What was it that attracted you to the Slice Girls anthology?
The awesome artwork in the submission call attracted me to the Slice Girls anthology. Women, tattoos, and chainsaws – right on! I wasn’t sure I could write Feminazi Splatter Goth, but a violent female antagonist? Yes! I wanted to do that.
How did you feel writing a story about a violent woman?
It’s another step toward breaking down stereotypes. Enough with monsters and monstrous men. I want to read a story about a merciless female vigilante. I want to write about violent women because the next logical question is What’s making them violent?
Please give the readers a brief summary of the story you wrote for the collection?
A man wakes up, beaten, and bound. He doesn’t remember what he has done (and that’s part of the problem, isn’t it?) A woman keeps him alive over several days while she slowly dissolves his lower extremities. Revenge? For sure, but each reader will have their own theory on what he has done and I hope they will write to me and share their thoughts.
How do you feel about the way women are usually portrayed in horror?
Traditionally, women have been portrayed as the victim, helpless and needing to be saved. Or even worse, a blood-covered screamer, fodder for the monster. Women are now more likely to be portrayed as strong, independent, and courageous. Capable of saving themselves, their loved ones, and the world. This is far more realistic than a damsel in distress.
Do you think the way female characters are portrayed in horror reflects the way society views women?
Absolutely. Art, in all its forms, is a reflection of society. Literature has always been a mirror. The blessing is that literature also has a profound influence on change.
Would you call yourself a feminist, if not how do you view the status of women?
Yes, of course.
Have any of your other stories been published? If so tell us about them and where readers can find them.
Hellbound Books recently published The Horror Zine’s Book Of Ghost Stories. It includes The Basement, a tension-filled story I wrote about a dead woman named Jane. I think your readers would enjoy this one. Another very popular story is Sympathy For The Zingara (Parabnormal Magazine, March 2019) A gypsy beggar in Florence, Italy teaches a crude tourist the meaning of compassion and even though he changes, his ultimate fate lies in the hands of the woman he professes to love. I believe Jenny, from my story in Slice Girls, learned her technique from the Zingara.
What is your favourite short story by another author?
The easiest way to decide is to pick the one you can’t forget. Annie Neugebauer wrote So Sings the Siren (Originally published in Apex Magazine and later in Year’s Best Hardcore Horror vol 3.) Original and masterfully written, the story is disturbing and heartbreaking.
Bio: Dan Allen is Canadian and enjoys spending time in Northern Ontario. He is a frequently published short story author. You can see a visual presentation of his published work at www.danallenhorror.com. His terrifying look at Alzheimer’s, “Above the Ceiling”, is featured in Bards and Sages collection of the Best Indie Speculative Fiction. A personal favorite, “Sympathy for the Zingara”, can be found in the March 2019 edition of ParABnormal Magazine. Other recent releases include - “Where Only the Mosquitoes Sing” (Monsters We Forgot), “Munchers” (Halloween Party 2019 – Delaware Press Association award winner), “Footprints” (Through Death’s Door), “Become the Beast” (Erie Tales), “Corn Stalker”(Bloody Red Nose - Fears of a Clown), and “The Christmas Angel” (A Tree Lighting in Deathlehem). In April 2020, his asylum horror piece “Finkler” was performed on Tales to Terrify – episode 430. Listen to it online.
The June 2020 release of Scary Snippets includes “The Choice”, a tribute to our first homesteaders. In July 2020, his most terrifying story yet “The Basement” (edited by Horror Zine’s Jeani Rector) was published by Hellbound Books.
Dan is currently working on a follow-up novel to HELL STONE. Something peculiar is happening in Joshua Ridge. Untold secrets breed fear and the truth is hard to find. A catastrophic power failure adds real horrors to those imagined and a once-idyllic community becomes vulnerable.
You can visit Dan at www.danallenhorror.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter at
@danallenhorror. You can write to Dan at contact@danallenhorror.com