Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Women in Horror: Featuring Lori R. Lopez



As you may know, February is "Women in Horror" month. To celebrate, PromoteHorror.com asked women from different professions if they would like to answer some questions about being a "Woman in Horror." One of the women, who were kind enough to answer our questions, was the wonderful author Lori R. Lopez. Lets see what she said about being a “Woman in Horror”…


-When did you first become a horror fan?

I wish I could say that I emerged into the world clutching a copy of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN; however, I did not actually read the book until age ten.  I viewed the Hammer films based on it at a much earlier age, possibly around four or five.  I was hooked on Horror.  THE MUMMY, THE WOLFMAN, all of the classics.  There were other movies such as Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS that scared and thrilled me.  I saw it one night home alone with my older brother, sitting on the floor in front of the sofa with our family dog.  My childhood was an era when THE MUNSTERS and THE ADDAMS FAMILY were on T.V., in Primetime.  That was amazing, a golden age.

In First Grade I had listened to a reading of Washington Irving’s THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW.  I loved it!  Supernatural and dark-themed works, whether humorous or frightening, appealed to me so much.  I loved the local graveyards.  I was never a normal kid.  I didn’t want to be.  Horror and Halloween were my cup of tea, much as I adored quirkiness too, like ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS.  I tend to stir some oddness and funniness into the horror I create, and I like to think that I have developed my own unique style of it.

-Was there a specific moment when you realized that you wanted to go from being a fan of horror to a woman who contributes to the genre, or did it just kind of happen naturally?

I’d say it was a natural progression.  I wanted to create with art and words since I was little.  Before I could even read, I was enthralled by the monsters in WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.  Seventh Grade, I won an award for a werewolf play.  By age fifteen I was writing a horror novel.  Never finished it, but I was always writing, much like now.  Around the same age I did a painting with ghosts in it.  I knew what I wanted to do.  I would work on horror projects as an adult, but my life didn’t calm down enough to actually contribute to the genre until Ninety-Eight.  A decade after that I began to self-publish, beginning with a story collection called OUT-OF-MIND EXPERIENCES.  A year later I published a free Halloween story titled “Next Door” on my website.  It felt good to finally be part of Halloween as an author.

- What does having a "Women in Horror" month mean to you?

Hopefully that females like myself will receive some needed attention.  I think it’s a good thing, because Horror has for too long been dominated by male writers.  That’s who everybody hears about, and that’s who everybody reads.  It’s hard enough to make a name in the field without undue bias.  I dream of a day when it’s hard to believe that it was an issue.



-Is there a woman in horror who you consider a role model?

Speaking of authors, Mary Shelley most of all.  In her day, it was unheard of for a female to write such things.  What she wrote was epic.  The book made me weep.  A true classic.  I also admire Anne Rice, who is a living legend.  Kudos to Shirley Jackson for her contributions.  They inspire me because they did it, they helped define this genre in their own ways.  When you make that kind of impact, you must have done something right.

On the screen, some of my favorite characters are Dana Scully of THE X-FILES, Ripley of ALIEN, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie in HALLOWEEN.  There are great female villains, too.  I love Helena Bonham Carter in, well, anything.  But she’s great as THE CORPSE BRIDE; Angelina Jolie is superb as Maleficent.  There are excellent female characters, tough as nails, in THE WALKING DEAD.  I’m happy to see that.

-How do you think the role of women in horror has changed over the years?

Obviously, the days of the fainting heroine and scream queen evolved to a female character that is fighting alongside the guys.  We’re not just attractive scenery or damsels in distress anymore.  Modern women won’t accept that role.  Females are now writing the horror as well, and directing it.  Men have to get over reducing every female lead to the weak victims of the past.  This goes for books, also.  Women need to be written as three-dimensional characters, not cardboard cut-out stereotypes.  Sure, we might still scream, but most of us are going to put up a pretty good fight.

-What do you think the future holds for women in horror?

There’s no limit to what we can achieve.  I think we bring fresh voices and a welcome depth to Horror.  It’s important that people know what we are doing, what we are capable of, so I can’t thank you enough for inviting me to participate this month.



-Being that this is PromoteHorror.com, please feel free to plug your current/next horror project.

Thanks!  I just released my latest book of horror stories, ODDS AND ENDS:  A DARK COLLECTION.  It isn’t happy; it isn’t typical.  It contains a broad spectrum of tales, from micro to a novelette and everything in between.  I illustrated the print edition, and the overall experience is rather unique.  Endings are unpredictable, the characters complicated, and the settings quite varied.  It’s available at Amazon, BN, and Smashwords:





Print Edition:





Author of Fiction, Nonfiction and Verse; novelist and teller of short tales, Lori R. Lopez dips her quill into the ink of many genres, but Horror has been in her heart since she was a child enraptured by the frantic flight on horseback of a terrified Ichabod Crane, or the spooky Gothic atmosphere of Victor Frankenstein's manic body-building. She is also a humorous and dark poet with a monthly online column titled "Poetic Reflections".

In addition to creative prose and poems, she has spent years developing an autobiographical book series as well as composing songs. Book and story descriptions, plus a number of free samples can be viewed online at Fairy Fly Entertainment.

"My offbeat books, stories and verse cover a broad range of genres and themes. Humor is often foremost -- whether combined with horror, suspense, fantasy, adventure, supernatural, conservation, history, myth, legend, fairytale, and-slash-or nonfiction. I strive to create characters that will remain part of your life. My style tends to be unconventional, my prose poetic. I like to break the stuffy traditional boundaries and have fun with words. I possess my own standards about rules pertaining to voice, punctuation, and capitalization. The primary goal I have as an author is to amuse and affect the reader." (bio from her FB page)

You can find out more about Lori at:






We thank Lori R. Lopez for taking the time to answer our questions, but more importantly for her contribution to horror!

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