Horror Fiction News

For anyone who legitimately enjoys the horror genre, not to mention any aspiring horror writers (both book and script), a healthy diet of the history of horror fiction is likely a prerequisite to fully appreciate the modern day works, including many of the stories that have inspired today’s writers and filmmakers. To broaden your horizons on horror from a historical perspective, it might be in your interest to pick up Horace Walpole’s Castle of Otranto, written in 1764, which paved the way for current tales from the crypt, even horror classics like Frankenstein and Dracula that may seem age-old in their own right.Castle of Otranto sets the stage for many themes, motifs and tactics used thereafter. Widely considered to be the first gothic novel, the mother ship from which the horror genre sprung forth, Walpole actually set up the story so as to appear to be the translated findings of an ancient manuscript rediscovered in the library of long-ago family in northern England. In an effort to ground his supernatural references and outlandish claims that readers of the time might have found objectionable or foolish, rooting his work in a dated document was a strategy to lend credibility to his writing. Similar tactics are employed have been employed across all fiction, but are particularly applicable in world of horror as most stories run the risk of losing touch with reality or a sense of believability if they don’t stem outward from some sort basic of truth. Anytime you see the words “based on a true story” accompanying a trailer, opening chapter or credits, thank Walpole for his ingenuity in recognizing that most people who enjoy a good ghost story want to be taken to world in which they aren’t tied down by steadfast laws of nature. While some might consider his creative license with the truth misleading, Walpole merely gave the audience a stepping stone from which to enter new heights of imagination. (more…)

By many expert opinion (and perhaps a little non-expert opinion as well) this list explores the most influential works in the style and content of modern horror writing and filmmaking. The following books and short stories are must reads for any serious fan of the genre:The Monk, by Matthew Lewis (1796) The Monk depicts the downfall of a well-respected, god-fearing, law-abiding monk, establishing a theme that can be traced all the way up to today’s horror films. So prevalent is the general storyline, it is almost considered a horror clich to have the central protagonist portrayed as the epitome of purity and upstanding moral fiber only to be lured down the path of sin and into an underworld of treachery.Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (1818) Trivia buffs out there might know that in Shelley’s story, Frankenstein was actually the name of the doctor who created the monster, not the actual monster who was brought to life (referred to instead as Frankenstein’s monster or Frankenstein’s creation). This is only one of many stark differences between Shelley’s original and today’s reinterpretations, which makes reading the 1818 version like finding eye-opening pictures of parents in their teens/early 20s.Dracula, by Bram Stoker (1897) Through the countless reincarnations of Dracula both on paper and on-screen a touch of the original is often lost. Before vampires were restricted to the shade, the original Dracula was much more powerful enjoyed shape-shifting powers and some scholars even speculate Count Dracula may have been among the world’s first werewolves (finally offering a compromise for the whole two-sided Twilight debate).Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson (1886) Stevenson’s tale helped lay groundwork for the modern psychological thriller, lending itself to both the supernatural potential for mental disorder and the ability to house two distinct characters in one bodily entity. (more…)