In conversation with Cindy O’Quinn
Over the last few years, Cindy O’Quinn has taken horror by storm. In 2019, her story “Lydia” (Twisted Book of Shadows) received a Bram Stoker Award® nomination for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction. She followed that up with a second nomination in short fiction with her story “The Thing I Found Along a Dirt Patch Road” (Shotgun Honey Presents Volume 4: Recoil, 2020). And then in 2021, O’Quinn doubled down with Bram Stoker Awards® in both short fiction (“One and Done,” Were Tales: A Shapeshifter Anthology) as well as in short non-fiction (“A Gathering at the Mountain,” The Bad Book). This year O’Quinn is back for her fifth a Bram Stoker Award® nomination; her story “Quondam” (The Nightmare Never Ends) is on the final ballot for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction, and she shows no sign of slowing down. This January, a new story by Cindy O’Quinn appeared in Vinyl Cuts (Scary Dairy Press LLC, January 2024). O’Quinn is in the thick of several projects, so I’m looking forward to seeing what this short fiction master has to offer up next. –Carina Bissett
About Cindy O’Quinn
Cindy O’Quinn is a five-time Bram Stoker Award ® nominated writer. Author of “Lydia,” from the Shirley Jackson Award-winning anthology, A Twisted Book of Shadows, “The Thing I Found Along a Dirt Patch Road,” “A Gathering on the Mountain,” “One and Done,” and “Quondam.”
Her poetry has been nominated for the Elgin, Rhysling and Dwarf Star Awards.
She is an Appalachian writer from the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. Cindy currently resides on the old Tessier Homestead in the woods of northern Maine, which is an ideal backdrop for writing scary stories and dark poetry.
Her work has been published in Chiral Mad 5, Shakespeare Unleashed, A Woman Unbecoming, Under Her Eye, HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V, Weirdbook, Foundlings, as well as other magazines, anthologies, and podcasts.
Follow Cindy for updates on Instagram cindy.oquinn; Threads cindy.oquinnthreads.net; Bluesky @cindyoquinn,bsky.social, and Facebook Cindy O’Quinn
Cindy is an active member of the HWA, NEHW, HWoM, and SFPA
Interview with Cindy O’Quinn
BISSETT: What was your first experience with horror?
O’QUINN: My mom started me out quite young, about age six or seven. We had three drive-in theaters within driving distance and would go almost every weekend. We watched movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, and It’s Alive. And so began my love of all things horror.
BISSETT: Who or what terrifies you?
O’QUINN: I enjoy all the monsters and ghost stories, but what scares me most are the things that can happen in real life, like home invasions or being lost in the wilderness alone, having to fend for yourself.
BISSETT: What do you think the future holds for women working in horror right now?
O’QUINN: I believe the future looks bright and limitless. The number of talented women writing horror today is growing by leaps and bounds. I hope that trend will continue. The past was a struggle, but I think we are headed in the right direction. Up.
BISSETT: What are you currently working on?
O’QUINN: I have several projects in various stages. Poetry collections, short stories, a novel, novella, and something special due to be announced very soon.
About Vinyl Cuts by Cindy O’Quinn (Scary Dairy Press LLC, January 2024)
Drop the needle and tune yourself to these classic Vinyl Cuts.
Would you sell your soul for a lifetime of fame in Rock n’ Roll? Meet the possessed, the frightening fae and the shattered souls of the sacrificed. Encounter the women ready to rage after misogynistic abuse! And let’s not forget the tortured terrors found slithering on the dark side of B.
Section 1: Your Time is Gonna Come
Welcome to the first installment of Vinyl Cuts. A chilling set. Ten tales of vengeance and horror! Let these grooves school you. Do someone dirty, and you’ll get the dirt back.
Section 2: You Wanted Everything
Tonight’s set of four tales will rearrange your mind! The consequences of riffing on the dark side are closer than they appear.
Section 3: Hell is for Children
The third installment of Vinyl Cuts is where records bleed. If you think your family is hell, check out these eight stories. Black cats and spiders will be welcome friends when we’re done.
Section 4: Sick Things
The penultimate collection is spattered here for the brave devotee of Vinyl Cuts.
Coming at you with nine twisted tales that make dancing with a duke a scream in the ballroom! Will you survive?
Section 5: B Sides
We couldn’t release you without exposure to our B-side tracks. Three final stories are amped up to terrify you to the end. Got time to kill?
Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Vinyl-Cuts-Scary-Dairy-Press-ebook/dp/B0CTGLZCKP
Carina Bissett
Carina Bissett is a writer and poet working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and fabulism. She is the author of numerous shorts stories, which are featured in her debut collection Dead Girl, Driving and Other Devastations (Trepidatio Publishing, 2024), and she is the co-editor of the award-winning anthology Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas. She is currently a Bram Stoker finalist for her essay “Words Wielded by Women” (Apex Magazine, 2023), a comprehensive retrospective of women in horror. Links to her work can be found at http://carinabissett.com.
Dead Girl, Driving and Other Devastations
In this powerful debut, Carina Bissett explores the liminal spaces between the magical and the mundane, horror and humor, fairy tales and fabulism. A young woman discovers apotheosis at the intersection of her cross-cultural heritage. A simulacrum rebels against her coding to create a new universe of her own making. A poison assassin tears the world apart in the relentless pursuit of her true love—the one person alive who can destroy her. Dead Girl, Driving and Other Devastations erases expectations, forging new trails on the map of contemporary fiction. Includes an introduction by Julie C. Day, author of Uncommon Miracles and The Rampant.
Praise for Dead Girl, Driving and Other Devastations
“Carina Bissett is one of my favorite speculative authors writing today—magic and myth, horror and revenge, wonder and hope. Her stories are original, lyrical, and haunting—Shirley Jackson mixed with Ursula LeGuin and a dash of Neil Gaiman. An amazing collection of stories.—Richard Thomas, author of Spontaneous Human Combustion, a Bram Stoker Award finalist
“Carina Bissett’s collection is a thing of wonder and beauty. It is a true representation of Carina herself: whimsical, visceral, lovely, and fierce. You can hear women’s voices screaming while roses fall from their lips. Dead Girl, Driving and Other Devastations is a triumph.”—Mercedes M. Yardley, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Little Dead Red
“From fairy tale revisions to fresh takes on monstrous transitions and the absolute horrors of being female, no one knows how to write a story like Carina Bissett. Fierce yet fragile.”—Lindy Ryan, author of Bless Your Heart
“In a debut collection weaving folklore and fairy tale and told in magical, lyrical, irresistible prose, Carina Bissett inveigles readers with the breadth of her skill. A feat of woven wonder, with spells sketched in the air and strands stretched taut, Dead Girl Driving and Other Devastations is an enchanting tapestry of silken stories, the collection establishing Bissett as a world-class author of fabulism, fantasy, and horror. A must-read for lovers of Neil Gaiman, Angela Slatter, and Carmen Maria Machado.” —Lee Murray, five-time Bram Stoker Awards-winning author of Grotesque: Monster Stories
“Ravishing flights of fantasy.”—Priya Sharma, Shirley Jackson award-winning author of All the Fabulous Beasts and Ormeshadow
“Dark, often violent, Dead Girl, Driving & Other Devastations doesn’t lie to you about the nature of its stories. Between the title page and the Afterword lies a harrowing alliance of nightmare and fairytale. The pages are full of strange birds, resurrections, second chances, monstrous women, enchantments, and inventions. These stories explore a dark and permissive imagination, unafraid to disturb the monster at the back of the cave. It is a collection for the brave and forlorn, for those seeking escape, vengeance, transformation, or grace. There is wonder here, and freedom from shackles—for those fierce enough to wrench loose of them.”—C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter
“Carina’s short stories are absolutely luminous and deeply unsettling. Savour this collection like a fine blood-red wine. It’s absolute perfection and will linger long after the pages are closed.”—KT Wagner
