Nostalgia Isn’t Always Inviting: Interview with Kassidy VanGundy

Kassidy VanGundy is a multi-genre writer, infusing dark fantasy and horror into her complicated relationship with childhood nostalgia. Writing stories that not just speak to us generationally, but through the lens of trauma and not-so-perfect upbringings, VanGundy uses her words to relate to her readers on a more personal level.

I was honored to get to ask Kassidy some questions about her work, her process, and how she ties it all together to create not just her stories, but her youtube videos as well. Our correspondence took place through email in December 2025. 

MM: What I find so interesting about your work, especially your collections, is how rooted in pop/internet culture they are. As a millennial, I can’t help but get excited when I see you coming out with horror that’s based on the 2000’s, 2010’s etc, and all the references you make to the environment of those times. What made writing about those formative years in our generations’ upbringing so important to you? And what decade are you writing about next?

KVG: I’m so happy to hear that someone is excited about my silly little stories lol. I wrote my first short story collection, Cursed Images: Scary Stories from a Child of the Internet, during the tail end of the pandemic where I was feeling very isolated, nostalgic, and depressed. I turned to a lot of my childhood comforts during the 2000s just to get through the days. A lot of us did. While this was effective, it also made me realize that my concept of nostalgia was slightly different than my peers. Growing up in a violent home, a lot of my happy memories were tainted by a twinge of sadness or fear. As a young person, I also turned to the internet quite a bit as an escape, which I feel like explains all my chronically online references. I was in therapy during the pandemic as well, where I learned a lot about managing my chronic PTSD. I was processing what happened back then and how it’s currently affecting my relationships as an adult. During all this intellectualization, I ended up channeling all my mixed emotions into these short stories and I think a lot of people latched onto them for similar reasons. Of course the nostalgic references are inviting, but these stories also call into question, what if life wasn’t really all that great back then? I play with what’s familiar and try to turn it on its head, even if it comes out in a humorous, exaggerated, and satirical way. I’m also a Cancer sun with a Gemini stellium, so I feel like writing about the past through a pop/internet culture lens just comes naturally to me.

My next project will hopefully be released in the Spring. It is called Cursed Images: Channel Surfing and is set in the 90s. Each story will center a popular television show as well as a toy or piece of technology from that time period. I’m currently finishing up the editing phase, but I can’t wait to start sharing teasers for this book soon!

In the future, if people are still interested in my Cursed Images collections, I’d love to continue writing decade specific short story projects. Since 2020 hasn’t ended just yet, I’m currently toying with the idea of going further into the past and creating a collection that takes place in the 1890s. Believe it or not, a lot of the issues they had back then are similar to what we are experiencing now. Eventually nostalgia will have to transition into historical fiction, so why not embrace it?

MM: Pink Horror is another phrase I associate with your name. I know there’s a lot of different answers out there about what pink horror actually is. But what does it mean to you? And how have you sprinkled pink horror into your own writing? 

KVG: To me, there are two main aspects to Pink Horror. The first, which is probably the most important, is having some sort of feminist or femme focused messaging or themes to your horror story. I like to include all femme presenting folks in Pink Horror, not just women. Secondly, I think Pink Horror can also describe a certain aesthetic that utilizes the color pink or other non-traditional horror elements to convey fear. Just as an example, my favorite Pink Horror films are Jennifer’s Body, Cam, Sissy, and Lisa Frankenstein. Rachel Harrison also comes to mind as a prominent Pink Horror author.

Regarding my own work, I think a lot of my short stories fall into Pink Horror. I’ve written some feminist pieces for anthologies such as Grizzly and Pretty Girls Make Graves as well as included stories where incels meet their demise in my own collections. Most of my characters are femme, queer, and unapologetic about it. Aesthetically, all of my horror stories include non-traditional “feminine” horror elements like Girl Tech diaries, boyband fandoms, tamagotchis, webkinz, and furbies. None of these things seem scary on the surface, but they are manipulated in a way where they are terrifying. My goal is to make these stories feel like they are being whispered about during your middle school slumber parties, where we all confront the horrors of being a “girl”.

MM: Let’s talk about your dark fantasy series. Similarly to the pink horror question, what does dark fantasy mean to you? And, besides the obvious, how do your dark fantasy works differ from your horror? 

KVG: I wrote my dark fantasy series before I solidified myself as a horror author. At the time, I wanted to create my own magical world similar to some of the franchises I grew up reading and watching as a young person, but it became clear that my work would always have a darker edge to it. I started writing Cursed Fate at 19 and quickly realized that I was creating a magical system based on individual trauma and complex supernatural monsters who are not only animal companions, but morally gray characters themselves. The “bad guy” is someone who was corrupted by absolute supernatural power and is willing to sacrifice even the people closest to him to get it. Each character is actively working through their own issues, while trying to integrate themselves into a group of magical misfits trying to save our world from falling into a similar fate as theirs. Dark Fantasy as a subgenre of Fantasy tends to explore more complicated themes besides just good vs evil, incorporates feelings of dread and despair, includes flawed antiheroes/protagonists, and deals with cosmic threats and existential fears. It wasn’t long before I realized I loved making monsters and working with cosmic horror, so I naturally transitioned to supernatural horror stories. I just took away my character’s ability to fight back against whatever horrors await them. 

MM: On top of all that you already do, you also have a YouTube channel. Tell me more about what you’ve been creating over there!

KVG: My YouTube channel is called Kutiefly and it was originally intended to be a Pokemon/makeup themed channel. The name is a combination of Kassidy and the Pokemon, Cutiefly. Of course, the content of my videos has changed over time, but I like to sprinkle in videos about my hobbies here and there. I mostly post writing advice, travel vlogs, vlogs about author events, book reviews, and my takes on controversial happenings in bookish spaces. I prefer having a YouTube channel over a traditional author’s blog/email list because anyone who’s interested in me or my work can stay up to date with my life in such a personal way. It feels like you’re checking in with a friend, rather than reading a bulleted list of updates.

MM: Queer writer to Queer writer, how has identity shaped your writing, characters, etc, and how has being Queer contributed to the process of creating a story? 

KVG: I’ve mentioned this before in one of my YouTube videos, but being Queer has really allowed me to become a more introspective person and in turn, someone who constantly questions “the norm” and why/how people make choices about the more personal aspects of their lives. When your sexuality and gender presentation is deemed the default, you miss out on this unique opportunity of self exploration and this empathetic understanding of anything else deemed “other”. Bell Hooks said, “I would like heterosexual women to be as actively curious about how and why and when they became heterosexual as I have been about how and why and when I became a Lesbian.” Unfortunately, most heteronormative people lack this curiosity and therefore, never develop the skills I mentioned earlier. When it comes to writing a compelling story, you need to be able to connect with readers on a deeper emotional level, where you can transmit feelings of joy, fear, and sadness into their hearts regardless of their background. When it comes to writing an authentic monster, you need to understand what it is like to be ostracized, to be seen as less desirable for your appearance or innate nature. When writing relatable characters, they need to have multifaceted, if not conflicting motivations behind their actions because people are messy. Life is messy. Neither fit into neatly defined boxes. People from marginalized backgrounds or identities can utilize their lived experiences and understanding of an unfair world to transmit these ideas in an authentic way that really comes through on the page.

MM: What is your writing process? How are you able to get so much done?

KVG: Personally, I still feel like I’m behind a lot of folks in the indie author space online. Some people publish multiple books in a year and I’m lucky if I finish writing one in the same amount of time. Comparison is the thief of joy, so I try not to let it get to me, but we’re only human and it’s natural to be a little envious of others. For me, I spend a lot of time in the ideation phase, taking notes of what I want for the next project, even if it's only a list of overall vibes. For my short stories, I try to focus on a specific toy or technology and then build characters and a plot around that. For example, what type of person would be inclined to use Google glasses? Are they super techy and want to be an early adopter? Or are they someone who wants to record themselves wherever they go with no regard for other people’s privacy? For “Gotcha”, I decided to go with the latter and took inspiration from some of the vloggers/gossip channels I watch on YouTube. For the antagonist, I thought about who would be the opposite of our main character. Who would want to remain hidden no matter what? A criminal? Bigfoot? Why not both? That way there is an instant conflict once the two of them meet. Once you add in a setting and some fun supernatural elements, the story practically writes itself.

It’s easier to stay motivated if you’re working on something that you genuinely like. Even when writer’s block turns its evil head and you inevitably hate what you’re working on, something about it will always pull you back. For me, it’s the chance to make something weird. As long as I feel like I’m honoring the best, weird parts of myself, I’m happy. 

To be fair, I haven’t been able to finish an entire manuscript in quite some time, so I’m still figuring out how to stay motivated while writing things that aren’t short stories. My last novel, Wicked Breed came out in 2023, so it’s been a while. There are larger incomplete projects chilling in my Google Drive, but they aren’t in any condition to be published right now. It’s my goal to finish a complete manuscript in 2026. Once I figure out how to do it again, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I hope to at least stay consistent in my writing. Taking medication for my mood disorder definitely helps.

As a kid who used to keep all of her dark fantasies a secret in her Girl Tech Password Journal™, Kassidy VanGundy is now an adult who shares all of these stories for the world to see. She predominantly writes pink horror and dark fantasy stories that are sprinkled with just the right amount of childhood longing. Feel free to check out her other work: Cursed Images: Scary Stories from a Child of the Internet, Cursed Images: Social Media Madness, and her first series Descendants of the Damned, which includes both Cursed Fate and Wicked Breed.