Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the reader. Although a good deal of it is about the supernatural, any fiction with a morbid, gruesome, surreal, suspenseful or frightening theme may be termed "horror"; conversely, many stories of the supernatural are not horror. Horror fiction often overlaps with science fiction and fantasy, all of which form the umbrella category speculative fiction. See also supernatural fiction. The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... The supernatural refers to conscious magical, religious or unknown forces that cannot ordinarily be perceived except through their effects. ... Surrealism is an artistic movement and an aesthetic philosophy that aims for the liberation of the mind by emphasizing the critical and imaginative powers of the subconscious. ... One of the premier programs of the Golden Age of Radio (now known as old-time radio), Suspense advertised itself as radios oustanding theater of thrills and was heard in one form or another from 1942 through 1962. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... For other definitions of fantasy see fantasy (psychology). ... Speculative fiction is an all-encompassing term which includes science fiction, alternative history (fiction), horror and fantasy. ...

Early horror fiction

Fictional characters have found themselves in horrifying situations from the earliest recorded tales. Many myths and legends feature scenarios and archetypes used by later horror writers. Tales collected by the Grimm Brothers are often quite horrific. A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... For the computer game, see Myth (computer game). ... A legend (Latin, legenda, things to be read) is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. ... Archetype is defined as the first original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated. ... Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm The Brothers Grimm (Brüder Grimm) are Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. ...

Probably the first works of modern horror fiction were gothic novels, typified by Bram Stoker's Dracula and Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. Another early work of horror fiction is Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein. Frankenstein has also been considered science fiction or a philosophical novel by some literary historians. Early horror works used mood and subtlety to deliver an eerie and otherworldly flavor, but usually eschewed extensive explicit violence. The gothic novel is an English literary genre, which can be said to have been born with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847 _ April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... Alternate meaning: Dracula (orchid genus) Dracula is a fictional character, arguably the most famous vampire in fiction. ... This article is about the writer; for the politician who was almost his contemporary see Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford. ... The Turn of the Screw is a novella written by Henry James. ... Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley née Godwin (August 30, 1797–February 1, 1851) was an English writer who is, perhaps, equally-famously remembered as the wife of Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. ... Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is a novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Philosophy (from the Greek words philos and sophia meaning love of wisdom) is understood in different ways historically and by different philosophers. ...

Other early exponents of the horror form number such luminaries as H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, who were considered to be masters of the art. Among the writers of classic English ghost stories, M.R. James is often cited as the finest. His stories avoid shock effects and often involve an Oxford antiquarian as their hero. Algernon Blackwood's The Willows and Oliver Onions's The Beckoning Fair One have been called the best ghost stories. Lovecraft and Sheridan le Fanu called some of their writing weird fiction or weird stories. H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890–March 15, 1937) was an American author of fantasy and horror fiction, noted for giving horror stories a science fiction framework. ... Edgar Allan Poe - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... This article is about the paranormal. ... Montague Rhodes James, (August 1, 1862–June 12, 1936). ... This article is about the city of Oxford in England. ... link titleAn antiquarian is one concerned with antiquities or things of the past. ... Algernon Henry Blackwood (March 14, 1869 _ December 10, 1951) was a British writer of horror stories. ... Oliver Onions (pseudonym of George Oliver) (1873 - 1961) was a significant English novelist. ... Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (August 28, 1814 - February 7, 1873) was an Irish writer of short stories and novels concerning the strange and supernatural. ...

Some stories in highbrow literature could arguably be regarded as horror fiction: examples include Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung) and In the Penal Colony (In der Strafkolonie). Franz Kafka approximately 1917 Franz Kafka (July 3, 1883 in Prague - June 3, 1924 in Vienna) was one of the major German language writers of the 20th century most of whose work was published posthumously. ... Metamophosis - First edition 1915 Illustration: Ottomar Starke The Metamorphosis (in German, Die Verwandlung) is a short story written by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915, and arguably the most famous of his works along with The Trial. ... In the Penal Colony (original title In der Strafkolonie) is a short story by Franz Kafka set in some unnamed penal colony. ...

Contemporary horror fiction

Modern practitioners of the genre have often resorted to--or used-- progressively greater extremes of violence, often recalling grand guignol theatre. (See splatterpunk) This has given horror fiction a stigma as base entertainment devoid of literary merit. Other writers, such as Ramsey Campbell and Thomas Ligotti are cited as rejecting such violence in favor of more subtle writing. Grand Guignol is an adjective describing any dramatic entertainment featuring the violently gruesome and gory. ... Splatterpunk is a neologism coined to describe a subgenre of horror fiction distiguished by its graphic depiction of violence. ... Ramsey Campbell (born January 4, 1946 in Liverpool) is a British writer, who is considered by many to be one of the masters of late 20th century horror fiction. ... Thomas Ligotti (born July 9, 1953, in Detroit, Michigan) is a writer of horror stories. ...

Nevertheless, contemporary writers such as Clive Barker in The Books of Blood and Stephen King in his more considered work, such as Misery, are capable of bringing off the horror effect without excessive violence which characterises much of the current mainstream of this genre. Clive Barker (born October 5, 1952, Liverpool, England) is a British author, director and visual artist. ... This page is about Stephen Edwin King, the writer. ... Misery is a novel by Stephen King, written in 1987. ...

The rise of the Internet has allowed horror authors and fans to create new subsets of the genre. Numerous web based fanzines have provided a market for both amateur and professional writers which is (for better or for worse) unfettered by the tastes and judgments of the professional publishing houses. The Internet, or simply the Net, is the publicly available worldwide system of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using a standardized Internet Protocol (IP) and many other protocols. ... A fanzine (also called a zine) is an amateur publication created by fans of a particular cultural phenomena (such as a literary genre or type of music) to address or correspond with others who share their interest. ...

See also

• Horror film
• List of horror fiction authors
• Psychological horror
• Body horror
• Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase

DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. ... This is a list of some notable authors in the horror fiction genre. ... Psychological horror is horror based on knowledge and situation as opposed to horror based on gore and fright. ... Body horror is horror based on a sense of physical wrongness in the body. ... The Internet Speculative Fiction Database is a database of bibliographic information on science fiction and related genres such as fantasy fiction and horror fiction. ...

External links

• "Supernatural Horror in Literature" essay by H. P. Lovecraft on horror fiction antecendents (http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/superhor.htm)
• Indiana University horror fiction discussion mailing list (http://php.indiana.edu/~mlperkin/horror.html)
• The Harrow horror zine (http://www.theharrow.com)