For writers of all fiction
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Despite the title, 'On Writing Horror,' like many instructional guides, offers advice on fiction in general on topics such as characterisation and speech tags. Of course, it leans toward horror, but there lies a doubt. What is horror and is the label a useful one? What recurs in the chapters of the forty-odd contributors here is an emphasis on 'good fiction' first in which an element of darkness, uncertainty and the macabre can thrive. Most importantly, it is an entertaining book, as most of the contributors possess wit.
It's an American book, the Horror Writers Association being based in the US, with the result that a handful of chapters on topics such as workshops and local conventions are of little use unless you live there. These chapters are, however, the exception rather than the rule. I hadn't previously heard of most of the contributors, but the ones I had include Joyce Carol Oates, Ramsay Campbell, Jack Ketchum (who should be renamed Ketchup) and Harlan Ellison (his interview, in which he calls the value of horror as a genre into question, is one of the highlights). The transcript of a Stephen King award acceptance speech also appears, though it's of limited value.
Perhaps the lines that stick most in my mind come from critic Douglas E. Winter: 'Horror is not a genre. It is an emotion,' and 'it can be found in all great literature.' If you want advice on writing any kind of fiction, this is an illuminating read.
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