The Goosebump Genre

It's Halloween week. Do you read horror? Have you written any? Why or why are you not a fan?

by Dietrich

While I’ve written some dark stuff, I haven’t attempted to write a horror novel. I don’t possess the macabre fascination that would be needed, and there’s no draw to explore that line between what’s real and what’s hiding under the stairs. 

"The tale of monstrosity and terror is a basket loosely packed with phobias; when the writer passes you by, you take one of his imaginary horrors out of the basket and put one of your real ones in – at least for a time.” — Stephen King, from the preface of Night Shift.

I grew up reading horror classics like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe, William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson’s Hell House, Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin, and Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories. And while I did enjoy them, I came to realize I didn’t much care to have the bejesus scared out of myself. These days, I still feel that way, so I can’t say I’m a big fan of the genre, with one exception — Stephen King. He’s certainly got a talent for creating relatable characters facing the worst kind of hell and horror. I don’t think anyone could even think of the genre without putting him at the top. Just consider his classics like The Shining, Misery, The Dead Zone, Carrie, Cujo, Christine, Firestarter, and It.

And there are those images from his film adaptations that are hard to get out of my head too, scenes like: “Heeeeeeeere's Johnny!” And how about those twins?

While I can appreciate his horror novels, I’m a bigger fan of his not-so-scary books, the ones that cross into other genres, something he does exceptionally well. There are the psychological thrillers Misery and Dolores Claiborne, the crime novels Billy Summers and The Colorado Kid, the hardboiled detective stories of the Bill Hodges trilogy, the dystopian novels Running Man and The Long Walk, the alternate history 11/22/63, the literary fiction Hearts in Atlantis, the novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. And there’s the Depression-era prison novel, The Green Mile, an equal mix of fantasy, thriller and crime. And there’s Joyland which combines mystery, horror and coming-of-age genres. And the Dark Tower series that combines fantasy, horror and western.

Another genre hop for King and a recent favorite of mine was Fairy Tale. He wrote it during the pandemic lockdown. It’s a dark fantasy about an ordinary young guy forced into a hero’s role in an otherworldy realm, fighting the forces of evil.

Another book I enjoyed was Road Rage, a thriller tribute to Richard Matheson and a collaboration between Stephen King and his son Joe Hill. There’s the classic tale, Duel, about a salesman driving cross-country on an empty two-lane highway and being menaced by an unseen driver in an old oil tanker. It’s full throttle terror riding on 18 wheels. Then there’s the short story Throttle by King and Hill, which is a different kind of duel in the Nevada desert, pitting a faceless trucker against an outlaw motorcycle gang.

And since we’re talking about the horror genre this week, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention Dean Koontz and his novel Watchers; Anne Rice and Interview with the Vampire; Clive Barker and Weaveworld; and Peter Straub and Ghost Story — all of whom may have you sleeping with the light on, but all worth checking out as well.