Ten Reasons to Write Horror

Some people seem to think that, just because a novelis labeled as fantasy or crime, romance or historical, it should be devoid of horror. “I liked your book,” they say, “except for that nasty bit in the middle. Couldn’t you have left that out?”

My responseto any such question is: “No! And thrice no!”Why? Because everywhere you look there’s horror. There’s also love and wonder and excitement and fear. If fiction is to be inclusive, itshould embrace all these things and more. Only by painting...