Happy Goat Horror

Dark bleatings everyone! In regard to new anthology The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood, next up for the author spotlight is Kay Hanifen!

Kay Hanifen was born on a Friday the 13th and once lived for three months in a haunted castle. So, obviously, she had to become a horror writer. Her work has appeared in over forty anthologies and magazines. When she’s not consuming pop culture with the voraciousness of a vampire at a 24-hour blood bank, you can usually find her with her two black cats or at kayhanifenauthor.wordpress.com.

Kayleigh: Hi fellow Kay! Let’s start with you telling us about your story in the anthology.

Kay H: My story, “Playthings” is about a woman kidnapped by a serial sadist, who then has to survive long enough to be rescued by a passing spirit. I got the idea after reading about your (editor’s note: by ‘your’, Kay means Kozeniewski and Young) world and wondering how serial killers would work in this universe. This is going to sound a bit messed up (I am a horror writer after all), but if you have evil, murderous urges and you don’t want to get caught, how would you do it? Spirits are as common as regular people, so I imagine that they can speak as witnesses in their own murder trials. You can’t let them see your face, give them any indication of your identity, and they can easily follow you home if you kill them. So, I came up with the idea of a kidnapping serial sadist: someone who does everything short of killing their victims. The rest of the story unfolded from there.  

Kayleigh: It’s a great story! And tell us… how long have you been weaving these horrific tales?

Kay H: I’ve been telling stories since before I could read or write. As a kid, I would make “books” with my mom by illustrating them and dictating to her the story. I think it was fourth and fifth grade, though, that made me want to be a writer. I had a lot of awesome teachers who encouraged me to write. And in high school, I had a fantastic creative writing teacher who helped me grow and gave me the tools to improve my craft.

Kayleigh: Hey, I used to do that too! What would you say was your gateway into horror?

Kay H: I’ve always been into spooky stuff, so it’s hard to pick an exact gateway. For example, in preschool, I insisted on going through the adult haunted house at Six Flags. I regretted it, obviously, but I was fascinated by ghost stories, monsters, and cryptids. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that the gateway was probably Scooby-Doo. Several of my earliest childhood memories are related to that show, and it still holds a special place in my heart.

Kayleigh: I think Scooby-Doo may have been a lot of our gateways, thinking about it. What a classic! Do you currently have a favourite book or author?

Kay H: Shirley Jackson is probably one of my favorite authors and The Haunting of Hillhouse is one of my favorite books. In terms of rereading, though, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the one I’ve read the most. With Dracula Daily, I’m on my fourth reread. It’s my fifth if you also count listening to the Re: Dracula podcast.

Kayleigh: It’s a classic for a reason! What about a book that you wish more people knew about?

Kay H: I absolutely loved Hide by Kiersten White! I love eerie abandoned theme parks, and the lore of the world was fascinating. I will also never stop talking about the Indian Lake Trilogy by Stephen Graham Jones. Those books are just fantastic!

Kayleigh: I’m really not meant to be buying more books but I just put all of those on my wish list. What about your own work – do you have a favourite?

Kay H: That’s like asking if you have a favorite child! But yes, I do. “House Rules,” published by Spindle House Press is probably my favorite work. It’s about an agoraphobic woman with OCD and the rituals she practices to keep the ghosts that haunt her at bay.

Kayleigh: And on to the wish list that goes! It sounds great. Are you working on something new right now?

Kay H: I’m always working on something! I’ve been querying a couple novels and sending out a ton of short stories. Fingers crossed that I get some interest soon!

Kayleigh: I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you too! Outside of writing, can you tell us something about yourself that people might not know?

Kay H: I know my bio mentions how I lived in a haunted castle for three months, so here’s the story behind that. 

My college has a campus in the Netherlands that’s a converted 13th century castle. I got into its program and spent the second half of my sophomore year living and studying in the castle and traveling to different parts of Europe on the weekends. It was an amazing experience! Sadly, I did not see any ghosts. My computer’s battery randomly drained once and I have weird vibes in one area of the castle, but aside from that, I didn’t experience anything interesting. The girl staying below me, though, heard someone lie down and saw a person shaped indentation in her bed. To be honest, I was a little jealous.

Kayleigh: Honestly, living in a haunted castle sounds like a dream! And here is the last and most important question… what is your zombie apocalypse plan?

Kay H: Get to a Walmart as soon as possible and build a commune there. It’s got basically everything you’d need: food, water, medicine, electrical generators, clothes, weapons, materials to grow your own food once the nonperishables run out and books for entertainment. I say build a commune there, though, because, contrary to popular belief, humans are social creatures, and in times of crisis, become more altruistic and willing to help one another: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-art-self-improvement/202004/the-power-altruism. I’m more of a city girl at heart rather than a survivalist, so I know I’d need to be around people with other skillsets in order to survive.

Kayleigh: Now we’re talking! So far, that’s you, me, and Bev Vincent on the survival team! Thanks for joining the goat tribe today, Kay, it’s been a blast!

If you’d like to get your own copy of The Perfectly Fine Neighborhood, or find out more about Kay Hanifen, I have popped some links below for you (link embedded in pic):

Kay’s Site: https://kayhanifenauthor.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheUnicornComi1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katharinehanifen/