By Madison Parrotta
Of the many genres in Kidlit, horror is one that tends to be tiptoed around, especially for middle grade books. Author Hannah Kates, however, shines a light on horror through her writing, and deems horror to not only be entertaining, but important for kids and teens alike. She names herself the “author of strange tales,” even though as a kid, she was easily spooked by everything and couldn’t watch scary movies.
Ironically, this fear got her started with writing horror for kids. As a kid, she one day came home to find that her hamster had had babies and then ate them, which made for a terrifying experience. This later inspired her work as an adult, and this was when she discovered that kids like scary books, even though horror is an underrated genre.
Even so, the common tropes of the horror genre are known to nearly everyone—vampires and werewolves. They’re not just made-up creatures from out of the blue, but they come from fear. Vampires are representative of the fear of consumption, while werewolves invoke a fear of all the changes that come with puberty. What one can glean from all this is that horror can teach lessons, especially to children.
According to Hannah, the most important thing that horror can teach is that fear isn’t necessarily a negative emotion. What is scary for kids and adults alike is usually things that don’t make sense, but when horror characters face their fears and survive, they are the ones who are in charge and have power. When kids see themselves represented in an MG or YA book, they realize they too can survive their own struggles.
In Hannah’s words, “Life can often be frightening, confusing, and bring turmoil without any explanation or reason. Scary stories prove to us that we can make it through. We can be heroes, we can find help, and we can actualize these experiences/the second and third-order consequences they have in our lives.”
About Hannah Kates:
Hannah Kates ran away to join the circus at a very young age. Aside from being an author, she also considers herself a professional adventurer and has chalked up misadventures everywhere from the streets of Mumbai to the ranks of the French Foreign Legion. If she's not skulking around cemeteries, you can find her running for ridiculous distances, having tea with her corgi, Bilbo Handsomepants, or playing honky-tonk piano.
Website: https://authorhannahkates.com/
Twitter: @hannahkates1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorhkates
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