GREETINGS, BOOKWORMS! I’m Aisha Kandisha, Head Librarian at Kandisha Press. Join me in the dusty stacks of the library I will never leave again as I chat with some of my favorite Women in Horror. Today we feature author Nicole M. Wolverton! Nicole’s story “In The Blood We Live” is featured in PRETEND YOU DON’T SEE HER: THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (Kandisha Press 2025 Women of Horror Anthology.)
NICOLE M. WOLVERTON is a fear enthusiast and Pushcart-nominated writer of 50-plus works of short fiction, creative nonfiction, and pop culture essays, as well as two novels. Additionally, she served as Editor of BODIES FULL OF BURNING (2021, Sliced Up Press), the first-ever short fiction anthology that centers horror through the lens of menopause.
She lives in the Philadelphia area, where she earned a masters in horror and storytelling from the University of Pennsylvania. Find her online at www.nicolewolverton.com.
I have to say, “In The Blood We Live” is such a stunning, original story– almost a vampiric form of menopause. How did you come up with the idea?
There’s something really fascinating to me about equating vampires, who no longer have blood running through their veins (if we’re talking about canon vampires who were drained of blood in life), and menopausal women, who no longer bleed. The idea has been rattling around in my brain for a while—never more so than when I served as Editor of a short fiction anthology that centered horror through the lens of menopause (Bodies Full of Burning, Sliced Up Press, 2021). While there were one or two submissions (one that was selected for the anthology) that were vampire-adjacent, there were no submissions that hit on the concepts that I’d been thinking about… so I wrote “In The Blood We Live” just to satisfy myself and get the idea onto paper. Maybe one day I’ll take up studying the parallels between vampiric women and menopausal women academically. It could be an interesting route to a PhD. Just call me Dr. Wolverton.
How can the ordinary, everyday “invisible woman” relate to the plight of 3,211 year old Clemencia Poole?
Clemencia says, “The art of being just this side of invisible was not lost on her.” In this world, vampires continue to menstruate (I imagine this to be more of a bodily memory and habit rather than a true menstrual cycle) until aging comes for them—and menopausal vampires need things to thrive…like a lot of extra blood, for instance. I won’t spoil the story, but Clemencia is able to operate under the radar to get what she needs in part because she’s older. When you’re older and generally beyond the age where a straight man sexualizes you, there’s power in that. When you’re considered “useless” to a society that fetishizes youthful beauty and the ability to reproduce, that’s when you can live without expectation. I’m not saying that women in their fifties and sixties are safer from men than they are in their twenties—because truly, we live in a shitty world—but I am saying at 53, I feel like I exist in the world in a far different way than I did when I was younger. Politicians who see women as baby incubators on legs overlook me. Men who were once judging my worth on the state of my boobs or butt simply don’t see me. Clemencia knows the freedom in that and uses it to her advantage… so should we all.
What does your creative process look like when you’re writing? Do you have any special rituals or routines?
Like most writers, I do a significant amount of writing in my head—letting ideas marinate while I’m doing other things. I need time to mentally check out, so I build opportunities into my schedule to make that possible. My favorites: doing hot yoga, steering a dragon boat, and showering. In all of these, my brain is singularly focused on one thing: getting my body into a position, keeping the boat in line, or not getting soap in my eyes. The rest of my brain is free to think about nothing, and that’s when I solve plot problems and come up with new ideas. My creative process excels when I’m not obsessing about creative pursuits. I find the good stuff in being distracted, I guess.
What else are you working on? Any projects you’re especially excited about?
The paperback edition of A Misfortune of Lake Monsters just came out on September 2 (the hardcover came out last year), so I’m enjoying that while working on a new young adult horror manuscript that’s set in a rural grocery store and doing book events (for a list of what’s upcoming, please check the events page at my website).
There are two things I’m super excited about:
Meat Sweats, my vegetarian-turned-accidental-cannibal young adult horror novel, is coming out in August 2026 (Horrorsmith Publishing). The fun stuff that will be happening in conjunction with this book keeps me up at night, gleefully cackling!
I’m starting a regular column at Macabre Daily about gastrohorror, likely in January 2026 (although maybe earlier if I can’t contain myself). I hold a masters of liberal arts in horror and storytelling, and I’ve just started a masters of philosophy program that will also be horror-focused in some way. Gastrohorror (specifically food, horror, and disgust) is a particular academic interest of mine, so having the opportunity to share my gastrohorror geekiness is truly delightful!
KANDISHA PRESS 
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