Praise for A World of Horror
âGuignardâs editorial prowess is evident throughout; he has selected works that are as shocking as they are thought-provoking. This breath of fresh air for horror readers shows the limitless possibilities of the genre.â âPublishers Weekly (starred review)
âA fresh collection of horror authors exploring monsters and myths from their homelands.â âLibrary Journal
âA cultural tour in the sacred art of horrorâdefinitive proof that ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and more are equally terrifying in every corner of the world.â âFanbase Press
âThis is the book we need right now! Fresh voices from all over the world, bringing American audiences new ways to feel the fear. Horror is a universal genre and for too long we have only experienced one western version of it. No more. Get ready to experience a whole new world of terror.â âBecky Spratford; librarian, reviewer, RA for All: Horror
Introduction: Diversity in Fiction
THIS, ANTHOLOGY, A WORLD OF HORROR, MARKS THE SIXTH I have edited (fifth published, with another forthcoming). Most of those books involved quite a bit of âslush reading,â meaning thousands of submissions coming in from hopeful authors around the world that I would evaluate and discard or accept. Although when I say âaround the world,â what I mean is that roughly 95% of the submissions came from the same geographic areas of predominantly-speaking English nations (North America, England, and Australia) with a few outliers from elsewhere. It makes sense: Iâm posting for stories in English, offering to print in English, and so English-speaking writers respond.
Yet at the same time, I also despair of reading the âstock voice,â meaning similar stories of plot structure, similar characters and situations, similar belief systems, similar fears; by no means does that imply what Iâm reading is âbad,â but just that sameness leads to apathy of literature.
In general, I think thereâs a lack of cultural diversity in horror fiction, and I also think thatâs something audiences want to see changed . . . at least I think that based on my own perspective: I love reading stories from authors around the world, because I love stories. I love fresh voices, unique ideas, I love discovering lesser-known monsters or fables, I love reading about history and civilizations and other peoplesâ perceptions and conventions. And, while I think all this, I realize Iâm part of the problem. Because of what came in via slush submissions on my prior projects, I didnât look beyond, and I ended up publishing and promoting that very sameness of English-speaking authors who are all generally white, educated, and economically advantaged, and who, really, make up only a small percentage of the global population. Truly, thereâs no shortage of tales to be shared from the rest of the world, but not everyone has the opportunity.