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Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Thanks for running this, Eryn!
I have a gothic horror novella set in 1926, in which 9-yr-old Rosalyn plays a make-believe game of a Royal Court with 4 other girls. All of them want to (need to) be Queen... Things escalate. Significantly.🍀🔨👑
brigidsgatepress.com/product/what...
💙📚🩸
#HorrorWritersChat

November 19, 2025 at 8:16 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

It's not unanimous or anything, but many of my male characters fear breaking a (genuinely made) promise, unintentionally made (or broken) or not.
Doing so would show that they don't know themself as well as they think they do; it all ties back to perception of the self.
#HorrorWritersChat

Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 9h

Q4 is up. Ten minutes to outro and the promo: I am still working my way through. You're all wonderful busy bees today and I adore you!
This one is a little easier. No archetypes!

#HorrorWritersChat

What scares your male characters the most - and what does that reveal about the masks they wear?

November 19, 2025 at 8:00 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

My characters lean into masculinity when it suits them to, & I subvert/lean into expected masculinity if doing so adds a layer to the story. My characters don't often have a binary gender!
Andrew saw himself as a potential father figure for Rosalyn &co, which informed his actions
#HorrorWritersChat

Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 10h

Q3. I'm doing what I can to answer everyone, and repost, so bear with me. So I don't keep you waiting, I'll throw out 3. Interpret this one how you like. I know many queer folks like me do not align masculinity with man shaped. And with horror, we love to subvert our tales.

#HorrorWritersChat

When you write men in horror, do you lean into masculinity, subvert it, or weaponise it? Share one moment where you made it matter.

November 19, 2025 at 7:43 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Hmm. There's a 'male archetype' of a character who cares deeply for others and tries to help; when a character has that, I often like to make their empathy and capacity of care their downfall (in the tragic sense; they care so much it destroys them).
#HorrorWritersChat

Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 10h

Well then, #HorrorWritersChat. What's an archetype anyway? I jest. We're all writers here... after alllllllll....

What’s your favourite male archetype to corrupt in horror - and how do you twist it until it becomes something monstrous or tragic?

November 19, 2025 at 7:18 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Hi, I'm Hadassah!
I write gothic horror & dark fantasy, usually historical and/or supernatural, and... my male characters are not treated any differently than characters of other genders? What saves or damns my characters depends on multiple different factors...
🖤
#HorrorWritersChat

Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 10h

Here we go, #HorrorWritersChat!

Q1 has arrived. It's international men's day today, and I thought actually that's a good topic. Not the easiest one to build questions around, either. So if I do not hit the mark I am sure you will forgive me.
As usual, no links, no pitches, not till the end.

Tell us who you are, what you write, and the one quality that defines the men in your stories - whether it saves them or damns them.

November 19, 2025 at 7:14 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Thanks for running this, Mary!
I have a gothic horror novella set in 1926, in which 9-yr-old Rosalyn plays a make-believe game of a Royal Court with 4 other girls. All of them want to (need to) be Queen... Things escalate. Significantly.🍀🔨👑
brigidsgatepress.com/product/what...
💙📚🩸
#HorrorWritersChat

November 12, 2025 at 8:19 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Fruit pies, apple-spiced wine and rose tea for Rosebud, my witchy, gory, sapphic novella in verse; it uses the flowering/fruiting/decomposition of stone fruit, flowers, and berries as a central metaphor. It also features heavily in the story aside from that, a constant presence.
🖤
#HorrorWritersChat

Mary Wyrd (she/her) @marywyrd.bsky.social · 7d

Q3 - INTERMISSION

Time for a refreshment break.

We head over to the concession stand and discover that all the food and drink are themed on your work.

#HorrorWritersChat - What refreshments are we enjoying and how are they related to your work?

Question Three - Intermission - What refreshments are we enjoying and how are they related to your work? Quote Post your answer with the hashtag. Don’t forget to like/share other answers and chat in the comments! #HorrorWritersChat - The text is projected on a large cinema screen. The audience hasn’t seemed to notice the red dripping from the top left of the screen or the shadowy figure pressing against the screen, seemingly upside down, trying to get out. But one person on the right has slightly raised their hand.

November 12, 2025 at 7:38 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

For Hawthorne House, I'm not sure -- most of the characters are children, including the ones I'd pick to answer this, and I'm not familiar with child actors.
For Rosebud, my current WIP; Isabelle Fuhrman as Agnes/the witch, my antagonist and fave character -- she'd be a good fit!
#HorrorWritersChat

Mary Wyrd (she/her) @marywyrd.bsky.social · 7d

Q2 - COMING SOON

It’s time for the trailers.

And look #HorrorWritersChat - it’s a trailer for your very own horror work, adapted for the screen. Congrats!

Which work is it?

And which actor is playing your main protagonist, antagonist or fave character? Share your dream cast!

Question Two - Trailers - One of your stories has been adapted into a film/movie. Which story is it? Which actor is playing your protagonist, antagonist, or fave character? Quote Post your answer with the hashtag. Don’t forget to like/share other answers and chat in the comments! #HorrorWritersChat - The text is projected on a large cinema screen. The audience hasn’t seemed to notice the red dripping from the top left of the screen or the shadowy figure pressing against the screen, trying to get out. But one person on the right has slightly raised their hand.

November 12, 2025 at 7:24 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Hi, I'm Hadassah!
I write gothic horror, usually historical or supernatural and exploring my experiences with neurodiversity & gender. I have a strong interest in folklore & storytelling...
Two films that inspire & describe my writing: Pan's Labyrinth and Let The Right One In
#HorrorWritersChat

Mary Wyrd (she/her) @marywyrd.bsky.social · 7d

#HorrorWritersChat

Q1 - DOUBLE FEATURE

Glad you could join our (virtual) cinema trip!

First, let's introduce ourselves and share the horror subgenres we write in.

Now, what are we watching?

Share the two movies/films that have inspired your writing or that capture the vibes of your work.

Question one - Double Feature - Introduce yourself and the horror subgenres you write in. Then, share two films/movies that have inspired your horror writing or that capture the vibes of your work.
Quote Post your answer with the hashtag. Don’t forget to like/share other answers and chat in the comments! #HorrorWritersChat - All this text is projected on a large cinema screen. The audience hasn’t seemed to notice the red dripping from the top left of the screen or the figure pressing against the screen, trying to get out. But one person on the left has slightly raised their hand.

November 12, 2025 at 7:10 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Finished 'kinder', now on to 'cage of flesh'! Yay!
I really like the method I'm using to construct this novella; by having each poem inspired by a word/phrase used in the previous poem, I'm ensuring that the narrative remains cohesive.
It's why I'm writing it in Twine, and it's playable/interactive!

Hadassah Shiradski @dassawrites.bsky.social · 10d

I'm back to work on my novella in verse! Today, I'm listening to Forest Theme from 'The Path' as I detail this ...'romance' between a witch and the girl in her house. A poem's connected to the next by a selected word; currently it's 'kinder' (just done 'mouse')🫐🔪🥩
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYLQ...
💙📚🩸

Forest Theme

YouTube video by Kris Force - Topic

www.youtube.com

November 9, 2025 at 5:08 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

I'm back to work on my novella in verse! Today, I'm listening to Forest Theme from 'The Path' as I detail this ...'romance' between a witch and the girl in her house. A poem's connected to the next by a selected word; currently it's 'kinder' (just done 'mouse')🫐🔪🥩
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYLQ...
💙📚🩸

Forest Theme

YouTube video by Kris Force - Topic

www.youtube.com

November 9, 2025 at 4:27 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Working on my novella-in-verse (maybe a novel in verse?) whilst it's still light outside! The music today is 'Lost Chair' aka the main theme of The Witch's House, which is fitting given that I'm writing gory, witchy poems from the POV of my witch's familiar...
🫐🔪🥩
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTSr...
💙📚🩸

The Witch's House OST #3 - Lost Chair (Main Theme)

YouTube video by ThePixelatedHero

www.youtube.com

November 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Thanks for running this, Eryn!
I have a gothic horror novella set in 1926, in which 9-yr-old Rosalyn plays a make-believe game of a Royal Court with 4 other girls. All of them want to (need to) be Queen... Things escalate. Significantly.🍀🔨👑
brigidsgatepress.com/product/what...
#HorrorWritersChat 💙📚🩸

October 29, 2025 at 8:01 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

I don't think many fears have been forgotten... Though many people seem to be ignoring the fear of surveillance/a lack of privacy.

#HorrorWritersChat

Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 21d

Q4, and this is the last one for tonight. Hang around for the pimp your book part of the night in 10 minutes. Please do repost others. Please do go and repost one of Matt's books as well.
Thanks thanks.
#HorrorWritersChat

if we could resurrect one forgotten fear or myth: which one are you choosing?

October 29, 2025 at 7:55 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

I tend to stick to the 'old' in my writing; nature and the dark, hidden things speak to me more clearly than modern (though the latter has its place). I find it easier, interesting, and more cathartic to focus on the industrial revolution and prior to it; creativity is easier!
🖤
#HorrorWritersChat

Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 21d

So what does it say about us, as the folklore evolves, and we fear new things, in the dark...

#HorrorWritersChat

we used to fear the dark, and the woods: now we fear the screens and the systems. What next? What does it tell us about us? Or do you keep the old in your stories?

October 29, 2025 at 7:39 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Stories of the fae folk, due to feeling like a 'mimicry' of human but still powerful/dangerous.
And the Jewish folktale that 'The Corpse Bride' gutted and inverted; the idea of my autonomy being stolen and spat on, and again after death (and being viewed as a monster for reacting)
#HorrorWritersChat

Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 21d

Q2, #HorrorWritersChat. Q2.

folklore turned fear into story: a way to explain or control the unknown. What old fear or myth still resonates with you and why?

October 29, 2025 at 7:30 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Hi, I'm Hadassah!
I write short stories and novellas --primarily gothic horror, usually historical and/or supernatural. As a kid, I watched an Indiana Jones film in IMAX for the first time. I think it was crystal skull? That one scene with the ants... Yeah. I haven't rewatched it.
#HorrorWritersChat

Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 21d

Hola, Horror Writers. I'm going to post and eat as I've pretty much just walked in. But, we're all about it today, so close to Halloween!
Tell me tell me. What scared you as a child?

No links, no hawking books please, till the end. Thanks Thanks.

#HorrorWritersChat

Welcome home, horror writers! Introduce yourselves. What do you write and .... what was your childhood fear....

October 29, 2025 at 7:13 PM

Reposted by Hadassah Shiradski

Rachel Deering

@racheldeering.bsky.social

‘And still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding—
         Riding—riding’ ~ Alfred Noyes #BookWormSat

Highwayman on horse pointing a gun at a man on foot, illustration.

October 25, 2025 at 11:41 AM

Reposted by Hadassah Shiradski

Yvonne Seale

@yvonneseale.bsky.social

A neat tool I just came across: Viabundus, a digital road map of northern Europe 1350-1650, that lets you calculate contemporary travel routes/times. In 1500, going Amiens → Köln by horse took almost 7 days and 13 toll payments.

#medievalsky

www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...

October 24, 2025 at 10:58 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Violet, a sentient porcelain-clockwork doll from an unpublished story is at the door. She's here to ask me to write a sequel where she gets a good ending instead. She's my favourite because she's so fun to write!
or
Gem, a teenage vampire from my WIP, asking 'wtf, Hadassah?!'

#HorrorWritersChat

Mary Wyrd (she/her) @marywyrd.bsky.social · 28d

QUESTION FOUR

There’s a knock at the door.

Before you can answer it, the door opens and reveals…your favourite character. They are your creation.

Who is visiting you?
Why are they your favourite?
And why are they here, now?

- - -

Linger a little longer for the outro & promo #HorrorWritersChat

Question four - From your work, who is your favourite character? Antagonist? Protagonist? Who are they? Why are they your favourite? And why are they visiting you? #HorrorWritersChat - background composite image of a series of abandoned interior rooms. On either side of the opening to the next room, a pair of shadowy hands presses against the walls.

October 22, 2025 at 7:07 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

For my WIP:
The Path (OST)
The Witch's House
Carmilla
This specific piece of art: www.tumblr.com/garlicbunny/...

For Hawthorne House:
Grrrls (AViVA)
Alice Madness Returns (OST)
Promise (Silent Hill)
Entomologists (GHOST)
Honourable mention: Rule of Rose (which I discovered after)
#HorrorWritersChat

October 22, 2025 at 6:46 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Obviously, there's my laptop (usually), but I also like to have something relevant to the piece I'm working on (eg: flowers/bobbins/doll...). For my current project (an interconnected poetry narrative), I use Twine, a free online software used for branching narratives/CYOA!

#HorrorWritersChat

Mary Wyrd (she/her) @marywyrd.bsky.social · 28d

QUESTION TWO

We stand before your writing area #HorrorWritersChat

Which three tools (apps? Items? objects?) do you find useful when writing?

Are there any you’d recommend to other writers?

The stranger the better...

Question Two - Which three tools, apps or items do you find useful when writing? Which would you recommend to other writers? Quote Post your answers with the hashtag. Don’t forget to like/share other answers and chat in the comments #HorrorWritersChat - background composite image of a series of abandoned interior rooms. On either side of the opening to the next room, a pair of shadowy hands presses against the walls.

October 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

Hi, I'm Hadassah! I write gothic fiction, usually historical and/or supernatural.
Dream writing room would have a comfortable window seat, a view of a forest & stream, Victorian furniture, reference books, cabinets displaying porcelain dolls, butterflies/moths/beetles, old maps...
#HorrorWritersChat

Mary Wyrd (she/her) @marywyrd.bsky.social · 28d

QUESTION ONE - #HorrorWritersChat

Behind this door is your ideal writing room. 🚪

If money were no object and dreams were reality, this is where you’d write, relax, and conceive of your next great work.

Introduce yourself along with your horror niche, then open the door and describe your space.

Question one - Introduce yourself! Your name, your corner of the horror genre and describe your dream writing room. Quote Post your answers with the hashtag. Don’t forget to like/share other answers and chat in the comments #HorrorWritersChat - background composite image of a series of abandoned interior rooms. On either side of the opening to the next room, a pair of shadowy hands presses against the walls.

October 22, 2025 at 6:10 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

This is amazing! What a beautiful tribute to Hollow Knight and Hallownest!

Martin Tomsky @mtomsky.bsky.social · 28d

I've been working my way through #Silksong recently, so it was a genuine pleasure to remake my original Hallownest in all its frankly ridiculous level of detail. Particularly pleased with my tiny rendition of Hornet with her needle.

www.martintomsky.com/shop/preorde...

#hollowknight #art #woodwork

October 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM

Hadassah Shiradski

@dassawrites.bsky.social

It's dark now, so I'm done for the day -- for some reason, this can only be written in daylight hours. I got good stuff done today, and had the opportunity to use a metaphor that's been lingering in my head since I realised where I wanted to take this story🖤
Now to get into #LittleNightmares 3!
🩸📚💙

Hadassah Shiradski @dassawrites.bsky.social · Oct 10

Writing disturbing poems today, working on the final chapter of my novella in verse! Putting the 'romance' into 'horrormance' with this sapphic dark fantasy🖤
My narrator is very conflicted re: her situation & the witch
Todays writing song is from The Path!
💙📚🩸
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYLQ...

Forest Theme

YouTube video by Kris Force - Topic

www.youtube.com

October 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM

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