gender of the writer, but on the content of the story. Many of my female writer influences are not horror writers either, so not sure about the psychology behind the meaning of that.

5. What authors do you like to read?  Any recommendations?

I read a lot of nonfiction because I’m constantly researching for whatever I’m writing at the time. Some of my favorite fiction writers are Dickens, Tolkien, Moore, Howard, Shakespeare, Stoker, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Burroughs– all dead. Some of my favorite writers still kicking, that I find really fun to read, are Robert Weinberg, C. Dean Andersson, Steven Wedel, Steven Shrewsbury, Jeff Marriott, and of course, Christopher Fulbright.
6. Where can readers find your work?

My websites do not list everything. I try to keep the sites current, with not too many out of print works. A google search will bring up older works. Of course, Amazon has just about anything that is currently for sale – as does Barnes & Noble. As a short story writer, I’ve been fairly prolific in both horror and dark fantasy. I believe most of my longer works and collections are listed, with purchasing links, on my website: http://angelinehawkes.com/ and on Christopher Fulbright’s and my collaborative website: http://www.fulbrightandhawkes.com. I am currently writing for or have written for: Chaosium, DarkFuse, Dark Regions Press, Delirium Books, Elder Signs Press, and many others.

Interested in learning more about her, or checking out her work? Here’s a link to Angeline Hawkes’ Amazon page.