In honor of Halloween, let’s discuss horror fiction--or
dark fantasy as it now euphemistically called. Why does it continue to
fascinate readers? Why do readers love what scares them? It appears that
vampires never die. Zombies can be found in movie theatres, TV shows,
commercials, books, and short stories.
When people talk about horror fiction, they might
let out an involuntary shudder. However, horror fiction isn’t just about the gruesome.
It’s not only about such supernatural creations as: ghosts, goblins, ghouls, gremlins,
etc. No, it’s really about what we fear, what we dread most, what strikes
terror into our hearts and souls. These things may be ordinary, like a pit bull
off the leash running toward us, or extraordinary, like meeting a vampire in a
neighborhood bar at midnight . It
may even take us to a dystopian world of chaos. Our fears are both usual and
unusual.
Horror fiction will not be going away any time soon
because it is human nature to feel fear as an emotion. Horror fiction actually
helps us handle these feelings, helps us cope with and confront our terrors,
those within us and those in the environment around us. Writers like Stephen
King and Dean Koontz have recognized this. They reach into their worst fears
and nightmares to help us come to terms with our own. As we find ourselves in
real life forced to face horrors like Ebola outbreaks and violent terrorist
attacks, there is comfort in paranormal solutions.
In my co-authored novel, THE THIRD EYE: A PINE
BARRENS MYSTERY, a boy and his mother, writing alternating viewpoint chapters,
come to terms with their own greatest fears while solving several connected murders.
The novel’s setting is real but eerie. Legends of the Jersey Devil still seem
to fascinate.
Tales of the supernatural are ever popular during the
Halloween season.
THE DEVIL AND DANNA WEBSTER, a paranormal
YA novel from Clean Reads Press, is a perfect choice for Halloween, available
in All e-book formats plus print.
DARK MOON RISING, Gothic romantic suspense from
Luminosity, is also available in All e-book formats and print. A perfect ghost
story for Halloween:
The Kim Reynolds mysteries feature a librarian
protagonist with paranormal abilities. The latest book in this series, THE BAD WIFE from Perfect Crime Press, is now a free read for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J6PCKVW
I also have a literary crime story
with a paranormal edge in the newly published anthology BREWED AWAKENINGS 2:
Do you read horror/speculative literature? Why or
why not? Do you have favorite authors, books or short stories
that you would recommend to fellow readers?
If you
are a writer, do you write horror/paranormal lit? Tell us something about your
most recent work in the genre. Are there any that you would recommend as good
Halloween reading choices?
Interesting and so true, Jacquie!
ReplyDeleteGreat job.
Good luck and God's blessings.
PamT
Thank you, Pam! Glad you enjoyed reading the blog.
ReplyDeleteGood post, Jacquie, on the universal longing for a good fright. I enjoyed THE THIRD EYE when I read it a while ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Pine Barrens of NJ are a lot like the English moors--the perfect setting for ghost tales.
DeleteCut my reading eye teeth on Poe and few surpass him in inducing shivers. Of the modern breed, Stephen King is 'king.' I've written some short stories in the genre but haven't attempted a novel.
ReplyDeleteI prefer reading short stories in the horror genre. I agree that Stephen King is still king of the modern horror novel. I think the reason is that he develops characters we care about and that seem real then puts them into surreal plots.
DeleteI can read vampire stories without any problem, and zombie stories seem too silly to fear, but I avoid horror stories as a rule. My imagination makes them too real. I think it's great that you have written such a wide range of stories that would fall into that genre.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Maris. I love writing in a great variety of genres including literary fiction. My horror stories, however, are generally more psychological than gory. Even in my murder mysteries, I don't dwell on gore but try to offer interesting, well-developed characters.
DeleteI, too, started horror/dark fantasy/whatever with Poe and then there was Daphne DuMaurier and some of the "original" Gothic romance writers, like Phyllis Whitney and their dark, brooding settings and heroes.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes get a lot of pushback when I say I write horror. I don't really care anymore. I usually write psychological horror, not gore. But if blood is needed in the story I don't shy away.
Writers are supposed to evoke emotions; fright is just another emotion.
Subjects I cannot read and stop reading: animal abuse and killing. THAT turns me off of a book.
Thanks for commenting, Mitzi. I agree with you about turn-offs. I don't write for shock value either.
Delete