BONUS CONTENT: Katy Horan's Wonderfully Dark Passion Project

The illustrator on bringing her new book of murder ballads to fruition, and her recommendations of things to watch, read, listen to, and do.

Katy Horan, photo by Alison Eden

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Last fall I had the pleasure of chatting with Katy Horan, whose dark, horror-fueled illustrations have graced the pages of books, magazines, and the Literary Witches oracle deck. Luckily for me, in conversation Horan is nothing like her work. In fact, the self-described “weirdo” is quite funny and more than happy to poke fun at herself.

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At the time of our chat, she was on a bit of a hiatus, having spent much of the prior year working on a passion project—an illustrated book of murder ballads. “I’m not creating right now because I got nothing,” she said. “There’s nothing in here. [Laughs] I mean, that book that was the hardest thing. I do that, though—underestimate how hard things are going to be.”

Though she got the idea for the book in 2011, it wasn’t until 2022 that she pitched the idea to an editor. Once she began working on the book in 2023, it became a full-time job.

“It was incredibly difficult because it was research, writing, and illustration,” Horan shared. “So it was like a marathon for months and months and months and months, and then it was downtime. Then edits come back, and I would have a very short period of time to deal with it. We also moved in the middle of it. So I’m just tapped out on all levels. But I’m allowing myself to rest. So that’s good.”

Now, the book, Murder Ballads: Illustrated Lyrics & Lore, is finally out in the world!

To commemorate its release, Horan has shared some of her recommendations of things we should all watch, read, listen to, and do. Enjoy!

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Katy’s Recs

Something to Watch