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Horror fiction

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Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a genre of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, scare or startle viewers/readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural. The genre has ancient origins which were reformulated in the eighteenth century as Gothic horror, with publication of the Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole.

History

Supernatural horror has its roots in folklore and religious traditions, focusing on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic and the principle of evil embodied in the Devil.[1] These were manifested in stories of witches, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and demonic pacts such as that of Faust.

Eighteenth century Gothic horror drew on these sources in such works as Vathek (1786) by William Beckford, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and The Italian (1796) by Ann Radcliffe and The Monk (1797) by Matthew Lewis. A lot of horror fiction of this era was written by women and marketed at a female audience, a typical scenario being a resourceful female protagonist menaced in a gloomy castle.[2]

The Gothic tradition continued in the 19th century, in such works as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818), Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, the works of Sheridan Le Fanu, Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Enduring icons of horror derived from these stories include Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein's Monster, Count Dracula, and Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde.[3]

Influential horror writers of the early twentieth century include H. P. Lovecraft and M. R. James.

One of the best-known contemporary horror writers is Stephen King who is best known for writing Carrie, The Shining, It, Misery and many more. Beginning in the 1970s, King's stories have managed to attract a large audience, for which he was prized by the U.S. National Book Foundation in 2003.[4]

Characteristics

The trait of the genre of horror is that it provokes a response, emotional, psychological or physical within each individual that causes someone to react with fear.

In Noël Carroll's 'Philosophy of Horror,' he postulates that a modern piece of horror fiction's "monster," villain, or a more inclusive menace must exhibit the following two triats:

  • A menace that is threatening - either physically, psychologically, socially, morally, spiritually, or some combination of the aforementioned.
  • A menace that is impure - that violates the generally accepted schemes of cultural categorization. "We consider impure that which is categorically contradictory[5]"

Scholarship and criticism

Scholarship on horror fiction is almost as old as horror fiction itself. In 1826, the gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe published an essay distinguishing two elements of horror fiction, "terror" and "horror." Whereas terror is a feeling of dread that takes place before an event happens, horror is a feeling of revulsion or disgust after an event has happened.[6] Radcliffe describes terror as that which "expands the soul and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life," whereas horror is described as that which "freezes and nearly annihilates them."

Modern scholarship on horror fiction draws upon a range of sources. In their historical studies of the gothic novel, both Devandra Varma[7] and S.L. Varnado[8] make reference to the theologian Rudolf Otto, whose concept of the "numinous" was originally used to describe religious experience.

Awards and associations

Achievements in horror fiction are recognized by numerous awards. The Horror Writer's Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror novel Dracula.[9] The International Horror Guild presents its own annual awards, as do organisations such as the Australian Horror Writers Association with its annual Australian Shadows Award. Other important awards for horror literature are as subcategories included within general awards for fantasy and science fiction in such awards as the Aurealis Award.

See also

References

  1. ^ Rosemary Jackson (1981). Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion. London: Methuen. pp. 53–5, 68–9.
  2. ^ Richard Davenport-Hines (1998). Gothic: 1500 Years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin. London: Fourth Estate.
  3. ^ Christopher Frayling (1996). Nightmare: The Birth of Horror. London: BBC Books.
  4. ^ Hillel Italie (September 18, 2003). "Stephen King receives honorary National Book Award". Ellensburg Daily Record. Retrieved 2010-09-12. Stephen King, brand-name writer, master of the horror story and e-book pioneer, has received an unexpected literary honor: a National Book Award for lifetime achievement.
  5. ^ "Elements of Horror" (PDF). Redlodge. Retrieved 2012-11-2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. ^ Anne Radcliffe, "On the Supernatural in Poetry", The New Monthly Magazine 7 (1826): 145–52.
  7. ^ Devandra Varma, The Gothic Flame (New York: Russell & Russell, 1966.
  8. ^ S.L. Varnado, "The Idea of the Numinous in Gothic Literature," in The Gothic Imagination, ed. G.R. Thompson (Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1974).
  9. ^ Horror Writer's Association. "The Bram Stoker Awards". Retrieved 13 April 2010.

Further reading

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