Fear is not always the enemy.

Yes, our fears are sometimes unfounded or overpowering and undermine us.

Other times though, our fears are understandable, natural, and important to us.

They might even save our lives.

Healthy Fears is a podcast hosted by horror author Johnny Compton

that looks into how our fears are explored, exploited, and examined in different stories from film, literature, history, and more.

Whether it's something as fundamental as our fear of death, as well known as the fear of clowns,

or something much more unique such as the fear of balloons.

Every fear is very real to the person experiencing it and can be worthy of deeper inspection.

If you're interested and not afraid to listen, you can find healthy fears on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

or whichever podcasting platform you prefer. You're not going to be. Welcome to Stories for Change, an offshoot of my podcast where I share stories that will hopefully help us become

better allies. If you would like to use my platform to promote your work or share your

perspective, please send me an email at stories with sapphire at gmail.com.

American history is a horror story for black people,

indigenous people and people of color.

And yet mainstream horror cinema has vastly left these groups out of the picture,

both on and behind the screen.

In this week's episode, I speak with horror writer Johnny Compton about why that might be and how we can change that.

My name is Johnny Compton. I live in San Antonio, Texas. I'm a horror author currently had published several short stories

working on a novel and I've recently started a horror podcast as well.

Johnny remembers the moment that he felt connected to the horror

genre. His kindergarten teacher, Miss Naina, played a story in class called The Golden Arm.

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