You know those radio stations that people speak about like urban legends? Recordings of the shows end up on message boards and only those who become truly obsessed with the lore behind it ever even know such a thing exists? Jef Rouner’s short horror story “WOLD” will remind you of such stations if you never knew about them, and teach you if you don’t.
Deidre swore she could feel the words attempting to burrow through her earplugs, trying to enter her brain and nest there.
WOLD by Jef Rouner, featured in Dark Spores by Crone Girls Press.
Q (Crone Girls Press): What inspired your story in this anthology? Tell us the “story behind the story.”
A (Jef Rouner): I spend a lot of time covering conspiracy theories for my work as a journalist. To this day, I get regular emails from ivermectin cultists and people who think the election was stolen.
One day, it occurred to me how much conspiracism spreads like a fungus. Something catches on the mental skin of a person, and they just keep scratching at it until it opens a wound and gets infected.
For people prone to conspiracism, they lose the ability to tell fact from fiction. They can look at blatant nonsense and see nothing wrong. It’s similar to people I’ve seen completely shit down and ignore symptoms of serious illness. In the wet crevices between those two ideas, I thought a small town radio station full of mad fungus would would grow.
Q: Why do you write horror? What about the genre appeals to you as an author?
A: Horror is the greatest of reactionary genres. Fear is immediate and visceral. I like horror because it lets us look at what is terrible in society head on by controlling it though fiction. There is a catharsis in horror, even bleak and hopeless stuff. There are days when scary stories are the only way to defang the toothed darkness of the real world.
Q: There are a number of different flavors of horror. Where does your story fit, and what drew you to this particular category?
A: Using the Magnus Archive definition, this is a Web story about the fear of loss of control and the power of manipulation. Body horror is also a good definition.
Q: What do you love about mushrooms? What drew you to this anthology?
A: One day, I was walking through an abandoned building when I found a Bible with mushrooms growing through it. It made me wonder whether they could infect scripture the way they cause Athlete’s Foot. Could the fungus read the words, or maybe taste the sweaty hands of the worshipper who last held it. Mushrooms are like fear itself: always present and growing in ways sane minds can’t understand.
Q: When you’re not writing, what might we find you doing? (Free time or for a day job?)
A: I’m a journalist who has been published by everyone from Washington Post to Cracked, though I mostly work out of Houston. The easiest way to see what I’m covering lately is through MuckRack – https://muckrack.com/jef-rouner
Q: What’s next in your writing journey?
A: A combination horror anthology and cookbook I am editing, and finding a home for my mushroom-themed horror novel.
About The Author
Jef Rouner is an award-winning freelance journalist from Houston, Texas who specializes in weird happenings, politics, and extremism. Currently, they are working on a book about Houston cemeteries. They’ve written two horror story collections, The Rook Circle and Stranger Words, and perform weekly flash fiction with the Friday Nightmare on TikTok. In no particular order, they have been a luchador, a hypnotist, a drag performer, and the host of The Black Math Experiment.
Be sure to check out their story in Dark Spores
Crone Girls Press 