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WOMEN IN HORROR MONTH: REVIEWING HORROR FROM A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE WITH CHRISTINE MORGAN

25/2/2021
WOMEN IN HORROR MONTH:  REVIEWING HORROR FROM A FEMALE PERSPECTIVE WITH CHRISTINE MORGAN
Please tell us who you are, and why you chose to review horror?

I’m Christine Morgan, a writer and occasional editor as well as reviewer, and horror’s been my primary true love since I was a kid. Reviewing it is a good way to share that love, as well as support the genre, and maybe introduce others to works or authors they might’ve missed.

How long have you been reviewing for, and where can we find you?

I was a regular contributor to Nick Cato’s “The Horror Fiction Review” for many years, since way back when it was a photocopied and stapled ‘zine and throughout its online run (http://thehorrorfictionreview.blogspot.com/). It’s been on hiatus lately, so I’ve been posting to my own site (https://christinemariemorgan.wordpress.com/reviews/review-archives/) as well as Amazon.

Do you have a mission statement regarding what you hope to achieve with your reviews and website?

Oh, that’s way too lofty for the likes of me; I just started out doing reviews of books I’d read and liked. Then it sort of snowballed from there, until people were actually sending me things to read. As mentioned above, being able to support and share my love of the genre is mission statement enough.

What's been the biggest hurdle you have faced in your time as a horror reviewer?

So many books, so little time! My TBR pile tends to hover between 50 and 70, no matter how fast I try to get ahead of it. Which is not a bad problem to have. I’m never without plenty of options.

What's your prefered subgenre of horror?

My tastes are encompassing and eclectic, but I do have a special love for extreme horror and bizarro.

How would you describe your reviewing style?

Casual, personal, and chatty; I like to focus on what my reading experience of any given book was like, what it meant to and how it affected me (though I have been known to gripe about editing/proofreading issues).

What was the biggest low point of your time as a reviewer, and what has been the highpoint?

For low points, I guess there’ve been the occasional backlashes from people who disagreed, but so far (knock on wood) I haven’t gotten the full death-threat attacks some others have. For high point, definitely when Edward Lee emailed me to thank me for reviewing several of his books; we struck up a correspondence and he’s become a mentor and dear friend.

How do you organise your time as a reviewer, do you have any tips for other reviewers?

Pretty much my whole life revolved around books one way or another; I’m always either writing, editing, proofreading, or reading and reviewing. But my schedule is subject to the whims of fate; I do a lot of it at work on the overnight shift so it depends on how much downtime I happen to have.

Do you have a favourite review of yours?

There’ve been far too many to choose from! I think I reviewed over 120 books in 2020 alone! Luckily, I am a fast reader, but even so, that’s a lot.

Sadly horror is a genre that is still "ruled" by white males, have you had any negative responses from the because you are a woman reviewing horror?

If I did, I either didn’t notice or have forgotten, or was more occupied with negative responses for being a woman writing it. But I stopped putting up with that kind of nonsense a long time ago. Anyone who still thinks “girls can’t do horror” has clearly not been paying attention. Their loss.

In terms of the genre itself there is still a nasty lingering concept of the woman only being there as a focus for violence, terror or as the damsel in distress, what's your reaction to this?

Pff, it’s hardly only this genre; that’s been a thing in just about every genre for ages. I could rant and rail about it, but I prefer to do my best to concentrate on countering it in my own work as well as celebrating it in the works of others. Well, and calling it out when I (still way too often) run across it, but I’m spiteful that way.

Do you have any recommendations for books that allow women to break past this stereotype?

There are a lot of great women doing a lot of great stuff, on the creative end as well as the business end and everywhere in between. Look at Rose O’Keefe, publishing dynamo ... Liv Rainey-Smith, woodcut artist ... tell them “girls can’t,” I dare you. Writers like Monica J. O-Rourke, Mary SanGiovanni, Damien Angelica Walters (if she has yet to write a dud, ever, I’ve not seen it). And must give a special shout-out to Gina Ranalli, who kicks all kinds of butt anyway but whose latest book -- All Men Are Trash -- is the “We’re Not Gonna Take It” anthem we all need.

What was the last good book you read, and what are you planning on reading next?
CM: Among my fave recent reads lately have been the latest two in the Death’s Head Press “Splatter Western” series, The Thirteenth Koyote by Kristopher Triana (who, for a dude, especially an extreme horror dude, writes female characters phenomenally well), and Red Station by rising star Kenzie Jennings. Coming up next ... let me check my TBR list ... looks like the anthologies Welcome To Splatter Club from Blood Bound Books and Bloodstains from Splatterpunk Zine are on deck, so, it’s gonna get messy!
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Christine Morgan grew up in the high desert of Southern California, and fled for the cooler rainier climes of the Pacific Northwest as soon as she was of age. She graduated from Humboldt State University with a psychology degree, and has worked in the field of residential psychiatric care ever since (usually on the overnight shift, because it often means she can write on the company clock). Twice-divorced, and twice a cancer survivor, she currently lives in Portland Oregon, bossed around by three demanding cats as well as the porch-critters she’s taken to feeding. Dubbed “the Martha Stewart of extreme horror” for her disturbing baked goods and craft projects as well as her stories, she has one now-adult long-suffering daughter who usually wins whenever her friends compete to see who has the weirdest parents.

Her most recent books include: Lakehouse Infernal, White Death, The Night Silver River Run Red, Dawn Of The Living Impaired And Other Messed-Up Zombie Stories, and Visceral (with Patrick C. Harrison III).

Over a hundred of her short stories have appeared in various anthologies, magazines, and online venues. She also reviews, takes on edit and proofreading gigs, and can be found online at https://christinemariemorgan.wordpress.com/, as well as on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christinemorganauthor) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/CMorganAuthor).

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