Where Horror Characters Reside

And now for something completely different... Jeani Rector publishes Horror Zine, a place where great horror and suspense characters reside.

Tell us a bit about Horror Zine and how you got involved in it.

I am also a writer, and I used to submit stories to online magazines quite a bit. Suddenly the "Great Recession" hit and online magazines started folding, one right after the other. When even The Harrow went on hiatus, I realized someone needed to step up and fill in the gaps. Why not me? So in July 2009, the very first issue of The Horror Zine went up.

The funny thing is, I chose the name The Horror Zine simply as words someone would accidentally stumble across while doing Google searches. I had no idea that I could have named the magazine anything I wanted and it would be successful enough that people would search it out. They don't find it by accident; they know all about it!

Are all horror stories paranormal?

Well, actually horror falls into sub-genres. There is the ghost sub-genre, the psychological suspense sub-genre, the "Twilight-Zone" sub-genre, the moster sub-genre, vampires, zombies, ghouls....you get the idea.

There are also sub-genres that I do not accept, such as slasher, gore-for-gore's sake, and I don't want anything that harms women or children. No torture, either.

What kind of stories scare you the most?

Now that's a good question. Probably what scares me most are the stories where ordinary people wind up in extraordinary situations. The ones that could really happen in real life, to me and even you.

Vampire or werewolf? Which would you rather be bitten by?

I would prefer to be bitten by a very sexy human man. LOL. But I gravitate towards werewolves because vampires are a bit over-done right now. You would need a brand new twist to make a vampire story stand out from the pack. Or are packs referring to wolves? You know what I mean!

Find Horror Zine here: www.thehorrorzine.com
Follow Jeani on Twitter: twitter.com/TheHorrorZine 

Survey says...
Twilight and Zombie Apocalypse notwithstanding, the creatures of the night that most readers want to hang out with are ghosts and demons.

Fang and Claw

The night is my world...

Mostly I spend my time in the twilight world where perfectly respectable characters become real... well mostly respectable characters. As the days shorten and the calendar marches on towards October 31, I can't help thinking about the darker things that inhabit the night.

Hallowe'en is over a month away, you say. Tell that to the kids who are already planning their costumes. Besides, the ghoulies and ghosties, and long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, aren't limited to one night a year. They are always with us - if only on our bookshelves.


Speaking of Twilight worlds, do real vampires sparkle? Do werewolves bond for life? Inquiring minds want to know. And who would really win the battle (or popularity contest) Fang or Claw or some other classic monster?

Having a set of claws myself, I might be prejudiced. So I am asking you to weigh in. (See the poll on the side.) The results will help determine who will be interviewed Hallowe'en night. Then we shall go "Deep into that darkness peering..."

But I'm a hawk, not a raven, so don't quoth me.