Evil clowns, pet cemeteries, possessed dolls, interviewed vampires. Many people love to read scary stories filled with horrors. What is it that draws people to such frightening tales? Horror writer Stephen King believes, "the great appeal of horror fiction through the ages is that it serves as a rehearsal for our own deaths." Mathias Clasen, a researcher who studies horror, suggests that people "find pleasure in situations that allow us to experience negative emotions in a safe context." He even compares the game of hide and seek to a simulation of a predator-prey interaction!
What is horror fiction? A book like Stephen King's
Carrie, or
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty is easy to classify as horror. But what about Dean Koontz's
Odd Thomas series? The site Literary Terms
defines horror fiction as a "genre of fiction whose purpose is to create feelings of fear, dread, repulsion, and terror in the audience." The Horror Writers Association is less decisive about defining the genre. It notes that
the genre keeps changing, making it hard to come up with clear boundaries.
Despite the current trend in remaking certain horror films (we're looking at you
It and
Pet Sematary), there is plenty new to see in horror fiction. For instance, the genre is becoming more inclusive. Authors such as Matt Ruff and Victor LaValle have written recent horror novels that center around on the experiences of African Americans and confront the racism of the eras in which their stories are set. Ruff's
Lovecraft Country blends of the horror of life under Jim Crow with supernatural elements. In LaValle's
The Ballad of Black Tom, an African American man living in New York City draws the attention of something horrifying when he delivers an occult book to a sorceress. Iraqi writer Ahmed Saadawi combines the horrors of war with a classic work of horror fiction in his book
Frankenstein in Baghdad, about a series of murders that follow the disappearance of a corpse built from various body parts.
Recent horror books written by women include
The Hunger by Alma Katsu, which adds a
supernatural "Walking Dead-style twist" to the story of the Donner Party, the infamous group of 1840s pioneers who were trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the winter and had to resort to cannibalism to survive.
Providence, by Caroline Kepnes combines elements of horror, science fiction, and romance. The protagonist, Jon, is kidnapped and held in captivity for four years. Everyone gives him up for dead except his best friend, Chloe. When Jon escapes and returns to his loved ones, he discovers that his very presence may endanger those he cares for the most.
For more horrifying reads, check out
these recommended books for a horror-able October or browse our catalog for a more comprehensive list of
recent horror books. You can also find great suggestions in our
Library Matters podcast episode about horror books and movies, recorded in October 2017.
Evil clowns, pet cemeteries, possessed dolls, interviewed vampires. Many people love to read scary stories filled with horrors. What is it that draws people to such frightening tales? Horror writer Stephen King believes, "the great appeal of horror fiction through the ages is that it serves as a rehearsal for our own deaths." Mathias Clasen, a researcher who studies horror, suggests that people "find pleasure in situations that allow us to experience negative emotions in a safe context." He even compares the game of hide and seek to a simulation of a predator-prey interaction!
