Horror is a genre of fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten or scare. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which are in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". Horror intends to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere for the reader. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for larger fears of a society.
Robert Lawrence Stine, known by his pen name R.L. Stine, is an American novelist. He is the writer of Goosebumps, a horror fiction novel series which has sold over 400 million copies globally in 35 languages, becoming the second-best-selling book series in history. The series spawned a media franchise including two television series, a video game series, a comic series, and two feature films. Stine has been referred to as the "Stephen King of children's literature".
Tentacle erotica is a type of pornography most commonly found in Japan that integrates traditional pornography with elements of bestiality, fantasy, horror, and science fiction. It is found in some horror or hentai titles, with tentacled creatures having sexual intercourse, predominantly with females or, to a lesser extent, males. Tentacle erotica can be consensual but mostly contains elements of rape.
Splatterpunk is a movement within horror fiction originating in the 1980s, distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence, countercultural alignment and "hyperintensive horror with no limits." The term was coined in 1986 by David J. Schow at the Twelfth World Fantasy Convention in Providence, Rhode Island. Splatterpunk is regarded as a revolt against the "traditional, meekly suggestive horror story". Splatterpunk has been defined as a "literary genre characterised by graphically described scenes of an extremely gory nature."
Danse Macabre is a 1981 non-fiction book by Stephen King, about horror fiction in print, TV, radio, film and comics, and the influence of contemporary societal fears and anxieties on the genre. When the book was republished King included a new Forenote dated June 1983. And when the book was republished on February 23, 2010, it included an additional new forenote in the form of a longer essay entitled "What's Scary".
Inseminoid is a 1981 British science fiction horror film directed by Norman J. Warren and starring Judy Geeson, Robin Clarke and Stephanie Beacham, along with Victoria Tennant in one of her early film roles. The plot concerns a team of archaeologists and scientists who are excavating the ruins of an ancient civilisation on a distant planet. One of the women in the team (Geeson) is impregnated by an alien creature and taken over by a mysterious intelligence, driving her to murder her colleagues one by one and feed on them.
Brian James Freeman is an American author whose fiction has been published in magazines and anthologies including Borderlands 5, Corpse Blossoms, and all four volumes of the Shivers series. His first novel, Black Fire, was written under the pseudonym James Kidman. Published in 2004 by Leisure Books and Cemetery Dance Publications, the book was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel, one of the major awards in the horror genre. His work has been nominated for several awards in the horror genre over the years. Cemetery Dance Publications recently published his Blue November Storms, a new novella, and The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book, which he wrote with Stephen King expert Bev Vincent. Acclaimed horror artist Glenn Chadbourne created over fifty unique illustrations for the book.
The Beast Within is a 1982 American horror film directed by Philippe Mora and starring Ronny Cox, Bibi Besch, Paul Clemens, L. Q. Jones, Don Gordon, R. G. Armstrong, Logan Ramsey, Katherine Moffat, and Meshach Taylor.
Gerald "Jerry" Neal Williamson was an American horror writer and editor known under the name J. N. Williamson. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana he graduated from Shortridge High School. He studied journalism at Butler University. He published his first novel in 1979 and went on to publish more than 40 novels and 150 short stories. In 2003 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Horror Writers of America. He edited the critically acclaimed How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction (1987) which covered the themes of such writing and cited the works of such writers as Robert Bloch, Lee Prosser, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, William F. Nolan, and Stephen King. Many important writers in the genre contributed to the book. Williamson edited the popular anthology series, Masques. Some of his novels include The Ritual (1979), Playmates (1982), Noonspell (1991), The Haunt (1999), among others.
Richard Thomas Chizmar is an American writer, the publisher and editor of Cemetery Dance magazine, and the owner of Cemetery Dance Publications. He also edits anthologies, produces films, writes screenplays, and teaches writing.
Cemetery Dance Publications is an American specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. Cemetery Dance was founded by Richard Chizmar, a horror author, while he was in college. It is associated with Cemetery Dance magazine, which was founded in 1988. They began to publish books in 1992. They later expanded to encompass a magazine and website featuring news, interviews, and reviews related to horror literature.
Salem's Lot is a 1979 American two-part vampire miniseries based on the 1975 horror novel 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King. Directed by Tobe Hooper and starring David Soul and James Mason, the plot concerns a writer who returns to his hometown and discovers that its citizens are turning into vampires. Salem's Lot combines elements of the vampire film and haunted house subgenres of horror.
Edward Lee is an American horror novelist who has written 40 books, more than half of which have been published by mass-market New York City paperback companies such as Leisure/Dorchester, Berkley, and Zebra/Kensington. He is a Bram Stoker award nominee for his story “Mr. Torso,” and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass-market anthologies, including the award-winning “999”. Several of his novels have sold translation rights to Germany, Greece, Romania, and Poland. He also publishes quite actively in the small-press/limited-edition hardcover market; many of his books in this category have become collector's items.
John Skipp is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on multiple novels, and has also collaborated with Marc Levinthal and Cody Goodfellow. He worked as editor-in-chief of both Fungasm Press and Ravenous Shadows.
Rape and revenge, or rape-revenge, is a horror film subgenre characterized by an individual enacting revenge for rape or other sexual acts committed against them. Rape and revenge films are commonly thrillers or vigilante films.
The Beast House is a 1986 horror novel by American author Richard Laymon. It is the first sequel to Laymon's 1980 novel The Cellar.
The Midnight Tour is a 1998 horror novel by American author Richard Laymon, originally released by Feature Publishing. It is the third chapter in the author's "Beast House Chronicles" series, preceded by The Cellar in 1980 and The Beast House in 1986, and followed in 2001 by the posthumously published novella Friday Night in Beast House.
Darkness, Tell Us is a 1991 horror novel by American writer Richard Laymon. Originally published by Headline Features, it is currently available in a paperback edition from Leisure Fiction.
The Travelling Vampire Show is a 2000 horror novel by American author Richard Laymon.
Night in the Lonesome October (2001) is a horror novel by the American author Richard Laymon. Released in October 2001, it was one of several books in the author's catalogue published posthumously, following his death in February of the same year. The title is a reference to the Edgar Allan Poe poem "Ulalume".
