The Nerd Daily recently had the pleasure of chatting with Alexis Henderson, debut author of the dark, witchy horror fantasy novel The Year of the Witching. Alexis answers all our questions about her book, her love for dark fantasy, her upcoming projects and a lot more!
Hello Alexis! Thank you so much for joining us! Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Thank you for having me! I’m a speculative fiction writer with a penchant for dark fantasy, witchcraft, and cosmic horror. I grew up in one of America’s most haunted cities, Savannah, Georgia, which instilled in me a life-long obsession with gothic themes and ghost stories. When I’m not writing, you can find me with my nose buried in a book or watching horror movies.
The Year of the Witching, your debut novel, comes out on July 21. What can readers expect?
The Year of the Witching is a story that straddles the line between fantasy and horror. So you can expect gothic worldbuilding, gruesome imagery, cataclysmic plagues, creepy witches, dark family secrets, and a theocratic, dystopian church.
What draws you to dark fantasy?
As a reader, I love the way that dark fantasy blends the conventions of horror and fantasy in new and inventive ways. That said, I think what draws me to dark fantasy as a writer is different. I like the challenge of building vast fantasy worlds that reflect (and often elucidate) the inherent darkness of my own.
What kind of research did you do in preparation for writing The Year of the Witching?
When I was first developing my book’s magic system, I gave myself a crash course on Wicca, witchcraft, and other ways to practice magic. I purchased a lot of witch-related items to help me with my research, including a 1,000-page long spellbook that features 5,000 spells, copious amounts of sage, ethically sourced oddities like animal bones, multiple tarot decks (I have quite the collection), crystals, meditation stones, and other miscellaneous (vaguely witchy) items. I also did quite a bit of research on agriculture (particularly shepherding), 18th-century attire, and the psychology behind spiritual abuse.
The bulk of the story is set in Bethel, a place with an eerie, terrifying atmosphere that almost feels like a character itself. Could you tell us more about the setting? What were your inspirations behind its creation?
As I mentioned previously, I grew up in the very haunted city of Savannah, Georgia. Because of that, I was raised on a steady diet of ghost stories and Southern Gothic folktales. Themes from a few of my favorites (like the legends surrounding the Hamilton-Turner Inn, which appears in John Berendt’s famous novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) definitely inspired the eerie, gothic themes that are so prevalent in The Year of the Witching. As for the Darkwood…I’ve always had a fascination with the forest. One of my childhood homes stood on the cusp of the woods. I was forbidden from entering it, but I have vivid memories of standing at the edge of my backyard, just short of the tree line, and staring into the brush, wondering what monsters lurked there. So, I suppose it makes sense that those early childhood fascinations manifested in the form of the Darkwood, and all of the gruesome creatures and witches that occupy it.
If you had to describe your heroine, Immanuelle, in five words, what would they be?
Determined, resilient, inquisitive, precocious, and tempted.
Do you have a favourite quote from your book that you can share with us?
“I have seen the evils of this world, and I have loved them.”
What were the biggest struggles you faced while writing The Year of the Witching and how did you overcome them?
I think I struggled a lot with deciding what kind of story I wanted to tell. The Year of the Witching is both category and genre-bending. It occupies the gray space between upper YA and adult, fantasy and horror. But what I came to realize was that The Year of the Witching didn’t have to be any one thing. Stories aren’t meant to be wrangled and neatly contained. They can and should occupy many spaces and be many things at once. So, as I worked through the process of rewriting and revising, I tried to make The Year of the Witching the kind of book that I wanted to read, instead of agonizing over the book that would be most appealing to the masses. In doing that, I think I was able to hone the true spirit of the story.
What’s next for you?
Right now, I’m drafting the (yet untitled) sequel to The Year of the Witching!
And last but not least, do you have any book recommendations for us?
Yes! Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas, Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron, and The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec (it’s available for pre-order now!).
