ALONE WITH… GWENDOLYN KISTE

Alone with… Gwendolyn Kiste

12/9/2022

ALONE WITH… GWENDOLYN KISTE AN INTERVIEW FOR ISOLATION THE NEW ANTHOLOGY EDITED BY DAN COX

Isolation: The Horror Anthology, edited by Dan Coxon, gathers 20 modern masters of horror to confront the dark moments, the challenges that we must face alone: survivors in a world gone silent; the outcast shunned by society; the quiet voice trapped in the crowd; the lonely and forgotten, screaming into the abyss. Featuring stories by Paul Tremblay, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, M. R. Carey, Ken Liu, Nina Allan, Ramsey Campbell, Jonathan Maberry, Angela Slatter and many many more, it explores something that the horror fan has always known: when it comes to the crunch, we all die alone.

This week we’ll be featuring interviews with five of the writers featured in Isolation. Laird Barron, Gwendolyn Kiste, Michael Marshall Smith, Lynda E. Rucker and Owl Goingback will give us a sneak preview of their story in the anthology, as well as their other work in progress, and answer that vital question: why are we so afraid of being alone? And Jim Mcleod will be reviewing each of these five stories at the end of each of the interviews.

https://titanbooks.com/70997-isolation-the-horror-anthology/

Alone with… Gwendolyn Kiste

Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about your story in Isolation?

My story, “The Peculiar Seclusion of Molly McMarshall,” is about a woman who is seen walking into her home one day but inexplicably never comes out again. Her inquisitive neighbors begin to wonder what happened to her, only to realize that no one can get inside her house. At the same time, they start to feel a strange need to withdraw into their own homes and not leave either. In particular after living through the pandemic and the shelter-at-home orders, it was interesting to me to explore the idea of being sequestered inside and the reasons why people exile themselves from the world. I kept thinking about how truly bizarre it would be for all of us to have gone into our homes in 2020 if you didn’t know the context of there being a pandemic and how we were trying to protect ourselves and others from getting ill. That context is everything; without it, our collective withdraw from the world would seem much stranger. So I decided to take that basic concept and extrapolate it into an entire story.

What in particular appealed to you about isolation as a theme? Is it something you've experienced yourself?

I feel like isolation is such a universal experience. We’ve all been isolated at some point, either physically (such as during the pandemic) or emotionally when we don’t feel close to anyone around us. That was definitely a huge draw for writing about this theme. There’s so much potential, and there’s so many different directions you can go with it. For my story, I decided to do a darkly humorous take on the idea, but the sky was really the limit in how you can interpret the theme. There’s so much existential horror in the idea of isolation.

Apart from your own, whose stories are you most looking forward to reading in Isolation?

There are so many amazing authors in this table of contents, and I’m so incredibly honored to be included. If I had to pick just a couple authors, I’d go with A.G. Slatter and Ken Liu. I’ve been a huge fan of their work for so long, especially their short stories, so it’s always such a wonderful and unique experience to read their fiction.

But truly, you can’t go wrong with any of the authors in the anthology. I’m in awe of the talent in this book, and once again, I’m just so happy to be part of it. So needless to say, I’m looking very forward to reading everyone’s stories

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve just finished up a new novel over the summer, so that’s always a major mountain to climb. This book is all about a haunted neighborhood, and the three women who escaped it years ago before the whole street became a ghost. Now twenty years later, they’re forced to return and reckon with the past. It’s a gothic coming-of-age story, and it’s also probably the weirdest, most personal thing I’ve ever written. I’ve also always wanted to write a full-length haunted house story, so I figured why not write a whole haunted street while I was at it?

Otherwise, I’m working on short stories and nonfiction articles, all in the horror genre. There’s always something to be writing, which is a good thing, since I’m happier when I’m busy. It helps to keep the existential dread at bay!

Apart from the story in Isolation, do you have anything else coming out in the next few months that we should be keeping an eye out for?

My new novel, Reluctant Immortals, is out now from Saga Press. It’s about two of the forgotten women of gothic literature — Lucy Westenra from Dracula and Bertha Antoinetta Mason from Jane Eyre — who are living in 1960s California as undead immortals. They’re doing their best to hide out from their past, until suddenly the toxic men they’ve been desperate to escape — Dracula and Edward Rochester — make a very shocking return to their lives. The UK edition will be released in November from Titan Books, so my gothic heroines will be making their way around the world in the next couple months!

What are you reading at the moment (or what are you most looking forward to reading)?

The anthology Chromophobia, edited by Sara Tantlinger, is my biggest must-read for the fall. I also just finished Addie Tsai’s brilliant Unwieldy Creatures, which is a biracial queer retelling of Frankenstein. I can’t recommend those two books enough. Definitely put them on your reading list for the forthcoming spooky season!

Gwendolyn Kiste

Gwendolyn Kiste is the three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens, Reluctant Immortals, Boneset & Feathers, And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, Pretty Marys All in a Row, and The Invention of Ghosts. Her short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Lit Hub, Vastarien, Tor's Nightfire, Black Static, The Dark, Daily Science Fiction, Interzone, and LampLight, among others. Originally from Ohio, she now resides on an abandoned horse farm outside of Pittsburgh with her husband, two cats, and not nearly enough ghosts. Find her online at gwendolynkiste.com

My review of The Peculiar Seclusion of Molly McMarshall

The Peculiar Seclusion of Molly McMarshall is a haunting tale told via the interesting medium of series of articles from a blog site about the strange events that centre on Molly McMarshall. Despite have absolutely no actual violence or graphic descriptions of threatening monsters etc, this story is one of the most chilling and frankly upsetting short stories I have ever read. Kiste's inspired use of telling the story through a series of blog posts describing the events that happen after Molly McMarshall decides to enter her house one day an not come out, lends this story a frantic, and oppressive tone that keeps on building until the emotionally charged and eerie conclusion.

Kiste's skill at being able to tap into the primal human fears of the unknown, and the uncontrollable is majestic, I was mesmerized throughout this powerful short story. With shades of Radiohead's "Just" you never know why or what is causing the events in the story, which is a genius level move, as it lends a ominous tone to this brilliant story. And you know what sometimes like Molly we all just want to be left alone.

Isolation: The horror anthology
EDITED By Dan Coxon

Lost in the wilderness, or alone in the dark, isolation remains one of our deepest held fears. This horror anthology from Shirley Jackson and British Fantasy Award finalist Dan Coxon calls on leading horror writers to confront the dark moments, the challenges that we must face alone: survivors in a world gone silent; the outcast shunned by society; the quiet voice trapped in the crowd; the lonely and forgotten, screaming into the abyss.

Experience the chilling terrors of Isolation.

Featuring stories by:
Nina Allan
Laird Barron
Ramsey Campbell
M.R. Carey
Chịkọdịlị Emelumadu
Brian Evenson
Owl Goingback
Gwendolyn Kiste
Joe R. Lansdale
Tim Lebbon
Alison Littlewood
Ken Liu
Jonathan Maberry
Michael Marshall Smith
Mark Morris
Lynda E. Rucker
A.G. Slatter
Paul Tremblay
Lisa Tuttle
Marian Womack