Kiste wrote the book she wished she read when she was growing up-female characters progressing from their daunting experiences and forming a supportive relationships amongst themselves. A stain so stubborn like blood on white linen, difficult to remove until another woman comes not to erase it but to utilize it as a badge, and make it work with a few details added in. More than once, women in gothic horror have been stained with the reputation of victims. “I don’t like that kind of archetype being the only kind of story we often have.” “If you had female characters in movies or in books there wasn’t always a lot of comraderies,” said Kiste. As a writer, Kiste has strived to subvert those stereotypical characteristics when writing female characters.

Kiste has written Lucy and Bee as survivors of trauma with rock-edged characteristics that chisel away at the reputation they've been burdened with in gothic literature and horror cinema. “I wanted to know more of the characters Lucy and Bertha (Bee), because they’re really just pushed aside especially as the story goes on.” “I had always heard of Dracula from the movies and from the book, and then I remember seeing the film version of Jane Eyre when I was fairly young,” Kiste told The Lineup on a Zoom call.

In her novel, Kiste propels these two characters to the forefront, giving them a purpose and a story of their own. Her latest multi-award nominated novel Reluctant Immortals dusts away the dirt collected by Lucy Westenra-a victim of Count Dracula-and Bertha Mason-a victim of Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë-due to unfortunate historical neglect. Throughout gothic literature, women were merely footnotes, as horror author Gwendolyn Kiste describes. Meanwhile, women are often portrayed as secondary characters who get slashed before the movie even gets past 30 minutes-else they're the notorious ' final girl.' Men in horror films have climbed their way up mountains of corpses to be recognized as likable villains and antiheroes such as Michael Meyers, Chucky, and Dracula. Monsters, creatures, witches, and humans have served as the vehicles for the plot and added a dash of gore, suspense, and murder. The standard formula for horror has been practiced for centuries yet a few brave souls have tinkered with the ingredients to provide a different outcome.

Reluctant immortals by gwendolyn kiste