Editing Horror fiction (section)

==Characteristics==
One defining trait of the horror genre is that it provokes an emotional, [[psychology|psychological]], or physical response within readers that causes them to react with fear. One of H. P. Lovecraft's most famous quotes about the genre is that: "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goldenproverbs.com/au_lovecraft.html|title=Golden Proverbs|access-date=15 December 2012|archive-date=16 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516112733/http://www.goldenproverbs.com/au_lovecraft.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the first sentence from his seminal essay, "[[Supernatural Horror in Literature]]". Science fiction historian [[Darrell Schweitzer]] has stated, "In the simplest sense, a horror story is one that scares us" and "the true horror story requires a sense of evil, not in necessarily in a theological sense; but the menaces must be truly menacing, life-destroying, and antithetical to happiness."<ref>Schweitzer, Darrell, "Why Horror Fiction?" in ''Windows of the Imagination''.  Berkeley Heights, NJ : Wildside Press, 1999. {{ISBN|9781880448601}} (p. 64, 67).</ref>

In her essay "Elements of Aversion", Elizabeth Barrette articulates the need by some for horror tales in a modern world:
{{Blockquote|text=The old "fight or flight" reaction of our evolutionary heritage once played a major role in the life of every human. Our ancestors lived and died by it. Then someone invented the fascinating game of civilization, and things began to calm down. Development pushed wilderness back from settled lands. War, crime, and other forms of social violence came with civilization and humans started preying on each other, but by and large daily life calmed down. We began to feel restless, to feel something missing: the excitement of living on the edge, the tension between hunter and hunted. So we told each other stories through the long, dark nights. when the fires burned low, we did our best to scare the daylights out of each other. The rush of adrenaline feels good. Our hearts pound, our breath quickens, and we can imagine ourselves on the edge. Yet we also appreciate the insightful aspects of horror. Sometimes a story intends to shock and disgust, but the best horror intends to rattle our cages and shake us out of our complacency. It makes us think, forces us to confront ideas we might rather ignore, and challenges preconceptions of all kinds. Horror reminds us that the world is not always as safe as it seems, which exercises our mental muscles and reminds us to keep a little healthy caution close at hand.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://horror.fictionfactor.com/articles/aversion.html |title=Elements of Aversion |access-date=2 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228210354/http://horror.fictionfactor.com/articles/aversion.html |archive-date=28 February 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>|sign=|source=}}

In a sense similar to the reason a person seeks out the controlled thrill of a [[roller coaster]], readers in the modern era seek out feelings of [[horror and terror]] to feel a sense of excitement. However, Barrette adds that horror fiction is one of the few mediums where readers seek out a form of art that forces themselves to confront ideas and images they "might rather ignore to challenge preconceptions of all kinds."

There are many theories as to why people enjoy being scared. For example, "people who like horror films are more likely to score highly for openness to experience, a personality trait linked to intellect and imagination."<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The benefits of being scared|issue=3216|pages=8|journal=New Scientist|volume=241|doi=10.1016/S0262-4079(19)30224-6|date=9 February 2019|last1=Whyte|first1=Chelsea|s2cid=126647318}}</ref>

It is a now commonly accepted view that the horror elements of [[Dracula]]'s portrayal of [[vampire|vampirism]] are [[metaphor]]s for sexuality in a repressed [[Victorian era]].<ref name="Demetrakopoulos">{{cite journal|title=Feminism, Sex Role Exchanges, and Other Subliminal Fantasies in Bram Stoker's "Dracula"
|author=Stephanie Demetrakopoulos
|journal=Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies
|volume= 2|issue= 3|date=Autumn 1977|pages= 104–113|publisher= University of Nebraska Press
|jstor=3346355|doi=10.2307/3346355
}}</ref> But this is merely one of many interpretations of the metaphor of Dracula. [[Jack Halberstam]] postulates many of these in his essay ''Technologies of Monstrosity: Bram Stoker's Dracula''. He writes:

{{blockquote|text=[The] image of dusty and unused gold, coins from many nations and old unworn jewels, immediately connects Dracula to the old money of a corrupt class, to a kind of piracy of nations and to the worst excesses of the aristocracy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/30740375/913659240/name/halberstam%2Bdracula.pdf |title=Technologies of Monstrosity |access-date=2 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512090142/http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/30740375/913659240/name/halberstam%2Bdracula.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>}}

[[File:Punch Anti-Irish propaganda (1882) Irish Frankenstein.jpg|thumb|upright|Illustration from an 1882 issue of ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'': An English editorial cartoonist conceives the Irish [[Fenian|Fenian movement]] as akin to Frankenstein's monster, in the wake of the [[Phoenix Park killings]]. <br> Menacing villains and monsters in horror literature can often be seen as metaphors for the fears [[incarnate]] of a society.]]

Halberstram articulates a view of Dracula as manifesting the growing perception of the [[aristocracy]] as an evil and outdated notion to be defeated. The depiction of a multinational band of [[protagonists]] using the latest [[technologies]] (such as a [[telegraph]]) to quickly share, collate, and act upon new information is what leads to the destruction of the vampire. This is one of many interpretations of the metaphor of only one central figure of the canon of horror fiction, as over a dozen possible metaphors are referenced in the analysis, from the religious to the [[antisemitic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lsu.edu/faculty/jpullia/dracula.htm |title=Lecture Notes for Dracula |access-date=2 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025132906/http://www.lsu.edu/faculty/jpullia/dracula.htm |archive-date=25 October 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

[[Noël Carroll]]'s ''Philosophy of Horror'' postulates that a modern piece of horror fiction's "[[monster]]", [[villain]], or a more inclusive menace must exhibit the following two traits:
* A menace that is threatening&nbsp;— either physically, psychologically, socially, morally, spiritually, or some combination of the aforementioned.
* A menace that is impure&nbsp;— that violates the generally accepted schemes of cultural categorization. "We consider impure that which is categorically contradictory".<ref name=Datingghosts>{{cite web |url=https://www.hindihorrorstories.info/2019/01/best-hindi-horror-story-real-pakyong-ghost.html |publisher=Dating Ghosts |title=Horror Stories |access-date=6 January 2019 |archive-date=6 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106153328/https://www.hindihorrorstories.info/2019/01/best-hindi-horror-story-real-pakyong-ghost.html |url-status=live }}</ref>