Where is your line?

[Suzanne]

So, I have been thinking about Science Fiction and the definition that goes along with it. The Oxford Dictionary online says, "Fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes, frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets." Yes, however I have always thought a little differently about "Horror". Some libraries have "Horror" in a section all by its lonesome, but others like us have it under Science Fiction and regular fiction and a few other places. Is there a clear way to separate the two? We can get down into splitting hairs about whether or not a book belongs in a particular category, but everyone has their own personal line. What do you think, where do you draw the line?

[Suzanne]

I personally like the idea of separating out Horror books due to my laziness. I like the idea of seeing all the creepiness at once, but where is my line? There are books that I would put into Sci-Fi, like my zombie books. As much as I don't want to, it kinda would be a major social and environmental change, but what about Blood Meridian by McCarthy? I see that one as a historical fiction horror, if there is such a thing. Yes, its set post Civil War which would be a major social change, but that would be my line.

[Susan]

I think a better word for the science-fiction/fantasy/horror that invariably gets lumped together on library and bookstore shelves is "speculative fiction." It seems more flexible as a category. Some might consider it too flexible ("isn't all fiction speculative?") but I think it fits the sci-fi/fantasy/horror bundle quite nicely.
Redesigning library signs, stickers and spine labels is another matter.

[Amber]

I tend to think of Horror more like a sort of flavor--like "comedic" or "insipiring"--than a strict genre like SciFi or Mystery. I know that's not perfectly analogous because Horror is a noun rather than an adjective, but I definitely think it crosses genres: there are books that we keep in both the Mystery and the regular fiction sections that are unquestionably horrifying.