Horror literature is often known for big fat novels, epics like Stephen King’s It, Mark Danielewski’s seemingly never-ending House of Leaves, and a good number of the other classics that came out in the 80’s and 90’s. Scary fiction, though, is often at its best when it’s quick and too-the-point, launching readers into creepiness before […]
The Surrealist movement proper was in large part inspired by the theories and techniques of Sigmund Freud and his students. André Breton, Salvadore Dali, Giorgio de Chirico, Valentine Hugo, Maya Deren, and the rest of their colleagues were all devoted to the idea that the unconscious mind could be explored through art that was deliberately […]
Horrific fiction often veers into nightmarish and inexplicable territory. After all, as Lovecraft pointed out, the oldest and most terrible fear is the fear of the unknown, and art that refuses to resolve itself into reasonable and rational sense is often that which bothers us the deepest. Or at least, so it is for me. […]
There’s a long history in the movies of investigating killers from a close perspective. One of the first was Fritz Lang’s M, a film that followed a child murderer played by the great Peter Lorre as he tried evading discovery and punishment, and the sub-genre has continued strong ever since. While movies can’t depict the […]
One of the functions fictions perform for us is broadening our understanding of other people. Novels that work as character studies are particularly adept at encouraging our sense of empathy. The following novels put us directly (or only a little indirectly) into the minds of broken, cruel, or psychopathic characters, all of whom have one […]
Humor in literature tends to rely on word-play, witty dialogue, absurd situations, and funny characters. Except for the word-play that can be used in descriptions, film can of course use these elements as well, but movies have the added strength of being able to employ slapstick, something that rarely comes across well in written fiction. […]
Horror and comedy can make for pleasant bedfellows for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. It may have something to do with our customary reactions to surprise. Jokes, witticisms, even prank-falls and slapstick all depend on an element of shock. A character uses the wrong word or behaves in a way wildly inappropriate for a given […]
Cinematic explorations of the haunted house trope can pull off tricks novels can’t. A director paired with an excellent set designer or location scout can present a creepy home in great detail. They can pull us through dark hallways and around corners, filling these spaces with manic energy or quiet unease. Sudden creaks and bangs […]
Visit these ten creepy haunted house novels for housebound horror and architectural evils.
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