Optimistic horror?

I think I took “Evil never dies” as a positive…

Ladies and Gentleman, I am officially on submission. After about six months of edits with my agent and my editor bestie, Rebecca Partin, we’ve finally nailed down the version of The Cuckoo’s Nest that is going out to editors of publishing imprints.

For most authors, this is a time of excruciating pain. The most daunting and tense wait of their lives. I don’t know how I’ll interpret this next stage of the publishing cycle, but I’m still just too happy to not be querying to care. I wrote the book, got the agent, and did the edits, the rest is out of my hands.

So what do I do with these idle hands? I’m finishing a painting by numbers. Reading, mostly I’m trying to catch up on the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. There will be MORE reading, mostly in my genre.

In terms of what I’m writing, I’m working on a dystopian horror gameshow. Like Squid Games meets Fear Factor.

It’s a bit strange, but I’m having a hard time with it. Set in a world where things continue as they have been, a modern couple watch contestants tasked with humiliating and inhumane acts to win money.

I was inspired by that new survival show on Netflix called Outlast. It’s like Alone or Survivor only for a lot less money. My husband and I watched the first season and felt it was unusually cruel.

Unlike the show Alone, the contestants lack the expertise or fitness required to survive in the wilderness for an extended period of time. And unlike survivor, they are not young and in shape.

We found ourselves sitting there watching people freeze and starve to pay for medical bills and housing for sick and aging parents. It’s not entertaining to watch sick old people huddled by a damp fire while they slowly starve to death to pay off their cancer debt. In fact, it makes me feel like a terrible person and I hate the fact that Americans have to make these choices.

This isn’t my first foray into dystopian, but this short is bleak. Before us there are two paths. One that leads us to a place where people truly do see a land of opportunity and equality, and the other is a future that continues to steal our health and humanity until there’s nothing left. Without drastic changes to heath and welfare systems in America, this short story will be the reality in less than fifty years.

The current political climate is being reflected in my work. How ironic is it that world events are making my horror bleaker, less optimistic?

I never thought it was, but by comparison it clearly is.

Hopefully midterms will inspire me to pick back up on the folk horror where a Baptist renounces her God for Satan. That will make me feel much better.