Sonora Taylor is an American author of horror fiction, known for her short stories as well as her full-length books. She is the author of Someone to Share My Nightmares: Stories, Seeing Things, Without Condition (2019) and Little Paranoias: Stories (2019), which won the Ladies of Horror Fiction Award. In 2020, she won a second award from the same group, this time for Without Condition.
Sonora Taylor grew up in Virginia.. She has been a consistent presence in the independent horror publishing industry. Her work has appeared through presses such as Rooster Republic, Cemetery Gates Media, and Kandisha Press. She is a board member of Scares That Care and an active member of the Horror Writers Association.
Taylor's latest novella, Errant Roots (2024), was published by Raw Dog Screaming Press. It tells the story of Deirdre, a young woman who, under pressure from her mother, returns to her ancestral home. There, she discovers dark family secrets rooted in her bloodline. The work combines domestic horror with themes of heritage and identity.
Taylor began telling stories as a child through performance, comics, and writing. "I always knew I wanted to be a storyteller," she said in an interview. "Writing ended up being my preferred way of telling stories, especially made-up ones."
She found her genre early on. "In fifth grade, I wrote a story about a girl who discovers her teacher is a vampire," she recalls. Taylor draws inspiration from the ordinary and imagines it in a sinister light. Among her biggest influences are Flannery O'Connor and Augusten Burroughs.
Themes of dangerous women and female desire run through her fiction. "Too often, female villains have to be softened up with backstories that make them sympathetic," she explains. "I want fictional female villains to be evil just for evil's sake." She treats female desire as usual rather than dangerous. "A lot of women I know are like that," she said, "but we don't see it in fiction as much as I'd like."
Taylor is also known for using humour alongside horror. "Humour is very much a coping mechanism for my anxiety," she said. "It makes sense that I would use it when I'm writing about darker subjects."
She co-edited Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology with Nico Bell. Her short fiction has been featured in Tales to Terrify and Brave New Weird (2022), where her story Eat Your Colours appeared. In 2024, her nonfiction essay, "Anything But Cooking, Please," was a finalist in Roxane Gay's essay contest.
Sonora Taylor now lives in Arlington with her husband and their rescue dog.
Photo credit: sonorawrites.com
Sonora Taylor grew up in Virginia.. She has been a consistent presence in the independent horror publishing industry. Her work has appeared through presses such as Rooster Republic, Cemetery Gates Media, and Kandisha Press. She is a board member of Scares That Care and an active member of the Horror Writers Association.
Taylor's latest novella, Errant Roots (2024), was published by Raw Dog Screaming Press. It tells the story of Deirdre, a young woman who, under pressure from her mother, returns to her ancestral home. There, she discovers dark family secrets rooted in her bloodline. The work combines domestic horror with themes of heritage and identity.
Taylor began telling stories as a child through performance, comics, and writing. "I always knew I wanted to be a storyteller," she said in an interview. "Writing ended up being my preferred way of telling stories, especially made-up ones."
She found her genre early on. "In fifth grade, I wrote a story about a girl who discovers her teacher is a vampire," she recalls. Taylor draws inspiration from the ordinary and imagines it in a sinister light. Among her biggest influences are Flannery O'Connor and Augusten Burroughs.
Themes of dangerous women and female desire run through her fiction. "Too often, female villains have to be softened up with backstories that make them sympathetic," she explains. "I want fictional female villains to be evil just for evil's sake." She treats female desire as usual rather than dangerous. "A lot of women I know are like that," she said, "but we don't see it in fiction as much as I'd like."
Taylor is also known for using humour alongside horror. "Humour is very much a coping mechanism for my anxiety," she said. "It makes sense that I would use it when I'm writing about darker subjects."
She co-edited Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology with Nico Bell. Her short fiction has been featured in Tales to Terrify and Brave New Weird (2022), where her story Eat Your Colours appeared. In 2024, her nonfiction essay, "Anything But Cooking, Please," was a finalist in Roxane Gay's essay contest.
Sonora Taylor now lives in Arlington with her husband and their rescue dog.
Photo credit: sonorawrites.com
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