"We will always probe nothingness and mystery with our imagination; the result will be among other things horror. The tide will rise with the black beauty and perfection of the hag/s characterization an dark wisdom, and the teachings of the vampire's hopeless immortality. As the perfect love story tickles our fancy, perfect horror taunts our fears. Both inspire to new heights and depths. And the human psyche is dimensionless." ~ Fiona
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." ~ H. P. Lovecraft
"This predilection for art that promises we will be frightened by it, shaken by it, at times repulsed by it seems to be as deeply imprinted in the human psyche as the counter-impulse toward daylight, rationality, scientific skepticism, truth and the "real." ... And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo--that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims, as nature and accident do, but active accomplices." ~ Joyce Carol Oates
"Like sex, horror is seductive - enticing the reader to accept the forbidden; allowing a fascination with the carnal, the forbidden; titillating the mind as sex does both the mind and sense. Reading horror is an act of consensual masochism: you willingly submit to the pleasures of fear - scare me! Please?" ~ Paula Guran
"Sturgeons Law--which states that ninety percent of everything is crap--needs to be revised to be applicable to the horror genre; the percentage has to be raised." ~ Dean Koontz
"...Many of the feelings that typically attend being horrified are intrinsically unpleasant; for they include gagging, nausea, choking, stomach churning, tenseness, a creepy or crawling sensation, felt in the flesh, and so on."~ Noel Carroll
"If you want to be a writer, don't write horror whatever you do. Call it suspense, or dark fantasy, or anything but horror. Supernatural horror and hard-core splatterpunk are on their way out--unless it involves vampires." ~ Tom Beber
"Can there be something tonic about pure active fear in these times
of
passive, confused oppression? It is nice to choose to be frightened,
when one
need not be." ~ Elizabeth Bowen
"The problem is that horror is not a genre, it is an emotion. Horror
is not a kind of fiction.
It's a progressive form of fiction that continually evolves to meet the
fears and anxieties of its times." ~ Douglas E. Winter
"I am conscious of writing in a tradition that blurs the boundaries
between three fantastic genres: supernatural horror, fantasy and
science fiction. I have always been of the opinion that you can't make
firm distinctions between the three." ~ China Mieville
Dark Echo Horror is deep and rich. It includes interviews, articles, essays, reviews, and a good link collection.
Fiona's Fear and Loathing
site is a good source for book reviews.
Gothic.net is a useful and
quite comprehensive site. Good collection of reviews.
Horrorfind is
horror search engine that covers about 6,000 sites covering all aspect
of horror.
The Horror Writer's Association
includes Stoker Award winners, excerpts from new novels, a reading
list, and related websites. Some sections are only available to members.
The International Horror Guild
has awards for notable novels.
Necropsy: the Review of Horror Fiction is an e-zine housed at LSU and published quarterly. June Pulliam, the Editor, is also known for her Hooked on Horror mentioned below.
Tabula Rasa includes quite a good history of the genre.
Hooked on Horror: A Guide to Reading Interests in Horror Fiction
by Anthony Fonseca and June Pulliam is
another in the Genreflecting series. An essential purchase for the
reader advisor,
especially since horror is the genre that most librarians are
unfamiliar with.
Descriptive rather than evaluative. The first edition overs titles in
print from 1994 to
1998 and the second edition covers titles from 1998 to 2002. Chapters
are organized by sub genres.
Horror of the 20th Century: An Illustrated History by
Robert
Weinberg.
Horror Readers' Advisory: the
Librarian's Guide to Vampires, Killer Tomatoes, and Haunted Houses
provides a good current overview.
The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural.
The St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost, and Gothic Writers
edited by David Pringle is similar
to their other genre writer guides in its biobibilographical approach.
Should be in
most collections.
St. Martin's issues the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series that is now in its 17th volume. Half of the stories are horror. This is an excellent way to become familiar with new and noteworthy authors.
Supernatural Fiction Writers: Fantasy and Horror by
Everett Bleiler
is now quite dated but does a good job for the classics through the
1960s.
Weird Tales is the
benchmark periodical.
Horror fiction has these common elements:
The key ingredient in horror fiction is its ability to provoke fear or terror in readers, usually via something demonic.. There should be a sense of dread, unease, anxiety, or foreboding. Some critics have noted that experiencing horror fiction is like reading about your worst nightmares.
There is some debate as to whether "horror" is a genre or, like "adventure" an aspect that may be found in several genres. Horror is a certain mood or atmosphere that might be found in a variety of places. Traditionally, horror was associated with certain archtypes such as demons, witches, ghosts, vampires and the like. However, this can be found in other genres, especially fantasy. If horror is a genre, then it deals with a protagonist dealing with overwhelming dark and evil forces.
While horror stories are well rooted in myth and legend,
particularly in some
of the fairy tales collected in the 19th Century, Edgar Allen Poe's
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque published in 1840
was a
notable landmark. Even earlier was Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto in 1765. Ghost
stories were popular in the early 20th Century. M.R.
James is an example. Lovecraft added his unique blend of fantasy and
horror in
the 1930s. Rosemary's Baby, probably the film more
than the
book, made horror popular. Stephen King soon followed with a series of
increasingly popular novels and horror fiction boomed and has become
the "benchmark" author. R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps"
series made mild horror popular with children and younger teens. The
1970s
and 1980s were a boom time for horror. Interest receded in the 1990s
and
publishers reduced their horror lists. In the last few years, horror
has become more popular and publishing output has increased.
While horror fiction has been placed in a marginalized position within genre fiction which is itself marginalized from "real" literature, horror has long been part of real literature. Beowulf is a good example.
John C. Glen says that he reads horror:
Fear is universal. Some people are afraid of the dark. Others dream of being swept away by giant tidal waves. With fear such an integral part of our daily existence, horror stories are not as distant as they might seem.
Some argue that horror readers read to get control over the things that
scare them. We face fears and overcome via horror fiction. We can
safely experience terrible things with no ill effects [we hope].
Too, there is considerable evidence that people enjoy being scared. Amusement rides are often popular because they do scare and cause people to scream.
Related to the fear mentioned above, most people are curious or even fascinated by horrible events and horror itself. The amazing popularity of the Goosebumps (more than 160 million copies in print) series by R.L Stine indicates that fascination with horror begins at a relatively young age. There is considerable suspense in most horror stories. Horror fiction allows the reader to explore subconscious fears and some conscious ones too.
Many of the myths and legends associated with various cultures feature stories of supernatural creatures. Greek mythology is a good example in our own culture. There is a long tradition of such stories and the belief by many that events don't just happen but that something is responsible. Supernatural events and creatures are often encountered in myth, legend, and folklore.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) have become legends of their own.
Some people enjoy imagining what they would do if they were placed in a situation similar to that of the main character in the work. Horror stories often depict "ordinary people dealing with extraordinary threats. They like to imagine, what would I do if a dark shadow with glowing red eyes appeared in my bedroom at night?
Horror is rarely boring. It often has an immediate emotional response. Horror appeals more to the emotions than to the intellect. The setting of most horror stories creates an environment that is very special; it creates a special sensation. Ordinarily life is mundane while horror fiction involves us with the unexpected and the unnatural.
Since horror fiction is often rejected by many adults that may make
it more
appealing to some readers who see it as a literature of protest and one
that
challenges ordinary conventions and normality. Horror fiction then is a
forbidden attraction. This may be why many teens are drawn to horror
fiction and films.
The dark, brooding, threatening atmosphere becomes the main
character in many horror stories. Thus, mood and setting are as or more
important than plot and characters. The atmosphere is often portrayed
in considerable detail so it become alive and immediately threatening.
As is true of other genres, many horror readers will prefer to read in a sub genre such as vampires or ghosts. The ability to identify works by type of horror is important.
As is true of some of the other genres, horror fiction seems to go
through
boom and bust cycles. The boom in the mid 1980s was followed by a bust
and
publishers substantially reduced their new works. In the boom period,
publishers issued too many poorly written and derivative works. We are
currently experiencing a mild boom
Horror fiction is not as popular as the other genres so there is
less demand
for it in libraries and book stores.
Book stores and libraries are often uncertain where to place horror fiction. It is usually not segregated as are mysteries, SF/fantasy, and romance. It probably does not have a unique spine label either. In book stores, horror may be lost in general fiction or placed with SF/fantasy. Physical access creates problems for readers.
Reviewers and librarians often have a negative attitude about horror
fiction.
Modern horror may contain "serial murder, ritual killings, cannibalism
and child abuse" as well as some very explicit sexuality so it may
attract negative community reaction too. Few librarians read it and
many have stereotypical notions about its quality and
value. How much explicit violence and sexuality can be tolerated by
readers can be a difficult question. The reader who enjoys mild
supernatural stories about ghosts and haunted houses may be wholly
uncomfortable with Clive Barker. Demonic possession and Satanism themes
may be problematic in some libraries.
Horror fiction issued by small publishers is less likely to be reviewed and noticed outside the specialist reviews.
Smaller specialty publishing houses have found horror to be
reasonably popular and
profitable. Besides publishing new works and nurturing new authors and
tastes, some also reissue the classics in attractive new editions.
Small publishers are also likely to issue novellas and short story
collections. Night
Shade is a good example. Most major publishers do not have a horror
imprint.
What are the differences, if any, in the associations with "horror" versus "dark fantasy?"
Why would readers want to "escape" with a genre that stimulates fear and anxiety as it considers horrible events?
Some critics argue that horror fiction causes readers to think and act in unhealthy, morbid ways. How would you respond? Could this be true of other genres too?
Horror often deals with two subjects that some find very distasteful--explicit sex and explicit violence. Why should the library select such controversial material? What redeeming value might it have? If you do select horror items, any special censorship planning to consider?
Is horror more likely to appeal to male readers, e.g. men like violence while women do not? Why? Is horror an anti-feminist genre since women are often victims?
What relationship, if any, to you see between violence in real life as reported in the mass media and interest in horror fiction? Between horror film and horror books?
Is horror fiction really more about shock value than telling a good
story?