[WiHM] Interview with Book Reviewer and Writer, Marina
Tell us a little bit about yourself! What is your role in the horror community?
I’m a book reviewer and non-fiction author, although I’ve loved horror my whole life, I only started to write and review a year ago. My first ever contribution to the horror community was a piece regarding children’s relationship with horror (my favorite topic) discussed through King’s novel IT (1986) that was published on the Outsider: a Stephen King Zine. That opened the door to a world I could never have imagined, it led me to the wonderful Cat Stead and the Hear Us Scream anthology: I once again wrote about children’s relationship with horror, but this time, it was about my own. From there, Cat was kind enough to offer me the opportunity of writing for the Hear Us Scream site, where I’ve been happily reviewing books since 2021.
What was the first thing you encountered that made you fall in love with horror?
Sadly, I don’t remember my childhood, I only have little snippets of memory until I was eight or nine, by which time I already love horror, so I can’t pinpoint the exact moment. What I do remember is that I’ve loved the archetype of The Witch ever since I was a little girl and I consumed everything (that my mom found age appropriate at the time, hahah) that featured witches. I was also an avid reader of R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, those books are still one of my most prized posessions. I also spent many many hours watching Scooby-Doo, which is great foreshadowing for my current interest in true-crime books/documentaries.
What does the horror community mean to you?
It means acceptance, a place filled with people that have welcomed me, including the parts that I’ve had to hide from others in the past. In fact, the Hear Us Scream team has helped me so much in terms of accepting and understanding my sexuality and my neurodivergence. Actually, I’ve found that the majority of connections I’ve made within the horror community are queer and/or neurodivergent, it’s the most diverse and kind group I’ve been a part of in a long time. Most of all, what I love the most about the community (at least, the little corner I’ve carved for myself in it) is how everyone is so uplifting and supportive of others, we’re all willing to lend a hand to others who need it. I know this sounds a little utopical, but truly, I feel accepted and heard within the horror community and I feel so so loved within the Hear Us Scream community.
Who are your favourite women in horror?
My favorite director is Juliana Rojas, she’s a Brazilian filmmaker who has directed over twenty productions between movies, series, and short films. Her 2012 short film O Duplo (translated as Doppelganger) was one of the few movies to actually scare me and I can’t recommend it enough.
Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman is my favorite horror non-fiction writer, she wrote the book Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1980s to Present (2011), from which she produced the documentary film, Horror Noire. Dr. Coleman has also written African-American Viewers and the Black Situation Comedy: Situating Racial Humor (2010) and several other academic and popular publications.
Christine Schiefer is my favorite podcaster of all time, she co-hosts the podcast And That’s Why We Drink with her best friend Em Schulz. Every week she covers a true-crime story, while Em covers a supernatural one, and once a month they read true stories (both supernatural and true crime) that were sent by their listeners. Furthermore, Christine has a Youtube channel, Creeps with Christine, where she reads true crime/crime-related stories sent by her listeners, including my own! (Featured on the video Death Threats from Dad, in fact, my story inspired the title of the video).
As for horror writers, I don’t have any particular favorites, but two that I’ve discovered this year have really blown me away: Nico Bell (Beyond the Creek) and Caitlin Marceau (PALIMPSEST). Bell’s novella is one of the best Gothic pieces I’ve ever read, thight plot, well-written characters, and incredible queer representation, I cannot recommend her enough. PALIMPSEST is a collection full of creepy stories that are sure to keep anyone up at night, plus, the most touching zombie tale I have ever read.
If you could invite one woman from horror to dinner who would you invite and why?
This is the hardest question out of them all, can it be a huge dinner party? Hahahha. Well, I’d love to be able to have a conversation about the supernatural and her career with Lorraine Warren, her and her husband Ed were involved in so many cases, allegedly seen so much, it would be wonderful to have her tell me about her experiences. However, she passed away in 2019 and as much as I like reading about the supernatural, I have no desire to communicate with the dead, so I’ll choose Vera Farmiga. Vera is the actress that played her in the James Wan’s Conjuring movies, she’s incredibly talented, having even been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for her role as Norma Bates in Bates Motel. I’d be honored to sit and talk to Farmiga about her roles, her acting career and how is/was the overall experience of playing Lorraine Warren.
Women in horror have been making progress, but it’s clear that a lot of work is still needed to ensure that representation is correct and widespread . What is the importance of Women in Horror Month?
I believe that the importance of this month is being more conscientious of not only what we consume, in terms of media, but also who we consume. We have so many diverse voices producing entertainment, but the ones that get the most attention (and funding), are those of cisgender straight white men, and unless we actively seek out other voices, that is never going to change. Due to misogyny, femme presenting individuals (especially those who are black, trans, and/or queer) have been marginalized in all areas of society and content creation, including in the horror sphere. This results in our work being seen as less and not getting nearly half of the attention of men’s productions, which in turn is used as an excuse from editors/executives to not pick up things produced by women. Women in Horror Month helps us be seen and be heard, but above all, I believe it’s a reminder for everyone to do better: we need to make more of an effort to listen to those who’ve had their voices silenced for too long.
In honour of celebrating Women in Horror, who do you believe readers should keep an eye on in terms of women in horror?
I know this is such a clichê, but every single one from the Hear Us Scream team, especially my dear friends: Blayne Waterloo (Ladies and Ligaments podcast + HUS writer, featured on Hear Us Scream: The Voices of Horror), Cat Benstead (Founder and co-editor of the Hear Us Scream site, the fearless leader behind the book Hear Us Scream: The Voices of Horror, Host of TGIF: A Horror Movie Podcast, Co-host of Club Dead Podcast, HUS writer), Dylyn (Bloodybedroom website, HUS writer, featured on Hear Us Scream: The Voices of Horror), Violet Burns (Co-editor of the HUS site, HUS writer, featured on Hear Us Scream: The Voices of Horror), Lucy (Co-host of the Ghoulfriends podcast, Twitch streamer /lulu_pew, HUS writer, featured on Hear Us Scream: The Voices of Horror), and S. L. McGee (Writer and sefl-published author of the Makaela Williams series, has published several horor and urban fantasy short stories on Vocal, HUS writer).
I’ve never met a more talented, kind, and funny group of people in my life, they all produce amazing content and are worth checking out. I also strongly recommend that the readers look out for all of my favorite women in horror that I listed above, I believe they’ll keep on releasing great things.
What do you have coming in 2022 that you can talk to us about?
My biggest goal for 2022 is to continue to post book reviews on Hear Us Scream and try out doing them in video format for the HUS Youtube Channel. I want to get more involved in the book community: interview new authors, write editorials about Latin American horror, bring attention to it, review Brazilian horror movies. I’ll be joining the wonderful Enola Lugosi on their podcast, Slay Away, to discuss the movie The Craft (1996) alongside Blayne Waterloo (one of the lovely people from HUS). I’ve also recorded with Blayne for her podcast, Ladies and Ligaments, where we had a blast talking about queer representation in horror movies. Hopefully, everyone will see a lot of me on the Hear Us Scream site and channel!
