HORROR IS BACK!

In the 1970s and 80s horror fiction was huge, the genre dominated by bestselling titles by Stephen King and James Herbert, writes Gary Dalkin.

Shelves were filled with books by Ramsey Campbell, Shaun Hutson, Brian Lumley, Mark Morris,

Stephen Laws and many others. Writer and director Clive Barker was cited as the future of horror. And then the boom ended, with many bookshops no longer having a dedicated horror section, what remained of the genre dividing between small independent imprints such as PS Publishing, and urban and paranormal fantasy, with YA titles such as Twilight coming to dominate.

But now horror is back. According to the Bookseller sales rose 54% between 2022-23, and then have been 34% higher so far this year than last. Not taking inflation into account, 2022-23 was officially the genre’s most successful year on record in the UK.

As to why, authors and publishers speculate that readers turn to darker fiction in troubled times, either for metaphorical explanation, or because it is stress-relieving to read about someone else having a worse time than yourself. Jen Williams, author of The Hungry Dark, was quoted by the Guardian: ‘Horror is a genre that tends to ebb and flow with what’s going on in the world at large, holding up a dark funfair mirror to real world horrors.’

Meanwhile Suzie Dooré, editor-at-large for Borough Press, noted that, ‘…perhaps there’s an element of “Well, it could be worse, I could be under attack from vengeful spirits.”’

Jane Flett, author of the forthcoming Freakslaw, suggests, ‘There’s a perverse comfort in snuggling up against the darkness when everything is so fraught. But more specifically, for me queer horror offers a space where I get to play with both power and powerlessness. It’s incredibly cathartic to lean into those feelings willingly, in a world that’s often keen to take our agency away from us.’

Verve Books campaign’s director Sarah StewartSmith said that readers relate to fictions exploring, ‘the expression of female rage and what happens when something so long suppressed finally ruptures,’ arguing that the genre has moved away from King’s ‘classic horror style’. So saying though, she overlooks King’s massively bestselling debut, Carrie, (or his later Dolores Claiborne) published exactly 50 years ago and both as fine an exploration of female rage as anyone could want. Perhaps horror is coming full circle, and it’s time to get writing.