PRESS RELEASE
ROCK HILL, SC-From the publisher of horror firsts, Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire and About Horror: The Study and the Craft presentsThe Horror Aesthetic: Essays from the Dark Corners of the Genre by award-winning and Bram Stoker® Finalist, L. Marie Wood.
Many creatures lurk in the dark, weaving on top of one another, roiling together like waves on the night sea. The darkness forms in layers to encompass the land, fill the corners, and obscure angles. Untold mysteries lie just beyond reach told in many tongues, many inflections, many rhythms.
The stories are many.
Innumerable.
Legion.
The Horror Aesthetic: Essays from the Dark Corners of the Genre shares perspectives from the darkest corners of the horror genre, providing study and nuance to the mythos, antagonists, and storytelling we love. This is a book that celebrates the craft of writing horror, explores the oral traditions that gave life to the written words of the gothic and the tortured, shines a light on what has been left in the obscurity of the dark. From the classroom to the far corners that only shadows reach, The Horror Aesthetic: Essays from the Dark Corners of the Genre examines the horror genre in rich context, contemplative zest, and dark humor.
It’s the horror research you never knew you needed until now.
Here’s what the critics are saying about The Horror Aesthetic:
Horror author and scholar Wood has collected dozens of her essays and lectures from the last decade into one volume centered around her thoughts on the genre from her perspective as an African American woman and professor. With essays on topics as broad as the genre as a whole to specifics about tropes, the use of African folklore in horror, the history of horror and its popularity across time, horror film, and more, Wood’s collection stands out as more than a book. Rather, it could be seen as a course on horror, genre fans, and society as a whole…Whether readers turn to this book for a specific essay, to read the book in its entirety, or for something in between, this is a stellar entry point into the genre, told with a compelling mix of the authoritative voice of a well-known teacher and the grace of a critically acclaimed fiction author. It is suitable for die-hard horror fans and newcomers alike…
–Becky Spratford, Booklist
Horror Aesthetic is an insightful exploration of the shadows that lurk within the human mind and in the horror genre. With a keen eye, L. Marie Wood delves into the heart of darkness, revealing the tremendous contributions of Black writers in the field. Her essays are a stark, unflinching examination of why horror is a necessary, powerful imaginative and creative force and how it reflects and informs our society and our unpacked, unhealed traumas. Wood offers perspectives on familiar frights and speculates on possible futures. This is a book not only for casual fans of horror but for those who study it as well. Illuminating and revelatory, Wood has offered an important new volume in a growing area of exploration.
–Sheree Renée Thomas, Three-time World Fantasy Award winner and author of Nine Bar Blues: Stories from an Ancient Future, Sleeping Under the Tree of Life, editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and associate editor of Obsidian
“THE HORROR AESTHETIC is a brilliant, elegant and deeply insightful exploration of the many faces of horror. This will enchant both scholars and…well…everyone! Very highly recommended!” –Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of NecroTek and editor of Weird Tales Magazine
About the Author: Dr. Lisa Wood writing as L. Marie Wood creates immersive worlds that defy genre as they intersect horror, romance, mystery, thriller, sci-fi, and fantasy elements to weave harrowing tapestries of speculative fiction. She is the recipient of the Golden Stake Award, a MICO Award-winning screenwriter, a two-time Bookfest Award winner, a two-time Bram Stoker Award® Finalist, a Rhysling nominated poet, and an accomplished essayist. Wood has won over 50 national and international screenplay and film awards. She has penned short fiction that has been published in groundbreaking works, including the anthologies Sycorax’s Daughters and Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire as well as industry staples, such as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. She is also part of the 2022 Bookfest Book Award winning poetry anthology, Under Her Skin. Her nonfiction has been published in House of Gamut, Nightmare Magazine, and academic textbooks such as the cross-curricular, Conjuring Worlds: An Afrofuturist Textbook. Her papers are archived as part of University of Pittsburgh’s Horror Studies Collection. Wood is the Vice President of the Horror Writers Association, the founder of the Speculative Fiction Academy, an English and Creative Writing professor, a horror scholar with a Ph.D. in Creative Writing and an MFA in Speculative Fiction, and a frequent contributor to the conversation around the evolution of genre fiction. Learn more about L. Marie Wood at www.lmariewood.com.
The Horror Aesthetic: Essays from the Dark Corners of the Genre is available online for pre-order through the Mocha Memoirs Press website. Mocha Memoirs Press is proud and excited to add this fantastic collection to our collection of ground-breaking horror collections.
Contact:
Publisher
Nicole Givens Kurtz
www.mochamemoirs.press.com