Jody Keisner

Jody Keisner’s (she/her/hers) memoir Under My Bed and Other Essays explores the fears that keep us up at night, their origin stories, and our struggle to keep them from reaching out and pulling us under. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Los Angeles Review of Books, Fourth Genre, The Normal School, Threepenny Review, AARP’s The Girlfriend, and many other literary journals and magazines. She lives in Omaha with her husband and two daughters.

Twitter: @jodykeisner

Instagram: @JodyKeisner

Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?

All the 80s slasher films I watched from between my fingers when I was a teenager. The Nightmare on Elm Street series, Friday the 13th, Halloween. They didn’t influence how I write stylistically, but they occasionally influence what I write about and the dark corridors my essays sometimes follow. Like, I’m interested in knowing why so many of us like to be recreationally terrified by creepy movies—and I’ve always been a scaredy pants! I’m also interested in how brooding, melancholic moods are created in any kind of art, be it film, writing, or a painting.

Favorite non-reading activity?

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a lot of time hiking with my family: in the Rockies, the Grand Canyon, throughout the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, all over Sedona. My brain at a higher elevation. No writing, no reading, just hiking. My writing mind needs these breaks.

Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?

I first saw the artwork of Egon Schiele when I was a graduate student studying abroad in Prague. At the time, I was falling in love with a man back in the states, and I loved how erotic Schiele’s work was. All my nerve-endings were awakened. This was before I knew about Schiele’s problematic behavior with his female models, many of them teenagers. So I have a love-hate relationship with his art now.

What do you worry about?

Hah! You’ll have to read my book to find out! For one, I worry (and write) about the prevalence of violence against girls and women and that we’re not doing enough to end it. I worry about things I cannot control—massive tornadoes, school shootings, and now add pandemics to the list—and then I try to write my way out of the worry and into understanding. I worry about inconsequential things, too, like at what age am I too old for a bellybutton piercing?

Is there another profession you would like to try? I’m a big fan of true crime podcasts like Crime Junkie, RedHanded, Serial, and even an oldie but goodie like Dateline. This probably seems like a contradiction, given the subject matter of my book. However, true crime podcasts allow us to explore the darkness inside of us—and in others—in a safe way. In another lifetime, I’d love to be a true crime podcast host. But then I’d have to look under my bed every night before going to sleep!