So would you say the relationship between horror and this novel is similar to that between Conan/ similar fantasy and WiWV?

No – in WIWV, Conan & fantasy is a world in which Sean seeks shelter. It’s the internal world of the protagonist, a place of safety and flexible boundaries. In Universal Harvester, there’s some real horror, stuff that takes place in the actual world, but the theme of the book is grief and loss more than fear and terror. If I were better at math I’d be able to draw up an equation about this but I am not good at math so we will have to imagine this equation.