My story, Beware Said the Man of Straw, has been published in an online magazine called Havok on Thriller Thursday. 

And I couldn’t be more pleased.

See https://gohavok.com/ (only available on Thursday, January 14, 2021).

It’s been a longtime dream of mine to publish a short horror story (and beyond calling it a horror story, I won’t say anything more). I’ve been an avid reader of the genre for years and admire the greats in horror fiction, past and present.

My publication made me think about this little corner of storytelling. When you picture fiction, picture a Victorian street straight out of a Christmas Carol. There’s a brightly lit store called Romance which is four stories tall. One story lit in enticing red, but we won’t speak too much about that one. And across the way is Adventure, built not of stone but of wood with a thatch roof. Why, there’s Mystery down the lane, looking all dark and gloomy yet the entire purpose of the store is to guide you to its spectacular exit. And there’s Fantasy shaped like a castle and Science Fiction shaped like a rocket ship next to each other. Nearby is Contemporary, well-lighted and all sleek and modern looking.

But down a small alley is a black-painted door with a blood-red lettered sign on top. “Horror” it proclaims! The alleyway has shadows where none should be, and you swear you saw someone peeking at you from a window above the store. Yes, it takes nerve to enter. But that’s the rub, so many do.

Why do people like horror novels? I’m purposely focusing here on books, not movies or any other media. A horror movie, play, even television episode is something that exists in time. You choose to experience it knowing precisely when it will be over. Books are an altogether different beast. You choose and must actively read to experience a horror novel. Reading is an active experience. Reading a horror novel invites the feeling of suspense and dread. You are not only the participant but, because novels aren’t visual, also the perpetrator. Subconsciously, you’re asking your imagination to scare you, with a lot of help from the author, sure, but you are more invested. Your mind is the movie screen.

So why do people do this? Why do people seek out zombies, murder, psychopaths, and haunted houses? Obviously, some don’t. They hate horror novels, and it’s fairly easy to see why. For the rest of us, what is the compulsion to read something that’s scary? I think it has to do with curiosity and thrill-seeking.

Thrillseekers first. Some people love a challenge. They want to be scared but come out of it the other side. Usually, these people enjoy horror novels. My neighborhood is boring, but what if a vampire lived next door? The office is the same every day but wouldn’t be cool if my cubemate was a psychopath? And what if we’re working late on a project together? And I step away to get something, check my phone and receive a note that my companion is a psychopath? I return to my cube, but my cube mate is gone. On my desk is a letter. “I know you know.” Rather livens up the old workplace, doesn’t it? Thrillseekers are roller coaster riders. They enjoy the rush.

The curious aren’t often talked about. Let’s face it—horror novels are about death, pure and simple. That’s the end game with nearly all horror novels. Sure, some have soul-destruction and other metaphysical tortures but mostly they’re about death. The curious ask “What’s after death?” And where are they going to find that answer? In a romance, in a contemporary, in a western? Usually not. No, why are there ghosts? What happened to zombies and could it happen to me? What if you were immune to most forms of death, like a werewolf, but at a cost of being savage? Be careful here, a novel could be about a werewolf but not involve death at all, and have no suspense. That’s a fantasy. Horror novels trade their wares in blood money.

There are as many reasons to love horror novels as there are readers. More than thrill-seeking and curiosity, certainly, but I think these two motivate a lot of people. Horror novels say “Come with me and I will thrill you and show you a glimpse of the life hereafter.” Who wouldn’t want flip page after page for that?