Thoughts on the Horror Genre

Hello everyone and welcome back to the blog! While we are in the thick of spooky season, I wanted to talk about the horror genre. I’ve always loved horror movies, but horror books have taken me longer to get into. For me, it’s harder to read about ghosts and such when there’s no jump scares and intense music to up play the scene.

Reading about ghosts, monsters, haunted houses, the writer needs to rely more on the devastating and frightening actions of the characters rather than the supernatural.

For example, in Pet Sematary by Stephen King it’s not the pets rising from the dead that make the story so scary. It’s the actions of Louis Creed that frighten the reader. It’s his decision to act despite what he knows about the haunted burial ground, and not just one decision it’s multiple. When you think things can’t get worse, Louis takes things one step further. That’s what is so scary about that book. It’s the fact that his actions driven by grief also make us wonder, “well what would I do if I lost someone close to me?”

In We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer it’s not the haunted house that’s scary, it’s the family that overstays their welcome. A family in your house that now won’t leave. It’s manipulation and fear. It’s the I’m-on-the-edge-of-my-seat-because-what-is this-insane-family-going-to-do writing that keeps the reader so engaged. It’s about questioning your instincts and intuition. Things we’ve all done before but what if this time, there’s no coming back from it?

I think the scariest thing about these books are the human actions rather than the supernatural or paranormal aspects of them.

Is this well done in all horror books, no (at least in my opinion).

Looking at the haunted house trope, I feel like this is only done really well when the writer relies on the characters to carry the novel instead of the haunted house. Think of the haunted house like a sounding board. It’s something to bounce off of, something to assist, but it isn’t the star of the show. This is why We Used to Live Here is so good because the focus is on the weird family rather than the weird, old house.

In The Spite House by Johnny Compton there was too much emphasis on the house rather than the situation of the characters. The creepy house was too much of a character for the trope to work well.

This can apply to other things in horror as well, like in How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix, evil puppets – yes, like Chucky vibes—are done in a really weird way. But the writing relied on the puppets to a point where it was hard to continue reading. That and Grady Hendrix books are hard to read in general. You really need a special taste for his books.

Overall, I think there needs to be a sense of desperation and dread from the characters. The characters need to be pushed to their limits and ultimately tested. That’s what makes for a truly horrific book.

Alright folks, that is all I have for this week! Come back next Wednesday for another blog post. As always, thank you for reading :)