Genre Summary
“The oldest emotion of humankind is fear and the strongest
of those is fear of the unknown” – H.P. Lovecraft
•Horror fiction seeks to unsettle and inspire a unique emotional state in its reader –
FEAR
•It is regarded more for what it does that what it is – emotions (fear, terror, physical
revulsion etc…) are more central to the genre than the means the narrative uses to
achieve them
•The interest in disrupting the reader’s emotional equilibrium likely contributes to its
image as being ‘deviant’ (finding pleasure and entertainment in terror is often
considered psychologically ‘abnormal’)
•Horror is often seen as symptomatic of some personal pathology on the part of its
consumers
•Horror stories typically begin with the eruption of chaotic forces into a previously
ordered existence, and conclude with restoration of that order
•Horror first invokes, and then resolves, the things that frighten us most
Genreflecting, 2006
Themes
•Death, Apocalypse
•Cosmic Horror, Dark Fantasy, Witchcraft
•Demonic Possession/Invasion
•Supernatural, Ghosts, Haunted Houses
•Vampires, Zombies, Monsters, Mummies
•Psychological Horror/Serial Killer, Mental Illness
•Physical and Emotional Violence
•Reliance on SUSPENSE in Plotting
•Ruined and Isolated Settings
•Atmosphere of Moral Gloom and Physical Decay
•Vision of the World Divided Between the Powers of Darkness and Light
•Eternal Youth, Forbidden/Utopian Love
Genreflecting, 2006
Reader Profile
•Horror fiction typically appeals to youth aged 12-30 (more males) –
a time of instability in personal identity
•Teenagers are caught between childhood and adulthood
•Horror’s popularity is partly due to its ability to address this population’s
specific emotional needs - teens see distorted reflections of themselves in
misunderstood monsters
•Teens can relate to the social stratifications illustrated by non-human beings
•There is something sordid about horror as a genre, interest in horror is somehow
abnormal ‘not healthy’
•Horror’s lowly status in adult culture gives it an additional attraction
•Hollywood appeal (significant number of movie adaptations)
OR
Sometimes it`s fun to open your imagination and get scared!
Genreflecting, 2006
Sample Genre Titles
Children
Goosebumps Series
A series of children's horror fiction novels created and authored by R. L. Stine.
Fear Street Series
A series of teen horror books by R. L. Stine which take place in Shadyside, a
fictional city located somewhere on the East Coast, and feature average teenagers.
Ghostville Elementary Series
A 3rd grade class at Sleepy Hollow Elementary solve spooky mysteries, overcome
fears and learn important lessons.
Creepers Series
A sequence of young-adult horror novels written by Australian horror writer Rob
Hood, with Bill Condon. From 1996-97, Hood (in collaboration with Bill Condon)
published the nine-volume series, a line of fantastic children's horror novels.
Teen Vampire Series
Twilight
A series of four vampire-based fantasy/romance novels
(“Twilight," "New Moon," "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn”) by the
American author Stephenie Meyer
•Meyer is a Mormon mother who lives in Arizona
•She says the idea for the book came to her in a vivid dream in
the summer of 2003
•Within six months, much to her surprise, she had written
"Twilight" and signed a six-figure book deal
•The series follows the life of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a social
outsider teenager who moves to Forks, Washington, and finds
her life radically changed when she falls in love with a vampire
named Edward Cullen
•The four Twilight books were the biggest selling novels of 2008
•Sales over $25 million , 37 languages
•The US accounts for 20 million of the sales but "Breaking Dawn" debuted at the top
of best seller lists in France, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Britain
•The Twilight film earned US$35 million its opening day, almost recouping its modest
budget of US$37 million - and the weekend gross reached US$70 million
Claudia Parsons, Reuters, Nov. 2008
Brian Johnson, Maclean’s, Dec. 2008
Other Teen Vampire Series…
Vampire Academy Series
A vampire novel series written by Richelle Mead, in a first-person perspective following the
main character, Rose Hathaway and her time at St. Vladimir's Academy, a vampire boarding
school…
The Vampire Diaries
Series by American author L.J. Smith about a high school girl torn between two vampire
brothers. In small town Virginia ,beautiful & popular Elena Gilbert falls in love with vampire
Stefan…
Vampire Kisses Series
A series by Ellen Schreiber, starring 16 year old Raven Madison, a goth living in Dullsville, who
is constantly complaining that there is nothing to do - until Alexander Sterling, a vampire, moves
in. Raven falls hard for him, but they, like any other couple, have obstacles. The story is told in
Raven's point of view for the entire book.
The Last Vampire Series
A series is a 6 book set written by Christopher Pike and chronicles the 5,000 year life of the
"last vampire", Sita…
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
An interactive series by Nancy Holder – each book has a variety of possible endings in which
readers take on the role of the Slayer and determine the course of the action.
Graphic Novels
•Clive Barker's Hellraiser Series
Tale of a man and wife who move into an old house and discover a
hideous creature hiding upstairs.
•Cthulhu Tales Series
(Cthulhu is a shared universe created in the 1920s by H. P. Lovecraft)
•Haunt Of Horror Edgar Allan Poe
Wicked spins on the classic poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Each adaptation is
hauntingly rendered in black and white with gray tones, along with the full text of
Poe's poem for comparison.
•Berni Wrightson`s Frankenstein
This graphic novel includes the complete text of the original ground-breaking
novel.
•30 Days Of Night
Blood-curdling tale of vampires running amok in the arctic.
•Chucky
He's back! Straight from the Child's Play films, and now slashing a bloody swath
through comics.
Classic Titles
•Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley
•Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker
•The Exorcist (1971) by William Blatty
•Rosemary’s Baby (1967) by Ira Levin
•I Am Legend (1954) by Richard Matheson
•Pet Cemetery, IT, The Shining (1970s – 1980s) by Stephen King
•Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson
•Ghost Story (1979) by Peter Straub
•At the Mountain of Madness (1920s – 1930s) by H.P. Lovecraft
•The Lottery (1948) by Shirley Jackson
Frankenstein
•Frankenstein is a novel written by Mary Shelley. Shelly began writing the novel when she
was 18 and finished when she was 19
•First ‘Mad Science’ novel
•It was first published anonymously in London in 1818 (Shelley's name is on the second
edition, published in 1831)
•Many film versions of this novel have been produced
•Victor Frankenstein is a main character – raised by a wealthy family, he goes to college to
study chemistry and other sciences
•Frankenstein discovers how to create life and makes a being in the likeness of man (much
larger and more powerful)
•When the ‘monster’ comes alive Frankenstein is disturbed and disgusted by it’s appearance
and abandons it
•The monster lives in isolation for quite some time after several bad interactions/rejections
with humans – he starts to feel angry and blames his creator
•The monster approaches Frankenstein for help/pity but receives no support – in anger the
monster begins killing Frankenstein’s family members
•Determined to kill his creation Frankenstein pursues the monster to the North Pole – weak
& exhausted Frankenstein dies with his monster at his death bed asking for forgiveness
•Once Frankenstein dies the monster vows to kill himself so no one will ever know he existed
Themes: technology, responsibility, scientific ethics, consequence,
loneliness, isolation, abandonment, courage, acceptance, fear,
nature vs nurture
Well Known Authors
R. L. Stine (1943) “The Stephen King of children's literature” American author of dozens of
horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps and Fear Street series.
Stephen King (1947) American best selling author of contemporary horror fiction, science
fiction, and fantasy literature. Many of his stories have been adapted for film, television and other
media (i.e. Misery, Carrie, Firestarter, Cujo, Thinner, Christine). He has written a number of books
using the pen name Richard Bachman.
H.P. Lovecraft (1890 –1937) American author of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, known at
the time as ‘weird fiction’. Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror; the idea
that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien.
Peter Straub (1943) American author and poet, his horror fiction has received numerous
literary honors such as the Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award, and International Horror
Guild Award.
Anne Rice (1941) best-selling American author of vampire horror fiction (i.e. Interview with a
Vampire, Vampire Chronicles).
Mary Shelley (1797 – 1851) British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist,
biographer, and travel writer.
Bram Stoker (1847–1912) Irish novelist and short story writer.
R.L. Stine
•Robert Lawrence (Bob) Stine was born in Columbus Ohio in 1943
•At 9yrs old he found an old typewriter in the attic and began typing
stories and making little joke books
•He graduated from Ohio State University in 1965 and moved to New
York City to become a writer
•In 1986 he wrote his first horror novel ‘Blind Date’, which became an instant best
seller
•1989 created the Fear Street series – the best selling young adult book series in
history (he has written over 100 Fear Street books)
•In 1992 he created the Goosebumps series which quickly became a hit and has
been translated into 32 languages around the world – the Goosebumps TV show was
#1 for three years
•In three consecutive years during the 1990s, USA Today named Stine as America's
number one best-selling author.
Awards
•2002 Champion of Reading Award from the Free Public Library of Philadelphia
•Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Award for Best Book-Mystery/Horror (three time
recipient)
•Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (also received three times).
•During the 1990s, Stine was listed on People Weekly's "Most Intriguing People"
list, and in 2003, the Guinness Book of World Records named Stine as the bestselling children's book series author of all time
•He won the Thriller Writers of America Silver Bullet Award in 2007
•His stories inspired R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse, 4D movie-based attractions
at SeaWorld San Diego and Busch Gardens Europe
•He has also worked for Nickelodean and written several short story collections,
teen vampire novels and adult thrillers
•He currently lives in NYC with his wife and dogs
*Website: www.rlstine.com - has a ‘For Teachers’ page which includes a free 16
page writing program to use with students (outlining all his best ‘tricks and secrets’)
‘My job is to make kids laugh and give them the
CREEPS!’ -R.L. Stine
Stephen King
•Born in Portland, Maine in 1947
•He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling
Mystery Stories
•He graduated from the University of Maine in 1970 with a B.A. in
English and qualified to teach on the high school level
•In the fall of 1973, he began teaching high school English classes at
a public school in Maine (Hampden Academy)
•Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to
produce short stories and to work on novels
•In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for
publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write fulltime (his wife rescued an early draft he had thrown in the garbage)
•Around this time King’s mother passed away and he developed a
drinking problem
•In 1987 King sought help for substance abuse problems and has
been sober since
•June 1999 King was struck by a car while walking on the side of the
road – after numerous operations, in 2002 King announced he would
quit writing due to pain while sitting. He still writes but at a much
slower pace
•He has published over 40 books and has become one of the world's
most successful writers
1952
1967
www.stephenking.com
•He has written a number of books using the pen name Richard Bachman
•2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution
to American Letters (other winners include: Ray Bradbury, Judy Blume, John Updike)
“Stephen King’s writing is securely rooted in the great American tradition that glorifies
spirit-of-place and the abiding power of narrative. He crafts stylish, mind-bending
page-turners that contain profound moral truths–some beautiful, some harrowing–
about our inner lives. This Award commemorates Mr. King’s well-earned place of
distinction in the wide world of readers and book lovers of all ages.”
Collaborations
•King has written two novels with acclaimed horror novelist Peter Straub (The
Talisman & sequel, Black House)
•In 1996 King collaborated with Michael Jackson to create Ghosts, a long and
expensive musical video
•King played guitar for the rock band Rock-Bottom Remainders,
several of whose members are authors (other members include Amy
Tan & Matt Groening)
•Many of King's novels and short stories have been made into
major motion pictures or TV movies and miniseries - his favourite
book-to-film adaptations are Stand By Me & Shawshank
Redemption
•He currently lives in Maine & Florida with his wife
2006
Curriculum Links
Social Sciences and the Humanities
•Psychology (mortality, romance, bullying, fear, mental illness, motivation etc…)
•Individual & Society (belonging, classism, family)
Business Studies
•Marketing (massive success of Twighlight series)
Visual Arts
•Halloween, powerful illustrations, strong emotions
Dramatic Arts
•Wide selection of movie TV adaptations and plays
Media Arts
•Interactive media, cultural significance, format
English
•Creative writing, classic literature for book study
GREAT FOR RELUCTANT READERS
Related Resources
Fonseca, Anthony & Pulliam (2009). Hooked on Horror III: A Guide to
Reading Interests. Westport: Libraries Unlimited
Hundreds of new horror titles are described and organized according to reading
preferences - covers more than a dozen popular subgenres of horror fiction (i.e.
vampires and werewolves, ghosts and haunted houses)
Joshi, S.T. (2006). Icons of Horror and the Supernatural [Two Volumes]: An
Encyclopaedia of Our Worst Nightmares. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Press
Collection of 24 essays analyzing major "icons" in the field of horror and
supernatural literature. Icons are defined as ‘themes’ (i.e. "The Alien," "The Haunted
House," "The Zombie“)
King, Stephen (1981) Danse Macabre. New York: Everest House.
A non-fiction book by Stephen King about horror fiction in print, radio, film and
comics, and the genre's influence on United States popular culture.
Horror Writers Association: book reviews, membership, awards, writing tips
www.horror.org
Horror Factor: horror writing tips
www.horror.fictionfactor.com