Why is Halloween and Horror Fiction so popular?

Published on by Jean M. Cogdell

Maybe it’s the rush we feel when frightened.

Maybe it’s a sense of relief when we realize we are safe. crime-268896_640

Maybe it’s a peek into the darkest corners of the human mind.

Whatever the reason, should you consider writing this genre?

Me, I love to read a good horror book. But hate watching it come to life on the big screen. There’s just something about seeing the story played out in gory colors that is a step too much for me.

My grandson just recently saw his first horror flick. My fault. I loved the book Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and recommended it to my daughter. So off they go to the movie theater. Oops, I’d no idea the movie was more of a horror flick than the book.

Whether it’s Steven King,  Ransom Riggs, R.L. Stine, or vampire horror by Anne Rice reading books that scare us are popular for a reason. 

Fear, laughter, relief, joy. Horror fiction stirs our emotions.

A recent blog post by Kristen Lamb, How Horror Fiction Can Make Us Better Writers made me think that maybe I could use this genre to help my general fiction.

13 Quotes On Writing From Horror Authors, Because Scaring Readers Is No Easy Feat

Writing over the top emotions that stir the soul and strike fear in the reader may be just what I need to become a better writer.

What do you think, would dabbling in Horror Fiction help your writing? 

Got a Halloween story lurking in the back of your mind?

Do you have a favorite author that writes horror fiction?

Do share in the comments! I’d  love to know. 

I’d love to hear from you! Click the “write me” tab or contact me on Twitter @jeancogdell,Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children Book 1) by [Riggs, Ransom]      It by [King, Stephen]   Product Details

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6 thoughts on “Why is Halloween and Horror Fiction so popular?”

  1. Most horror stories don’t scare me in the slightest. Too much of a realist, I guess. Taking a better look at horror to develop the antagonist though, may be me some good so I can see the darkest corners of the personality.

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  2. I can’t do horror – movies or books. I hate it. I’ve always been afraid of the dark. I was teased by my older brother and my father as a kid. They thought it was funny. It left a mark. I tried to read Miss peregrine but I couldn’t get into it to save me. I thought the pictures were creepy and the story dull. I couldn’t get past the beginning. It never drew me in. I’ll definitely skip the movie now. I hate Stephen King. I always thought that books were scarier than movies because your imagination does more than a film can. I was scared of Jaws until they showed the shark. Then it was so fake and silly-looking it was no longer scary to me. When it’s all in your mind, it can be terrifying.

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    1. I love Steven King’s books but hate the movies. I guess with my imagination, I can make things less horrible. You’re right, the mind can be a terrifying place. I think that’s what I want to tap into with my characters. 🙂

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  3. I know many, many people that love to watch horror. I can’t, I have nightmares if I do. I can read a scary book without having nightmares but it sort of hangs with me for a while. Many years ago I read a book ‘Harvest Home’. Talk about scary.
    When I got married years later and we were on our honeymoon in the middle of January with over twenty inches of snow on the ground,. We stayed in a Pocono, Pa. resort. One night a world premier movie was being televised. Keep in mind this was 1978. My groom and I decided to have dinner in our lovely cabin by the fire and watch the movie. When the show started I said; “I saw this already”.
    “Pat, you couldn’t have, this is the first time it has ever been shown”.
    I started telling him what was going to happen next. How this couple moves to Salem and how the witches and sacrifices took place. Then I started to tell him how they cut out the guy’s tong and a whole bunch or gory stuff. He got this horrified look on his face.
    “There’s no way you could have seen this before. How come you know what’s going to happen”.
    “I told you I’ve seen this before”.
    He started to freak out. “No way, impossible. What the hell is going on here”?
    He looked terrified, I was laughing my butt off.
    After about the third commercial I finally remembered about the book.
    “Oh I know why I know what’s going to happen next”.
    “How? How do you know”.
    ” I read the book a few years ago”.
    ” Oh, thank God, you had me going there. I thought I was a goner. I was almost ready to leave. I thought you were one of them”.
    We laughed ourselves silly over that for quite some time. :o)

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