EP. 5 | Hailey Piper — Destroying What We Love, Emotional Horror, and Reading More Women

In this episode of Uncanny Women Podcast, KJ Brantley sits down with Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, Teenage Girls Can Be Demons, No Gods for Drowning, This Movie Doesn’t End the Way We Want, and She Isn’t Herself Tonight, among many more.Hailey discusses her two upcoming releases, including the cursed-film horror of This Movie Doesn’t End the Way We Want and the emotional, strange, alien-abduction spiral of She Isn’t Herself Tonight. Together, they explore horror as a genre of emotion, the integrity of art, grief, cosmic horror, queer women in horror, and the ways fear can help us sit with discomfort instead of looking away.The conversation also dives into No Gods for Drowning, motherhood, worldbuilding, complicated characters, writing cityscapes and large-scale settings on the page, letting emotion guide narrative logic, the expectations placed on women writers, and why reading horror by women and marginalized authors expands what the genre can be. Hailey also shares her recent favorite written by a woman in horror.Hailey Piper's Woman in Horror Book Picks:Sleep Alone by J.A.W. McCarthy: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9798897320103Hailey Piper's Books Mentioned in this Episode:Queen of Teeth: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781946335418Game in Yellow: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781668077085No Gods for Drowning: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781967846160She Isn't Herself Tonight: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781668077122This Movie Doesn't End the Way We Want: https://bookshop.org/a/111724/9781835411483Other Authors Mentioned in this Episode:RJ JosephConnect with Hailey Piper:Instagram / Bluesky: @haileypiperfightsWebsite: haileypiper.comAbout the Host, KJ Brantley:KJ Brantley is an indigenous-mixed, autistic horror and dark fiction author whose work explores motherhood, feminism, identity, neurodivergence, trauma, and psychological horror. Drawn to the intersection of entertainment and social commentary, she crafts stories that are both unsettling and emotionally resonant. She is the host of The Uncanny Women Podcast and founder and organizer of the SoCo Women in Horror Fest. She is currently the President of the Women in Horror Arts and Media Association. KJ lives in Colorado with her husband, two toddlers, and an ever-growing stack of spooky books.Learn more at WomenInHorrorFestival.Com