Fearsome Five: Five Women Horror Authors to Watch Out For

As this Women in Horror Month draws to a conclusion, I must offer my apologies to any Women in Horror that I might have forgot to write about, particularly since there are so many women out there in the horror field. That’s why I’m devoting my Fearsome Five list to five women authors to definitely be on the lookout for, especially since they may be behind you. 

RIGHT NOW!

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Anyway, on with the list.

5) Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire. Two different personas in the same person, the team of Seanan McGuire and her pseudonym Mira Grant has whatever kind of horror you’re looking for. Seanan has you covered if you like paranormal adventures, particularly in her Ghost Road series series about a ghostly hitchhiker, and Mira has you covered if you like your horror more crimson, whether its zombies from her Newsflesh series series to mermaid (yes, mermaids) in Into the Drowning Deep.
4) Ellen Datlow: Not as known for writing as she is for editing, but she has edited quite a few stunning anthologies, including for the Best Horror of the Year series. She has edited anthologies focusing on everything from Halloween to the sea to dolls. As the gateway to many of the authors I myself have recently discovered, Ellen Datlow is definitely a name you want to know if you want to sample the different horrors out there.

3) Tananarive Due: Not a new author but definitely one who has consistently produced unsettling southern Gothic horror since the ‘90s. While not the household name of Koontz and King, she is definitely well-known as an African-American horror writer who penned such well-known tales as The Between and  The Good House, combining societal issues, the African-American experience, and supernatural terrors to create fiction that enlightens as well as frightens. As more and more diverse writers from all walks of life enter the horror field, it is important to remember those who helped pave the way.

2) Yoko Ogawa: Japanese horror, or J-Horror, has created its own horror niche in American cinema, but authors like Ogawa join the ranks of Koji Suzuki, author of the Ring and Dark Water, to bring a different flavor of horror to American shores. While she is known for writing thrillers, Ogawa’s short story collection Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales seems like a compact read, but these stories weave together and twist themselves into a demented tapestry. She’s one to watch if you prefer your horror to build slowly but disturb profoundly.

1) Gwendolyn Kiste: She’s a relative newcomer who burst onto the scene with her short story collection And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, but Kiste stood out for me, and signaled big things for her future, with her debut novel The Rust Maidens. Part dark fairy tale, part coming-of-age story, this story covers everything from far-out body horror to the real life horrors of economic collapse. So many different ideas and aspects are woven together to create a story that’s both horrific and beautiful, both tragic and uplifting. It’s really what good horror with a fully-realized setting and characters should be.