Editing Horror fiction (section)

==History==
===Before 1000===
[[File:Athenodorus - The Greek Stoic Philosopher Athenodorus Rents a Haunted House.jpg|thumb|upright|alt= Athenodorus and the ghost, by [[Henry Justice Ford]], {{circa}} 1900|An illustration of [[Andrew Lang]]'s "[[Athenodorus Cananites|Athenodorus]] confronts the Spectre"]]

The horror genre has ancient origins, with roots in folklore and religious traditions focusing on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic, and the principle of the thing embodied in the person.<ref>{{cite book|first= Rosemary|last= Jackson |year= 1981|title= Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion|publisher= [[Methuen Publishing|Methuen]]|place= London|pages= 53–5, 68–9}}</ref> These manifested in stories of beings such as demons, witches, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Some early European horror-fiction were the [[Ancient Greeks]] and [[Ancient Romans]].<ref>{{Cite web|title= Even Ancient Greeks and Romans Enjoyed Good Scary Stories, Professor Says|url= https://phys.org/news/2007-10-ancient-greeks-romans-good-scary.html|access-date= 2020-09-02|website= phys.org|language= en|archive-date= 13 October 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201013202820/https://phys.org/news/2007-10-ancient-greeks-romans-good-scary.html|url-status= live}}</ref> [[Mary Shelley]]'s well-known 1818 novel about [[Frankenstein]] was greatly influenced by the story of [[Hippolytus (son of Theseus)|Hippolytus]], whom [[Asclepius]] revives from death.<ref>Though the sub-title of ''Frankenstein'' references the [[titans|titan]] Prometheus, none of the ancient myths about Prometheus is itself a horror tale.</ref> [[Euripides]] wrote plays based on the story, ''Hippolytos Kalyptomenos'' and [[Hippolytus (play)|''Hippolytus'']].<ref>* Edward P. Coleridge, 1891, prose: [http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/e/euripides/hippolytus/ full text] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060412140830/http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/e/euripides/hippolytus/ |date= 12 April 2006 }}</ref> In [[Plutarch]]'s ''[[Parallel Lives]]'' in the account of [[Cimon]], the author describes the spirit of a [[murderer]], Damon, who himself was murdered in a [[Public bathing|bathhouse]] in [[Chaeronea]].<ref>* John Dryden, 1683: [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lives_(Dryden_translation)/Cimon full text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162201/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Lives_(Dryden_translation)/Cimon |date=12 June 2018 }}</ref>

[[Pliny the Younger]] (61 to {{circa}} 113) tells the tale of [[Athenodorus Cananites]], who bought a haunted house in [[Athens]]. Athenodorus was cautious since the house seemed inexpensive. While writing a book on philosophy, he was visited by a ghostly figure bound in chains. The figure disappeared in the courtyard; the following day, the magistrates dug in the courtyard and found an unmarked grave.<ref>
Pliny the Younger (1909–14). "LXXXIII. To Sura". In Charles W. Eliot. Letters, by Pliny the Younger; translated by [[William Melmoth the younger|William Melmoth]]; revised by F. C. T. Bosanquet. The Harvard Classics. 9. New York: P.F. Collier & Son.
</ref>

Elements of the horror genre also occur in [[Biblical]] texts, notably in the [[Book of Revelation]].<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Beal
 | first1 = Timothy
 | author-link1 = Timothy Beal
 | chapter = Left Behind Again: The Rise and Fall of Evangelical Rapture Horror Culture
 | title = The Book of Revelation: A Biography
 | url =  https://books.google.com/books?id=2WaYDwAAQBAJ
 | series = Lives of Great Religious Books
 | date = 23 October 2018
 | location = Princeton
 | publisher = Princeton University Press
 | publication-date = 2018
 | page = 197
 | isbn = 9780691145839
 | access-date = 9 April 2021
 | quote = Taken together with the rapture and tribulation themes in evangelical apocalyptic horror movies, this zombie connection testifies to the variety of ways that Revelation feeds into deep, largely repressed correspondences between religion and horror in contemporary culture. 
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Pippin
 | first1 = Tina
 | title = Death and Desire: The Rhetoric of Gender in the Apocalypse of John
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=juAXEAAAQBAJ
 | publisher = 	Wipf and Stock Publishers
 | publication-date = 2021
 | page = 105
 | isbn = 9781725294189
 | access-date = 9 April 2021
 | year = 1992
 | quote = If these books were arranged in a bookstore, one would find all the women writers under 'science fiction.' The Apocalyse, on the other hand, would be found under 'horror literature.'
}}
</ref>

===After 1000===

The [[Witch of Berkeley]] by [[William of Malmesbury]] has been viewed as an early horror story.<ref name="Livermore 2021 p. 43">{{cite book | last=Livermore | first=C. | title=When the Dead Rise: Narratives of the Revenant, from the Middle Ages to the Present Day | publisher=D.S. Brewer | year=2021 | isbn=978-1-84384-576-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ikI3EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 | access-date=2023-06-01 | page=43 | archive-date=1 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601232902/https://books.google.com/books?id=ikI3EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 | url-status=live }}</ref> [[Werewolf]] stories were popular in medieval [[French literature]]. One of [[Marie de France]]'s twelve [[Lai (poetic form)|lai]]s is a werewolf story titled "[[Bisclavret]]".
[[File:Vlad Tepes coloured drawing.png|thumb|left|upright|alt=A Print of Vlad III|[[Vlad the Impaler]], the inspiration for [[Count Dracula]].]]
The Countess Yolande commissioned a werewolf story titled "[[Guillaume de Palerme]]". Anonymous writers penned two werewolf stories, "Biclarel" and "[[Melion]]".

Much horror fiction derives from the cruellest personages of the 15th century. [[Dracula]] can be traced to the Prince of [[Wallachia]] [[Vlad III]], whose alleged [[war crimes]] were published in [[German language|German]] pamphlets. A 1499 pamphlet was published by Markus Ayrer, which is most notable for its [[woodcut]] imagery.<ref>Raymond T. McNally and Radu R. Florescu (1972). "In Search of Dracula." Houghton Milton. Pages 8–9.</ref>  The alleged serial-killer sprees of [[Gilles de Rais]] have been seen as the inspiration for "[[Bluebeard]]".<ref>Kiernan, Dr. Jas. G. "Sexual Perversion, and the Whitechapel Murders." The Medical Standard: IV.5. G. P. Engelhard and Company: Chicago.</ref> The motif of the vampiress is most notably derived from the real-life noblewoman and murderer, [[Elizabeth Bathory]], and helped usher in the emergence of horror fiction in the 18th century, such as through László Turóczi's 1729 book ''Tragica Historia''.<ref>in Ungaria suis cum regibus compendia data, Typis Academicis Soc. Jesu per Fridericum Gall. Anno MCCCXXIX. Mense Sepembri Die 8. p 188-193, quoted by Farin</ref>

===18th century===
 [[File:Horace Walpole.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Horace Walpole]] wrote the first [[Gothic novel]], ''[[The Castle of Otranto]]'' (1764), initiating a new literary genre.<ref name="Walpole"/>]]
The 18th century saw the gradual development of [[Romanticism]] and the [[Gothic fiction|Gothic horror]] genre. It drew on the written and material heritage of the [[Late Middle Ages]], finding its form with [[Horace Walpole]]'s seminal and controversial 1764 novel, ''[[The Castle of Otranto]]''. In fact, the first edition was published disguised as an actual medieval romance from Italy, discovered and republished by a fictitious translator.<ref name="Walpole"/> Once revealed as modern, many found it [[anachronism|anachronistic]], [[reactionary]], or simply in poor taste, but it proved immediately popular.<ref name="Walpole">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30313775 "The Castle of Otranto: The creepy tale that launched gothic fiction"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703063419/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30313775 |date=3 July 2019 }}. BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2017</ref>

''Otranto'' inspired ''[[Vathek]]'' (1786) by [[William Thomas Beckford|William Beckford]], ''[[A Sicilian Romance]]'' (1790), ''[[The Mysteries of Udolpho]]'' (1794), ''[[The Italian (Radcliffe novel)|The Italian]]'' (1796) by [[Ann Radcliffe]], and ''[[The Monk]]'' (1797) by [[Matthew Lewis (writer)|Matthew Lewis]].<ref name="Walpole"/> A significant amount of horror fiction of this era was written by women and marketed towards a female audience, a typical scenario of the novels being a resourceful female menaced in a gloomy castle.<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard Davenport-Hines|year=1998|title=Gothic: 1500 Years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin|place=London|publisher=Fourth Estate}}</ref>

===19th century===
[[File:Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Rothwell.tif|left|thumb|upright|[[Mary Shelley]] by [[Richard Rothwell (painter)|Richard Rothwell]] (1840–41)]]
The [[Gothic fiction|Gothic tradition]] blossomed into the genre that modern readers today call horror literature in the 19th century. Influential works and characters that continue resonating in fiction and film today saw their genesis in the [[Brothers Grimm]]'s "[[Hänsel und Gretel]]" (1812), [[Mary Shelley]]'s ''[[Gothic aspects in Frankenstein|Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus]]'' (1818), [[John William Polidori|John Polidori]]'s "[[The Vampyre]]" (1819), [[Charles Maturin]]'s ''[[Melmoth the Wanderer]]'' (1820), [[Washington Irving]]'s "[[The Legend of Sleepy Hollow]]" (1820), [[Jane C. Loudon]]'s ''[[The Mummy!: Or a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century]]'' (1827), [[Victor Hugo]]'s ''[[The Hunchback of Notre-Dame]]'' (1831), [[Thomas Peckett Prest]]'s ''[[Varney the Vampire]]'' (1847), the works of [[Edgar Allan Poe]], the works of [[Sheridan Le Fanu]], [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''[[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]'' (1886), [[Oscar Wilde]]'s ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'' (1890), [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s "[[Lot No. 249]]" (1892), [[H. G. Wells]]' ''[[The Invisible Man]]'' (1897), and [[Bram Stoker]]'s ''[[Dracula]]'' (1897). Each of these works created an enduring icon of horror seen in later re-imaginings on the page, stage, and screen.<ref>{{cite book |author=Christopher Frayling |year=1996|title=''Nightmare: The Birth of Horror''|place=London|publisher=BBC Books}}</ref>

===20th century===
A proliferation of cheap periodicals around the turn of the century led to a boom in horror writing. For example, [[Gaston Leroux]] serialized his ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (novel)|Le Fantôme de l'Opéra]]'' before it became a novel in 1910. One writer who specialized in horror fiction for mainstream pulps, such as ''[[Argosy (magazine)|All-Story Magazine]],'' was [[Tod Robbins]], whose fiction deals with themes of madness and cruelty.<ref>[[Brian Stableford]], "Robbins, Tod", in [[David Pringle]], ed., ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers'' (London: St. James Press, 1998) {{ISBN|1558622063}} (pp. 480–1).</ref><ref>[[Lee Server]]. ''Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers''. New York: Facts On File, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-8160-4578-5}} (pp. 223–224).</ref>  In Russia, the writer [[Alexander Belyaev]] popularized these themes in his story ''[[Professor Dowell's Head]]'' (1925), in which a mad doctor performs experimental head transplants and reanimations on bodies stolen from the morgue and which was first published as a magazine serial before being turned into a novel.  Later, specialist publications emerged to give horror writers an outlet, prominent among them was ''[[Weird Tales]]''<ref>[[Robert Weinberg (author)|Robert Weinberg]], "Weird Tales" in M.B Tymn and Mike Ashley, ''Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines''. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1985.{{ISBN|0-313-21221-X}} (pp. 727–736).</ref> and ''[[Unknown Worlds]]''.<ref>"Unknown". in: M.B. Tymn and Mike Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines. Westport: Greenwood, 1985. pp.694-698. {{ISBN|0-313-21221-X}}</ref>

[[File:Howard Phillips Lovecraft in 1915.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[H. P. Lovecraft]] in 1915]]
Influential horror writers of the early 20th century made inroads in these mediums. Particularly, the venerated horror author [[H. P. Lovecraft]], and his enduring [[Cthulhu Mythos]] transformed and popularized the genre of [[cosmic horror]], and [[M. R. James]] is credited with redefining the [[ghost story]] in that era.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-07771-0.html|title=Medieval Studies and the Ghost Stories of M. R. James By Patrick J. Murphy|website=www.psupress.org|access-date=2020-03-17|archive-date=17 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317165713/http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-07771-0.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[serial murderer]] became a recurring theme. [[Yellow journalism]] and [[sensationalism]] of various murderers, such as [[Jack the Ripper]], and lesser so, [[Carl Panzram]], [[Fritz Haarman]], and [[Albert Fish]], all perpetuated this phenomenon. The trend continued in the postwar era, partly renewed after the murders committed by [[Ed Gein]]. In 1959, [[Robert Bloch]], inspired by the murders, wrote ''[[Psycho (novel)|Psycho]]''. The crimes committed in 1969 by the [[Manson Family]] influenced the slasher theme in horror fiction of the 1970s. In 1981, [[Thomas Harris]] wrote ''[[Red Dragon (novel)|Red Dragon]]'', introducing [[Dr. Hannibal Lecter]]. In 1988, the sequel to that novel, ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (novel)|The Silence of the Lambs]]'', was published.

Early cinema was inspired by many aspects of horror literature, and started a strong tradition of [[horror film]]s and subgenres that continues to this day. Up until the graphic depictions of violence and gore on the screen commonly associated with 1960s and 1970s [[slasher film]]s and [[splatter film]]s, [[comic books]] such as those published by [[EC Comics]] (most notably ''[[Tales from the Crypt (comics)|Tales From The Crypt]]'') in the 1950s satisfied readers' quests for horror imagery that the [[silver screen]] could not provide.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hutchings|first1=Peter|title=The A to Z of Horror Cinema|series=The A to Z Guide Series|volume=100|year=2008|publisher=The Scarecrow Press, Inc.|location=Lanham, MD|isbn=978-0-8108-6887-8|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_5DPHOVG7YC|access-date=29 October 2015}}</ref> This imagery made these comics controversial, and as a consequence, they were frequently censored.<ref>[[Collins, Max Allan]] (28 February 2013). [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-allan-collins/11-most-controversial-com_b_2774592.html "11 Most Controversial Comic Books"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218231630/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-allan-collins/11-most-controversial-com_b_2774592.html |date=18 December 2018 }}. ''[[HuffPost]]''. Retrieved 5 February 2019.</ref><ref>Hansen, Kelli (1 October 2012). [http://library.missouri.edu/news/special-collections/banned-books-week-comics-and-controversy "Banned Books Week: Comics and Controversy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015400/http://library.missouri.edu/news/special-collections/banned-books-week-comics-and-controversy |date=7 February 2019 }}. [[University of Missouri]]. Retrieved 5 February 2019.</ref>

The modern [[zombie]] tale dealing with the motif of the living dead harks back to works including H. P. Lovecraft's stories "[[Cool Air]]" (1925), "In The Vault" (1926), and "[[The Outsider (short story)|The Outsider]]" (1926), and [[Dennis Wheatley]]'s "Strange Conflict" (1941). [[Richard Matheson]]'s novel ''[[I Am Legend (novel)|I Am Legend]]'' (1954) influenced an entire genre of apocalyptic zombie fiction emblematized by the films of [[George A. Romero]].

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the enormous commercial success of three books – ''[[Rosemary's Baby (novel)|Rosemary's Baby]]'' (1967) by [[Ira Levin]], ''[[The Exorcist (novel)|The Exorcist]]'' by [[William Peter Blatty]], and ''[[The Other (Tryon novel)|The Other]]'' by [[Tom Tryon|Thomas Tryon]] – encouraged publishers to begin releasing numerous other horror novels, thus creating a "horror boom".<ref>"Ira Levin's ''Rosemary's Baby'' (1967), Thomas Tyron's ''The Other'' (1971), and William Peter Blatty's ''The Exorcist'' (1971) were all released within a few years of one another...and their immense combined sales indicted to many publishers that horror was now a profitable marketing niche." Simmons, David, ''American Horror Fiction and Class: From Poe to Twilight''. London: Palgrave Macmillan  2017 {{ISBN|9781137532800}} (p.119)</ref><ref>[[David Pringle|Pringle,David]], "Rosemary's Baby", in Pringle (ed.) ''Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels''. London, Grafton, 1988. {{ISBN|0246132140}} (p.103-5)</ref>

[[File:Stephen King, Comicon.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Stephen King|[[Stephen King]] in 2007]]
One of the best-known late-20th century horror writers is [[Stephen King]], known for ''[[Carrie (novel)|Carrie]]'', ''[[The Shining (novel)|The Shining]]'', ''[[It (novel)|It]]'', ''[[Misery (novel)|Misery]]'', and several dozen other novels and about [[Stephen King short fiction bibliography|200 short stories]].<ref>Barone, Matt (8 November 2011). [https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2011/11/the-25-best-stephen-king-stories/ "The 25 Best Stephen King Stories"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020116/https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2011/11/the-25-best-stephen-king-stories/ |date=7 February 2019 }}. ''[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]''. Retrieved 5 February 2019.</ref><ref name=Thrillist>Jackson, Dan (18 February 2016). [https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/stephen-king-books-a-beginners-guide "A Beginner's Guide to Stephen King Books"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020140/https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/stephen-king-books-a-beginners-guide |date=7 February 2019 }}. [[Thrillist]]. Retrieved 5 February 2019.</ref><ref>[[Richard Bleiler]], "Stephen King" in: Bleiler, Ed. ''Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror.'' New York: Thomson/Gale, 2003, {{ISBN|9780684312507}}. (pp. 525-540).</ref> Beginning in the 1970s, King's stories have attracted a large audience, for which he was awarded by the U.S. National Book Foundation in 2003.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Uj4fAAAAIBAJ&pg=1529,1684719&dq=national+book+award+stephen+king&hl=en| title = Stephen King receives honorary National Book Award| author = Hillel Italie| work = Ellensburg Daily Record| date = 18 September 2003| access-date = 12 September 2010| quote = Stephen King, brand-name writer, master of the horror story and e-book pioneer, has received an unexpected literary honor: a National Book Award for lifetime achievement.| archive-date = 16 April 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210416221954/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Uj4fAAAAIBAJ&pg=1529,1684719&dq=national+book+award+stephen+king&hl=en| url-status = live}}</ref> Other popular horror authors of the period included [[Anne Rice]], [[Shaun Hutson]], [[Brian Lumley]], [[Graham Masterton]], [[James Herbert]], [[Dean Koontz]], [[Richard Laymon]], [[Clive Barker]],<ref>K.A. Laity "Clive Barker" in Richard Bleiler, ed. ''Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror''. New York: Thomson/Gale, 2003.
{{ISBN|9780684312507}} (pp. 61–70).</ref> [[Ramsey Campbell]],<ref>K.A. Laity, "Ramsey Campbell", in Richard Bleiler, ed. ''Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror''. New York: Thomson/Gale, 2003. {{ISBN|9780684312507}} (pp. 177–188.)</ref> and [[Peter Straub]].

===21st century===
Best-selling book series of contemporary times exist in genres related to horror fiction, such as the [[Kitty Norville]] books by [[Carrie Vaughn]] that contain blend [[werewolf fiction]] and [[urban fantasy]] (2005 onward). Horror elements continue to expand outside the genre. The [[alternate history]] of more traditional historical horror in [[Dan Simmons]]'s 2007 novel ''[[The Terror (novel)|The Terror]]'' sits on bookstore shelves next to genre [[Mashup (book)|mash up]]s such as ''[[Pride and Prejudice and Zombies]]'' (2009), and [[historical fantasy]] and [[horror comics]] such as ''[[Hellblazer]]'' (1993 onward) and [[Mike Mignola]]'s [[Hellboy]] (1993 onward). Horror also serves as one of the central genres in more complex modern works such as [[Mark Z. Danielewski]]'s ''[[House of Leaves]]'' (2000), a finalist for the [[National Book Award]]. Like Danielewski, many authors have opted to publish their works online, with notable examples including ''[[Ben Drowned]]'' by [[Alex Hall (author)|Alex Hall]] and ''[[Candle Cove]]'' by [[Kris Straub]]. There are many horror novels for children and teens, such as [[R. L. Stine]]'s [[Goosebumps]] series or ''[[The Monstrumologist]]'' by [[Rick Yancey]]. Additionally, many movies for young audiences, particularly animated ones, use horror aesthetics and conventions (for example, ''[[ParaNorman]]''). These are what can be collectively referred to as "children's horror".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Lester|first=Catherine|date=Fall 2016|title=The Children's Horror Film|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/628733|journal=The Velvet Light Trap|volume=78|issue=78|pages=22–37|doi=10.7560/VLT7803|s2cid=194468640|access-date=1 May 2019|archive-date=1 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501215659/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/628733|url-status=live}}</ref> Although it is unknown for sure why children enjoy these movies (as it seems counter-intuitive), it is theorized that it is, in part, grotesque monsters that fascinate kids.<ref name=":0" /> Tangential to this, the internalized impact of horror television programs and films on children is rather under-researched, especially when compared to the research done on the similar subject of violence in TV and film's impact on the young mind. What little research there is tends to be inconclusive on the impact that viewing such media has.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pearce|first1=Laura J.|last2=Field|first2=Andy P.|date=2016|title=The Impact of "Scary" TV and Film on Children's Internalizing Emotions: A Meta-Analysis|journal=Human Communication Research|language=en|volume=42|issue=1|pages=98–121|doi=10.1111/hcre.12069|issn=1468-2958}}</ref>