Musings & Meditations

From the archives: Paula Guran interviews women writers, editors, and readers — including Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tabitha King, Joyce Carol Oates, and yours truly — about what women look for in horror film and fiction.

A lot of the appeal of horror for women comes from its gothic roots,” says writer, editor, critic Pam Keesey. “Gothic literature, often dismissed as ‘women’s literature,’ was women’s adventure literature, women’s quest literature. Traditional gothic literature often put women at the center of the story, testing their strength, intelligence, bravery, and endurance, often in the face of supernatural adversity. Those elements still appear with frequency in horror films and literature — John Carpenter’s Halloween comes to mind — and I think is, in part, what women find appealing about horror.

Read the full article: What Women Want…in Horror.