I’m like Andrew, in that I don’t usually think about genre when I start writing–I find a story and I just go for it. Usually, but not always, they come out pretty dark. More often than not there’s a blend of genres, but sometimes it’s straight up SF, crime, fantasy, historical fiction, or even social realism. (I dislike the term ‘literary fiction’).

You’ll notice that I didn’t include horror in there, although I believe that most of it counts as horror–indeed, I’ve published four volumes of an out-and-out horror anthology. I guess my position is that I’m not convinced that horror is a genre–or, if it is, it’s orthogonal to most other genres.

Horror, as Alan pointed out in the main article, is a feeling. I think that most of the horror stories we talk about are actually stories from other genres (most often fantasy or crime) that are just told with an emphasis on evoking horror.

ALIEN is a great science fiction movie that’s steeped in horror.

I think comedy is another genre that’s orthogonal in the same way. HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, is, likewise, a great science fiction novel that’s steeped in comedy.

Often horror fiction is very funny, and of course comedies can be equally horrifying. Look at EVIL DEAD 2 for a terrific example of the former, or, say, VERY BAD THINGS as a not-so-good example of the latter. Or HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE, which in its own way has quite a frightening outlook on things.

As I mentioned on facebook to some of the guys here, my comedy graphic novel from 2010 is categorized as horror because it’s about devil worshipers, but if you actually read it, it’s a lot closer to THE SIMPSONS than to ROSEMARY’S BABY.

Okay, so, I’m not saying that horror is not a genre, or that horror is comedy, or anything so severe; I’m just trying to express what I think is an interesting (and not specially original) way to look at it. Genre is a very plastic term. Genre boundaries change. Sometimes the slide across different ‘media’. Sometimes people deny that such things exist, or insist that the boundaries are particularly rigid.

For me, I feel as if my home is in the so-called genres, but I resent anybody who thinks that means that this is cause for snobbery, or that this cheapens the work I do outside what is considered genre. I believe that every story–EVERY STORY–falls into a genre of one description or another.

*sigh*