The idea for this blog came at about 2:00 AM one morning recently when I had just gone through my 5th and final streaming service to find something to fall asleep to. A common scenario that I have seen echoed on the various social media chambers which I doomscrolled for hours beforehand.

A few years ago, I challenged myself to watch media and read media that I had never read or seen before in order to give credit where credit is due to the hard work and dedication others have put in to make their art available to the masses. Something I have always struggled to do. By watching and reading and engaging with new media I have found that my words and emotions and ideas are just as good as anybody else’s. That I need to be inspired by and not put down by the success of others. To focus that despair and anxiety and just put myself out there.

That was one of the reasons I started Quill and Leaf Publishing. I wanted to give Appalachian writers and creatives, like myself, a place that they can hone their craft and get their visions to come to life.

So, in order to but iron to wheel and sharpen my blade, I have decided that I will no longer scroll the various streaming platforms that I have access to and just watch the first thing available. However, I am still picky and narrowing it down further to the first thing available in the HORROR genre tab of those platforms.

Horror is my comfort genre. From idolizing R.L. Stine and Stephen King both as a young reader, I ate the horror genre up. I loved being scared. To feel the unbridled terror leap from page to imagination. At that age, I danced around sewer vents afraid of killer clown demons and stayed up way to late to hear what Joe Bob Briggs had to say about the latest offering on TNT’s MonsterVision.

One of my favorite horror memories revolves around a 1987 Volkswagen Vanagon, the home release of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, and a baby sitting older brother who wasn’t supposed to rent a scary movie. But that’s a tale for another time, and the letter N. Or would that be W? Either way, I’m sure you’ll read about it later.

So, watch the oral traditions space for the first installment of Quill and Leaf’s A-Z Horror.