During our reviewing adventures we’ve come across many a varied sci-fi and horror sub-genre. In fact, horror sub-genres breed so quickly that we suspect that they’re part bunny and part Tribble. However, there are a few that have been hanging back a bit and we’d love to see more of them! Now, this isn’t to say that they’re not around, we just want to poke them out into the light so we can see them better.
Medical Horror
I’m not sure if medical horror is technically a sub-genre, but I love medical based fiction. I suppose that can get into science fiction…cloning and things like that. – Nico
Sci-Fi Horror
Who can watch the awesomeness that is Event Horizon and not crave some more truly spooky sci-fi horror in their lives? (Be it in print or visual form.) Aliens is cool and all, but let’s explore space madness, black holes, creatures from beyond, and all that type thing just a little bit more, please and thank you! – Lilyn
Creature Feature with Heart!
A good chomp and stomp is great fun, but an added focus on character development and meaning can make a HUGE difference. Hunter Shea’s new book, Creature, fits this bill. Out on 09/06/2018 – Tracy
Foreign Horror
Some of the best horror films out there are foreign horror, yet we seem to be lacking in either horror translated to English, or even horror set in other countries. (That is, unless its some place everyone knows about like Suicide Forest.) Recently I read Kaiju novels set in Mexico and New Zealand, and it was so nice just to experience the different setting. – Lilyn
(I also would love some more foreign horror to be made available. Every culture has its differences and I think foreign books translated would be a fantastic addition to the horror genre. Just think of all the awesome books we’re missing out on! – GK)
Animated Horror
Animated Horror is a sub-genre that is vastly overlooked, which is a shame. The few there are are either sanitized for children and the ones that aren’t for kids aren’t very serious. – Frankie (with a concurrence by the rest of us)
Coming-of-Age Horror
With childhood becoming harder and harder to navigate it would be nice for kids to have horror for an outlet. Something that makes them feel not quite alone in their feelings set in a world similar to their own but not quite. Chad Lutzke has Of Foster Home and Flies and a new one coming out on 09/14/2018 called Skullface Boy. – Tracy
Possessed/Cursed Objects
They’re often cheesy as hell but I love books and movies where everyday objects get possessed and become evil killing machines. – Olly
Religious Horror
Ted Dekker writes some crazy stuff. Very scary. (But he can’t be the only one out there! We need more.) – Nico
Video Game Horror
I’ve only read one book – and it was actually a kid’s book – but the idea intrigued me. I would love to see more books that blurred the line between games and reality. Obviously there couldn’t be too many or it would get old fast, but a few every now and then? Yes, please. – Lilyn
(The fact that I could only find a novelization of a video game only underscores the need for more serious horror stories using video games as a base that are set in the horror realm rather than fantasy or sci-fi. – GK)
When Nature Attacks
Massive in the ’70s and ’80s but not so much now (unless it’s sharks) – Olly
Music Anthologies
Novels are slowly starting to pop up here and there but not enough for insatiable little me. I particularly love horror short story collections and anthologies. I loved the two Out of Tune anthologies as they were based on folk music, a music genre that I particularly like. I’ love a third. – GracieKat
What sub-genres do you think are sorely lacking in horror fiction? What sub-genres (no matter how obscure) would you like to see a lot more of? Let us know! You just might be giving a budding writer that idea they’ve been looking for!
GracieKat was the first co-host of Sci-Fi & Scary, Lilyn’s partner-in-crime, and sub-head of the Coolthulhu Crew. She reviews horror books, movies, and games for the site. She also does a weekly Focus on the Frightful feature, and is the site list-maker. She is also in control of the Sci-Fi & Scary podcast which will relaunch soon.
Gracie is also a member of the Ladies of Horror Fiction crew.
One of the earliest foreign horror (or at least supernatural) works to become a success in English was Wilhelm Meinhold’s “The Amber Witch,” which is better known in its 1846 English translation than in its original German!
And I was just the other day visiting a blog with a post on rock music horror:https://nocturnalrevelries.com/2018/09/08/one-for-the-rockers/
Thank you! That looks very interesting.I really want that crappy one they mention just for the cover.
LOL. Back when I read “Paperbacks from Hell,” one of my challenges was to see how many of those covers I had in my library. Sadly, not many, as it turned out, though I did have two Rowena covers and a Fritz Leiber book that turned up there. For that matter, the “Disciples of Cthulhu” book I revised on my own blog had artwork by Karel Thole. (See https://sillyverse.com/2018/09/16/review-the-disciples-of-cthulhu-1976/
I’d be in for all of these and yes, I loved CREATURE!