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Header image via Madison Inouye

I’m trash for an author newsletter. It seems like lately, every author, published or pre-published, has created an author newsletter, and every time they mention their email offerings on my Twitter feed, I simply must sign up. I’m just a huge fan of getting fun emails in my inbox and of feeling a connection to the authors I’ve read and love — or even the authors I follow on social.

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So, you know the horror film—a quiet, dark house or maybe a creepy barn, with a full moon outside. The last final girl is walking towards the basement or the loft or the cornfield when all of a sudden—BAM. A cat jumps in the window. Something tips over. An animal runs out of the pile of hay. It’s a jump scare, and it works, but there’s no depth to this horror. It’s a moment, and it will not linger.

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Image via Wikipedia Commons

More.

That’s the theme of 2023 when it comes to book bans: more. There have been more challenges, more protests, more pieces of legislation than there have been in the recent past.

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Valentine’s Day. Roses. Chocolates. Cutesy stuffed animals and fancy dinners. A baby with a bow. February is a month for lovers, but even with so much sweetness in the air, there’s still plenty to enjoy for those whose tastes run a little darker. 

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Horror and romance have more in common than one may initially think. Both genres often have to overcome stigmas that they're just one thing or the other, when in reality, there are so many works of popular romance and horror that hold a lot of depth. I'd argue romance and horror are the most honest genres. What's more vulnerable to us than what we love or what we fear? The stakes are always high with both, whether we're fighting for someone's affection or fighting to stay alive.