Rachel Bolton for Women in Horror Month
1. Introduce yourself. What do you want people to know about you and your work?
Hello! I have described my writing as “Carmen Maria Machado meets Shirley Jackson.” A Rachel Bolton story may possibly have a midcentury setting, a woman having a bad day who decides to make everyone else’s worse, an unexpected moment of body horror, and weird teeth.
Despite growing up and thinking I would write long fantasy series, I became a short horror story writer instead. Funny how it works out sometimes. I have a strong appreciation for the short story as an art form. A good one is like a punch to the face.
I wrote my first “book” when I was five, I started writing seriously when I was fourteen, and I’ve been submitting consistently for ten years. I deeply love to write.
2. Who or what were your earliest horror influences?
I checked out In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories by Alvin Schwartz and Dirk Zimmer from my public library as a child. It’s not an exaggeration to say it changed my life. The book created my love of horror. “The Green Ribbon” remains an all time favorite, and you can see its influence in my Bram Stoker Award nominated story.
As a tween, my dad got Rod Serling’s other television show Night Gallery on DVD. He remembered being frightened by it as a kid and he wanted to share it with me. Like The Twilight Zone, it is an anthology series. Some of the 70s effects are goofy, but I had fun watching through my hands. Night Gallery got me into watching the horror genre as well as reading it.
3. You were recently nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for your story “And She Had Been So Reasonable”, which appeared in Apex Magazine last year. As a bookseller, you must be fairly familiar with the Stoker winners and nominees of years past. What's it like to now have your name among them?
I go between “Oh my god, did this actually happen,” and “Wow, I worked really hard for this!” I’m incredibly proud of “And She Had Been So Reasonable.” Being in Apex Magazine was a career goal of mine. Editor-in-Chief Lesley Connor and the whole Apex team have been wonderful to work with.
I never expected the story to be nominated. The feedback I’ve gotten is so touching. Some of the responses have made me cry. My mom cried when she finished reading. I’m deeply grateful that the story has meant so much to so many.
One of my (many) joys of bookselling is helping folks find new horror to read. I have shared with a prospective reader when a work is Stoker nominated if I think they will appreciate it.
4. Take us through a day-in-the-life of Rachel Bolton.
Hit the snooze button. Hit it again. Feed the cat. Make coffee. Drink the Coffee. Drink more coffee. Get ready for work. Sell lots of books and toys and games. Feed the cat his dinner. Make my dinner. Send my boyfriend and bestie some memes. Cram in some writing time! Read. Stay up too late. Sleep.
5. Imagine you're standing in front of a crowd of every horror creative—authors, filmmakers, podcasters, journalists, etc. What would you want them to know about your experience as a woman in the genre?
It’s terrifying to be a woman, especially now. Many women find comfort, community, and inspiration within the horror genre. The idea for “And She Had Been So Reasonable” came to me after Roe fell. I had wanted to write about a woman sawing off her head for a while, but it wasn’t working. Not until I had the idea to make it a choose-your-own-adventure story. I wasn’t trying to speak for all women, but I wanted readers to see any woman as the protagonist. Audre Lorde said, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” Bodily autonomy is a human right. Horror gave me the ability to express that sentiment in a unique way.
Rachel Bolton is a writer and first-time Stoker Award nominee who has appeared in Apex Magazine, Women Write About Comics, Strange Girls, and more.