A Home for Horror

What Sleeps Beneath is an online magazine that explores the horror genre as one of the most important cultural vehicles of our time. It is a home for all horror-loving nerds, and a space to investigate what the genre tells us about ourselves.

Founding Contributors

We write book and movie reviews, interviews, and conduct original academic research. We are a collective of freaks, writers, and friends. What was supposed to be a simple movie night devolved into a heavy debate regarding the relationship of script and film, the church as a driving force in horror, the history of monsters, and the cinematography of sickness and blood on screen, and thus What Sleeps Beneath was born.

A young man with short dark hair, glasses, and a wide smile sitting at a table in a cafe or restaurant with a brick wall background. He's wearing a star-patterned shirt and holding a smartphone.
A young woman standing in front of a historic stone monument with a door that has a cross and decorative elements. The monument has the inscription 'FAMILLE SEGUIN' above the door. The woman is dressed in a denim shirt, black leather jacket, black skirt, and black ankle boots, with her hair in a bun, smiling and looking down.
A woman with long hair wearing a striped yellow and brown sweater, holding two dogs outdoors on a grassy area. One dog is black with a white patch on its chest, sitting beside her. The other dog is white with brown patches and standing on her lap. In the background, there are trees, houses, and a pathway under a partly cloudy sky.

Guest Writers

In addition to original articles from founding members, we are lucky enough to publish a small cohort of excellent guest writers. What Sleeps Beneath is a horror site that encourages and thrives off of the conversation in our community, and we are so happy that you are here.

write for us
meet the team

  • Alyssa Waldron is an avid film lover and artist. When she’s not traipsing around the city or laughing at a silly joke, she's probably lying on the floor crafting miniature furniture (with Shudder streaming in the background). You can find her work @faintlygrainy. 

  • Arran Crawley currently has two ghost story screenplays on the Film Festival circuit, so far, they have won 4 awards and placed in several finals. These include wins at ‘Best Short Screenplay’ at the Ethereal Horror Fest 2022 and ‘Best Dark Drama Feature Screenplay’ at Austin After Dark – Fall 2022. Ever since he relocated to Canada in 2015, Arran has worked with emerging filmmakers, several film festivals (including Vancouver Asian Film Festival) and is the former Program Coordinator at the Calgary Film Centre. You can follow his progress on Instagram - arrancrawley

  • Blaise Balas is an avid horror watcher, reader, and writer. She is the creator of the blog So Desensitized, which seeks to dispel the myth that "kids these days" don't understand or appreciate horror media. Blaise absolutely adores Twin Peaks, and is fascinated by everything wonderful and strange. Find Blaise on Instagram @blaisebalas.

  • Brandy is a communications professor, award-winning journalist, marketing professional, and published poet. She is a member of the Pop Culture Association as well as the National Communication Association where she supports the Film, Theater, and Multimedia division. She enjoys thrillers, true crime, and the supernatural.

  • Born in late 1979, Brian is a proud member of the VHS generation of horror fandom. He developed a taste for zombie movies and slashers from USA Up All Night and TNT Monstervision in the 90s. Favorites include Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, Return of the Living Dead and All the Nightmare and Friday Series. Brian is a graduate of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania with a Speech Communication degree and works as a client success and implementation manager. Brian is also a diehard fan of music and a proud dad to Clara, 8.

  • Carina Stopenski (they/them) is a writer, librarian, and teacher based in Pittsburgh, PA. They are currently pursuing their PhD in English, Literature and Criticism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Carina is the author of the transgressive fiction collection The Things We Do for Blood (Alien Buddha Press, 2024), the Appalachian folk horror novel Stuffed (Unveiling Nightmares, 2024) and the horror poetry collection feel it in your guts (Baynam Books Press, forthcoming 2026). They are an academic member of the Horror Writers Association, where they currently serve as a member of the Library Advisory Council and co-chair of the Pittsburgh chapter.

  • Christian Dávalos is a writer based in Mexico. He studied Creative Writing at the postgraduate level at the University of Salamaca, Spain, and is a member of the Horror Writers Association. You can follow him on Instagram at @chrisdavaloshorror.

  • Christina Brennan is writer and reviewer whose work has appeared in various places, including Little White Lies, Flux Magazine, and Horror Homeroom. She’s been a reviewer for the Salem Horror Film Festival and Glasgow FrightFest Film Festival. She’s also writing a book on George Sluizer's The Vanishing, a film that Stanley Kubrick called the most terrifying film he'd ever seen. Read more: https://www.drchristinabrennan.com/ Twitter: @bigloudscreams

  • Daniel Pietersen is the editor of I Am Stone: The Gothic Weird Tales of R. Murray Gilchrist, part of the British Library’s Tales of the Weird series. He is also a recurring guest lecturer for the Romancing the Gothic project and a regular contributor to publications like Dead Reckonings, Revenant and Horror Homeroom. Daniel lives in a very old house in a very old town and is slowly becoming very old himself. You can find more of his work at pietersender.wordpress.com and pietersender.substack.com and follow him on Twitter, @pietersender.

  • Dan Stephens is the founder and editor of Top 10 Films, a film list and nostalgia site established in 2009. His love of horror began when he saw An American Werewolf in London as a child which cemented a fascination with mythical creatures in a contemporary setting. He also loves a good ghost story.

  • Dave V. Riser (he/him) is a gender ghoul pursuing his PhD in English Literature. His research interests include horror fiction, queer and transgender studies, disability studies, and affect studies. He has a variety of short fiction, including “EACH-UISGE” in The Off Season: A Coastal Horror Anthology, as well as "Triage" in The Arkansas International. His nonfiction appears here, and in Bloodletter magazine. 

  • Jose Cruz is an author and elementary school librarian. His journalism and short fiction have appeared in Rue Morgue, Dread Central, Nightmare Magazine, The Year's Best Hardcore Horror, and other venues. His writings on the intersections of librarianship, kidlit, and horror can be found on his Substack. 

  • Julia Betts is a nationally recognized visual artist. Her work explores vulnerability, often addressing how the mind and body respond under duress. Julia is a lifelong horror fan. Her favorite movies include Invasion of The Body Snatchers, The Thing, Rosemary’s Baby, and Carrie. You can view her work and learn more about Julia at https://www.juliabetts.com/

  • Laura tuned into horror with an interest in what these movies and books can tell us about ourselves and what societies fear. She is most interested in horror focused around the supernatural, folklore, the occult, Gothic themes, haunted media, landscape as a character, and hauntology (focusing on lost or broken futures).

  • Michael Arnzen (gorelets.com) is a Professor of English and the Assistant Director of Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University, in Greensburg, PA. Known primarily for his focus on the horror genre, his film criticism has appeared in numerous journals (including The Journal of Popular Film and Television, Narrative, Paradoxa, and Jump Cut), and such academic books as The Exorcist: Studies in The Horror Film and The Films of Stephen King. As a creative writer, to date he holds four Bram Stoker Awards for his novels, short fiction and poetry, which includes such titles as Proverbs for Monsters, 100 Jolts and Grave Markings. He recently began a short-form podcast on all things horror you can listen to at 6m66s.com

  • Nelson W. Pyles is an author, musician, podcast creator and voice actor living in Pittsburgh. He has written two novels and is currently working on his third. His second collection of short stories, essays and articles All These Steps Lead Down will be released in March, 2024 from Cold War Radio Press. He is a member of the HWA. You can find Nelson at https://whatnelsonwrites.com/

  • Therese Taylor is a historian and has published on religion, life writing and literary mysteries. Currently, she is working on a novel about the death of Virginia Woolf. She is a member of the Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand.