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The Stigma Of Writing Horror: How The Genre You Write Matters As Much As The Story

    Joanna Penn
  • 13 years ago
    • Categories: Writing

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn

This is a guest post from R A Evans, author of horror novel Asylum Lake.

There was a time when I ran from the label of being a “horror writer”.  It’s tough enough as a self-published author to be taken seriously, but adding the extra burden of a horror tag to my bio made the chances of people rolling the dice on my projects even scarier – and not in a good way!

You see, there’s a difference between the vampire that lurks within the pages of an Urban Fantasy title and the kind I tend to write about. Perhaps mine wear less hair gel and more clothes. I have no gratuitous plot points where my characters shed their shirts to expose their six-pack abs; mine are much more concerned with quenching their undying thirst than with their appearance. And don’t even get me started on the Paranormal Romance genre – their vampires are an entirely different breed.

That being said, we’re all writing about things that go bump in the night. Yet, the Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance genres are much more widely accepted. From literary agents and publishing houses to book reviewers and bloggers, there’s a certain stigma about being a known as a horror writer.  Is my vampire less worthy of attention?

Okay, so I’ve belabored the point a bit. But there is truth in my sarcasm.  Horror gets a bad rap. For some, it’s not main-stream enough to be accepted. Horror is fringe. It’s true, my take on a vampire may be a bit darker than what you would find in an Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance novel, but shouldn’t the quality of the narrative be what defines its value – not the label?

I had considered switching genres as an experiment. It’s really an easy thing to do. My plan was to adjust my author platform, but instead of labeling my books as horror I would check the box next to Urban Fantasy.  I just couldn’t pull the trigger on it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not nearly the genre snob I appear to be – to each their own is my philosophy.  But then a funny thing started happening – my books started selling. That first review quickly turned into another and another and soon readers were looking beyond the horror label and taking a chance on my book.

The problem hadn’t been that I had written a horror novel. The problem was that I hadn’t embraced being a horror author.  I saw authors with novels in other genres selling far more copies and thought for sure that it was the label that really mattered.  My novel Asylum Lake had romantic undertones – so why not call it a Paranormal Romance and jump on that popular bandwagon?  Modern day setting with supernatural elements? Bingo – it’s Urban Fantasy! How could I possibly have expected readers to embrace me as an author when I hadn’t yet embraced myself?

So did I imagine this horror stigma? Certainly not.  I’ve sold dozens of copies to public libraries and still more often than not find my titles tucked away into the dark corner reserved for horror; safely out of sight…and mind.  And there are still several reviewers, bloggers, and even media outlets who refuse to read horror.  I may never change the way some people view the horror genre, but I’ve definitely changed my own view.
I’m proud to write about what lurks in the darkness – the hand reaching out from under your bed after the lights go out and before your leg makes it under the blanket. It’s what I like to read and definitely what I love to write. I write horror. Somebody has to do it and if the reviews for Asylum Lake are any indication, I might just be doing it for awhile.

About R. A. Evans
R. A. Evans writes.  By day he pours his creative energy into meeting the varied needs of his clients. By night, he writes for pleasure. It’s what he does. It’s who he is.  If you like your humor dark, your blood-letting messy, and the creepiness factor cranked to eleven, he’s the author for you. His debut novel, Asylum Lake, hit the shelves to rave reviews and its sequel Grave Undertakings will be unearthed in May 2011.
A graduate of Grand Valley State University, Evans started his career at a small town newspaper, and has spent the past fifteen years working in marketing and public relations.
Asylum Lake is available on Amazon for Kindle
Autographed print copies are available here
You can follow all of R.A. Evans’ dark musings, news, events, and the popular 7 Deadly Questions author interview series here

(Note from Joanna: I appeared on 7 Deadly Questions a few weeks ago and talked about Pentecost – thanks Rich!)

Image: Flickr CC Christian Back

Tags: horror
Joanna Penn:

View Comments (28)

  • Joanna -
    Thanks for both the opportunity to guest on The Creative Penn, and your appearance on my 7 Deadly Questions author interview series.

  • I think writing horror is a lot like writing comedy. It looks easy but is very hard when done correctly. Everyone wants to get scared in a new way and there have been so many great authors and books in this genre that it's very hard to do the job right.

    Glad to hear you're embracing your horror now scare me!

    • Kate - I'm definitely working on it. If you haven;t taken the dive into Asylum lake I suggest you start there. The sequel, Grave Undertakings, hits the shelves on may 26th!

  • I understand where you are coming from, I really do--but it reads like you're disparaging PNR and UF the same way you DON'T want horror to be disparaged. I love all three genres, and others. I wouldn't want to write a disparaging word about any of them or even those genres that I don't enjoy because my personal tastes don't determine whether or not a genre is worthy of existing.

    And if you think being a paranormal romance (PNR) author is easy, think again. Do you have any idea how many times a day I'm asked whether or not my vampires sparkle? Not that there's anything wrong with that...but not every PNR book is a Twilight clone, just like not every horror novel is a revamped version of King's IT.

    Genre snobbery helps no one. Read and write what you like, love it, embrace it and sell it. Pay attention to you and yours and don't worry about what everyone else is doing! Now, where can I get my hands on your poorly styled, non-datable vampires?

    • Evelyn -

      My intent was never to disparage any genre - it was merely my own failed attampt at a humorous way to introduce the topic. I've been scolded all day long via email and twitter regarding this post - and rightly so after rereading my chosen words.

      I have a tremendous amount of respect for writers of every genre. To put yourself out there via the stories you tell takes an enormous amount of courage.

      I sit here respectfully eating crow, and hoping you and other readers of Joanna's fine blog will still take a chance on this horror writer. Although my debut novel Asylum Lake is vampire-free, it will still raise the little hairs on the back of your neck! You can learn more about it at http://www.raevanswrites.wordpress.com.

      Thanks for your comment, Evelyn.

      • Oh no, I don't think you should eat crow (Hmmm, sounds like the first line of a horror novel, eh?), I can totally get where you were coming from. If I had to guess at your feelings, you are frustrated--and that's why I said that I get you.

        My point was not so much to make you feel bad, because I think a lot of us are guilty of doing this to some extent. I pointed it out just because I think that the disparaging and genre snobbery can stop here, with all of us. If we don't allow it and don't buy into it and just embrace writing, art and creativity as a whole instead of in segments that we understand/enjoy, then we can probably stop being so uncomfortable when asked what genre we write in and stop worrying about labels, etc.

        And since my imaginary vampire boyfriend LOVES it when my neck hairs are raised (it tickles his lips in a good way), you can bet your ass I'll read you book ;-)

  • This post resonated with me, if nothing else than for the simple fact that I, too, am a horror writer (unpublished as of yet, but working on it), and I, too, used to answer the question "So what do you write?" with some degree of discomfort. But the truth is, I think any commercial genre faces this, and we all have to screw up our courage and pride and own what we write. We love it, other people do too, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m sure there are plenty of paranormal romance authors out there right now who fight the urge to cringe when they get asked “the question,” and follow their answers with immediate, “But it’s nothing like Twilight,” disclaimers, but I think all of this is unnecessary embarrassment. It’s not about one genre or another; it’s about self-esteem and taking pride in what you write. Write about people being hacked apart by a circular saw? Own it. Write about sexy vampires seducing virgins? Own it. Write highfalutin lit-fic about seemingly mundane things? Own it. That’s my vote, anyway. We should all take pride in what we do, and we should try to find ways to respect what other people do as well.

  • This comment isn't about self-esteem. It's about horror.

    I mostly read and write cozy mysteries, as I am a sweet little old lady, squeamish about icky things, not the least bit afraid of the dark, and a born-and-bred Puritan, to boot.

    My capricious muse brought me what appears to be a horror story. How do you learn to write horror? And does horror need/require/embrace a happy ending? This story does not have a happy ending. A happy ending would ruin the whole thing. What are the limits of horror? How horrible is too horrible? Are novellas in this genre acceptable?

    What are the philosophical underpinnings of horror? (No, I'm not writing a tract. This is a story.) Is is always humans vs. non-humans?

    Aside from you, who are the best authors to read so as best to understand this genre?

    Thank you for your post. And yes, embrace your truth. Those who turn away were never your peeps anyway.

    --Lyn

    • Wow! That's great Lyn - I am so impressed that you are embracing the muse and investigating things outside your comfort zone. I have discussed the line between thriller and horror before with JC Hutchins. I am firmly writing thriller myself but I do like to read some horror, although I do put some down! Here are some of the authors I like for the edge of horror:
      * JA Konrath - I liked Origin - I found The List too horror, but maybe you'll like it
      * Scott Sigler - Infected, Contagious - horror/sci-fi and he has other books too
      * Stephen King - obviously!
      * Alan Baxter - dark fantasy verging on horror - try MageSign for blood magic
      * John Connolly - many of his books are more mystery/thriller but I found the early Charlie Parker books pretty gruesome
      There's some of mine - I'm sure Rich will be back to add his.

      PS. sweet old ladies are the best at horror - how surprising is that!?
      PPS. it's definitely humans vs humans as well - that's more horrific than other creatures in my mind as it's more imaginable

      Thanks for your comment :)

      • Thanks, Joanna. I'll look for the post with JC Hutchins and I'll look for the books and authors you suggest. I've read The List without realizing it was horror. For the most part, I thought it was pretty cool. That last bit, where he goes into the tunnel--verged on TSTL, but he got away with it.

      • Hi Jo (and gang!)

        Thanks for the mention. I usually refer to my stuff as dark fantasy not because there's a stigma on horror, but because most people have a very narrow definition of horror in their minds. My stuff is certainly venturing into horror territory quite often, but it's dark urban fantasy too.

        I think a lot of people that are usually classified as horror fall into this kind of category. The two biggest names on that front would be Stephen King and Dean Koontz. They're both dark fantastists in my mind.

        Other great horror/dark fiction writers would be Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Graham Masterton, H P Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Garth Ennis... man, there's so many! But people really should read those people above if nothing else, for a really broad experience of different types of horror.

    • Lyn -

      I'm happy to hear about your muse bringing you the gft of horror. My best advice is to embrace the darkness and let it lead you to its natural conclusion. Hard and fast rules in any genre and diminish the story. This is especially true for happy endings. Some horror stories do end happily, others do not. The key is what brings the story to its conclusion - the horror of the journey.

      At its core, horror usually goes one of two ways. First, the blood and gore horror of the eye. I've dabbled in this and find it very difficult to write. My chosen path is horror of the mind. I want to frighten my readers, not merely turn there stomachs with gorey descriptions. But to each their own.
      I strongly encourage you to check out the book ON WRITING HORROR . This handbook was published by the HOrror Wruter's Association and is a valuable resource for any author whose muse has lead them down a darker path.

      If you have any further questions, please contact me at raevans@asylumlake.com

      • Thank you, R. A.--

        There is rather a bit of gore in this story, though I don't plan to give a tendon-by-bloody-tendon pictorial of it. My hope is that the tension between the humans will keep the reader engaged between screams.

        Great! There's a handbook. I will go and get it, if it is available to non-members. Thanks for letting me know this.

        Asylum Lake, huh? Reminds me of tricks we used to play on local soldiers, back when I was young.

        --Lyn

  • Hi there Creative Penn!
    I've written a kind of 'horror/ romance' featuring a the man to werewolf to man theme. Its title is "The Lupine Effect". It should be in the marketplace this Summer.
    The thing is I've written other genres and don't know what genre to stay in. The question I ask myself is,"What is my niche?"What do you suggest I do?

    • Hi Ken,
      I just talked to Carolyn McCray about this (Kindle bestseller 30 pieces of silver) http://carolynmccray.com/Carolyn_McCray/Home.html
      She has written different books all under the same name as social media makes one more transparent - so it's something definitely on my mind too.
      So far I have a career change book, 2 books for authors and a thriller under my own name - which I really like! - so I guess I am of the opinion that you should go with however you want to manage your brand. I'm building a brand around me, rather than a set of pen-names. You'll have to weigh up the pros and cons! Thanks.

  • It is true- you have to embrace the genre, sub-genre you write, enjoy it and relish the fact that you have the ability to do it. I write UF/PR and love a good horror novel, even have an idea for one lurking in the recesses of my mind. But will I ever have the skill to bring it to life? Who knows. I'll just wait to see if that talent develops. For now, I'm enjoying where I'm at. Good luck with the Grave Undertakings. Jordan http://www.evaprim.com

    • Jordan -

      After visiting your website and browsing around something tells me that dark story you have rattlng around in your brain will see the light of day! Thanks for your comment!

  • Hi Joanna, Rich,
    I need to make quip about the tech-end of this post real quick. The last link pushing towards Rich's blog at the end of the post is broken. I do love your punting 404 page though, Joanna. :)
    Anyway, Thank you Rich for this post. I actually am planning a short story for Story-A-Day May 2011 right now, in which I'm using Seventhsanctum.com Theme Generator for the whole thing. Which is a challenge in and of itself.
    Thanks again!

  • I enjoyed your article, and although I am a romance writer - I do like to read horror. I find that the characters are often very well-developed, which I think is important to draw a reader into the story. I do hate horror movies though! With books, I control my own imagination and can keep the blood and gore to a minimum!

  • It seems to me that once you have a book published in one genre, you are stuck in that genre. As I reader I tend to pigeonhole authors into one genre. So how do you determine what genre to write?

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