SLCLS Genre Study discussion

Are you tired of twinkling vampires and the walking dead? Has everything been done to death with these? What would you to read more of?

I really like the psychological dread and horror, that can stay with one a lot longer. When reading "Mr. Shivers" by Robert Bennett, I wanted him to catch this murderer, then I want him to turn around and forget the man.

As long as it is well written with a somewhat original plot, I can never get burned out on vampires (as long as they do not sparkle!) and zombies. The good thing about horror is there are so many different subgenres and sub-subgenres, if you get tired of something you can always try a different creepy critter or something else.

I'm sort of burned out on zombies. If it's done right I don't have a problem, but if it's not... One of my favorite authors Terry Goodkind's the Third Kingdom features zombies and it is not done well at all. It seemed like he was hopping on the bandwagon. Stick to what you know!

I wonder if viruses in general will become the next wave. Zombies often are caused by viruses, but since they revealed how badly smallpox and other virus vials were tracked at labs, and the new wave of respiratory illnesses along with ebola that are growing--perhaps the zombie part will drop out?

I wonder if we will see a resurgence in vampire novels after Anne Rice's Prince Lestat is released in October.

I have noticed a lot of ghost books coming out in the next couple of months. It's been awhile since this horror poked it's head out. Maybe it's the next wave?

Certainly been awhile. Right now I think of Bob Hope in "Ghost Breakers".

I think I like western style ghosts over Japanese ghosts.

Have you been able to decipher if the ghost trend is either way?

They look more like the western style ghost. Some of the titles are:

Butcher's Road Valerie Martin
Castle of Whispers  Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Chapel on the Moor Edgar Cantero
Chilling Tales: in words, alas, drown i Graham Masterton
Chiral mad 2 Sheila Huntington
City of Devils Miyuki Miyabe
Code zero Siobhan Adcock
Coins of Chaos Laura Benedict
Crow Creek Carole Martinez
Death's twisted Tales
ex-purgatory Christopher Golden
Fearful symmetries Janie Chang
Flesh and Blood Wendy Webb
flowers of the sea Michael Rowe

Steph wrote: "I wonder if we will see a resurgence in vampire novels after Anne Rice's Prince Lestat is released in October."

I think there will be interest in the book but I don't think it will be as large as it has before.

Jewel wrote: "I wonder if viruses in general will become the next wave. Zombies often are caused by viruses, but since they revealed how badly smallpox and other virus vials were tracked at labs, and the new wav..."

Could be. Horror often seems to reflect what is scary in the world and virus's are certainly a concern in today's world.

Jewel wrote: "Certainly been awhile. Right now I think of Bob Hope in "Ghost Breakers".

I think I like western style ghosts over Japanese ghosts.

Have you been able to decipher if the ghost trend is eithe..."

Thanks for the list of "looking forward to" books....!

I still love zombies. But it's getting harder for me to find zombie books that do something interesting (if you can recommend something, I'll take it. Be warned though, I've read a lot of zombie books). The boring, formula, zombies - yeah, totally over that. And there's not much left TO do with them.

I don't know what the next monster is. Maybe ghosts, they seem to be popping up a little more.

Have you read "Dearly Departed" by Lia Habel

Have you tried Working Stiff by Rachel Caine? Book 1 of the Revivalist series.

I just finished The Passage and the Twelve, which are vampire/zombie books. Sort of. With viruses. I enjoyed them both, though they pay surprisingly little attention to if they are vampires/zombies. They are virals.

I'm excited for the third one, City of Mirrors, whenever it comes out!

Just this morning finished The Girl With All the Gifts, which I didn't know was a zombie book. I don't really like zombie books, so I'm glad I didn't know beforehand, because I really liked this one. I recommend it, whether you're a fan of the genre or not.

i also think viruses will make a comeback as well as ghost and creepy mythical creatures. Vampire, I think unfortunately, are not quite done yet. They may start gravitating towards virus caused as well. Pyschological horror, I think, will definitely stick around.