Are you ready to delve into the heart of darkness with a torch in hand? I know, dramatic, ha?

Never you mind. Today, we’re talking about something close to my heart and my art: the significance of strong, resilient female protagonists in horror, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. No, they don’t die before the first act is done. Well, Julitza died before the story began, but that was an intentional decision. You gotta let me know how it worked out once you read the first seven chapters of The Devil That Haunts Me. Let me know what you think once you do.

But to get back into it, these characters don’t just survive; they thrive, defying tropes and battling the specters of oppression with every turn of the page.

Beyond the Scream: Crafting Characters Who Fight Back

In the realm of psychological horror, where the mind’s darkest corners are fertile ground for fear, my characters stand tall— stubbornly tall, even when they’re trembling. Take, for instance, Isabella Prescott née Ramirez of “The Devil That Haunts Me.” She’s not your typical horror heroine; she’s a Dominican woman with an ingrained stubbornness that defies the odds. I mean, all the signs are there when she steps into the apartment, but just like she ignored all the red flags during her lifetime, she does so here. This character refuses to acknowledge any fault in anything, and she was tough to write because that’s the thing that I dislike to see in people. But Isabella has an inability to see fault in herself which is not only a character flaw but is also her saving grace because that’s what she had to do to survive. But at the beginning, she’s very unlikeable even to me, the one who brought her to live on the pages.

The Laughter and the Fury

Here’s the thing about my characters: they defy expectations with a wink and a nudge. There’s this scene where my protagonist talks herself out of unseeing something on her husband’s phone because she would rather not confront and risk divorce or separation than set boundaries. All of this because she’s petrified of having to start over, of having to go back from where she came from, which, if you would ask Isabella that’s the real horror of it all. Even when she finally sees her daughter’s spirit in her head, she’s still blaming her for how everything went down. I am telling you, this character is hard to love, which, while writing, made me want to laugh and be furious at the same time. And that’s Isabella for you: polarizing.

Tropes? What Tropes?

Horror, bless its dark heart, has a love affair with tropes. The damsel in distress, the final girl, the sacrificial lamb. My characters? They didn’t get the memo. I wrote Isabella as the villain in her own story while making her blind to the role she’s actually playing. Some damsels in distress would run up the stairs and hide, but not Isabella. She would pull her church finger out and wag it at the ghost to tell them it’s all their fault.

A Beacon in the Dark

But as you get to know her and Julitza, you will realize that these characters represent more than just survival; they embody the fight against their trauma, only the way that they fought against it, made everything worse. And that’s as realistic as I could make it because I don’t enjoy writing cartoonish characters or plot lines. Real life is so much more terrifying; I know because I’ve lived it. I was once that person who pushed everything aside and pretended I didn’t see it all so I could move forward in life. I did this for years until my own ghosts found me, and I had to eventually face them. In a way, Isabella is a little bit of me, just like every character I write. I can’t help, but infuse the characters with my lived experience to make them as real as they can be.  Through their struggles, victories, and losses, the characters offer a narrative of resistance, a testament to the power of resilience and the strength that comes from embracing one’s ugly truth. They remind us that, even in the face of horror, there’s hope, and sometimes, that hope looks like a woman ready to battle her demons, literal and metaphorical, with a defiant smile.

Join the Conversation: Be a Part of the Resistance

Now, I turn the spotlight to you, my brave readers. Who are your favorite strong, resilient female protagonists in horror, especially those from marginalized backgrounds? How do they inspire you, challenge you, or simply give you the courage to face your own fears? Share your stories and your recommendations, and let’s celebrate the women who make horror a battlefield where oppression comes to die.

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