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| Hayley Dennings | |
Hayley Dennings's love of words and championing queer Black voices led her to study English and French at Loyola Marymount University with a focus on diversity and inclusion. She currently resides in the Bay Area. This Ravenous Fate (Sourcebooks Fire, August 6, 2024) is her first novel. Here, Dennings (@hayleyybaileyy) talks about miserable immortals, leaning into the darkness, and the necessity of the arts in shaping our culture.
What sparked the idea for this story? Why did you choose 1920s Harlem as its setting?
Funnily enough, I was having a conversation with my friend when the idea for reapers sparked in my mind. We were discussing what it would be like to be immortal and be totally miserable. That led me to wonder about immortal creatures that deteriorated as they aged, which made for a story that was impossible to romanticize. I think vampires came to me naturally from there, as well as the duality of having a human interacting with someone who was recently turned and still yearning for their humanity. I thought that contrast would be fascinating to explore, especially in an emotionally charged dynamic such as best friends turned enemies.
For the tiniest moment, I had This Ravenous Fate set in 1920s San Francisco. The time period was always the same because I had just read some books in my Black Women Writers class that took place in the 1920s and I found that era to be extremely interesting. I kept asking myself, "It's the Roaring '20s and a time of fun and partying, but was it really fun for everyone?" I knew there was so much Black history that had been erased to make the U.S. seem more palatable. I wondered what it would have been like if people literally could not ignore the consequences of anti-Black racism. That brought me to ask, "What if you could see anti-Blackness spreading like a poison?" It tied perfectly into my idea of reaperhood and mirrored the unethical experimentation that has occurred in history--also heavily erased. I wanted to uncover everything. Researching the Harlem Renaissance felt like connecting with a part of my own history and it was so fun to thread real life with the fantasy I'd created. Everything fell into place after that.
What makes your vampire story different from those that came before it?
I love this question because I was so afraid people would hate that I call the vampires "reapers" and that they can go in the sun. So, getting to explain my reasoning for changing things is fun. The main thing that's different is their lore. It's based on Black history--the atrocities that much of the U.S. has tried to ignore and brush under the rug. My vampire story is centered on Black people and their experiences. We've been left out of these types of stories for so long. I love the classic vampire traits like craving blood and being damned by their immortality, so I really built my own tragic creature around that, while leaving out the less convenient aspects, like not being able to go in the sun (that would have made the story much more difficult because Layla and Elise do most of their investigating during the day).
There are some pretty gruesome scenes in this story--"Blood covered the walls in chaotic sprays, half-eaten organs scattered around the floor." Talk us through how you came up with these descriptions.
I wanted to lean into the darkness because so much of the book is about these reapers feeling doomed by these violent impulses. Also, due to me being a horror fan, leaning into the darkness felt natural. I've seen some nasty things in horror movies, so those helped me come up with the gruesome descriptions. I also have no gauge when it comes to graphicness. A lot of people tell me this book is really dark and bloody, but it feels average to me because I'm so used to stuff like this in the movies I watch. Though I normally don't prefer gore--I prefer more psychological horror--the bloodlust and blood are a large part of the vampire genre, so it only felt right emphasizing those aspects.
Why did you choose to call your vampires "reapers"?
I knew I didn't want to call reapers "vampires" because there are so many preconceived ideas about vampires. I wanted people to go into the story with a fresh mind. Reapers are also meant to be physical manifestations of death, so the name felt fitting as it related to the Grim Reaper.
Is there a character you relate to the most? If so, why?
Elise, my poor girl--I dumped all my problems onto her. She was so difficult for me to write because of how similar she is to me. It's a little embarrassing--I did not mean to do that. But she's so anxious and focused on perfection. She deals with OCD and depression and beats herself up over every little thing--she's SO ME.
Layla was a ballet dancer when she was human and Elise is a piano prodigy. Are the arts part of your life? Is there a particular art you gravitate toward (other than writing!)?
The arts shaped a lot of my childhood. I played clarinet, I was in choir, I danced all throughout high school. I still really love dance, though I don't practice any of the styles I used to. Even though I never got super serious about any of it to consider them in a professional capacity, the arts have always been important to me. I understand the necessity of them in shaping our culture and our lives and connecting with others. Researching the Harlem Renaissance only further confirmed that for me.
You've chosen words from Langston Hughes and Phillis Wheatley to use as epigraphs for your novel. In what kind of story would you like your words to be used as an epigraph?
A queer Black book! Or a Black book, or a queer book. I have never imagined my words outside the context of their Blackness and queerness, but it would be an honor for them to be used as an epigraph in any story, truly. --Lana Barnes