Kayleigh Dobbs turned up to her first horror convention too nervous to speak to anyone, accidentally called Ramsey Campbell "Mr. Ramsey," and somehow came away with a fire lit under her that she hasn't stopped feeding since. Four years later, she has a short story in a Bram Stoker Award nominated collection, heads on semi-regular cake-and-coffee trips with Tim Lebbon, and is a well-revered reviewer of indie horror.

Kayleigh is a writer, proofreader, and the founder of Happy Goat Horror — a review website and YouTube channel dedicated to horror fiction with a particular focus on indie publishing. In this conversation, she and Daniel dig into what horror actually is and why it matters, the community that makes the genre unlike any other, the complicated relationship between reviewing and writing, and why the most important thing any writer can do is write the book only they could write. Plus: an unexpected Britney Spears confession, a defence of the word "fuck," and a recommendation you almost certainly haven't heard of.

💀 What we get into:

• Kayleigh's origin story — from metal-loving teenager secretly bopping to Britney, to discovering indie horror fiction barely four years ago through Chillicon and Sinister Horror Company
• Why horror conventions feel nothing like fan conventions for film and TV
• The Tim Lebbon tangent: how a chance ask at a convention became a semi-regular cake-and-coffee friendship, and why Kayleigh thinks he deserves to be far more widely known
• Joe Hill's articulation of why horror makes sense of a senseless world
• Horror as the genre that does the most for empathy: representation of women, queer voices, Latinx horror, and why the stats on female directors in horror vs romance will surprise you
• The origin of Happy Goat Horror
• Indie vs traditional: what Kayleigh actually sees as a reviewer who reads across both
• Why authenticity on the page is something readers can feel
• AI, trends, and the only real defence a writer has: writing the most authentically human book they can
• Kayleigh's novel she's determined to finish, a nonfiction project she's keeping firmly under wraps, and learning to stop being horrible to herself about productivity

Links & Resources:

• HATCHING SEASON: https://www.devilsrockbooks.com/submissions
• THE WRITERS ROOM: https://www.danielwillcocks.com/thewritersroom
• Happy Goat Horror: https://happygoathorror.com / https://www.youtube.com/@happygoathorror
• Tim Lebbon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u99-ttJBeus&pp=0gcJCSgLAYcqIYzv
• Jonathan Janz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNzvZpwubQo&t=2908s
• Jamie Flanagan Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6e-Jgykckc
• Joe Hill Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU2iM1LIDw8&pp=0gcJCSgLAYcqIYzv
• Writer Resources: https://www.danielwillcocks.com/writers

Subscribe to The Writer's Chair

If you enjoyed this conversation, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow writer.

📺 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@willcocksauthor

🖥️ Find out more: https://danielwillcocks.com/thewriterschair

📚 About Kayleigh Dobbs

Kayleigh Dobbs is a writer and reviewer based in South Wales, with a focus on horror and comedy/horror. Her micro-collection The End, an apocalypse themed book of shorts from Black Shuck Shadows, was a 2024 Imadjinn Award Finalist for Best Collection. Her short story "TBR" is included in This Way Lies Madness, an anthology from Flame Tree that is currently a Bram Stoker Award Finalist and British Fantasy Award Finalist. She has a Masters Degree in Scriptwriting, though her focus shifted some years ago to more bookish formats, and she freelances as a proofreader and editor.

Kayleigh runs Happy Goat Horror, a review website and YouTube channel for horror fiction, with a particular interest in indie horror fiction. On the YT channel, she posts reviews, themed lists, rankings, and creator interviews. Recent interviewees include screenwriter Jamie Flanagan and author Joe Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.