This past Tuesday was the last day of Women In Horror Month, which means that from now until next March 1st, most people will stop spotlighting the women who make up part of Horror Fiction’s rich history and legacy.
In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need a Women In Horror Month, because people would talk about and celebrate women in horror throughout the year. And to be fair, many folks do just that. I say this as someone who has been in this business long enough to remember the very first Women In Horror Month. Fans, readers, critics, and other authors spotlight books and stories by women far more now throughout the year than they ever have in our genre’s past.
But as far as the actual Women In Horror Month goes? Well... for one month, your social media feed is positively full of such accolades and recommendations, and then, if the vagaries of the algorithms hold sway (and if you’ve been reading this Blog then you know that they will) such content will vanish from your feed fairly quickly, replaced by whatever terrible outrage is taking place today or perhaps a more palatable video of a cute kitten that may or may not be generated via AI.
This year, I didn’t specifically set out to focus on Women In Horror Month, for a couple of reasons. One, I was busy with DEAD FORMAT and getting things ready for my youngest’s upcoming graduation and acceptance into college, and I just really haven’t been very active online. Two, I felt that it might come off as performative (which people will accuse you of regarding anything you do when you reach a certain level of professional fame or notoriety. Stub your toe and cringe in pain? There are nuts who will say you’re being performative and your privilege allows you to do so. And knowing myself and my current frustration with the state of the world, if somebody mouthed off like that I was going to have a go at them, and then it would become ‘Brian Keene Ruins Women In Horror Month By Nuking Half Of Social Media’, and that’s not good for anybody). And thirdly, (and I’m aware some people will call this self-serving or tooting my own horn, and those people can go jump in front of a gas truck) I think I’ve got a pretty good thirty year track record of supporting and recommending the women in our field. I do it year round. I don’t need a month on a calendar to remind me to do it.
But I was, in fact, mulling over why Women in Horror month felt... off ... to me this year. And I was talking with authors Gemma Amor and Sarah Read last week on Threads, and learned they felt something similar. Sarah said (in part): “It feels different this year. Less like a celebration, More like a plea. This year it feels like we lost ground and are pushing forward from well behind where we’ve been before. At least, that’s how it feels to me.”
She’s not wrong.
It’s a tough time to be an American right now. Hell, it’s a tough time to be a citizen of Earth. But it is a particularly tough time to be a woman. Women’s rights are being rolled back or revoked in countries around the world, including some right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. There are many who want to help but they feel powerless to actually do anything. Protesting feels futile. Voting seems laughable at this point. All of the other options lead to just more terribleness on top of what is already terrible.
And Sarah’s words keep coming back to me.
I decided last week that I’m going to celebrate Women in Horror Year. It’s not performative, but it is absolutely me throwing my privilege up onto the table. Every day for the next year, I’m going to spotlight a horror novel by a woman on Algorithm Zero, and then offer a weekly recap in Letters From the Labyrinth. And I’m not going to talk about the fact that they are women, because you’re an idiot if you don’t understand that. Them being women shouldn’t matter. What matters are the books. So I’m going to talk about the books. Each of them will be a book I have personally read and enjoyed over the years.
It’s one way to help. It’s one way to jump in behind that metaphorical boulder that Sarah eludes to and shove it well past where we’ve been before. I’m aware of just how much of an audience I command, and while I have always used that space to point you not only at my stuff but at the works of my peers and at things of importance that impact our genre, I’m going to focus on books and stories by the women of this genre, past and present, for the next 365 days.
This week, I wrote about:
Died by Izzy Von
AfterAge by Yvonne Navarro
You’re Mine by Somer Canon
Let’s Play White by Chesya Burke
Read more about each of them here.
Good morning. I’m Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth, a long-running weekly newsletter for friends, fans, and family.
A reminder about A Celebration of Fear — a horror festival taking place next Saturday, April 11th, at the Ashland Public Library 66 Front St, Ashland, MA 01721 from 9:30am to 4:00pm. Myself, Christopher Golden, Joe Hill, Ronald Malfi, Emily Carpenter, Rebecca Rowland, Catherynne Valente, Luke Dumas, Nicky Gonzalez, J.H. Markert, Sam Rebelein, Saratoga Schaffer, and V.E. Tirado will all be on hand to sign books. Available from me will be ISLAND OF THE DEAD and THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: NEW TALES FROM STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND. You are also welcome to bring books from home to be signed.
And then on Saturday, April 25th, myself, mary, Wesley Southard, Somer Canon, Stephen Kozeniewski, and a bunch of other folks will be signing at the Ephrata Public Library 550 South Reading Road Ephrata, PA 17522 from 1pm to 4pm.
And speaking of reminders, a reminder that vendor tables for Scares that Care’s AuthorCon VII will go on sale in a few months — Saturday, May 23, at 6:00pm EST.
(AuthorCon VII will take place March 5 through 7, 2027, with the 2nd annual Women’s Writing Symposium preceding it on March 4th).
Currently Watching: Survivor season 50, Daredevil: Born Again season 2, The X-Files season 1 (rewatch), The King of Comedy (rewatch), Young Guns (re-watch), and Young Guns II (re-watch).
Currently Reading: In The Quiet Spaces by C. E. Young and Wicked North Alabama by Jacquelyn Proctor Reeves.
Currently Listening: Child of the Kindly South by W.D. Miller, Live After Death by Iron Maiden, Coda by Led Zeppelin, Live at Montreux Festival ‘95 by Ice-T, and (in the truck) Sirius/XM’s Howard 100, Howard 101, Outlaw Country, Ozzy’s Boneyard, and Rock The Bells.
I’ve been watching Survivor for twenty-five years. I was there from the very first episode until now. People think that must mean I enjoy reality television. In fact, the opposite is true. I loathe 98% of reality television. But I love Survivor (and I also dug The Osbornes because Ozzy duh, and to a lesser extent Full Throttle Saloon, which had the charm of watching a slow motion car crash).
This past week’s episode of Survivor — the Blood Moon — was one of the best of their fifty season run. I won’t talk about it in detail, because I don’t want to spoil it for those of you who are fans and haven’t watched yet, but this one had every aspect of the show that I enjoy all jammed into one episode.
And a thank you to author Bev Vincent, who knows that I don’t watch the most recent episode until the day after it airs, and holds off on texting me “OMG DID U SEE THAT $HIT?!” until after it’s safe to do so.
I’ve got the next week to myself, so it’ll be one of those hardcore work marathons I embark upon a few times every year. The main focuses will be FALLING ANGELS: THE LABYRINTH Book 4 (which is pretty much finished but I want to revise some stuff) and OPERATION LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK and its adjacent spin-off. As has been the custom so far in 2026, I’ll be on my Blog and Patreon daily, but not active on social media much at all.
And that does it for this week. Thanks for reading. Happy Easter those of you who celebrate.
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