02/10/2026: BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Tamika Thompson

Candace Nola
7 hours ago
3 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!

A former journalist, Tamika Thompson is an author of horror and suspense. Her debut novel is THE CURSE OF HESTER GARDENS from Erewhon Books.

Today, we honor Tamika Thompson

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

Drawing on my background in political science study and my work as a journalist, I tend to write social horror. My stories have tackled sexual assault, domestic violence, sexism, coercive control, our eco-crisis and people’s relationship with nature and the earth. My upcoming novel, The Curse of Hester Gardens, will take a wide-eyed look at the issue of gun violence in America, considering that it has been labeled a public health crisis for more than a decade at this point. It will also look at religion and the role of churches in poor communities.

My work has also been described as transgressive because the characters break free of their constraints in sometimes violent ways. I’ve been watching and reading horror since I was a young child, and making the transition from working as a journalist to becoming a horror writer was pretty seamless because so much of the news is horror.

2. Who would you consider your influences and inspiration?

Tananarive Due, Octavia E. Butler, Toni Morrison, Linda Addison, Percival Everett, Walter Mosley. And Stephen King, of course.

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

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. It is arguable that Beloved is Morrison’s magnum opus, but I’ve always been drawn to the characters in Song of Solomon, particularly Milkman Dead’s journey of self-discovery.

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

The single greatest thing I did to help along my writing/editing journey was to set up a writing practice that I commit to every day. That includes dedicated writing time and space that is not interrupted or shared. I found early on that I can revise manuscripts pretty much anywhere using either my laptop, my phone, or a notebook. I am able to focus on the text and drown out background noise, which makes it so that I can revise on airplanes, in line at a store, in car line while waiting to pick up my kids from school, in addition to my home office.

But for drafting, for dreaming up worlds, and crafting a story, I must have dedicated, uninterrupted time in my home office, where I can be immersed in the text. This is specific to me. Other writers have different needs. I wouldn’t have figured this out if I hadn’t given myself permission to create the writing practice in the first place.

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

Vincent Tirado, Kenya Moss-Dyme, Tlotlo Tsamaase, Justin C. Key, Monika Kim, Victor LaValle, Tananarive Due.

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

Understand why are you writing and why you are coming to the page each time you write. More than who is your audience, ask yourself which stories are trying to find life through you. You are the only person who can write those tales, so commit to them, persist for them, and do not be led by market trends. You owe it to your stories to finish them. Persevere!