Top Ten Reasons You Should Read Southern Gothic Horror by Eden Royce

Southern Hospitality: There's a reason the South is known for its charm. There's no place else in the world like it: friendly, helpful people who love their city and love to talk about it. My hometown, Charleston, South Carolina is ranked number two on the list of the World's Best Places to Visit in 2015. But it isn't all carriage rides in this tourist city. Charleston's hat is worn coyly tipped: one side shows a sunny, historical beauty and the other is hidden cleverly away. Until now. Travelers will do well to familiarize themselves with Charleston's dark side and will appreciate my collection Spook Lights, tales of the Holy City at its darkest.

Strong Women: With all of the discussion about feminism in the news and on the Internet, the Southern culture has always been steeped in a healthy dose of female influence. The American South is a matriarchal society in itself, where women wear their strength like grand ladies, but stay ready to toss off the cape of propriety when the need arises. While traditional Gothic has fainting heroines a heartbeat away from going mad, Southern Gothic women are made of a tougher cloth. Women in Southern Gothic fiction are revered, sometimes feared, for their no-nonsense way of dealing with this world-and the next.

A New Language: If you visit Charleston and the sea islands surrounding her, you may be lucky enough to catch a few lines of Gullah, a language you've probably never heard of. Gullah is a blending of English and several African languages spoken by slaves first brought to the Americas and it's a language I grew up with. However, the language is dying out as it's only spoken by a small group of people on the North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia coasts. I've included a few lines of Gullah in Spook Lights to give readers a feel for this musical language.

Diversity: It's rare to see Southern Gothic horror like my collection, Spook Lights, in which the main characters are all people of color. Many writers of Southern Gothic literature relegate people of color to the sidelines in their tales. They are fleeting figures that slip through the lives of their main characters, doling out advice or wisdom that someone else uses to save the day from evil. Spook Lights brings you tales from the point of view of these formerly underrepresented people, especially in horror circles, and lets you see that maybe we aren't that different after all.

Food: Food TV is hot-literally-right now. The American South is considered the birthplace of barbeque. People around the world are just discovering some of the South's delicacies-red rice, fried catfish, deviled eggs, red velvet cake-but our food has always been a part of our literature and we don't skimp on it. The flavors of food and drink come through clearly in modern Southern Gothic writing. Our heroines indulge in rich, savory stews, fresh from the ocean seafood, luscious sweets that you must have a taste of. You'll find yourself searching for a recipe to make that tasty treat you just read about. Can't find it? Let me know.

Manners: Ever mumbled in complaint about how rude some people can be? Immerse yourself in the South, a place where manners and politeness are not only expected, they're ingrained. 'Yes, ma'am' and 'no, sir' are heard spoken by everyone, from the Mayor to the lords of backwoods crime. It's like my grandmother always said, "Just because you got to hurt somebody, there's no reason to be nasty about it."

Subtlety: Southern Gothic horror is not the bloody gore-filled horror you sometimes see in slasher movies. It's called 'quiet horror' for its creepy and atmospheric tone, which can be more unsettling. You think you've gotten everything there is to get from the story, but then something happens-maybe a creak of the floorboard or the frantic flapping of bird wings-to bring those shivers rushing back.

The Magic: Conjure magic is a fixture of Southern Gothic, but not everyone gets it right in movies and in books. Voodoo is different from hoodoo-called 'root' in Charleston-and neither of them is used solely for evil. My great-aunt did her share of love potions and luck papers for appreciative locals. I love to see conjure magic used in non-destructive ways as it shows a universal theme running through magics of every culture: that we can change our world for the better.

Acceptance: Southern Gothic celebrates the grotesque in all people. Not just on the outside (although there are those characters as well), but also those quirky, left-of-center souls who are ostracized in other works. In this form of literature, the outcast is a feature. Weird, unusual behavior by characters is noted and known by all, but there is a sense of welcome prevalent throughout. Because in the South, we don't hide our craziness, we parade it on the front porch and serve it iced tea.

History. Southern Gothic is steeped in folklore, oral history, suspense, and local color. First popularized in the 19th century by short story crafters like Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, modern Southern authors are embracing the South's tradition of storytelling and including a more varied cultural history. Incorporating the cultures and beliefs of various peoples makes storytelling more fulfilling and more resonant. Authors are now more comfortable telling their stories of the South and her difficult history-wars, slavery, segregation-pairing it with a new voices of inclusion and understanding to ensure her legacy will be one all people can enjoy.