Women in Horror: Women Don't Write Horror: Exploring the Myth - Sara Jayne Townsend

Today's guest post is from Sara Jayne Townsend, a UK-based author of crime and horror. She has two novels - SUFFER THE CHILDREN and DEATH SCENE - published as e-books by Lyrical Press. Her first collection of short horror stories, SOUL SCREAMS, will be published by Stumar Press later this year. She is the founder and Chair of the T Party Writers' Group, the only London-based 'real space' writing group for genre writers.

You can learn more about Sara Jayne and her writing at her website and her blog.

Welcome, Sara!

I’ve been writing horror for over 25 years, so when Damien invited guest posters to commemorate Women in Horror Month, I felt compelled to contribute.

“Women don’t write horror”. I feel like I’ve been arguing against this all my adult life. There have been women writers, and readers, of horror ever since Mary Shelley penned FRANKENSTEIN. So where did this myth perpetuate?

I think the problem lies, as it always does, in the majority consensus and the tags that society insists on putting on us. Men behave a certain way. Women behave a certain way. Women like romance novels. Men read books filled with testosterone-fuelled action scenes, cars, guns and violence, male bonding between soldiers experiencing the hardships of the battle field, for instance.

Whether or not these preconceived ideas are nature or nurture is something I’ve been debating for years. In many ways I don’t behave like a ‘normal woman’. I don’t want soaps, reality shows or romance films. I prefer a good horror or sf film if I sit down to watch a DVD. My husband and I spend our weekends playing Dungeons & Dragons, gathering around the gaming table with dice and pencils and coffee-stained character sheets with fellow geeks. I don’t like children and have no desire to have any, I don’t cook or clean (for the latter I employ a cleaner; for the former I don’t buy anything that doesn’t have instructions on the packet), and I really can’t see the point of having more than one handbag. However, as someone that’s always been perceived as the ‘odd one out’ I accept that my point of view will always be in the minority.

However, society caters for the majority view. Books targeting women have pink covers with pictures of shoes and handbags on. Adverts targeting women often feature babies, or will try to extoll the benefits of having flawless skin, silky hair or smudge-free make-up. These are based on the opinion that the majority of women care about their appearance, want children and read novels about women succeeding in finding their Mr Right. Because that’s all that women want. Isn’t it?

Those of us who don’t conform to the majority opinion have a rough time of it. I don’t want to receive a make-up kit or perfume if someone’s going to buy me a gift at Christmas. I’d rather have the latest Stephen King novel or Resident Evil video game. Of course, anyone who knows me well enough to want to buy me a gift is well aware of that.

Women do write and read horror, and have always done so. But because we are the minority, we have to shout that bit louder to make ourselves heard. Every once in a while, someone listens. When Joss Whedon created Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he said he wanted to take the helpless blonde female who always goes wandering off in horror films and gets killed by the monster, and turn her into a kick-ass monster killer who can not only take care of herself but also become a champion of the people. That’s one of the reasons I always loved Buffy. In some ways an ordinary teenage girl, she also kicks demon butt.

It might be unfair, fellow women of horror, but we have to keep shouting. Eventually, we will be heard.