Laurel Hightower is a bourbon-loving native of Lexington, Kentucky. She is the Bram Stoker-nominated author of Whispers In The Dark, Crossroads, Below, Every Woman Knows This, Silent Key, Spirit Coven, The Day Of The Door, and The Long Low Whistle, and has more than a dozen short fiction stories in print.
Hightower sat down with Cemetery Dance to talk about cryptid horror, powerful and flawed female characters, horror films, The Long Low Whistle, and Shortwave Publishing’s Killer VHS Series. Continue Reading
Viggy Parr Hampton, MPH is an epidemiologist, host of the podcast “Horror Humor Hunger,” and the author of A Cold Night for Alligators, Much Too Vulgar, The Rotting Room, and A Veritable Household Pet. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. She is also a member of the Purgatory Media team, producing the popular YouTube segment “Tag Team Tales of Terror,” where she challenges fellow horror authors to create a progressive story with her.
Hampton sat down with Cemetery Dance to talk about feminist horror, lobotomies, and A Veritable Household Pet. Continue Reading
Erika T. Wurth is an urban native of Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee descent. She is the author of the New York Times editor’s pick, White Horse. She is both a Kenyon and Sewanee fellow. She’s published in Buzzfeed and The Writer’s Chronicle, and is a native artist for the Meow Wolf Denver installation. Her most recent release, The Haunting of Room 904, has garnered national attention and received praise from some of the biggest names in horror, including Paul Trembly, S.A. Cosby, and Phillip Fracassi. She also has a short story in the recently published and highly anticipated Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-In-Horror alongside Gwendolyn Kiste, Christina Henry, Ai Jiang, Katrina Monroe, and so many other incredible women from the genre.
Wurth sat down with Cemetery Dance to discuss The Haunting of Room 904, religion and lore in horror, Howl, and more. You can find Erika T. Wurth on Instagram @erikatwurth or on her website. Continue Reading
Rafael Scavone’s Hailstone came out several years ago, and now he’s returning to his horror sandbox with his new 5-issue comic Devil’s Luck: A Hailstone Story from Comixology Originals and Stout Club Entertainment. Cemetery Dance spoke to Scavone about collaborating with artist Eduardo Ferigato, the story’s historical setting, and what he thinks the elements for a good horror comic are.
Be sure to stick around after the interview for a special preview of The Devil’s Luck!
Soo Lee, a Bram Stoker Award–winning cover artist, is one of the talents involved with Bride of Rocky Horror, which is now on Kickstarter. Cemetery Dance spoke with her about her background with Rocky Horror, the franchise’s legacy, and how horror comics have influenced her work.
Be sure to stick around after the interview for a special Bride of Rocky Horror preview!
The Folio Society is doing an illustrated edition of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, a Japanese novel about a hitwoman and a dangerous cult. Cemetery Dance spoke with editor Sophia Schoepfer about the publisher’s involvement with horror books, why they decided to take on IQ84, and her favorite horror book she’s worked on so far.
Jenny Kiefer is an award-winning author of spine-tingling, fierce, and cathartic horror. Her debut novel, This Wretched Valley, was a 2024 Bram Stoker Award Nominee and named a Library Journal Best Horror Book of the year. Readers have been anxiously awaiting her second release, Crafting for Sinners, a survival horror story about a queer woman trapped in a craft store run by religious fanatics. It is all over BookTok and Bookstagram as one of the most anticipated horror book releases of 2025.
Together with her mother, Kiefer owns and manages Butcher Cabin Books, an all-horror bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky.
Kiefer sat down with Cemetery Dance to discuss her debut novel, This Wretched Valley, her new release, Crafting for Sinners, survival horror, her favorite reads of the year, and of course, crafts.
E.M. Carroll’s horror graphic novel A Guest in the House is out in paperback, and Cemetery Dance is excited to share the a few pages below. The graphic novel, which follows a new wife who becomes suspicious about the death of her husband’s previous wife, won the 2024 LA Times Book Prize. Cemetery Dance spoke to Carroll about being drawn to dark subjects, the book’s inspiration, and the creative process.Continue Reading
In the 5-issue horror comic Exorcism Island, the worst instances of demonic possession are all sent to a special island. Writer Jordan Thomas and artist Chris Matthews, who have known each other since childhood and previously worked together on Mugshots, spoke to Cemetery Dance about what led them to teaming up, their inspiration, and how to be both horrifying and highly entertaining.Continue Reading
The holiday Thanksgiving is getting a one-shot horror comedy comic from writer Mark Russell and artist Mauricet, named, simply enough, Thanksgiving. Russell describes it as a “metaphor for what our nation is in danger of becoming” and it will hit bookshelves on October 22. Meanwhile, Cemetery Dance spoke to Russell about why he chose to write a horror comic about Thanksgiving, its three covers, and what he hopes readers take away.Continue Reading
After the graphic novels Dracula: Book I — The Impaler and Dracula: Book II — The Brides, writer Matt Wagner and illustrator Kelley Jones are back with Dracula: Book III — The Count. The third book is currently on Kickstarter, and it’s told from Dracula’s point-of-view. Cemetery Dance spoke with Wagner and Jones about building on the previous books, what research went into this, and how their feelings about Dracula have been affected. Continue Reading
Nick Medina is a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, and he drew on his heritage and stories passed down by his paternal grandmother, along with research into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) epidemic, as inspiration for his novels including Sisters of the Lost Nation, which earned a Junior Library Guild Standard Selection Award, and Indian Burial Ground. He has degrees in organizational and multicultural communication, and has worked as a college instructor. He also enjoys playing guitar, listening to classic rock, and exploring haunted cemeteries and all sorts of spooky stuff.
Medina’s new release, The Whistler, takes readers back to the reservation for a thrilling blend of Native folklore, mythology, and horror. Much like the paranormal investigators the author writes about, Medina has gone in search of Resurrection Mary, the “Italian Bride,” and the “Devil Baby,” and other spirits of Chicago’s ghost lore.
Medina sat down with Cemetery Dance to discuss his new release, The Whistler, Native lore, and his favorite reads of the year. Continue Reading
Artist, writer and animator Ben Wickey has turned the infamous Salem Witch Trials into a graphic novel, titled More Weight, concentrating on the life of Giles Corey, who was pressed to death during the trials. While working on it, Wickey learned that he was the descendant of one of the people hanged as a witch. Cemetery Dance spoke to Wickey about his personal connection to this story, how he did his research, and how he approached adapting history into graphic novel form.
Stick around after the interview for a couple of preview pages from More Weight.
Brian McAuley is a WGA screenwriter and HWA author. His debut novel, Curse of the Reaper, was named one of Esquire’s Best Horror Books of 2022. His novellas, Candy Cain Kills and Candy Cain Kills Again: The Second Slaying, are essential holiday horror reads and dubbed “A masterclass in slasher fiction” by FanFiAddict. This fall, McAuley returns with a bloody-good slasher called Breathe In, Bleed Out.
McAuley’s upcoming novel has already garnered praise from some of the biggest names in Horror. Upon reading Breathe In, Bleed Out, Nat Cassidy, author of When The Wolf Comes Home and Mary: An Awakening of Terror, said McAuley is “the crown prince of slasher literature.” Continue Reading
Nat Cassidy is a USA Today bestselling horror author. He’s received wide acclaim for his work, including his supernatural, perimenopausal horror novel, Mary: An Awakening of Terror, and his Bram Stoker-nominated contemporary horror novella, Rest Stop, that explores historical trauma and reads like a bloody slasher leaping from the page.
He was named one of the “writers shaping horror’s next golden age” by Esquire and his recent release, When The Wolf Comes Home, has been praised by THE KING of horror, Stephen King, who said:“It’s terrific…a classic.”
Cassidy is infamous for bringing the angst and dread, but especially the feels, and his fairytale-inspired horror novel, When The Wolf Comes Home promises all of that and more.
You can find the author on Instagram and TikTok – @catnassidy and on his website.Continue Reading