Christina Henry on Writing 19 Horror Novels by Hand, Bad Reviews & the Book That Changed Her Career

In this episode of Talking Horror, Rachel Redd sits down with national bestselling author Christina Henry, writer of nearly 20 books spanning urban fantasy, dark fairy tale retellings, and modern horror, including Near the Bone, The House That Horror Built, and The Place Where They Buried Your Heart. Her upcoming novel Pinfeathers drops this November.Grab your copy of The Place Where They Buried Your Heart: https://amzn.to/4vbTAQGChristina opens up about writing her first novel longhand in a notebook at age 12, why she still writes every single book by hand, and the discovery-based process that lets her pants her way through nearly two decades of publishing without ever plotting. We dig into her Gen X horror origin story (Ouija boards, slumber party slashers, and a Freddy Krueger fear that genuinely haunted her) and what eventually shifted horror from scary to fascinating. Christina also gets into why she fought hard not to be typecast as "the retellings girl," how a Guillermo del Toro interview sparked The House That Horror Built, the single image of a house where three boys went in and two came out that became The Place Where They Buried Your Heart, and the tiny black needle appearing under a baby's arm that started Pinfeathers. Plus: the best piece of advice she ever got about bad reviews, what it was like to get a three-book deal while her toddler climbed a slide at Gymboree, and why she's patiently waiting for the right zombie novel idea to arrive.Timestamps:00:01 – Welcome to Talking Horror & Meeting Christina Henry04:21 – Starting in Urban Fantasy: Black Wings05:17 – A Gen X Girl's Horror Origin Story11:59 – Writing Every Book by Hand: The Process Explained14:45 – Pantsing 19 Novels: How Her Brain Works on Simmer18:14 – The Road to Publication: Writing Black Wings During Nap Time22:18 – Three Editors, Same Publisher: 16 Years with Ace/Berkley25:32 – The Urban Fantasy Boom and Bust26:24 – Writing Alice and Changing Her Own Career27:23 – Jumping Genres and Writing for Herself29:02 – Don't Do It If You Don't Love It30:20 – Why Bad Reviews Aren't Really About Your Book36:04 – From Retellings to Horror: Not Wanting to Be Typecast42:23 – The Real Horror: Vulnerability and Poverty44:15 – Building Dread Without Jump Scares46:31 – When the House Is the Villain47:25 – The Place Where They Buried Your Heart: Moving from Forest to Buildings54:27 – Pinfeathers: Coming November55:15 – A Baby, a Pin Feather, and Body Horror58:47 – Juggling Multiple Books at Once59:46 – What Comes After Pinfeathers: Dark Humor ReturnsGrab your copy of The Place Where They Buried Your Heart: https://amzn.to/4vbTAQGConnect with Christina Henry:Website: https://www.christinahenry.net/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorchristinahenry/Follow Talking Horror Podcast:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelreddreads/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rachelreddIf you enjoyed this episode, please Like, Subscribe, and hit the notification bell to help us grow the horror community!