SF Signal: The Next Big Literary Movement: Horror

The Next Big Literary Movement: Horror

According to the UK Independent, horror is set to be one of the coolest literary trends of 2007.

According to Nielsen BookScan, which compiles the nation's book charts, sales of titles classified as horror and ghost stories almost doubled...in 2005. The number of copies sold increased from 566,000 in 2005 to almost one million (892,000) over the same period. Though old-school writers including Herbert, Dean Koontz and Shaun Hutson continue to dominate, new names are emerging, though not all are classified as horror.

The article goes on to discuss genre rat-holes and how some authors (like Joe Hill, author of Heart-Shaped Box) are crossing genre boundaries into mainstream fiction, or vice versa.

[via Mark Chadbourn]

Maybe hit films like Wolf Creek and Saw are encouraging people to seek out similar thrills in their fiction?

Posted by Simon Haynes on Friday February 09, 2007 at 12:59 AM

I'm old school horror
like Dark Shadows from
the 1960's. What I've
been noticing is the
trend to have horror
mix in with my local
version of the Sci-fi
channel to the point
where I don't even watch
the station anymore. Next,
book stores will mix horror
in with Sci-fi. Bad enough
they mix fantasy and Sci-fi
together

Posted by Anonymous on Friday February 09, 2007 at 1:52 AM

Huh? How many years has Stephen King, Dean Koontz, etc., been on the bestseller lists? How long have the bookshelves been creaking under the weight of endless serials involving vampires (or vampire detectives, or vampire killers)?

If this is the "coolest literary trend of 2007", what else has this up-to-the-minute publication missed?

Posted by Fred Kiesche on Friday February 09, 2007 at 9:41 AM