One of the most widely collected genres of fiction is the broad category known as horror fiction. The popularity of this genre may be due, in part, to the fact that a lot of this type of fiction is published, and inexpensive examples of this genre can easily be purchased at yard sales, garage sales, friends-of-the-library book sales, publishers' clearance sales and the like.
One often thinks of ghosts or things that go bump in the night when one thinks of horror fiction, but in fact the only real requirement of such fiction is that its story elicit from the reader "an emotional reaction that includes some aspect of fear or dread." While the books of popular horror writers like Stephen King come immediately to mind, the definition can as easily be applied to Grimm's Fairy Tales or the Christian Bible.
As the Horror Writers Association notes, horror fiction is "writing that delves deep inside and forces us to confront who we are, to examine what we are afraid of, and to wonder what lies ahead down the road of life:"
Over the next several posts we will examine this genre in more detail. We will look at its ancient origins, at some representative examples (past & present), and will explore possible futures for this genre....
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