February is African American History Month here in the United States. In 2013, when this series began, it was also Women in Horror Month (WiHM) which is now celebrated by many in March during Women’s History Month. In 2013, as an Ambassador for Women in Horror Month, Sumiko Saulson put together the original book 60 Black Women in Horror at the the intersection of the two. Over the next five years, the world of women writing horror from the African Diaspora nearly doubled. and 100+ Black Women in Horror, a 2018 update, containing 109 biographies, was born. Now, in 2023, five years after 100+ Black Women in Horror, with the assistance of Kenya Moss-Dyme the list is once again being updated, to include over 40 new names compiled in a new book, 150 Black Women in Horror.
Here is the combined list of 150, listed alphabetically, in batches of 10. Here are the eighth 10 of them.
A.D. Koboah
British novelist A.D. Kobah is of Ghanaian descent. She is the author of The Darkling Trilogy, whose protagonist Luna was a slave in Mississippi in the early 1800s when she attracted the attention of an evil bloodsucking entity. She also wrote Peace, about a heroin addict struggling with self-destructive urges and demons from the past. www.adkoboah.com
Nicole Givens Kurtz
Dark science-fiction often dances along the fine line between pure sci-fi and true horror. Stories like The Soul Cages, the first book in The Minister Knights of Souls Series featuring a black protagonist, Sarah, uses the sci-fi context to address the political issue of slavery. Sarah is reincarnated into Valek’s soul cages, where she can’t experience human senses or love, and desires to return to human flesh. The post-apocalyptic dystopic world of The Cybil Lewis Series is not horror but is definitely in the dark speculative fiction wheelhouse. nicolegivenskurtz.com
Alexandra Lane
Alexandra Lane is the author of A Vision of Angels: The Battle Begins, and Donum: The Battle Has Already Begun, two novels in the religious supernatural horror genre dealing with fallen angels and the apocalypse. The first story takes place in historical Maryland during the slavery era, and it’s central protagonist, Minty, is a slave. The second takes place in modern times. alexandralane.tateauthor.com
Michelle Renee Lane
Michelle Renee Lane holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and recently joined the faculty of the Speculative Fiction Academy. She writes dark speculative fiction about identity politics and women of color battling their inner demons while fighting/falling in love with monsters. Her work includes elements of fantasy, horror, romance, and erotica. Her short fiction appears in several anthologies and has been featured on The Wicked Library podcast. Her Bram Stoker Award nominated debut novel, Invisible Chains, is available from Haverhill House Publishing. Her nonfiction can be found at Medium, Speculative Chic, and in Writers Workshop of Horror 2. Follow Michelle’s blog, Girl Meets Monster, at michellerlane.com.
Briana Lawrence
Briana Lawrence is the author of the paranormal murder mystery Treat Me Kindly, on Damnation Books, about shape shifting creature who can turn deadly if their human companions do not treat them kindly. With Jessica Walsh, she co-wrote Seeking the Storyteller, about monster hunters who encounter a supernatural creature capable of re-writing history. brichibi.wix.com/whisperedwords
Kai Leakes
St. Louis native and vampire lover, author Kai Leakes began her obsession with all things fantasy, romance, and the dark as a teen. Kai is the creator of the popular dark fantasy/horror series Sin Eaters: Devotion Books & Sin Eater Chronicles novellas. She has short stories in several Afrocentric speculative fiction anthologies: “Taste the Taint: A Cursed Story” in Sycorax’s Daughters; “Sisters” in Black Magic Women; “Free Your Mind” in The City: A Cyberfunk Anthology; and “Traveler’s Song, a Pulse Prelude” in Rococoa. She co-wrote A Christmas Kind of Love with Nikki Michelle kwhp5f.wix.com/kai-leakes
Natasha Morningstarr
Natasha MorningStarr is a member of the Horror Writers Association. Natasha’s stories have been featured in two anthologies, Wasatch Witches: A Collection of Utah Horror and Out of Darkness by WolfSinger Publications 2023. In 2021, Natasha started a series of Twisted Tales on her website, seasonal short horror stories released during the spooky season (October – December). As of 2023, she is working with her husband on their first horror novel together. When not writing, Natasha enjoys sipping glasses of white wine and rituals with her husband during the new moon. With an understanding of the supernatural world and a knack for weaving dark tales that unsettle readers she is part of an extensive network of family members known as Wanderers who are able to speak to the dead. Find her on Twitter: @MorningstarrLit Instagram @morningstarrlit and read the Twisted Tales Series at www.natashawrites.info/twisted-tales
Tonya Liburd
Internationally recognized as an emerging SFFH writer, Tonya Liburd writes primarily in the speculative genre, as well as literary fiction, and poetry (speculative & literary). She is the editor at The Expanse Magazine, a Codexian, and a member of the Horror Writers’ Association, the Science Fiction Poetry Association, SFWA, HWA, CSFFA. She has received both a 2020 Ontario Arts Council Writers Grant, and a 2021 Horror Writers’ Association Diversity Grant. You can find her on Twitter as @somesillywowzer, Instagram as @TonyaLiburd, Pinterest as @TheSpiderlilly, and streaming games on Twitch at TheSpiderlilly thespiderlilly.wordpress.com/
A.J. Locke
A.J. Locke is an author and poet from Trinidad and Tobago. Her poems “The Lonely, Salty Sea,” and “A Real Friend Will Let You Break” appeared in the horror anthology Sycorax’s Daughters. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal fiction. Her books include Affairs of the Dead (The Reanimation Files #1); Requiem for the Living (The Reanimation Files #2); The Ravaging In Between (The Reanimation Files #3); A Torment of Savages (The Reanimation Files #4); Black Widow Witch; and Elemental Inferno. iqurae.blogspot.com
KC Loesener
KC Loesener is the author of The Eve of Darkness and several horror short stories. Proud introvert, bird lover, and a huge horror fan, KC is a horror content creator and writing coach, teaching new writers to focus and write their manuscripts in four months. Besides writing horror, KC loves a good ghost story. The paranormal, vampires, and werewolves exhilarate KC, who loves punk and grunge and desperately misses the 90s. Superhero movies and comics are a necessity. KC enjoys creating complex characters that rise to discover themselves. Youtube and Instagram: @kcfinalgirl kcloesener.com
Black Women in Horror 