Alex Land is an Associate Literary Agent at Mad Woman Literary Agency who specializes in horror, speculative fiction, and cross-genre work across MG, YA, and adult — with a particular passion for queer and BIPOC voices, Final Girls who are also monsters, and stories that blur the line between funny and terrifying.
In brief
Land is a published author and editor in the horror-comedy space herself — her debut YA and her anthologies earned Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections — which means she brings editorial depth and market fluency to the horror/speculative categories she prioritizes.
Her wishlist is one of the most specific and thematically coherent in YA/MG horror: she isn't just open to the genre, she is a practitioner of it, and that insider perspective is a real asset for writers whose work lives in that niche.
She explicitly restricts queries to writers from marginalized/underrepresented identities — this is a firm gate, not a preference, and non-marginalized writers should not query her regardless of genre fit.
Her submission form was confirmed CLOSED as of September 16, 2025 — confirm live status before submitting, as this can change without announcement.
Her taste runs consistently toward work with dark humor, ensemble or found-family dynamics, and identity-forward storytelling; writers whose horror or speculative work is purely plot-driven without these social or emotional stakes are a poor match.
Lately
Her agency wishlist page underscores that Fantasticland is the single adult title she most urgently wants something like — the isolated-group, satirical-horror register is her clearest adult priority signal right now.
What Alex is looking for
This is her most emphatic priority. She gravitates toward horror that carries dark humor and social texture — think ensemble casts in nightmarish scenarios, feminist horror, queer horror, and literary horror with a strong voice. She has a specific soft spot for ocean-dread, ghost stories of the strange and disquieting variety, and anything channeling the sensibility of Grady Hendrix. Anything in the vein of Fantasticland — isolated groups, mounting dread, satirical edge — she has flagged as an urgent want.
Beyond horror proper, she welcomes adult speculative and fabulist work — time loops, heists, witchy rom-coms, and queer rom-coms are all explicitly on her radar. The throughline is voice and fun; she wants stories that make her laugh or cry alongside any speculative hook. Queer anything, broadly, is a standing want.
Her professional home territory. She wants YA horror in all its registers — paranormal, gothic, horror-comedy, psychological — and YA thrillers with women, enby, or POC leads that keep her genuinely on edge. Queer horror and ghost stories are a recurring emphasis. She is also enthusiastic about YA romantasy and YA fantasy with strong identity or diaspora threads.
She actively seeks MG with a spooky, strange, or adventurous bent — haunted settings, monsters, curses, and the kind of dry or absurdist humor that works for younger readers. Funny MG with diverse leads is particularly welcome. She is not looking for issue-led MG without genre bones.
Across all age categories, she prioritizes work written by and for people from underrepresented identities — particularly AAPI, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ writers. Diaspora stories, Asian fantasy and horror, and modernized mythologies with culturally specific roots are explicit wants. This is not a separate lane so much as a lens she applies to everything she represents.
Not the right fit
On Alex's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Alex
Her form was confirmed closed as of September 16, 2025 — check the live form status directly before doing anything else; opening windows can appear without wide announcement.
She accepts queries from marginalized writers only. This is a stated eligibility requirement on her submission page — do not query if you do not meet this criterion, regardless of how strong your genre fit is.
She is most excited about horror and speculative work with dark humor, queer and/or BIPOC leads, and a strong emotional or social core. Lead your query with what makes your story specifically hers: the monster, the Final Girl, the weird ghost, the dying-laughing-while-terrified energy.
Comping to Fantasticland is a direct invitation she has extended — if your adult horror has that isolated-group, satirical-dread energy, say so explicitly and early.
For MG and YA, her own published work tells you a great deal about her editorial instincts: horror-comedy with heart, ensemble dynamics, and identity at the center. Mirror that register in how you describe your manuscript.
She responds to 'the sensibilities of Grady Hendrix' — if your book fits that mold (campy but emotionally sincere, culturally grounded horror with humor), name that comparison confidently.
Diaspora narratives and AAPI/BIPOC genre fiction are among her most consistent wants across age categories. If your work is own-voices in this space, foreground it — it is a clear strength, not a footnote.
Avoid pitching work that is purely plot-driven genre fiction without the identity, voice, or emotional texture she consistently returns to. A technically competent thriller without those layers is not her book.