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02/03/2026 BLACK HISTORY MONTH: L. Marie Wood

  • Writer: Candace Nola
    Candace Nola
  • 21 minutes ago
  • 6 min read

As we do every year in the month of February, Uncomfortably Dark takes time out to honor Black authors and Black history from every era, past and present. If you already read widely and diversely or want to get started; please add these authors to your Must - Read lists and to those TBR piles! A massive thank you to fellow author Eliza Broadbent for this huge undertaking for this month, enabling Uncomfortably Dark to honor at least one author a day, or more!

L. Marie Wood is the recipient of the Golden Stake Award for Literature and the International Impact Book Award. She is also a MICO Award-winning screenwriter, a two-time Bookfest Award winner, a four-time Bram Stoker Award® Nominee, an Ignyte Award finalist, a Rhysling nominated poet, and an accomplished essayist.


Wood is the President of the Horror Writers Association, the founder of the Speculative Fiction Academy, an English and Creative Writing professor, as well as a horror scholar. In 2024, the HWA presented her with the Mentor of the Year Award.


Learn more at www.lmariewood.com.


Today, we honor L. Marie Wood


1. What kind of horror do you write/publish, and what brought you to the horror genre in particular?


I am a psychological horror author. I enjoy creating work that straddles genre lines and have recently added science fiction and romance elements to my horror in larger scale. I have been writing psychological horror since I was a kid, believe it or not – there was no “choosing horror” for me, per se. I’ve always been here.



2. Who would you consider your influences and inspiration?


I’d have to say that Ira Levin is my closest influence and inspiration. His writing showed me that my personality was allowed to influence my voice, even if it was just in the snarky quip here or the cerebral stream of thought there. The overall work he produced is such quality psychological horror that this aspect of his skill is sometimes overlooked. 


The inner monologues in Sliver; the description of the New York skyline in Rosemary’s Baby; the contrasting suburban neighborhood in The Stepford Wives and all the intriguing personalities in that work – these are complex assessments of humanity delivered in unique tones and rich perspectives, coupled beautifully with wit and charm. His work is a study in character building and setting as a character combined and I am forever grateful to have found his work early in my life.



3. What piece of writing has meant the most to you, and why? This can be both your own and/or another author’s.


Quietus by Vivian Schilling is a book that I am so grateful to have come across. I was concerned that psychological horror was too niche, too quiet for anyone to get excited about. Ira Levin’s heyday had passed as had the big boom of horror in the 1980s, so I wondered if I should write what my heart called me to write. I read this book in the 1990s and realized that yes, I could write whatever I wanted to write and be happy that I stood by my own quality. This book was a revelation for me, one that screamed DO YOU.


Of my own work, The Promise Keeper has probably meant to most to me because it was the first of my experiments: using a traditional horror antagonist in a psychological horror tale. I learned to push my conception of control and pace ion this book while stretching my legs without and outside of the boundaries of structure. It was a wild ride, and I am extremely pleased with the final product.



4. What’s your writing/editing journey been like? What challenges have you faced?


Women writing horror encounter similar things: bias against women writing quality (i.e. scary) horror, challenges gaining male readership, challenges gaining consistent publishing.  African Americans encounter similar things: challenges gaining publishing in mixed markets, challenges overcoming preconceptions about voice and the ability to “connect” with mixed readership, overcoming the perception that African American people don’t read horror, rising above the personal attacks on mental and spiritual wellbeing from the African American community. Well, I am an African American woman, so I have encountered all these. Still, I pushed ahead because I want to write and I want my writing to reach someone. Head down, pen to paper – that has been me for over 40 years.



5. Who do you think everyone should be reading right now?


RJ Joseph, Eliza Broadbent, Rachel Harrison – these authors are bringing perspectives on the real world to the table using horror lenses that are slightly off kilter from male voices in the genre. The perspectives are startling and sharp – you will definitely feel something when reading these authors… whether or not their words are a balm for the soul or the fire that ignites it is up to you.



6. What’s it like being a Black horror writer/editor at this particular moment?


Diverse authors are experiencing a moment right now and I am happy to see it. The opportunities that are opening up are reminiscent to what we saw in the genre as a whole in the 1980s. there are more markets looking for diverse work, more voices coming out from the shadows, and more readers reading horror in the light of day. It is an exciting time.

 


7. All horror is political. How do you think your politics informs your writing/editing?


If I can, I’ll change that statement (at least for me) to read ‘All horror is real’. I write the lived experience, and therefore, politics come into play as they would in any given existence. Authors are the keepers of record, so we write what we see, hear, and feel. Politics, religion, home life, weather, hopes, dreams, fears, etc. all come together to create the story of our lifetimes and that record is left to be reviewed, accessed, and consumed.



8. Do you do any writing or editing that’s not fiction? If so, how did you come to that space, and where can we find it?


I do!  I am a Professor of English and Creative writing and was the founder of the Speculative Fiction Academy. As such, I wrote a textbook called About Horror: The Study and Craft. I have also written a literary criticism piece inspired by my time in the genre.  Individual essays exist out in the world on Nighttide, House of Gamut, and Nightmare Magazine, as well as in printed volumes.



9. Have you faced any unique challenges in your writing career?

Nothing more unique that what I’ve always stated, our roads are unique to us but often we run parallel to each other down the path.



10. What advice do you have for Black horror writers who are just getting started in the genre?


Keep writing. Always. Don’t stop because it gets hard. It is hard for a reason. Push through to be able to look back and know what that reason was.


Published Works and Links:




Social Media:



Image shows author L. Marie Wood smiling brightly in a crocheted sweater in a vibrant shade of orange. She is standing in front of a vivid mural in shades of orange, blue, green, and yellow.
Image shows author L. Marie Wood smiling brightly in a crocheted sweater in a vibrant shade of orange. She is standing in front of a vivid mural in shades of orange, blue, green, and yellow.


AVAILABLE ON VALENTINES DAY!

Image shows a spray of dark red flowers across a black background. Title font and text are all in deep red along the bottom as well as the author's name across the top of the image.
Image shows a spray of dark red flowers across a black background. Title font and text are all in deep red along the bottom as well as the author's name across the top of the image.



Image shows the book cover for UNWORTHY. The entire cover is streaks of light of various shades of golds, blue, purple, and pink with the outline of a woman lit up in gold light. The title font and author's name are across the bottom in a light copper color.
Image shows the book cover for UNWORTHY. The entire cover is streaks of light of various shades of golds, blue, purple, and pink with the outline of a woman lit up in gold light. The title font and author's name are across the bottom in a light copper color.



Image shows the cover for The Promise Keeper. Depicts a pale sky for most of the image with black birds lifting off from the empty branches of dark trees, shown in the lower foreground.
Image shows the cover for The Promise Keeper. Depicts a pale sky for most of the image with black birds lifting off from the empty branches of dark trees, shown in the lower foreground.



Image shows a black background framed with green, yellow, and red, which represent the colors of African Heritage month. The middle shows the Uncomfortably Dark logo, with the full moon in white. Text in white and red beneath the moon reads Uncomfortably Dark Horror Honors Black History Month.
Image shows a black background framed with green, yellow, and red, which represent the colors of African Heritage month. The middle shows the Uncomfortably Dark logo, with the full moon in white. Text in white and red beneath the moon reads Uncomfortably Dark Horror Honors Black History Month.

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Owner: Candace Nola

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