Welcome Sirrah Medeiros to our Women in Horror Month 2024 celebrations!
To start, please introduce yourself:
Hi, I’m Sirrah Medeiros, a writer and editor of dark fiction (and sometimes throw in a bit of poetry). I’ve written horror and fantasy fiction short stories found in half a dozen anthologies. My most recent personal release is a fantasy novel in the Cristiane Bradford series, Secrets of Mother. It won the NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best in Fantasy. The Haunted Zone: A Horror Anthology by Women Military Veterans releases April 4, 2024, and I served as editor and publisher on that amazing project. When I’m not writing, I’m either doing writing business stuff, attempting to draw, chilling with my family, or playing/hiking with my dogs.
What is horror to you, what makes a work of art one in the horror genre?
I love the horror genre because it can encompass all human emotion. Love is in horror as well as fear, hate, indifference, disgust, and everything in between. I believe it’s the only genre that can take you through the entire range of human emotion without confusing the reader as to what genre they’re reading. Everything goes (so to speak). When you can combine suspense, horror, and a well-written manuscript together to create an emotional tether—an immersive, can’t put the book down, experience—that, to me, is a work of art.
What made you want to work in horror?
I have loved horror books and movies since I was a kid. I grew up in Ohio. In the 70s, there was The Hooligan and Big Chuck (later becoming The Big Chuck and Lil’ John) late-night horror movie show every weekend. I loved to watch it and became familiar with many old classics through that show. Later in high school, I started reading Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Stephen King and others, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I thought about writing in the genre. I joined an online community, Vicious Writers, back in 2009/10, and we had a large contingency of horror writers. My interest in writing horror took off during that time and with three short stories published back-to-back, the experience inspired me to write and publish fiction.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Everywhere. Life provides so many opportunities to bend a normal moment and branch it toward horror. And that’s what makes horror interesting and holds our attention—the emotional pull, or destruction, or fright—that has us on the edge of our seats. It’s not the monsters or ghosts, but the emotion and human connection we can bring to the story that keeps a reader turning the page. I didn’t write for about 10-12 years due to my day job, but that didn’t stop me from writing down story ideas or rough outlines as an idea came to mind. I have a repository of 40+ book ideas and more ideas come to me every day. I’ll need to live a very long time to write all the stories.
What would you like your legacy to be in the genre (or elsewhere)?
I don’t think in terms of leaving a legacy. I’d rather people remember me for being of service, as most of my adult life has been about serving, either in the defense industry or sharing my experience, lessons learned, and skill set with others. If I can help someone in their journey as a writer or in their career path by sharing my knowledge base, then that’s all that matters. I’m going to write and publish what I feel is worthy of sharing with others. I can’t control who will or will not like it once it’s out in the world.
What is Women in Horror Month to you and why is it still important this many years later?
We’ve made great strides in recognizing women in horror, but there’s still a way to go. The movement of Women in Horror has helped bring recognition to women in the genre in a enormous way. The momentum we’ve witnessed over the past decade of more women writing horror and being recognized for their talent and achievements within the genre has been in part due to the Women in Horror movement. In a time when some people are trying to push us back to the way things were 50-60 years ago. It’s as important as ever that we encourage women writers, lift their voices, and celebrate their talent and successes in the genre.
Who are some of the Women in Horror who you look up to and who do you want to bring attention to in your field or others?
I’ve read a lot of fantastic women horror authors. There are going to be too many to list, but a few of the legends are Shirley Jackson, Mary Shelley, and Anne Rice. Authors of today—wow, there is so much talent among our women horror writers I could never list all who are publishing clever work. Alma Katsu, L. Marie Wood, Jennifer McMahon, Cynthia Pelayo, Octavia Cade, and Lee Murray to name a few.
What are you currently working on that you can tell us about?
I recently completed my first run as an anthologist with The Haunted Zone: A Horror Anthology by Women Military Veterans. It is written, illustrated, cover designed, and edited by women veterans. It is a charity anthology, giving back to women veterans. Book proceeds go to the National Veterans Foundation Women Veterans Support Programs. Public release is April 4, 2024, and is available for pre-order now through Tundra Swan Press, and all online retailers. We have an open submission call running for our next anthology, Don’t Ask, Ghosts Tell. Publication is slated for June 2025.
I have a zombie novella shooting for release also in April 2024, The Malediction Plague. And the next book in my Cristiane Bradford dark fantasy series, Blood of our Fathers, will be released in the fall of 2024 as well. You can find my books through my website www.sirrahmedeiros.com, my publishing website www.tundraswanpress.com and on social media platforms, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, and a few other platforms under my name. I’m not great at social media, but I am trying to be better. However, I will always engage with people who post a comment or ask a question.
Thank you for taking the time to this, we greatly appreciate it.