I have a degree in physics and physicists use mathematics as the language to describe the phenomena they examine. In fact, my degree was so steeped in math, that I seriously contemplated a math degree in addition to my physics degree. Many of my contemporaries at New Mexico Tech did just that. We use vector analysis when studying waves and electromagnetism, we use statistics to group and understand like objects, we use differential equations and calculus to get to the world’s basic equations of motion. So, back at the beginning of July when I met editor Bob Lewis of Polymath Press at FanExpo in Denver and he mentioned he planned to edit an anthology of mathematical horror called Arithmophobia, I was definitely interested.

Now, a lot of people suffer from math anxiety, but that’s not what this anthology is about. It’s about using math to drive the plot of a good, spooky horror story. That said, you also don’t need to be a mathematician to write a solid mathematical horror story. If you needed a PhD in mathematics to enjoy the book’s stories, it would have a rather limited audience! So, don’t worry, you don’t need to write a bunch of equations to try out this niche of the horror genre.

For the story I submitted, I did tap into one of the fields that gave me some anxiety in my university days, vector analysis. Now, I was actually really good at vector analysis if you gave me time to carefully work through each problem. It’s all about magnitudes and directions and thinking how one vector impacts another. The problem came when it was test time! Give me half an hour and most of the problems were no big deal. Give me five minutes to solve the same problem and I tended to freeze! Now, as I say, this anthology isn’t about the anxiety, it’s about the math. “Direction” is really just another word for “dimension” and in grad school, I came across Einstein’s theory of General Relativity. Vector analysis was interesting in three dimensions, but Einstein’s equations used a fourth. I’ve always been fascinated about that fourth dimension that’s somehow perpendicular to the ones we live in.

Science fiction often talks about “other dimensions” and then waves its hands only to give you some kind of alternate universe. But what if we take “other dimensions” seriously? What could be lurking in a world just askew from the one we inhabit? I won’t say more, because I don’t want to spoil my story.

That said, there are all kinds of ways you can use mathematics as the basis of a scary story. Mathematics is a kind of arcane language. Could you use it to summon demons or great old ones? There’s a legend that you can stop a vampire by throwing mustard seeds at it. The vampire will be compelled to stop and count all the seeds. What if the vampire knew counting theory and breeze through a satisfactory and accurate estimate? As the guidelines say, you could imagine weird geometries, cursed numbers, or even a mathematician going crazy.

I love to step outside my comfort zone and try something new. I’m guessing the idea of mathematical horror is new to many of you as well. If this stirs some ideas, write them down and submit them by December 31, 2023. Here’s the link to the Arithmophobia writer’s guidelines for the details:

https://polymathpress.com/pages/arithmophobia-submission-guidelines

I hope I see some of your work in the pages of the finished book when it’s released!