Emma E. Murray: "Dark and Visceral" Horror
Women in Horror Month 2025, #4
For #4 in this series of interviews for Women in Horror Month 2025, our guest is Emma E. Murray. Thank you for doing the interview, Emma!
You’ve had a great amount of work come out in just a few years, from poems and short stories to chapbooks, your collection The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions and your debut novel Crushing Snails. Congratulations! Would you like to tell readers a little about your work, such as common themes and interests in them, or perhaps synopses of your books?
Thank you Christi! It’s been an incredible couple years. My stories tend to gravitate toward the themes of grief, womanhood, motherhood, and lost innocence. The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions definitely dives deeply into those themes with the three sections grouped into motherhood horror, childhood/innocence vs. the cruelty of the world, and finally “post-innocence” issues like obsession, lust, and aging. The stories vary from very realistic problems (dementia, school shootings, and child abduction) to body horror to speculative stories such as a hellhound hunting down the guilty and an android pondering the afterlife. I’d like to think there’s a story in there for any reader.
For Crushing Snails, a short synopsis would be: Winnie is sixteen and a burgeoning serial killer. Her father blames her for her mother’s death, dotes on her little sister, and executes increasingly cruel punishments meant to humiliate Winnie. As the punishments morph into torture, she begins fantasizing about regaining some semblance of control. When her violent games escalate and she accidentally kills, Winnie gets a taste of a power she doesn’t want to let go of. I’m very proud of my debut novel, but it’s an intense read and anyone who fervently avoids animal and child death (necessary to the plot/not for shock value) should think twice before picking it up.
I imagine some readers might be wanting to emulate your success, so when did you get started writing and publishing, and what things did you do to help you accomplish so much so quickly?
Like so many authors, I’ve been writing since I was very young, but I wrote what became my debut novel in 2017, and that was the first piece I’d approached seriously since college. I actually queried it for years and then got into short fiction, alongside writing my other novels, in 2020. It might seem like I’ve accomplished a lot in a short amount of time, but it’s taken much longer behind the scenes. I’m very thankful for the publishers that have given my stories homes, and all I can say to anyone out there is don’t give up! Keep writing, keep sending your work out, whether that be to magazines, anthologies, small presses, or agents. It took years for me to get to this point, so don’t rush yourself, and certainly don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s. If you keep trying, you’ll get your stories out there.
I recently read your chapbook Performance of a Lifetime–really enjoyed it! It’s in the format of transcripts and recordings, and your debut novel was also epistolary. I am also drawn to epistolary formats too, and I wonder, what draws you to them? What kinds of possibilities do they seem to offer?
I absolutely love both reading and writing epistolary stories. There’s something so real and also very intimate to it, even when the documents aren’t intimate documents like a letter, text message, or diary entry. Like in Crushing Snails, the epistolary elements are mostly transcripts of interrogations, so I did a lot of research reading actual transcripts while writing it, and they’re truly fascinating. You can really see how the how the person being interrogated is thinking in their word choice and questions, their anxiety and anger in what they choose to disclose or what they’re offended or shocked by. I think that raw, exposed feeling of things like transcripts, letters, chat logs, etc. really brings a different feeling to a piece, and that extra bit of texture can add a lot of depth.
I haven’t had the chance to read your collection yet, but I was reading some reviews about it that said you’re writing extreme horror but in a way that’s not quite what people think of when they hear that term. Does that sound accurate to you? Are you setting out to write extreme horror, or do you have a different conception of the work you are doing?
Personally, I consider my work to be more “transgressive” than “extreme” only because extreme horror tends to be more about the most shocking, vile, and creative gore you can imagine, and approaching horror in a more “fun” and nauseating way to give their reader an adrenaline rush. My writing, while having elements that are very disturbing and often graphic, is more set on exploring uncomfortable moral questions and social taboos. I don’t mind delving into those darkest fears and really reprehensible characters, but it’s always done in a way that forces you to think deeper about the motivations of those characters, the ramifications of one’s actions, and often even forcing a reader to feel empathy for someone most would consider “evil.” I have absolutely nothing against authors who write extreme horror to see how far they can take it, that’s not what I’m trying to do. I’ve never actually set out to write something particularly “extreme,” but the stories I gravitate toward telling end up so dark and visceral, I can see why I end up in the “extreme” category for many readers.
I was recently reading a novel where you were mentioned in the acknowledgments as a helpful writing group member, and I know you’ve been active in the writing community. How important do you think it is to be involved in things like beta reading, supporting other writers, etc.?
I think it’s extremely important to do things like beta read, critique, uplift and support other writers, and just be a part of a writing community of some sort, even if it’s a small writing group on Discord or who meet on Zoom every other week. Not only does feedback from peers in your genre who understand your work help to hone your skills, but having that emotional support through things like querying, rejections, and writer’s block is integral to one’s mental health, at least in my opinion. When I first got serious about writing, I felt very alone often. Writing is an extremely personal and solitary activity, but when I started finding peers who understood the ups and downs, it helped significantly in virtually every aspect of my writing and relationship with publishing. I love being able to be there for my writer friends, whether that be a shoulder to cry on, a fresh set of eyes on a story, or someone to brainstorm with, and I really don’t think I’d be where I am today if it wasn’t for everyone who’s helped me along the way. Thank you so much to all my writer friends out there!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m very excited that my second novel, Shoot Me in the Face on a Beautiful Day, will be coming out August 26th from Apocalypse Party Press. It follows Birdie, a grieving mother trying to rebuild her life, as she navigates the complicated dynamics of her abusive relationship as well as living in fear of a home-invading serial killer that has descended on her town. It’s another brutal, transgressive story and I’m eager for readers to check it out. As far as the future beyond that, I currently have two novels out on submission, a folk horror and a thriller with speculative elements, so hopefully those will get picked up soon. I’m also drafting a new horror novel about a family annihilator and it’s been really interesting seeing where this story goes.
What is a question you wish I had asked? Ask and answer (please). Ok :)
In your collection, many of your stories deal with motherhood. What draws you to tell these stories?
I became a mother right around when I really started taking short story writing seriously and so the fears, anxieties, and experiences inevitably became woven into much of my work. I also have OCD, with many of my intrusive thoughts revolving around my daughter ever since she was born, so I use those painful ideas as inspiration for my stories, which also often gives me a sort of catharsis as I work through them. One of my very favorite stories of the collection, Lavender and Dandelions, is based on an intrusive thought I still deal with often, but both writing and revisiting the story actually helps me when I’m spiraling. The absolute love for my daughter that spilled into that one gives it a special place in my heart.
Thank you so much for being interviewed, Emma!
Thank you for having me Christi!!
Emma E. Murray (she/her) explores the dark side of humanity in her fiction. Her work has appeared in Vastarien and Cosmic Horror Monthly among other places. Her work includes When the Devil, Crushing Snails, and The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions. Her second novel, Shoot Me in the Face on a Beautiful Day, will be out summer of 2025. When she isn’t writing, she is usually found playing make-believe with her daughter. You can find out more, as well as find links to her social media, at her website EmmaEMurray.com
And as always in Noglesque, I will end with some of my own stuff:
I was recently interviewed on Mae Murray’s blog
I’ll be participating in Storyfort (literary events accompanying the Treefort Music Festival): Event Page
Sawtooth Screams: Idaho Authors Tell Their Haunting Tales
Wed, Mar 26 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Ochos
Join four of Idaho's best macabre authors as they read some of their most spine-tingling work, followed by an honest conversation about what it takes to craft such uncanny and haunting stories.
Alison Ames, Alexis Kester, Alice Thompson, Christi NogleI have a new newsletter on Creativity & Inspiration
My newest updates are always at https://linktr.ee/christinogle
My novel Beulah is available at Amazon, and my other books should be available at any online seller:
