Horror. No doubt about it. Don’t even have to think about it. My go-to for pleasure reading is horror. I consume these novels like candy. Not the blood-and-guts type, but the more nuanced, psychologically menacing type of horror. As Jordan Peele says, “…the things you don’t see are the scariest.”
That’s the cool thing about historical fiction: it has sub-genres. Once such sub-genre is historical horror. My go-to for reading in this category is Alma Katsu. She’s known for The Hunger (a re-telling of the Donner Party expedition), The Deep (a re-telling of the sinking of the Titanic), and The Fervor (set in the Japanese internment camps of the American West). I highly recommend any of her works. More importantly, she has demonstrated that actual events can have a fictional bend into horror while maintaining the integrity of people and places.
While I would love to write horror in the vein of Stephen King or Joe Hill, I am inspired by Catriona Ward (The House at the End of Needless Street still haunts me) and Keith Donohue. These two authors have mastered the art of nuanced terror, slowly dropping clues that drive the reader into full blown panic attacks. They make me see the world in dangerous ways that both thrill and repulse me.
I got to meet Mr. Donohue at the Gaithersburg Book Festival a few years back. Ah—I’m such a fan girl. Couldn’t even put two words together when I actually met him. His novel, The Stolen Child, is a masterclass in building suspense. And when the reality of what is really going on is finally revealed? Ugh!! Amazing! Horrifying! I loved it! I have deconstructed this novel, but cannot find my way to do anything remotely similar in my own work. It’s like there’s a disconnect between my brain and my hand—I sit at the keyboard, but can’t translate the terror. Which is why I keep reading…studying…practicing.
Horror is what I love to read, what I aspire to write. My goal is to combine the historical horror talents of Katsu with the psychological terror elements of Ward and Donohue. And yes, I am actively creating my own brand of horror. (Hint: the second novel in my Jamestown series is historical horror.) Consider yourself warned.
