HellCat Press Co-Founder Lindsay Moore Interview

Lindsay Moore Interview

1.     Thank you so much for joining me! For those who don’t know you, could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work?

Dark Lady Returns cover art by Jen Tracy (Cover art for HellCat Press Anthology)

LM: I love horror comics, so I co-founded Hellcat Press in 2014. I really wanted to put together an anthology of horror comics written and illustrated by women. I initially pitched this idea to the Boston Comics Roundtable; I had been a member for about seven years at that point, and they had put out anthologies before. I figured that they would be interested and that they’d help me out. They were not interested in the project at all. They didn’t want to be part of a female-led project or an all-female project. It was really disheartening, and when I complained about it, I was told that I could just leave. So I did. It was sort of a “fine, I’ll take my ball and go home” moment for me. I decided that I would just put out the anthology myself. I kind of figured, “people self-publish all the time, how hard can it be?” Well, putting together the first anthology was hard…but not impossible, and I had a lot of fun and met some really cool people. So I decided to do it again. It’s one of those things that gets easier each time you do it. We’ve got five anthologies out so far, and I’m hoping to do more at some point.

2.     If you had to describe Hellcat Press with only three adjectives, what would those words be?

LM: Creative, fun, and spiteful (but only a little bit).

3.     Do you have a favorite horror comic?

I am really into The Nice House on the Lake by James Tynion IV, Álvaro Martínez Bueno, and Jordie Bellaire at the moment. I also love Locke and Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Emily Carroll has some really great stuff out there too. I still hold out a little hope that Afterlife With Archie will come back from its hiatus.

4.     What sparked your love of the horror genre?

LM: I’ve always been into weird stuff. Even as a little kid, I was drawn to the things that scared my peers. I think what really turned it into a passion for me was reading R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books. I loved those. I especially loved his Night of the Living Dummy trilogy. I was obsessed with those. Slappy is such a little bastard. He’s a lot of fun to hate. My dad’s always been into older horror films, the stuff from Universal mostly. He’s the kind of guy who will go out of his way to find something that you like so that he can talk about it with you. Like, when my cousin was obsessed with Twilight, he read the first book so they could talk about it. So my dad saw how obsessed I was with Slappy and probably thought, “she’s obsessed with an evil ventriloquist dummy, I’m pretty sure I saw a movie about one of those.” So, long story short, he showed me Magic, which is a horror/thriller about a schizophrenic ventriloquist. I was eleven. Probably not the most appropriate film to show an eleven-year-old, but it’s what got the ball rolling.

5.     Running a small publishing press must come with challenges. What is something you wish you had known before opening Hellcat Press?

LM: To paraphrase Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, “Life, uh, finds a way of interfering with everything you have planned.” I worked in textbook publishing before starting Hellcat Press, so I had a little bit of experience. When it comes to publishing, your schedule is everything. The best advice I can give to anyone who wants to self-publish or put together a multi-contributor anthology: add in a two-week space cushion when you set your deadline. Set a “soft” deadline, then set your “hard” deadline for two weeks later. This prevents last-minute scrambling. The other piece of advice I’ll give – and I wish someone had told me this one – if you’re self-publishing, you don’t have a PR team. You are the PR team. That means reaching out and telling everyone who’ll listen about your book. You have to be proactive about it. You’re your own biggest cheerleader.

6.     What do you love the most about working with authors?

LM: I love seeing how creative other people are. When you’re working alone, you’re in your own head. That’s not so bad, but it doesn’t expose you to new ideas. Working with others does. I had an especially great time working on Tales From the Public Domain and Screams Heard ’Round the World. Those were two anthologies that Hellcat put out. For Tales From the Public Domain, we asked creators to take a horror story from the public domain and adapt it. We got some really wonderful twists on old classics. I especially loved the queer retelling of Ligeia, the sci-fi spin on The Beast With Five Fingers, and the modern take of Viy. Those are concepts I never would’ve thought of, but I’m so glad that someone else did – and I’m so glad they shared it with me. For Screams Heard ’Round the World, we asked creators to take a myth, legend, or monster from another country and tell a story about it. It was a fantastic way to learn about other cultures and mythologies. It’s also fascinating to see how much overlap there is in mythology.

7.     What is coming up next with Hellcat Press?

LM: Hellcat Press is on a bit of a hiatus right now. I had a baby in 2019, right after our fifth anthology came out. And then the pandemic happened. I’m currently juggling work with grad school and caring for a rambunctious toddler, but I would really love to put out more anthologies. I’d very much like to make an announcement this coming winter and put a book out in autumn of 2023. I can’t make any promises, though. I have to see how it all goes.

8.     Where can people find you online?

LM: The best place to find me is probably on Twitter . I’m also on Instagram, if you want to see my knitting and cross stitch. And there’s my website, www.hellcatpress.com.