Saturday, April 9, 2011

H is for Horror

Picture Found Here

The whole horror genre is built up upon people's fear of the unknown and anxieties. Some of the horror masters are Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and R.L. Stine to name a few. As a child, I loved reading R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series. My favorites were the Mummy ones. Then I moved on to Poe and Stephen King. A new author I love is Ben Larken. His novels are with LL-Publications, and he has a fantastic ability to write horror.

I also write horror. Of my published short stories, five of them are horror ones, including Once Upon a December Nightmare. When I write horror, I tend to think of what scares myself or what frightens others. I play a lot in the dark. I build suspense by not giving the reader the entire picture, and I love cliffhanger endings.

So what things scare you? Who is your favorite horror author?

14 comments:

MTeacress said...

I've enjoyed writing a couple of short horror stories, and Shirley Jackson is one whose horror I enjoy reading. :)

I'm visiting via the A-Z hop. It's nice to 'meet' you. Have a good weekend! (I'm stop #879)

Bob Sanchez said...

I haven't read lots of horror, but enjoy the kind where the tension builds and builds.

Following your blog.

J E Fritz said...

I grew up with Goosbumps, too! My favorite is the one with the camera that made bad things happen to anyone in its pictures.

My current favorite horror author is Mark Danielewski. House of Leaves is one of the few books that has ever made me want to sleep with the lights on. Creepy!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I consider H P Lovecraft the master of horror. He saw worlds beyond our own and things we did not like to acknowledge in our own.
Ghost stories can scare me. And werewolves! My husband says that's the most irrational fear on the planet, too.

Gregg Metcalf said...

Never got in to horror books or flicks. Not my genre.


Gregg Metcalf
Colossians 1:28-29

Gospel-driven Disciples

Christine Rains said...

I was a little before the Goosebumps generation, but there was a line of horror books for young people called Twilight. They were much scarier than the Goosebumps books! I remember one called 'The Vicious Circle' about an abused kid who was murdered and haunted a house that has stuck with me all these years. It's Stephen King who is my favorite, though. He's somehow able to get into that dark place inside of us.

Not much at all scares me. I would be the one walking to the supernatural happenings rather than running from them! *LOL* I have mama fears now of something happening to Brandon, but I think that normal for mothers.

Sue London said...

You know R.L. Stine is on twitter, right? And quite funny.

I also grew up before his time and went for the "hard core" stuff pretty early. My tween years were full of "true" ghost stories, Creepy Magazine, and early Stephen King. Then I moved on to heavier stuff like The Omen, The Legion, and demonology research. I pretty much moved out of my creepy Wednesday Addams stage by about 14 years old. Now I'm more likely to read a light historical romance than a horror book, which would be it's own brand of horror to my 14-year-old self.

Look forward to reading your stories!

Unknown said...

Stephen King's son, Joe Hill does horror pretty well too... Horror is one of my favourite genres to read.

Trisha said...

I haven't read many horror authors, but my favourite that I have read is Dean Koontz. I know Stephen King is amazing but I've hardly read any of his stuff yet.

Fave book by Koontz is "Twilight Eyes".

Susan Oloier said...

My son reads some R.L. Stine. They are very well-crafted for the younger horror reader. I like some of Stephen King's books. Have read some Dean Koontz, but I don't like to be disturbed that much when I read.

Rachel Searles said...

I love Stephen King! Gerald's Game is the only book that's ever made me jump out of my chair. Haven't read any Joe Hill yet but I want to give him a try.

alberta ross said...

not good with horror I'm afraid - the science bit of my mind looks and starts computing the reasons for something - as I don't beleive in werewolves - vampires - wizards ghost etc it's difficult to scare me with usual horror type things - but the most horrific thing was the film 'Duel' with Dennis Weaver trying to escape the manic truck driver - now that did scared me - I could beleive that happening (first seen in the 70s and still makes me watch trucks with little chimneys very closely indeed in my rearview mirror)

Aubrie said...

You are good at writing horror! I read a lot of Christopher Pike growing up.

KM Nalle said...

I've only read King in the horror genre. I should probably branch out and try someone else.