NAME: Shantell Powell
CREATIVE FIELD: Author
WEBSITE: shanmonster.dreamwidth.org
AUTHOR LINKS:
BlueSky: shanmonster.bsky.social
Mastodon: c.im/@Shanmonster
AUTHOR BIO:
Shantell Powell is a swamp hag and elder goth raised in an apocalyptic cult on the land and off the grid. A graduate of the Writers’ Studio at Simon Fraser University and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s horror residency, she’s a Brave New Weird winner, an Aurora finalist, and a Journey, Best of the Net, Rhysling, and Pushcart nominee. Her writing is in Augur Magazine, The Deadlands, Nightmare, and dozens more. When she’s not writing, she wrangles chinchillas and gets filthy in the woods.
INTERVIEW
What got you into horror to begin with – what’s your core Horror memory?
I grew up in an apocalyptic cult and some of my earliest memories include images from apocalyptic literature showing little girls holding dollies falling down into chasms in the earth during Armageddon. I was brought up during the Satanic Panic and my family believe(d) in a literal Satan and demons.
Do you have a favourite horror subgenre (or more than one) and if so, what is it? What/Who are your favourite books/films/podcasts/artists/creatives working in that subgenre?
I’m a fan of religious horror, and the Prophecy movies starring Christopher Walken will always hold a special place in my apostate heart. I think my favourite religious horror novel is “Between Two Fires” by Christopher Buehlman. That story is bonkers!
What is the horror project of your heart – perhaps something you’ve already got out there, something you’re working on now, or something you’d like to do?
I have an idea floating around in my head about a story featuring Elizabethan alchemist John Dee and grifter Edward Kelly set in the 1990s featuring stoner chicks, Biblically-accurate angels, and a mostly-forgotten shopping mall. Some day, I’ll get around to writing it. But right now, I’m working on a collection of short stories based on the concept that Jehovah’s Witness teachings are literally true. What would that world look like? It’s coming across as uncanny and horrific.
Which 5 horror books can you not stop thinking about, or have influenced you most in some way? (If not books, you can pick 5 films, 5 pieces of art, 5 songs… or mix & match!)
1. The Bible. It is filled with all sorts of horror stories. Climate fiction, genocides, people being eaten up by worms, virgin daughters thrown to rapacious mobs, mothers turned to pillars of salt, slavery, Mary getting impregnated by God, etc.
2. Dracula. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read it. No idea how many film versions I’ve seen of it, but it’s gotta be in the hundreds.
3. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline. High-concept Indigenous Futurism at its best.
4. What We Do in the Shadows. The movie AND the show. I adore horror comedy.
5. Bloodchild by Octavia Butler. The parasitic relationship between a native species and the alien humans fascinates and horrifies me.
If you had to describe the tones and themes of your own work in terms of movies, books, songs, or art, what would you choose and why?
“Metamorphosis” by Ovid, because my work is often mythological and includes shape-changing.
The collected works of Inuk explorer/ethnologist Knud Rasmussen, because I love retelling Inuit folktales.
“Not Wanted on the Voyage” by Timothy Findley probably inspired my retelling of the Great Flood story.
“Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer inflects my reverent take on our nonhuman relations.
Introduce us to something you’ve created, and pitch it to the audience!
“He’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain When He Comes” is a standalone excerpt from my unpublished novel “The Everwhen.” It was published in Cosmic Horror Monthly and is a weird western featuring the Sumerian god of semen and a bunch of cattle-rustling angels. cosmichorrormonthly.com/store/issue-68