A blood-soaked and supportive writer’s community
Elishiva Phillips (She/her) // Contributor
Lily Jones (she/her) // Illustrator
To the uninitiated, horror can seem a strange genre to want to write. Why would anyone want to spend time writing about people being dismembered and eaten? What joy does one gain from describing in graphic detail how a chainsaw can turn them into a bloody pulp? Yet, many out there do just that, committing every inventive, blood-soaked word they can to the page. Unsurprisingly, this interest can become very niche and consequently becomes an isolating hobby. People who don’t write can have a difficult time understanding the amount of effort and tenacity it takes to keep putting your work out there again and again, making the experience even more isolating. Because of this, finding a supportive community can be a benefit to helping writers develop their skills, build connections and find publishing opportunities.
One of the oldest professional associations in North America is the Horror Writers Association (HWA). According to their website, their goal is to “encourage public interest in and foster an appreciation of good horror and dark fantasy literature.” To that end, they present a major literary award—the Bram Stoker Awards—recognizing the best in horror every year. The HWA also offers scholarships and grants to help aspiring writers’ creative development. Additionally, they put on panels and book readings and showcases for the work of their members, as well as connecting with authors at various literary conventions including their own biannual convention called StokerCon. For members living in the States, the association worked out a partnership that helps members access health insurance. It’s an impressive array of pies to stick your fingers in and a boon to any writer in need of support.
Beyond all of that, one of the best features of the HWA is that it has local chapters all over North America. Here in Vancouver, one can join the Greater Vancouver Horror Writer’s Association (GVHWA) whose members are all writers living and working in the region. According to GVHWA Member Bebe Bayliss, “Having a community of people who are in the same space is encouraging, because you hear about their challenges and struggles [as well as] their successes.” An active member of not only GVHWA, but also Science Fiction Writers of America and Crime Writers of Canada, Bayliss noted that all of these organizations have benefits, but the GVHWA is the most active as a community. “It’s really supportive and it gives you a place to go to ask questions where nobody will point and giggle,” she notes.
One of the biggest benefits of being a member is the frequent opportunity to engage with guest speakers. According to Bayliss, that education is a big part of what she gains from membership. The local chapter frequently hosts guest speakers on an array of different topics. “One time it was a taxidermist,” said Bayliss, “Another one of our members talked about screenwriting and screenwriting competitions.” As for Bayliss herself? She says, “I used to own a product development company, so I talked about how to license IP for writers.” She goes on to express how the group feels like a safe space for asking questions and getting helpful tips, because of the familiarity they all have from these shared online meetings.
Being a part of a community which is so passionate about the same things as you can also lead to discovering new ways of thinking about genre. For example, Bayliss speaks about the malleability of horror as a genre and tells me one of the finest horror novels she’s ever read is not technically a horror novel at all: it’s Richard Preston’s best-selling book The Hot Zone, a creative nonfiction recounting the origins of the Ebola virus. Bebe describes it as an incredible horror book precisely because it hones in on, “all the ways that humans are trying to annihilate civilization by not paying attention.”
“I love learning from other writers,” says Bayliss. “We’ve all experienced rejection, but we take it in really different ways; the successes, the challenges, all of that. Having a reason to get out and talk to more people about a craft that you all love, that’s powerful.”
To join the HWA, you can find membership information on their website or Facebook Page.