Horror is Hope

As someone who writes across multiple genres, I know that what some readers will enjoy about my poetry or speculative fiction may not cross over when they read my horror stories. And that is OK. Not all books are for everyone. But I do think that dark speculative fiction and horror often gets a bad wrap because it is seen through a narrow lens, obscuring the parts of horror writing that can be loving, wondrous, beautiful, and hopeful.

We are currently enjoying our time in Colorado, though we are having to stay longer in one place due to a car accident (all are fine, but there was damage to our truck), and while we are stationary for a bit, I had the opportunity to attend and share my book, The Remedy is the Disease, at Stoker Con in Pittsburgh. Rebecca Cuthbert, one of my editors and the co-founder of Undertaker Books, my publisher, was there promoting her work and the new books, including mine, If It’s the Birds We’re in Trouble by L. Marie Wood and The Spirit Room by Nicole Givens Kurtz, that were published from Undertaker. I also saw Christine Harrold, reader and organizer of the Horror Reader Weekend events, including the Horror on the Hudson, I got to attend last year

I was struggling a bit to recover from the exhaustion of the travel that made my chronic pain flair up and nervous about attending a big conference where most of the folks I knew were internet acquaintances, stepping into a new community of writers whose work I enjoy and admire but who I didn’t personally know very well.

While there was the awkwardness of putting myself out there to strike up conversations with strangers and meet new people, I was grateful that so many folks were welcoming and open, talking about their experiences at Stoker Con in the past, being a part of the Horror Writers Association, as I am a new member, and what they were working on and what panels they were interested in attending.

It was phenomenal to attend a variety of diverse and intriguing panels, including “Female Asian Gothic: Fury and Metamorphosis,” “Researching and Writing Horror Nonfiction,” “Fatal Foliage: Botanical and Ecological Horror,” “We Are All Sinners: Southern Horror from the Mississippi Delta and Beyond,” featuring two Texas writers I love, R.J. Joseph and Johnny Compton, and “The Politics of Pink Horror” moderated by Erika Wurth, whose book The Haunting of Room 904 is a priority read for me this month. I also got to attend a reading with Grace Daly where she read from her novel Scald Crow, which is one of my favorite books of this year. It was interesting to note what themes arose across these panels, including the ways in which “Gothic” storytelling changes across cultures, how horror stories respond to both the past and the political present, and how horror can both imagine and reflect our realities.

I was grateful to be included in this year’s programming as a newby, including being able to read from my new book, tabling at the mass author signing and being a part of the “Roots of Dark Poetry” panel with other poets I admire, including Linda Addison, who was Guest of Honor, Cynthia Pelayo, Grace R. Reynolds and John Shirley. I was also grateful to be able to meet one of my editors and publishers from Undertaker Books, Rebecca Cuthbert, a prolific horror writer in her own right. Rebecca did an amazing job of making sure my book got into people’s hands!

There were a lot of moments at Stoker Con that also surprised me in the best ways. One was how many cool folks I met who were committed to wearing masks to protect themselves and others, including author Hailey Piper, who presented at the Bram Stoker Awards Ceremony in her mask, and whose book, The Worm and His King I am reading right now. I got to chat with folks like Michelle Delgado, a horror book reviewer and publisher of Scare Me!, a magazine of her interviews with a variety of authors. While tabling during the mass author signing on Friday, I was table mates with Leanne Renee Hieber, who had the same Pure HEPA mini-filter as me! On Saturday, I had lunch with a very cool and kind writer and community organizer who got a copy of my book for his fiancee, and I also got to meet and, miraculously, be seatmates with on the plane from Pittsburgh to Phoenix, with the wonderful Tiffany Mok, author of How Lovely to Be a Woman: Stories and Poems, which I can’t wait to read!

While there were several more well-known horror authors at the conference, what was special to be was seeing so many indie horror authors and publishers, some of whom I knew online and others that were new-to-me authors, sharing their work and being in community with one another. There were also a variety of podcasters, reviewers, scholars and emerging writers looking for inspiration from the conference. As a zinester, I also loved seeing all of the chapbooks and zines that folks had available alongside the traditionally published books.

I left Stoker Con very tired, but also filled with energy to work on ongoing projects and new ideas for stories I wanted to try. Folks were excited to read The Remedy is the Disease and I was filled with a renewed pride in my own work and knowledge that people wanted to read it and share it, especially as so many folks at Stoker Con are living with their own experiences with chronic illness and disability.

Throughout the weekend, truth and hope came up a lot in the panel discussions; how horror is a genre that offers truthful depictions of what we fear, and what we hold dear, and include a plethora of human (and inhuman) experiences. We live in an ever more frightening world; there is so much to grieve, and so much to be afraid of. Horror allows us to confront those fears, making room for imagination and radical hope that in the face all that frightens us, right in our faces or lurking in the recesses of our minds, we can always do more to turn on the light.

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2026 Workshops and Events

I am currently planning the rest of my readings, workshops and events for 2026 and will announce more details in soon! Here’s where you can find me next:

• I will be part of a virtual reading with Strong Women, Strange Worlds on July 16th. You can register here to save your spot!

My horror collection, The Remedy is the Disease, is out now from Undertaker Books! You can order your copy now using the link above!

I’m incredibly heartened to that the book has been received so well by several reviewers. Here are some reviews and podcasts I’ve appeared on lately so you can get a sense of the book:

• You can read a review of the book here in Sinister Scoop!
• Review by H.V. Patterson
• Review by Alex Brown
• Susto Podcast Interview
• The Basement Girls Podcast: The Wolf Man
• The Scares That Shaped Us: The Thing

If you missed the virtual book launch I did last week with two of my favorite writers and supporters, Rios de la Luz and Ryan C. Bradley, you can watch the recorded reading here!

My poetry chapbook, Offerings to the Tumbled Temple, is also out now from Purple Ink Press! You can purchase a copy here. Chapbooks like these make great gifts for your poetry loving friends! You can also order a copy from your local indie bookstore or, if you love your local library, you can request that they stock a copy.

Indie bookstores currently stocking my books:

• BookWoman in Austin, TX
• Red Salmon Arts/Resistencia Bookstore in Austin, TX
• Lark and Owl Bookstore in Georgetown, TX
• Haunt Happy Books in Lockhart, TX
• Curio Mrvosa in Taylor, TX
• Nowhere Bookshop in San Antonio, TX
• Ghoulish Bookstore in San Antonio, TX
• Boerne Bookshop in Boerne, TX
• Interabang Books in Dallas, TX
• Palabras Bilingual Bookshop in Phoenix, AZ
• Secret Garden Books in Seattle, WA

Here are some ways that you can help me to promote my book (and other indie poets and writers):

• Buy a copy if you can.
• Share the book with your loved ones.
• If you love your local library or independent bookstore, you can request that they stock a copy.
• Nominate my book(s) for your next book club read!
• If you or anyone you know reviews books, you can request an copy from me to review!
• I am now booking for 2026 events, so if you have a bookstore, community organization or space you would like for me to provide a workshop, reading, author talk, etc, comment or reach out via my contact page on my website to plan further!

I’ve also been doing quite a bit of freelance writing in the last couple of months. Here are some recent pieces I wrote that I am proud of:

• ‘Recession Meals’ Destigmatize Home Cooking on a Budget published in Civil Eats
• Imaging a More Caring Apocalypse in Dimension 20: Gladlands published in Reactor Magazine.

What I’m Reading and Watching: Stoker Con TBR

My carry-on bag was so stuffed full on my return trip home from Stoker Con I decided to check it when given the opportunity rather than risk pulling my back out. Part of our swag and gifties for registering for the conference were a number of free books! Some of the books I have on my TBR and will feature them in future newsletters when I talk more about Ecohorror and Haunted House books.

Here are all of the books I have on my list to read this year featuring authors I saw or whose work was featured at Stoker Con, including some queer and trans horror writers for Summerween:

1. Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker
2. How Lovely to Be a Woman: Stories and Poems by Tiffany Mok (Tiffany Marie Brown)
3. Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm
4. Linda Addison (there are so many books to choose from!)
5. My Monsters Ain’t Like Yours by R.J. Joseph
6. It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo
7. Shiny Happy People by Clay Mcleod Chapman
   • Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Young Adult Novel!
8. The Other and The Extra by Annie Neugebauer
9. Neon Moon by Grace R. Reynolds
10. Psychopomp and Circumstance by Eden Royce
11. Obstetrix by Naomi Kritzer
12. America’s Most Gothic by Leanne Renee Hieber and Andrea Janes
13. Muñeca by Cynthia Gomez
14. Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle
15. I Know a Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours by Nat Cassidy
16. Clairviolence: Tales Tarot and Torment by Mo Moshaty

There are also a few anthologies I received or that were featured at Stoker Con that I am excited to read or that I am already reading, including: Never Whistle at Night

Something Followed Us Home edited by Cynthia Pelayo, Silk and Sinew: A Collection of Folk Horror from the Asian Diaspora edited by Kristy Park Kulski (Bram Stoker Award Winner!), Screams from the Dark edited by Ellen Datlow and Beneath the Bluebonnets: Tales of Terror from Texas Women edited by Carmen Gray, featuring some Texas writers I love!

I’m also looking forward to watching the latest season of From, which I have written about before for Nighttide Magazine, Widow’s Bay, The Terror: Devil in Silver, The Boroughs and I’m looking forward to catching up on some the horror films that have come out recently and that I missed in the last two years.

Journaling Prompt

I was thinking about the nonfiction anthology, Why I Love Horror, edited by Becky Seigel Spratford, which won the Bram Stoker Award for Nonfiction Book and features essays by several of the biggest names in horror writing.

So here is my journal question to you: why do you love horror? What can horror do that no other genre can?

If you have a contentious relationship with horror, that’s ok! Write about that instead, and what genres you feel more drawn to and why.

Call to Action: Community Care Spotlight

Going forward, I plan to use this space to spotlight communities, creators and activists who are taking action to resist and do caring things for others. This month, I am highlighting:

There have been renewed calls in the last couple of months, spurred on by advocacy groups and public figures, including Ms. Rachel, to end family detention in the wake of so many horror stories from from these migrant concentration camps, including Dilley and Delaney Hall, where several migrants are on a hunger strike. Detention Watch Network is an advocacy group I have followed for a while that is doing incredibly important work to fight, and with any hope, end this brutal practice.

In honor of Pride Month, and in the face of outright discrimination and increased violence against queer and trans folks in the US, you can also seek resources and support from this comprehensive list of regional and national organizations compiled by Them magazine. Find one in your area to get involved and support our queer and trans siblings!

Leticia