All horror is body horror: An introduction to a month of fear
The genre “specifically devoted to the arousal of bodily sensation” traffics in transgression and finds pleasure in the disreputable.
A book of blood: David Demchuk’s queer horror novel addresses real-life terrors
The Toronto author’s story provides a metaphorical response to a very real history of trauma and violence.
Scary stories: a single-volume anthology from the British Library provides a cogent and concise history of the literary horror genre
From 17th century Gothic novels to the modern-day zombie story, the horror novel continues to fascinate readers and evolve in the literary consciousness.
31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 18: “Jerry’s Kids Meet Wormboy” by David J. Schow
The term “splatterpunk” refers to a highly disreputable, extreme subgenre of graphic horror, but its best practitioners do much more with the form.
31 Days of Stories 2021, Day 9: “The Cloak” by Robert Bloch
Not a retread or homage, Bloch’s vampire story displays a momentum and technique typical of the author’s best work.
The anxiety of influence: Victor LaValle rewrites H.P. Lovecraft
The Ballad of Black Tom asks who the real monsters are.
Good faces off against evil in James Herbert’s The Dark
Herbert’s novel combines elements of a haunted house story, a zombie tale, and a meditation on the nature of evil.
Why it’s so difficult to adapt Stephen King’s books for film
Being able to see King’s horrors is a significant drawback in terms of their emotional and affective impact – with one exception.
James Grainger on Folk Horror and confronting Canada’s colonial past
In order to establish a Folk Horror tradition, Canada would first have to reckon with the sins of its history as a settler-colonial nation.
Michael McDowell combines Southern Gothic and a haunted house tale in The Elementals
McDowell’s mashup of Southern Gothic and a traditional haunted house story provides a slow burn as opposed to the anarchic energy of his earlier novel.