Now before I get myself into trouble here let me say that there are lots of women who love horror and plenty of men who don't. Maybe it's a cultural thing but I also think its a sex (or gender) thing, too. If you put men and women along a graph line, I think you'd find many more men on the 'loves horror' end than women. Without meaning to stereotype, I just think on average, less women like horror. Why do you think there are fewer women writing horror than men? Speaking of my short fiction, my short story, 'Brazo de Dios,' still scares me. Sineater, Wire Mesh Mothers, Welcome Back to the Night, Homeplace, and Twisted Branch for example, as well as many of my short stories.they are all rooted in misuse of power and the terror that creates, whether from a human or a supernatural source. Just about everything I've written that deals with the misuse of power has scared me to some degree. Have you ever written something that scared you? Oh, and the thought of having to eat a piece of cheese will make me run for the hills. A number of my stories and novels deal with the wielding of power. Power has the ability to corrupt in the worst of ways. People who have ultimate power over others - be it short term or long term. I give them (whether they want it or not!) the chance to rise or fall in the direst of circumstances. When I write, I delve into the darkness to understand what is going on, and to see how my characters will manage. I think I hoped that if I looked hard enough and long enough, I would understand it somehow. I wanted to read scary stories and novels that then made me cower in my bed at night. As a child I was quite the scairdy-cat, yet I wanted to watch The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and all those great shows.

I've always been both intrigued and disturbed by the frightening things in life.

Sineater by elizabeth massie