The other week I read a horror novel which takes place at a Pride festival, with LGBTQ+ characters leading the story...something not often seen. The fright formula is still a familiar one, but with a perspective which invites readers to get out of their heads and into someone else's. I asked Brady Phoenix to spend some time in the Lair and discuss his efforts to expand the genre...
How did you become interested in a genre which doesn’t have many LGBTQ+ main characters? Are you deliberately encouraging a change or simply creating characters and storylines you can relate to?
What draws me towards the horror genre are the qualities of the main character/final girl. The grit and determination when faced with adversity that draws me into the genre, which is something that members of the LGBTQ+ community can relate to. Any queer person has faced some type of challenge where their willingness to thrive gets challenged. I love even in horror movies that there are these extremes of character archetypes (geek, jock, fool, leader, promiscuous, etc.) that are spun uniquely in different ways to entertain the viewer, which I want to challenge adding LGBTQ+ ingredients to the recipe. There is also a quality within horror that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. There is a campy quality that brings you out of the “spook factor” that I enjoy and try to bring into my work. Plus, queer people deserved to get scared too!
The fact that there aren't a vast number of LGBTQ+ characters in horror fiction is something that gets concerning. In a lot of stories, it just feels like at times that there is no acknowledgement of the existence of queer people. If you look in everyday life, you don’t just see straight, cis, white people. There are more people than just them, and I am trying to encourage readers to look beyond the scope of what they think they see in everyday life and put themselves in the mindset of somebody who isn't the same as who they see themselves as or the people they are used to in their everyday lives. My hope is that people who don’t identify as LGBTQ+ can look at the qualities of the characters I create and see a similarity or two that they can relate to, lessening this visible divide between the two groups so that they can treat us with the decency and dignities that we all deserve just like everybody else.
In addition, the characters that do include LGBT+ characters are often perceived as an exaggeration or a caricature, or they are killed off early as the “token character”. There are not many direct influences that the younger queer generation can relate to, so it has been a motivation for me to create these stories that have characters that aren’t viewed as just “gay characters”, which can easily end up placing them into a certain box and should instead be viewed as a “character, who happens to be gay”.
My stories are not necessarily made for myself to relate to, since these characters experience events or encounters that are based on what I’ve lived through and witnessed. I want younger people like me that can look beyond the premise of a masked serial killer and see the similarities and struggles that these people have and relate to them, not feeling like they are not alone and their struggle will end. It won’t be easy, but it will end.
Do you have a specific audience in mind, or are you writing for all horror fans?
I’m writing for new adults as my main target audience, since the moments were inspired by my twenties, but it isn’t exclusive to them since horror is for everybody. I also try to keep a balance to entertain the LGBTQ+ audience while provoking the minds of the straight audiences. My goal is to take the qualities that we all love in 80s and 90s slasher movies and give the reader the experience of watching a movie, just adding a little more diversity. LGBTQ+ audiences will appreciate that they are finally being included in a genre that is loved and underrepresented. And my hope is that anybody who isn’t a part of our community will be entertained by a fresh, new-ish take on the genre that they love.
It is a challenging task to balance. I don’t want to lose my mission to inspire a younger LGBTQ+ generation to feel inspired by my group of “Final girls and boys”. I also don’t want to go too much to the point where non-community members feel like “I am shoving our agenda down their throat.” (side note: I hate it when people say that! They have been shoving their agenda down our throat for decades!). I just hate the fact that there has been an non-inclusive divide in many aspects of society where we just aren’t looked at as normal as they see themselves. And its even worse for queer people of color! I don’t want to turn off the straight audience by overdoing it and crossing over their society built standards.
How do you feel about novels being lumped together under LGBTQ+ instead of simply being placed among their corresponding genres? Do you think it does more harm than good as far as normalizing fiction with LGBTQ+ characters?
This is a double-edged sword. There is a benefit to placing novels in an LGBTQ+ category so that members of our community don’t have to sift through a list of books in hopes that they find what they are looking for, if they desire a good queer read. On the flip side, its divisive and non-members have a list that they can filter out because they don’t want anything to do with queer people or their struggles reflected in literature. It is doing more harm especially now that the divide has gotten worse between the two extremes.
Luckily, there is a middle ground where there are people who don’t identify as LGBTQ+ who have an open mind to give our stories a try without any preconceived judgments or assumptions. Those people are to be recognized and thanked as those numbers continue to grow as the years pass. The LGBTQ+ community needs to keep remaining patient as we have been for many years, and the middle (ally) community needs to keep advocating for us in all aspects. I’m not saying they have to march/rally. They just need to advocate in the face of indifference and educate in the sight of ignorance. I have faith that this will get better and easier for queer books, and I will do everything in my writing career to make stories that will help transition those minds.
Which authors have influenced and/or inspired you and what is it you enjoy about their stories?
I have to of course recognize Stephen King for being a huge pioneer for the horror community. His stories are so out there and they make your spine tingle! I appreciate Clive Barker for doing the same thing! R.L. Stein gave me nightmares as a kid, so I appreciate them as a core foundation for my love of horror and LGBTQ+ stories.
I also love Riley Sager, for the reason that his books are what got my passion for reading and writing stronger. His work gives me the experience of watching a horror movie without turning the television on. I stopped writing for 15 years and gave up on the idea that I could make writing as a career. It was his books that made me passionate for the horror/suspense genre. I owe so much to him!
What are your plans for 2021? Any more titles being released this year?
My goals for 2021 is to keep being safe and healthy both in body and mind. I hope to do my part to keep spreading my message of love and acceptance and bridge the gap between LGBTQ+ people and non members, and also encouraging any person who is outside of the societal norm to express themselves creatively so that their perspective is heard. I want to keep expanding my author platform to as many readers as I can, and even connect with them. I am also in the process of writing my second novel of this series which I hope to release this fall! I won’t spoil anything at this moment, but I am very excited to keep going with what was just a ‘bucket list’ item, and making it bigger than I ever dreamt of it to become!
Thanks to Phoenix for stopping by!
If you haven't read
CARDINAL RULES yet, I highly recommend it, especially if you're a fan of 80s slasher movies.
As always,
AstraDaemon
