But it’s a possession where you become more in control of yourself, more of who you are, and you’re giving yourself permission in the form of this goddess, an ancient deity who didn’t have to succumb to any of the things that we do, or that we self-impose or allow other people to impose upon us. Using one of the goddesses from Aztec mythology – and there are quite a few – I thought, let’s do possession. I wanted to come up with this coming-of-age and self-exploration story about breaking free from those notions of who you should be and how you should perceive yourself. Not all, but there’s often some steam in there. I wanted to mix those, but also, a lot of my books include graphic sex. I grew up watching The Craft, and curanderismo and brujeria are things I explore and find a lot of truth in. “ Goddess of Filth was a crazy journey, because it went from being a rejected short story, and now it’s up for a Bram Stoker Award. There are so many things we experience that people don’t want to address or face, and horror allows us to do that freely. So fingers crossed! All the books are coming from my background and the stories that I had and my experiences, so they’re unique in that way. I have a solid science fiction book that’s on submission.
Horror allows me to just get stripped all the way back and do whatever I want, and say what I want, and be who I am. Publishing is a business, and to a certain extent as a woman of color, we’re put in boxes, and there are expectations upon us. Maybe not in the same way – the way you and I experience fear and experience life on a day-to-day basis will different, but at the end of the day, we’re all heart and soul.
Often those emotions, those fears, are universal. Pain, generational trauma, the things we don’t want to talk about, and the things that we tend to shy away from but that are really important. “Horror allows you to explore the shadow parts of yourself – those darker instincts. She co-edited horror anthology Latinx Screams (2020) with Cynthia Pelayo. Some of her work is collected in Sed de Sangre (2020) and Mestiza Blood (2022). Her notable short work includes novellas Hairspray and Switchblades (2020) and Stoker Award finalist Goddess of Filth (2021). Her tie-in novel Aliens: Vasquez will be out later this year. The Haunting of Alejandra is forthcoming from Del Rey in 2023. The Queen of the Cicadas appeared in 2021 from Flame Tree Press, and was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. Fifteen years ago, she moved to the UK, and resides there with her family, though she returns to the US often to visit family.Ĭastro self-published debut vampire novel Maria the Wanted and the Legacy of the Keepers (2018) and novella The Erotic Modern Life of Malinalli the Vampire (2019). She moved to Philadelphia PA to attend Drexel University, where she earned a BS in political science and history. Violet Castro was born Jand grew up in San Antonio TX.
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