Why I Wrote “The Black Girl Survives in This One”

I’ve at all times been obsessive about horror. From childhood, after I bunked with my siblings and primas, we instructed one another spooky tales in the course of the night time to rock ourselves to sleep. Each night we might take turns telling tales, and the tales appeared to get scarier and scarier. When it was my night time to inform a narrative to the group, I knew I needed to carry one of the best soar scares. I would discover myself spinning tales till my sisters’ and primas’ our bodies would tense up in worry. I knew then that horror tales have been one thing I may weave. There’s one thing about having worry twisted up in your stomach; it is like using a curler coaster and ready for the joys of the drop.

Horror has at all times been part of my life, so it felt pure for me to work on a guide like “The Black Woman Survives in This One.” My two brothers have been obsessive about the style and I used to be one of many youngest siblings, so it largely fell on them to babysit me. As with most older siblings, my brothers lived to tease me. The whole lot was a joke or a second to terrify. So it was pure for them to ask me to film nights the place we might watch movies like “Candyman” (1992) that includes Tony Todd; “Kid’s Play” (1988), the place a white man makes use of voodoo to switch his soul to a doll to flee the police; “Evening of the Dwelling Lifeless” (1968), directed by Bronx native George A. Romero; and “A Nightmare on Elm Avenue” (1984). Whereas these films scared the crap out of me, I discovered myself going through my fears head-on, to not solely show to my brothers that I may deal with no matter they threw at me however to show to myself that I may stare within the face of hazard and survive.

As soon as I overcame my fears, I immediately began to like the gore — the soar scares have been my favourite too. I turned obsessive about how the actors, the film scores, and every little thing performed into the worry of every little thing. Horror is a style the place we are able to discover the issues that freak us out, that do not make sense, and that play on our fears. I’ve at all times discovered braveness in watching these films, and after I found slashers and the “closing woman,” I longed to be one.

“The Black Woman Survives in This One” is an anthology assortment of quick horror tales, from ghost tales to zombie tales, from writers like Monica Brashears, Vincent Tirado, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Maika and Maritza Moulite, and others. It additionally features a foreword written by the horror luminary Tananarive Due. There’s one thing for everybody on this guide, and on the finish, the primary character — a Black woman — survives the horrors of the day. The larger message we wished to convey to readers, particularly Black women, is that regardless of the intense obstacles it’s possible you’ll face on this life, you might be robust sufficient to endure, survive, and nonetheless come out on prime. We aren’t our fears, irrespective of how society may attempt to inform us in any other case.

Whereas I like the horror style, it has not been type or inclusionary for Black, Indigenous, Latine, and different individuals of coloration. So I used to be impressed to put in writing myself into the style, to pen a narrative that featured a Black Latina who’s fierce and equally loves the horror style. In my quick story, “Cemetery Dance Social gathering,” I pay homage to all the people who sparked my love for horror, from Michael Jackson’s well-known hit music and music video “Thriller” to Romero’s “Evening of the Dwelling Lifeless.” It was the primary film the place I noticed a Black particular person survive the horror of the undead, solely to be shot by a white particular person on the finish. That scene stayed with me. It is haunting to consider that as a Black particular person, you possibly can escape zombies, however you’ll be able to’t escape white supremacy.

My first guide, “Wild Tongues Cannot Be Tamed,” was a nonfiction anthology that examined numerous elements of Latine identification, subverting myths and stereotypes about our cultures, and a dialogue on dependancy, racism, and anti-Blackness inside our neighborhood. It featured essays from bestselling and award-winning writers like Elizabeth Acevedo, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Naima Coster, Natasha Diaz, Janel Martinez, and others. I used to be desirous to proceed the identification dialog and amplify Black voices throughout the diaspora. So it was a straightforward resolution for me to wish to sort out horror subsequent, which has been so exclusionary for Black people and folks of coloration. After having a Zoom dialog with my coeditor of the anthology, Desiree S. Evans, we determined to heart Black women and have them be the “closing woman” trope we have at all times wished to see extra of in cinema and books.

The method was fairly much like my expertise with “Wild Tongues Cannot Be Tamed,” however this time, we thought it was essential to host an open name to find new voices in horror. It was superb to obtain so many submissions; there are a number of proficient writers on the market simply ready for the publishing trade to present them the chance to inform our tales.

Writing and modifying “The Black Woman Survives in This One” was therapeutic for my internal teen self, who went by a lot in highschool; at occasions it felt like I would not survive the stress of creating new associates, balancing schoolwork, and prepping for faculty programs. Writing my quick story “Cemetery Dance Social gathering” was very nostalgic as a result of I obtained to put in writing myself right into a horror comedy story I at all times wished to see. The story follows Alle, an Afro Latina from the Bronx who loves monitor however was lately injured and is therapeutic so she will be able to get again on the workforce and convey dwelling the win for her squad. She’s additionally class president and tasked with internet hosting the senior class social gathering. She decides to host it on the well-known Woodlawn Cemetery, and effectively, it is the right setting for chaos to ensue amongst youngsters with raging hormones and alcohol. Alle and her associates undergo the gauntlet in the course of the night time, however she survives on the finish, and that is all that issues.

That is such an essential learn for Black girls — together with Latina readers — as a result of we by no means get to see ourselves in genres like this. Simply take a look at how all the finest reveals that represented us have been canceled, from “Lovecraft Nation” to “The Horrors of Dolores Roach.” Despite the fact that these reveals have been badass, networks nonetheless determined that no person may relate to Leti in “Lovecraft” and Dolores, however the twist is we did, and we wished extra. I would like readers to know that they matter; they belong in horror, and “The Black Woman Survives in This One” is just the start of us inserting ourselves within the style to come back out on prime because the heroes we need to be and see ourselves as!

Saraciea J. Fennell is a Black Brooklyn-born Honduran American author from the Bronx. She is the editor and writer of the anthologies “Wild Tongues Cannot Be Tamed” and “The Black Woman Survives in This One.” Her work facilities on Black and Latine identification and has appeared on PS, Remezcla, Culturess, Refinery29, and Mitú.