Classic Horror
From: A Few Good Books: Using Contemporary Readers’ Advisory Strategies to Connect Readers with Books, by Stephanie L. Maatta, pp. 164-
Classic horror found its beginnings in the latter half of the 18th Century with the early gothic horror works of Horace Walpole (The Castle of Otranto, 1764). His story laid the foundations for the dark and brooding tales that gripped the reader’s emotions through fear. Walpole’s work was followed by the likes of Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley, whose classic tales of murder, monsters, and oddities continue to entrance and engage contemporary readers. They explored societal taboos and deviant behaviors while framing the readers’ responses in fear yet compelling them to read on.
Stories of the supernatural, ghosts, and vampires fully emerged towards the end of the 19th Century, and became entrenched in popular culture, spawning generations of readers who continue to be mesmerized by these same elements. Elements of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, for example, are woven into contemporary vampire tales, and Dracula’s story itself has been told and re-told by countless authors.
Many 20th Century horror authors were highly influenced by these early classics, including H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, and Shirley Jackson. Becoming increasingly graphic in description, these authors continue to explore social mores and taboos, demonic and supernatural possession, and psychological mind-bending. Lovecraft, Bradbury, and Jackson gave way to Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Anne Rice, and Peter Straub, who explore the dark side of human nature in grim and grisly detail.
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