Ramsey Campbell

Edward Lee

Graham Masterton

Crystal Lake Publishing presents Horror 101: The Way Forward - a comprehensive overview of the Horror fiction genre and career opportunities available to established and aspiring authors. Take note that this special paperback edition has three new essays (Adam Nevill, Charles Day, and Kevin Lucia), where the eBook also has essays by Jack Ketchum, Harry Shannon, and Glenn Rolfe. You can get a fee eBook copy with a paperback purchase. Have you ever wanted to be a horror writer? Perhaps you've already realized that dream and you're looking to expand your repertoire. Writing comic books sounds nice, right? Or how about screenplays? Maybe you just want to see what goes on behind the scenes in the horror genre or a writer's life. "Horror 101: The Way Forward - is sharp, savvy and packed with crucial information for anyone who wants to take a real bite out of the horror genre. Two taloned thumbs up!" - Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of CODE ZERO and V-WARS.

The Way Forward

Horror 101

Bryan Alexander

This is a chatty and light introduction to the horror storytelling business.

Horror 101 offers a stack of short, brisk cuts into different parts of the horror corpus, from marketing to networking, illustration to editing to agents to inspiration. The emphasis is on writing, although there are bits on new media and art.

There's a lot of useful advice for people wanting to crack into the field, but none of it is very deep. The book won't carry you far in writing, for example, although it might help you start and remind you to write more novels (or stories; authors disagree). There's a sketch of the market, but just a sketch. 

Being an anthology, the contents are uneven. I found some worth at best a skim, then paid careful attention to others.

The horror field as genre isn't really on display here. Some writers share a few recommended readings (when not commending themselves to your eager attention), and that's about it. You won't find a literacy analysis of how to shape a scary narrative.

Personally, this was much less useful than I'd anticipated. That's because of my background: lifelong horror reader and fan, PhD dissertation in Gothic horror, scholarship and teaching on Gothic, etc.

Audience: this is only for people considering the conception of new horror stories. 3 stars for them.

Horror 101 The Way Forward

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