In conversation with Elizabeth Hand
As part of the research for my essay “Words Wielded by Women” (Apex Magazine, May 2023), I had the opportunity to sit down for a discussion with Elizabeth Hand, an award-winning writer who has been breaking down boundaries since she started writing in 1988. Moving deftly between form and function, Elizabeth Hand has received numerous awards and honors in a wide array of genres, and many of her works have been chosen as Notable Books by The New York Times and Washington Post. In the inaugural Shirley Jackson Awards, Hand won the category of novel for Generation Loss (2007), the debut of her Cass Neary crime series. Later, she also earned Shirley Jackson awards for her novellas Near Zennor (2011) and Wylding Hall (2015). In addition, Hand has several Nebula and World Fantasy awards to her credit, further testifying to the breadth and depth of her work.
One of the highlights of my MFA experience at Stonecoast (The University of Southern Maine) was the opportunity to work with Liz. She was my mentor for one semester, and I spent several residencies under her direction. Not only is she an amazing author, but she is also an insightful and supportive instructor. She was the first reader of several of the stories in my debut collection Dead Girl, Driving and Other Devastations, and her encouragement kept me going during my darkest days. I often return to Hand’s stories when I’m feeling stuck or stiff in my own work, so I was thrilled when I had this opportunity to expand on our conversation as part of this ongoing celebration of women in horror. —Carina Bissett
About Elizabeth Hand
Elizabeth Hand is the bestselling author of 20 genre-spanning novels and five collections of short fiction and essays. Her work has received multiple Shirley Jackson, World Fantasy and Nebula Awards, among other honors, and several of her books have been New York Times and Washington Post Notable Books. You can find her online at www.elizabethhand.com.
Interview with Elizabeth Hand
BISSETT: What changes have you seen in the representation of women in the horror genre? What authors or works would you recommend to readers?
HAND: There are more women writing horror now than when I started out in the late 1980s, though of course there were and are many successful writers from that era and its aftermath — Kathe Koja, Poppy Z. Brite, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Tanith Lee, Tananarive Due and Kelly Link, to name just a few. But our present moment appears to be a boom time, with international writers like Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Marina Esquivez, Priya Sharma, Kathleen Jennings, Marian Womack, Alma Katsu, and Ainslie Hogarth. Then there are emerging writers like yourself, Jay Evans, and Renee De Camillis, who all have works forthcoming (and, full disclosure, who I had the joy of working with at Stonecoast). I can’t possibly keep up with all the new books and stories coming out, which is a good thing!
BISSETT: Who or what terrifies you?
HAND: I’ve never been afraid of fictional monsters or supernatural entities. Even as a very young kid, I loved them all. Thanks to seeing The Wizard of Oz at an early age, I’ve always been afraid of tornadoes and have recurring nightmares about them. I’m more freaked out by natural phenomena than unnatural ones. Lava flows, earthquakes, hurricanes. I’m unnerved by posthumous fantasies like Jacob’s Ladder and Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. The scariest movie I ever saw is Mulholland Drive, which terrified me when it first came out. I’ve never been able to re-watch it to figure out exactly why.
BISSETT: What advice do you have to women working in the field?
HAND: Write whatever the hell you want. I think it’s important to push past any boundaries we have as individuals and artists. Burn down the gates.
BISSETT: What was your first experience with horror?
HAND: I honestly can’t remember. It feels like I grew up with horror and supernatural fiction and film from the time I was very young. The opening credit sequence of Chiller Theater, the weekly classic B&W horror movie show on WPIZ in NYC, scared me more than the individual movies ever did. Decades later, I saw Plan 9 From Outer Space and realized that’s where the clip from. So, I was probably the only person ever frightened by Ed Wood’s movie.
[YouTube Video Clip: https://youtu.be/XXjHvhpRQ8U?si=wrNRXBcwrgfc_KZt]
BISSETT: What are you currently working on?
HAND: I’m working on a novel set in 1920s London, loosely inspired by Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, in which two women who are lovers go on a killing spree.
BISSETT: Last year, you released your novel A Haunting on the Hill. What was the greatest challenge of writing a sequel to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House?
HAND: Well, obviously it was a thrill and a huge honor to be asked to write the novel. The biggest challenge was finding a way into the story that really connected with me and the kinds of things I like to write about. The theater and playwriting, folk music and murder ballads, the black hares—once I hit on those, I felt like the story was my own.
About A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand (Mulholland Books, 2023)
From award-winning author Elizabeth Hand comes the first-ever novel authorized to return to the world of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House—a “scary and beautifully written” (Neil Gaiman) new story of isolation and longing perfect for our present time.
**Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and Harper’s Bazaar**
Open the door…
Holly Sherwin has been a struggling playwright for years, but now, after receiving a grant to develop her play Witching Night, she may finally be close to her big break. All she needs is time and space to bring her vision to life. When she stumbles across Hill House on a weekend getaway upstate, she is immediately taken in by the mansion, nearly hidden outside a remote village. It’s enormous, old, and ever-so eerie—the perfect place to develop and rehearse her play.
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
Check out Steve Stred’s Review of Dead Girl Driving here
“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
Post Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.