Stephen King
Never read horror fiction? That’s no reason you can’t write about it. Surely you have a fresh new perspective on a genre that 99% of the population has already decided is lowbrow trash read only by maladjusted teenage boys. Except for Stephen King. You probably know perfectly normal individuals who read Stephen King.
Especially if it’s around Halloween, you should have no shortage of opportunities to pitch your idea to someone in the mainstream media who is only familiar with horror from reading articles by experts like you. Although that person has probably read Stephen King, too, and maybe once saw an episode of The Walking Dead with their teenager.
The first thing your article/blog post/whatever needs is a photo that will grab the viewer (not literally, of course) and add some kind of legitimacy to your article. A photo of Stephen King, or of popular titles next to images of their cover art, is probably the ticket. Or, you could use movie or television stills from popular media. The faces of movie stars and monsters will always draw the eye.
Make sure your article title mentions vampires, zombies, and/or the apocalypse. That’s really all there is to the horror genre anyway. Don’t worry about doing actual research– just read a couple of past articles from the mainstream media. You can make up future trends yourself (who will know?) or talk about how literary authors are finally starting to write about the supernatural and make horror a legitimate genre with actual good books. If you want to take a historical angle, make sure to mention Frankenstein and Dracula. If you want to include details like the authors’ names, there’s always Wikipedia, which is a completely accurate and unbiased source of information.
Another great topic to write on is the harmful effects of horror fiction. You don’t actually need to consult studies to do some good old-fashioned fearmongering about how horror fiction is causing the degeneration of society, promoting abusive behaviors towards women and girls, or damaging our fragile youth. You’re writing out of genuine concern for the youth of today; they need to be sheltered from the gratuitous, misogynistic violence of the horror genre, which is much more of a concern than the gratuitous, misogynistic violence found anywhere else throughout popular culture. Certainly, actual readers and writers of horror fiction don’t have anything to say about the problematic nature of their preferred genre, a literary form intended to zero in on the worst fears in a tremendously flawed world. It’s much easier to ask protective parents and cultural critics like your next door neighbor leading questions to get the quotes you need and generate public outrage.
Once you’re done with your piece, you should immediately post a link to it on Twitter so everyone who follows you can instantly access it and express their appreciation for your fresh take on the state of horror fiction today. Congratulations, you’ve published your piece and made the world a better place with your insightful views on a genre of fiction you’ve never read. Except for that one book by Stephen King.
—With thanks for the inspiration to Jessica Tripler at BookRiot
Alan
July 7, 2015 at 12:46 pm
Regarding the harmful effects of horror on children, consider how many childhood actors from classic horror films have not turned into complete disasters compared to say, child actors from Nick or Disney. Now there’s a horror story.
Kirsten
July 7, 2015 at 7:35 pm
I’m really curious, how many child actors actually appear in classic horror films? Or, what’s your definition of classic? When I think “classic” I think Universal.
Angel
July 7, 2015 at 3:02 pm
Wow.I can smell the sarcasm from all the way over here.
Kirsten
July 7, 2015 at 7:27 pm
I like to think of it as satire, It’s hard to idenify tone online, but I hope your comment means you enjoyed it.
Michael Rowe
July 7, 2015 at 4:59 pm
This. Is. Wonderful.
As a horror writer—thank you.
Kirsten
July 7, 2015 at 7:37 pm
Michael, I’m so glad you liked it.
Derek Ailes
July 12, 2015 at 2:20 am
I read and write horror fiction. The horror genre is increasing in popularity and more people are willing to admit they’ve read more horror authors besides Stephen King. I got a kick out of this blog. The horror film industry is on the rise as well.
Kirsten
July 12, 2015 at 7:15 pm
Derek, thanks for your response. I am so tickled that people are reading and enjoying this! I do think we are seeing a resurgence in the publication of horror fiction, but much of the time it’s being disguised as “supernatural/apocalyptic/postapocalyptic/thriller/dystopian”. Most people either don’t like to admit outright that they read it, will admit they read it but take the attitude that it’s not worthwhile fiction, or don’t read it and have already made up their mind about it. Getting books like Zone One and World War Z on the bestseller lists has made it much more likely that someone will have read a horror novel not written by Stephen King. 🙂 Self-publishing and the Internet have made getting new horror out there much easier as well.
I don’t think that horror cinema has had the same kind of collapse that fiction did– it can be produced on a pretty low budget. We are seeing some real quality filmmaking now, with some excellent independent films being made, and I think it will be great when some of these finally get more widespread exposure. I’m hopeful for the genre overall– it’s not going away, and there is some great stuff out there.
Vivid Mind
July 14, 2015 at 8:27 pm
Hi, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your thoughts in your blog and found them very interesting, entertaining and thought-provoking too. Long live the horror genre. 🙂
Kirsten
July 15, 2015 at 1:59 pm
Thank you! Come back and visit us anytime!