Alma Katsu and Becky Spratford Explain the Horror Trend (Exclusive)

The horror genre is having a major moment in the world of books and publishing, experts say — and not just because Halloween is right around the corner.

Author Alma Katsu and writer-librarian Becky Spratford sat down for a conversation to discuss exactly why readers are more interested in horror — including everything from ghost stories to tales of serial killers — than ever before.

The pair’s conversation comes just after the release of their books. Bram Stoker Award-winner Katsu’s latest gothic thriller Fiend marks her first novel set in modern times, as it tells the story of an all-powerful Sackler-like family “with an ancient evil under its thumb” that allows them to maintain their massive fortune.

“When things stop going as planned, and the family blessing starts looking more like a curse, the [family] begin to splinter, each hatching their own secret scheme,” a synopsis teases. “They didn’t get to be one of the richest families in the world without spilling a little blood, but this time, it might be their own.”

As for Spratford — a horror reviewer, librarian and author in her own right — her new book Why I Love Horror serves as a love letter to horror and features essays from renowned contemporary genre authors including Grady Hendrix, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones and more.

In their conversation, the horror-lovers sat down to discuss exactly why horror has made its way onto readers’ bookshelves worldwide, and how the genre has evolved over the last decade.

The below conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Alma Katsu: We’ve been seeing a steady rise in interest in horror fiction since my first horror novel [The Hunger] came out in 2018. Bookstores started reinstituting the horror shelf. More publishers started looking for horror. Several wonderful horror small presses launched. Editors in the past couple years have told me there’s a horror element in nearly every submission they receive. What is going on here?

Becky Spratford: I think there are a few factors at play here — a perfect storm, if you will. First, during this same time, genre elements, and specifically dark speculative elements, were creeping into all fiction. We also have more writing programs embracing genre, so that younger fiction writers are coming out with [masters of fine arts degrees] where they were encouraged to write horror. It is also no coincidence that some of the best horror authors during that time like Tananarive Due and Stephen Graham Jones are teaching those courses.

And that new generation of authors are from more diverse backgrounds and identities, reflecting the increasing diversity in this country, at least. They bring a fresh, personal perspective on terror as many use the horror of their real-world marginalization as a frame to explore the genre, and I would argue, that is giving us some of the best horror ever written. [Katsu’s]The Fervor is a great example.

And then … waves hands at the world … We have been living in a moment of constant crisis and existential dread for years now. Many use this as the reason horror is having a moment, but I say it is more the icing on the horror cake.

But Alma, What do you think about all of this? Is this a reflection on the times we live in?

AK: That’s the common popular view, that horror’s popularity is tied somehow to the extraordinarily chaotic times we’re living in. We’re surrounded by people who think it’s once again good to be greedy and people we once thought were, you know, human, turn out to be monsters, eager to let their worst impulses run wild. People might be craving horror as a way to make sense of this madness.

Speaking broadly, our embrace of horror might be a piece of a bigger trend, along with continuing interest in true crime and psychological and domestic suspense. Our institutions are failing us — either corrupt or underfunded, gutted and useless — and we’re absorbed with stories of characters that manage to save themselves, and on their own terms. In horror, however, you have the ability to do this in a supernatural way — monsters, magic — that points reassuringly to an ancient truth that’s deeper and truer than any man-made truth.

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I’d also say that horror fiction is not only more diverse than it’s been in the past, as you pointed out, but it dares to address a bigger range of fears. It’s not just the same old tropes anymore. What are some of your favorite recent books that defy cliché?

BS:  I think a great place to start is with books that grapple with untold parts of our history and address both the terror of those historical situations AND the horror inherent in the fact that these real-life things were hidden from mainstream historical conversations for far too long. Oh, and of course some kind of monster or ghost is added. It’s a winning trifecta of fear.

Books like The Buffalo Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones, The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas, and everything Cynthia Pelayo writes are a great example of this.

Then there are authors like Rachel Harrison, Gwendolyn Kiste and Hailey Piper who take the experiences and rage of simply being a woman and use the guardrails of horror to create something wholly new. As a result, they are bringing so many women readers to what used to be thought of as a male-dominated genre.

And then there is the influx of grief horror, stories that take all of the complicated and difficult-to-reconcile emotions of grief and use supernatural horror to enhance the terror. But also, because horror is all about giving readers the space to face their own fears and battle the darkness in their own lives, the emergence of this vibrant subgenre makes sense as we deal with, as you put it, the “chaotic” times we are living in. Clay McLeod Chapman is excellent at this subgenre.

AK: One of my recent favorites is Bateater and other Names for Cora Zheng by Kylie Lee Baker. It’s about a woman who cleans crime scenes and starts to see a pattern in her jobs around the time of the rise of anti-Asian hate during the COVID pandemic. I read an early version and was impressed but also afraid that the book, being about a specific Asian experience — the fear of being targeted by the majority, of being made the scapegoat — wouldn’t find a wider audience. That it has speaks to the curiosity and open-mindedness of horror readers.

Gretchen Felker-Martin, CJ Leede and Eric LaRocca are three more names that spring to mind of writers who aren’t afraid to take horror to new places. They carry the transgressive badge with honor and are showing readers why “extreme” horror is more than gore and shock. Rather, it is thought-provoking, honest and utterly necessary. Sometimes it feels like horror’s new motto is “we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it any longer.”

There is some great horror being written for kids and teens and they are devouring it. Becky, what are some of the titles you think are part of this phenomenon?

BS: That’s exactly right Alma. The horror renaissance is not just in adult books, the middle grade and teen titles are also stellar. I would argue this is a lot of the reason why horror is so popular with adults right now, especially younger adults. I see this with many genre trends as a librarian. Something that is very popular with kids becomes popular with the teens they become, which then leads them to searching for more as adults. We can see this with horror both in today’s readers but also with many of those young authors we just talked about.  

Interestingly, some of today’s top adult horror authors like Paul Tremblay, Chuck Wendig, and Clay McLeod Chapman are trying their hand at writing for younger audiences, as well.

Some of my favorite Middle Grade authors right now are Kenneth Oppel, Ally Malineko, Lorna Snef, and Justina Ireland. For teens, Tiffany D. Jackson, Andrew Joseph White and Kendare Blake. All of these authors write for a younger audience, but I want the adults out there reading this conversation to know that any of their books are worth a try. Horror for kids is not any less scary than horror for adults. It may be less bloody and you know the protagonists will live, but the terror is still very intense.

I think this is the lesson from our conversation, Alma: Horror is thriving because from every angle and for every audience, its authors are inspired and empowered to share the best of themselves. The chains are off, and we readers are reaping the benefits.

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Fiend by Alma Katsu and Why I Love Horror by Becky Siegel Spratford are available now, wherever books are sold.