This month - Melissa Stewart
Interviewer: Aigner Loren Wilson (she/her) is a 2023 double Ignyte Finalist for best novelette and best critic. She is a senior fiction editor for Strange Horizons, and her writing has appeared in F&SF, Lightspeed Magazine, Monstrous Futures, and more. You can follow her on her website, newsletter, or on Facebook.
Horror Author: Melissa Stewart is a women’s fiction horror writer. Her short stories have been published with Flame Tree, Dark Rose, and Black Hare presses under her pen name M. Leigh. Her unpublished novel, Stitches, was a finalist with the PNWA contest (2017), Judges Favorite with Ink and Insights (2021), and made the Long List at the Stockholm Writers Festival (2022). She believes that women’s fiction is the perfect space to let horror grow, mutate, and create unforgettable characters. Find her here www.mleighstories.com or @mleighstories.
This interview is a part of the HWA Seattle Member Blog Interview Series. HWA Seattle members who would like to be interviewed for the blog, reach out here.
Aigner Loren Wilson: How do you describe women’s fiction and what role does gender play into your stories? Why does women’s horror fiction resonate with you?
Melissa Stewart: I would describe women’s fiction as a journey told from a female perspective. It is a chance to view family, marriage, work, and society through the female lens. I typically write female protagonists because I love exploring these perspectives. Women’s horror fiction has always resonated with me because I think the female experience is naturally horrific—bleeding once a month, growing a human that eventually expels itself from our body, fear for our own safety, and battles for autonomy are all scary stories. Therefore, women’s fiction is the perfect place to explore these fears/realities.
ALW: How long have you been writing for and what are some of your early influences?
MS: I have been writing my whole life, though I started seriously pursuing horror writing in 2016. R.L. Stine and Stephen King were my earliest influences. Dolores Clairborne was a real game-changer for me.
ALW: Readers sometimes find solace in horror, a genre that allows them to confront their fears in a controlled environment. How do you balance the terror with moments of catharsis or relief in your storytelling?
MS: I think it is absolutely necessary to give the readers relief throughout a story. I like to use comic relief of some kind. I think the reason why horror is a safe place to explore fears is because some horror scenarios are absurd and unrealistic. I like to comment on the absurdity at times to keep the reader feeling safe.
ALW: The atmosphere and setting often play a crucial role in horror stories. Can you describe how you build and sustain a sense of dread or unease throughout your narratives?
MS: Setting is my favorite aspect of any good horror story. With a solid setting, tension is established right from the get-go and the stakes start off high. I typically like to take a seemingly “normal” space and slowly take away the normalcy. A haunted house, for example, may first just seem dirty and old but then doors start trapping them in rooms, or voices keep them up at night. Another tactic is an unreliable narrator (usually my female protagonist). Not knowing if what is happening is true or just the perceived truth hopefully keeps the reader off balance and increases the feelings of dread.
ALW: If a reader was unfamiliar with your work, what’s the story you’d suggest they start with?
MS: I would say to start off with my short stories. The Gobin and the Girl is a fun one.
ALW: Do you have any upcoming releases or projects you’re working on that you’d like to talk about?
MS: My novel is being shopped around at the moment. So, I hope that I can advertise that soon!
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Thanks for reading. I hope you’ve found a new author or a deeper love for an author you already know.