Horror Aficionados discussion

Yes, I have figured out the reasons behind it. Wanna know why? Because no one writes to scare anymore. They soak their pages with sex and creatures that want to have sex with human women. The whole 'scary part' of their book is the fact that every single creature turns the female characters into insatiable lusting things that just want sex. I love a good slasher flick just like everyone else but that's not what a book of horror is supposed to be. (in my opinion anyway) It's more like dark eroticism than horror and it is just so damn tiring.

If anyone knows of any books that are actually scary drop me a line and let me know. I'm sick of this eroto horror.

Who's saying that?

I'm not so sure I have heard that Horror is dying, but I also do agree that there are a lot of novels out there running with a lot of sex themes. But if I am not mistaken, there are mainly two different styles of writers working in the genre now. On one hand you have your Ed Lee's and his style running in the modern "anything goes" fashion. But then there are also the guys out there trying to do something a little different. If I am not mistaken Douglas Clegg is not an extreme graphic guy. I believe his Harrow House books are just all out creepy haunted house tales.
Gord Rollo's Crimson had dang near zero sex in it.
I'm reading Ghost Road Blues right now, and so far nothing too sexual has happened, aside from an encounter with our hero and heroine and an (SPOILER) almost rape scene that gets thwarted.
John Dies At The End didn't have any sex in it, though it did have penis jokes (though not as many as people would have you think).
But I don't think Horror is dying. In fact, I am thinking it is quite the opposite. Horror seems on a BIG upswing right now.

I don't mind sex as a theme (there are a lot of superb sex & horror stories); the problem is there are all these novels clogging the shelves that aren't horror at all--they're romance novels where the handsome rogue or whatever happens to be a vampire.

But are those in the "Horror" section even? Most of the vampire romance stuff is all YA, aside from those Susie Stackhouse books, and those don't reside in the Horror aisle.

I tend to like sex as a theme as part of horror, and do feel powerful when imagining things from the monster's perceptive, especially when the monster ends up being the pope of Stud City. But I do agree that the sex should be part of the story, not the story itself, and it should come out of realistic development, not just because the girl is scared and need 'to be held' and the guy is thinking, 'yeah, sure I will, maybe afterward.'

But horror should be studied as an emotion, not how many blood splattered pages, or no matter how many spank magazine scenes are put together. I have been crusading for this book,Let the Right One In, and I know it will restore your faith in traditional horror.

The Sookie (or Sucky, as they say in the show) Stackhouse books appear in the horror section in our bookstores, as does much of the "paranormal romance."

Well that sure sucks. My wife, who loves the Twilight books, is about to start reading the Stackhouse things. My boss recommended them to her. But lucky for me she knows they are NOT horror and tells me I should avoid the hell out of them.
My boss however keeps telling me to read them.

Wayne wrote: "Yes, I have figured out the reasons behind it. Wanna know why? Because no one writes to scare anymore. They soak their pages with sex and creatures that want to have sex with human women. The whole..."

You must be reading all the wrong stuff. I have read recently:

Dark Harvest - no sex
Dead City - no sex
13 Bullets - no sex
Afraid - no sex
MEG - no sex
Duma Key - no sex
The Reach - no sex

Horror genre is not even close to dying. I am not sure where you got this but maybe take a look at some of the fanatics on here and their reading lists for guidance.

People always say horror is dying, but there are always horror books being published. Sometimes they're packaged under another, perhaps more popular genre, but they are still horror books at heart. It's not dying, just spreading its wings.

Wayne wrote: "Yes, I have figured out the reasons behind it. Wanna know why? Because no one writes to scare anymore. They soak their pages with sex and creatures that want to have sex with human women. The whole..."

I'm sick of this eroto horror.


With you there. I don't mind a quick scene or two, but your phrase 'eroto horror' sums it well.

My brother says he's tired of it, too. A bestselling female horror writer has gone completely into the eroto horror zone with both her series.

John wrote: "A bestselling female horror writer has gone completely into the eroto horror zone with both her series. "

Would that be Laurell Hamilton?

I don't mind a sex scene here or there but as Patrick said it should be part of the story.
And it does seem that I have been reading the wrong things lol. I picked up some of Laymon's stuff and didn't care for all the sex going on and now Ed Lee. It seems like Brides of the Impaler is nothing but sex from beginning to end. I am so glad to be done with it. I am going to write down some of the book syo all have talked about and check em out.

And by the way I didn't say horror is dying, it has been a refrain I have heard in posts on other forums on other sites and I was more or less qouting it here. lol It better not be dead or dying I'm a horror author myself.

William wrote: "John wrote: "A bestselling female horror writer has gone completely into the eroto horror zone with both her series. "

Would that be Laurell Hamilton?

"

Yeah, I find her stuff in the horror section often, and that's just wrong

I think horror is more popular today than ever. Well, maybe except for the renaissance in the eighties, which I think King, Straub, and Koontz had a lot to do with. The '90s and '00s have introduced many promising horror writers.

When I picked up Survivor, of course I knew there would be sex in it because it's part of the story. But when I'm juking along reading a good story and people have to stop and have sex or that's all that's on the characters' minds, then I think long and hard about whether I want to finish the story.

I enjoyed The Golem, but the main male character wouldn't shut up about his girlfriend's ta-tas or body and they had sex on the brain. Every few pages had eye-rolling high school sex obsession passages on it. Ed Lee needs to put down the bottle of Viagra; he's got sex on the brain and it leaks out into every story he tries to write.

I will run away from the romance horror genre. I can't tell you guys how many vampire studs I see on book covers here at the library.

They'll be airbrushing fangs onto Fabio soon.

Scott wrote: "They'll be airbrushing fangs onto Fabio soon."

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

But that's the thing with Lee, that is what he is about. You buy Lee pretty much knowing what you are going to get. You don't buy a Frank Sinatra release and wonder where the Cannibal Corpse style guitars and vocals are. Lee is all about sex and gore in the most full throttle style. To expect anything else means a person didn't do the most basic of homework. Not saying Lee can't do other styles, just that it is the exception to his own rules.

Let it all out, Kristy.

Scott, are you going to hold Kristy's hair back for her when she does?

Carl, from the Lee books I've read, he's like a writer with a split personality. The first two books of his I read were City Infernal and The Golem. Although both have some sex in them, they are very good books and I enjoyed them. Compare these to the nasty The Bighead and his other books in that vein, and I'll say that a reader doesn't necessarily know what he's getting when he picks up a Lee book. Or at least I don't.

Sure, I don't mind.

Wayne wrote: "Yes, I have figured out the reasons behind it. Wanna know why? Because no one writes to scare anymore. They soak their pages with sex and creatures that want to have sex with human women. The whole..."

I am soooo sick of the "scary" paranormal romance/porn that is so popular lately.
I recently read a great truly scary book with none of that crap- Infected by Scott Sigler-supah scary! I think it might be just what your looking for

I think I've got it under control for now. I'll let you all know when the chunks really come.

Maybe you could write about it, and then Necro Publications could publish it.

You're an evil genius Scott!

I know!

Tressa wrote: "I think horror is more popular today than ever. Well, maybe except for the renaissance in the eighties, which I think King, Straub, and Koontz had a lot to do with. The '90s and '00s have introduce..."

I agree about the Golem. I read it as well and trudged through all of the high school sexual language as well as the several rape scenes. Would not recommend that book to many people.

Carl wrote: "But that's the thing with Lee, that is what he is about. You buy Lee pretty much knowing what you are going to get. You don't buy a Frank Sinatra release and wonder where the Cannibal Corpse style ..."

Your right I hadn't heard of him. People in other posts on here said he was good so I figured I would give him a shot and was utterly dismayed by the two novels I have read by him.

Amanda wrote: "Wayne wrote: "Yes, I have figured out the reasons behind it. Wanna know why? Because no one writes to scare anymore. They soak their pages with sex and creatures that want to have sex with human wo..."

Thanks I will check it out.

Based on what I've read in many posts about Lee, he seems to come off as a one trick pony. I'm not grossed out [work in a hospital:] but if your story revolves around getting people disgusted and 'pushing the envelope' then its probably not for me. I would rather have a story with disgusting elements versus the opposite. I could be wrong about Lee, never read him and based on alot of what people have to say, I've got better authors to read.

He can write though, there is no doubt about that. He has a definite skill.

William wrote: "John wrote: "A bestselling female horror writer has gone completely into the eroto horror zone with both her series. "

Would that be Laurell Hamilton?

"

That's the one. I read a couple of hers when she was first on the scene but blanked out on her name for that post.

Talented. But again, the eroto horror not to my liking. She gained a lot of readers going that route -- mainly female I'm guessing -- but still....

Scott wrote: "They'll be airbrushing fangs onto Fabio soon."

Ah, old joke time:

Fabio as James Bond ... "My name's Fabio. Fabio Fabio."



Q: Why doesn't Fabio enjoy being a vampire?

A: Because he can't see himself in the mirror.

(home groan joke)

I would hope being an author that he has some decent skills as a writer, but unfortunately, that's only half the coin. If you can't craft a story or rely on simple literary tricks to fill in a poorly crafted story, then eventually people will get bored.

I have a teenager, who has a friend that Loves Sex in her Books. I know this only because she told me she LOVED, Loved, Chuck "The Haunted" Palchuk... I personally thought it was just Gross, Sick, Perverted
Perhaps the Sex is really geared for the Teens?YA out their that think it's cool...... Who Knows
But what I mean, the Vampire Craze going on right now, is mostly directed toward Teens/YA..... I even admit when I was in high school, I read a couple of Sex novels (but horror wasn't involved)

But I like my horror w/HORROR & a little sex isn't gonna kill me but I guess I'm a Prude about having sex in my Horror..

I always find it bizarre when someone is more offended by sex than horror.

It depends on the context of both. I can say though that indepth descriptions of sex are NEVER my favorite parts of books.

For me, it's like;
"Hey, you got peanut butter in my chocolate."
but you think; "Hey, you got chocolate in my peanut butter."

Well personally I love chocolate and peanut butter with my sex.

Scott wrote: "I always find it bizarre when someone is more offended by sex than horror."

LOL Yeah I can see your point with that one. I'm no prude or nothing. I just think that if it doesn't advance the story or the character relationships then what is the point? Also I must point out that by having every "evil" character that you write about have some kind of sexual perversion or lustfullness, for lack of a better word, then where is the scare? To me it just seems like it could be trying to cover up a poorly constructed plot line and distract the reader from that point.

I don't find sexual content offensive at all, but when it's gratuitous it's annoying. Anything gratuitous is annoying! I feel that way about writers who constantly name-drop luxury brands in their books too, which is why I don't really read chick-lit.

I'm just tired of writers and filmmakers trying to shock me by violating taboos -- whether it's through gruesome explicit violence or through random sex scenes -- instead of having the skill to tell a compelling, eerie, thought-provoking story.

Brand names are one of my literary pet peeves! I know people say it adds realism but for some reason it always takes me out of the story.

The only time the brand name dropping didn't take me out of the story but enhanced the story was when King described the baby vampire in 'Salem's Lot as wearing Dr. Denton pajamas. Picturing that sacrilege made me shudder.

I have no idea what Dr Denton pajamas are so it probably didn't affect me.

Those toddler pj's with the rubber-grip feet.

You're right, that is creepy.

I think of that as a generic name for footie pajamas, actually! Like Band-Aid instead of "adhesive bandage."

I think it's usually done as a lazy form of shorthand instead of character development -- as if you can sum up who people are by what they buy.

how many people you know say coke for all soda's?

Only for cola.

Jerrod, most people up north, I think.

I either don't notice brand name dropping in books I read or the authors just don't do it. I'm thinking the latter. Except for American Psycho, which was a big point of the book, I hardly ever see it.

King does it frequently.

That's the good thing about reading novels about earlier time periods, there's not that familiarity with consumer products. I'm reading McCammon's The Queen of Bedlam which takes place in the late 1800s, and it's fun learning the names of the everyday products they used.