cmrosensAuthor Spotlight: Ezra Arndt
Ezra Arndt (they/them/theirs) is a dark fiction creator who writes mostly dark Adult fantasy fiction with themes of overcoming various types of trauma, bodily transformation through a disabled, queer, and neurodivergent lens, and embracing your darkest side… whether that’s a good idea or not.
Author Links:
Website: arndtezra.wordpress.com
Itch.io Shop: arndtezra.itch.io
Newsletter: ezraarndt.substack.com
Instagram: @ezraarndtwrites
Bluesky: @arndtezra.bsky.social
What draws you to queer horror-fantasy and dark SFF?
Short answer: I’m goth and/or have gothic inclinations.
Long answer: I’ve always been drawn to the dark and twisted and have found more often than not the anti-heroes, anti-villains, and villains themselves more relatable than the hero-archetype characters. It took me many years to realize this, but for me, it’s definitely because the heroes are almost always “too good” which makes the nasty characters more relatable and human to me and the “bad guys” are, in popular culture, a lot of the times queer, disabled, and neurodivergent-coded if not outright.
Dark fiction with horror-fantasy under and overtones also tend to have those goth(ic), grungy, and funky vibes that I crave in literature. And the exploration of taboo desires and the inclusion of various types of vampires… I’m a big fan. Nosferatu (2024), Harley Laroux (author of Her Soul to Take), and Pom Poison (creator of the Little Death comic), I’m looking at you!
What are the main themes in Awakened Darkness and did these evolve organically through the writing process, or were they deliberate choices?
As the Lost Gods series has been with me for over a decade and is my comfort project, I tend to be more than a bit heavy-handed with themes of religious, familial, and societal trauma.
More themes that I delve into for the series as a whole are the “undesirables” in a society being physically monsters and how some if not a lot of the “human” characters are monstrous by their actions, choosing or not choosing to continue to live in cycles of abuse, and how exhausting almost always paying the price for doing your best to be “good” (within the confines of North American [Evangelical] Christianity culture… especially in the Bible Belt) can be.
In the first book, Awakened Darkness, several tropes like toxic power dynamics within intimate relationships, figures of authority behaving badly, and, you guessed it, casual and ritualistic cannibalism and vampirism (and both combined) and pregnancy horror, take the forefront. As I’ve been working on this series for so long, I can’t recall a time when these specific tropes haven’t been vitally important to the story as a whole.
What queer rep can be found in your work, and how do you approach the combination of queerness and monstrosity?
I try to include a diverse range of queer representation in my work, so most characters are some flavor of queer. As a queer person it comes fairly naturally unless some character is fighting every step of the way to be cisgender and heterosexual.
When it comes to the combination of queerness and monstrosity, I tend to veer on the side of approaching the transformation of characters into the physically “monstrous” with heavy undertones of dysphoria, dysmorphia, disability, and a desire to be “more” (whether that be more themselves, physically stronger, “better,” etc;).
A lot of the characters discover at some point in their story, whether that be right off the bat or later on in the timelines, that they are some flavor of transgender… if they’re not aware of it already. And since in many societies, transness is looked down upon if not persecuted, it can be viewed as a so-called monstrous thing.
Even though I haven’t written any stories about *being* under the trans-umbrella, I try to dig into how “othering” it can be for the characters and create conflict in their lives when they just want to exist and live in peace like everyone else.
What is your favourite part of the worldbuilding in the Lost Gods universe and why?
I think my favorite bit about the world-building in the Lost Gods universe is the deliberate chaos of it all.
There are reincarnated/resurrected monsters and other beings that are fae and fae-related/influenced, bits from Greek mythology that I’ve taken, unraveled, and done my own spin on while attempting to do right by the source material, and mages who offer sacrifices of their own blood and bodies to feed the earth and the “higher immortals” in exchange for power.
I’ve got a character with celestial-based magic that was woven into her DNA from birth and activated by beginning her mensuration cycle and the hormonal change thereof.
The time-hopping and portal-fantasy aspect of it are some of my favorite elements in the series as a whole… although I don’t get to go into that until a few books in. I’m a sucker for the tole which comes with time-travel that slowly destroys the psyche and warps the body.
What is/are your favourite reader response(s) so far? (Use this space to quote some of the best reviews and blurbs)
“Ezra Arndt’s Awakened Darkness is a fast-paced, action-packed punch to the gut. Dark, erotic, and taboo, this story sweeps you up into a dystopian world where our unlikable heroine must fight for survival. Reminiscent of early 2000’s media, Awakened Darkness is perfect for anyone looking for gritty, queer nostalgia coated in blood.” – HS Wolfe, author of Rotgut.
“With its bold heroine, gruesome cult storyline, and lurid eroticism, Awakened Darkness by Ezra Arndt is a visceral feast. Perfect for fans of the darker side of early 2010s contemporary fantasy.” – Morgan Dante, author of Providence Girls.
“This [God & the Conquered] is a story that speaks directly to all the kids who wish they could tell God to go f*ck Himself for the things done in His name. Angry, sexy, and feral in the way the best queer art is.” – Ladz, author of The Fealty of Monsters.
“Dripping with raw eroticism and evocative language. God & the Conquered is a visceral scream against a God that demands too much and gives too little.” – Luna Fiore, author of Where Willows Weep.
Do you have any future publication plans, anything we can look out for?
I almost always have something I’m working on that I want out relatively soon—like the next book in the Lost Gods series or any one of my many standalones of various subgenres—but as of right now, the main and most set-in-stone project is Minthe, a dark retelling of the abduction of Persephone with a queer polyamorous twist.
Inspired by A Dowry of Blood by ST Gibson and Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power 2021 album, Minthe features themes of pregnancy horror, intimate partner violence, and the futility of loving a someone who will never treat you as an equal or with any sort of positive affection. the script is done and a call for voice actors are out for the three main roles (the villainous Hades, Sapphic Persephone, and the title character, Minthe).
I’m currently preparing to launch the Kickstarter sometime in the summer of 2025, and, if it gets fully funded, the mini-series podcast will be a-go.
More information on the audition details, content notice, and more here: minthepodcast.carrd.co.
Like This? Try These:
- #AmReading ~ MY SAY IN THE MATTER Date February 13, 2023
- Author Spotlight: Vesper Doom Date August 28, 2024
- Author Interview ~ Nita Pan/Ezra Arndt on Goremance, Villains, Writing Queerness, and Having Fun with Horror Date April 5, 2021
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