Don’t worry, I leave post comments open, because I am always up for a discussion 😀 Agree – like any genre I guess – we need sub genres to please everyones needs.

I have to agree on your second point too – I think it actually IS easier to write gore than psychological horror. Because psychological horror is all about insinuation and what you’re saying by NOT saying something! definitely a harder skill to crack.

Thanks for commenting 😀

That is interesting, Marje. Have you read (King’s) Doctor Sleep novel yet? My comment is about a different angle, not a survivor, but an antagonist depicted . . . I was struck by how King humanized one of the minor characters in it, a previously villainous type, by having that character concerned about the dog he left back at home (who would feed and love the dog, when he was gone?). This sounds like a good story; is it in a recent King short story collection or one of the older ones like (?I think) Skeleton Crew or Night Shift (if I’m remembering the titles correctly)?

I’m super-late in responding to this fascinating blog post and comments, but here goes. Yes, definitely, thankfully, there are so many sub-genres to horror—not just the extreme horror. I was reading, as an impressionable teenager, Barker’s Books of Blood, not knowing that there was a genre forming (usually called splatterpunk or ‘extreme horror,’ today anyway) around it. I became, or felt I did, desensitized to a degree while reading horror that gory, so I gave it up ultimately, at that time. That said, I feel it’s somewhat easier to write the gross-out horror than it is the psychological or uncanny stuff (for me). With writing horror, I had to get over the barrier that I didn’t have to write about my fears in particular, but simply a fear (or fears). So, although I’m not freaked out by ants or ghosts, I’ve written a horror-inspired (but probably classified as slipstream) story around ants and several around the paranormal/ghosts. Now again, as a parent, I find that I’m more affected by plot lines involving children; those really get to me psychologically.

Thanks Robert and thanks for the share too.

I agree on the surprise and suspense. I think suspense is key for horror. Gore is probably a personal preference. I guess in its truest form horror has gore, but I don’t think its an essential any more. Perhaps because the genre has diversified so much, as many genres have.

Keep writing! Just KEEEEEEP writing 😀

Totally agree Sacha. It’s all about what terrifies US.

hey Bre, sorry for the delay, the bloggers bash has been crazy! it’s a good point and I guess it depends on what your definition of horror is. To me, the prospect of terrorism demolishing all our national treasures and making London a city of rubble is kind of scary.

Very true Sacha. Then after that, our morality, is what happens to us after that? Any favourites on that subject? 🙂