Is Horror Popular?

Fantasyart

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Hi all :)

As per my title, I'm just wondering if a specific horror genre is dying. In particular Zombie horror?

It could be just me, but the interest doesn't seem as in demand as say, a serial killing clown!

What is hot as far as which specific horror genre goes?
 

Haggis

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Hi all :)

As per my title, I'm just wondering if a specific horror genre is dying. In particular Zombie horror?

It could be just me, but the interest doesn't seem as in demand as say, a serial killing clown!

What is hot as far as which specific horror genre goes?

Horror is not popular with everybody. It is with me. As long as it's well written.
 

Helix

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Haggis, is that a dawg's head hawkmoth?

Fantasyart, it might be worth checking the rankings on Amazon to get an idea of which subgenres are killing it among horror novels.
 

Fantasyart

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Thanks Haggis and Helix (I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea) just as Western's aren't, or Romance etc. and I've checked Amazon but it literally pulls up thousands ha ha thanks though :)
 

Helix

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Having made my suggestion, I thought I'd better ground truth it. It is, in fact, a terrible idea and I'll pretend I never mentioned it. :gone:

But I did have a quick shufti at the breakdown of horror novels released in the last 30 days. Occult and dark fantasy novels seem to be the most popular, followed by ghosts. I can't work out where zombies fit in Amazon's scheme of things.
 
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L. OBrien

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I would say that zombies have been on the decline. I think it's a mix of oversaturation, and the social factors that made zombies popular to begin with starting to change. (I don't have hard support for this, but I've heard some theories that their popularity came about partly as reaction the recession, since they presented this escapist narrative of personal effectiveness and rugged individualism at a point in time where a lot of people felt like they had lost their purpose. Thoughts?)

Not sure what's on top now.
 

Fantasyart

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Thanks Helix and L. OBrien, all of what you both say make sense. I dunno myself. Kind of kicking myself for having picked a seemingly dying breed of horror, at the same time I enjoyed writing about it. So much! It is popular only to some. It is more so popular in the t.v and movie business. I'll never stop my passion for watching it, or reading it, and probably I'll continue to write stories about it. But I am just one of a few. It's all good :) thanks for your input everyone :)
 

andiwrite

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I'm writing a "zombie" horror/scifi. Sort of. It's apocalyptic with a variety of undead or mutated things. The zombies are only one small part of the story, so I'm planning on focusing on other aspects more when I publish it.

I can't say how well anything sells. I think it's hard to sell books regardless of the genre, but maybe I just haven't learned enough about it yet. I don't think the zombie genre will ever die, though. True fans will always want to experience it in a fresh way. it's the characters that make the story.
 

JoeBrat

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Zombies will come back, they always do! :evil
 

Sherlock

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I think I would agree that zombies never die! I am a mystery reader but I read zombie novels. As long as they are well written, I think the apocalyptic nature transcends genres. I hope that you can find help with marketing whichever one you decide to write!
 

brandenburgdm

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I don't think Horror is dying, but it is definitely changing. A lot of the horror movies being made today are more personal stories, and less slasher based. Or they are going for a retro thing and pulling from the 80's. I do think that the zombie genre is slowing down, or again, changing to something different(just look at stuff like Train to Busan and Girl With All The Gifts, which was a book). So, if you want to follow the trends, go for a more personal story that is set in a horror world.

But, personally, I think you should do what you want. Who needs to follow the trends? If you write a great horror story, people will read it. Go for your unique voice and make something, put your twist on a tried and true trope.
 

RJDrake

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Trends are trends but I think that people that like horror (in general or specific genre) will always come back to it if they find something appealing.
Personally, I like horror but you'll find me reading books about "love in gardens" and "chirping birds" when I have a mood but then when I find an intriguing horror I'll be back to that genre.
If you feel like writing a Zombie Horror then go ahead and don't be afraid to write it because you will find readers for it if it's well written and it has a good plot.
 

LeeMountford

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I think horror will always endure. It will have peaks and valleys, like most things, but I think it will always have a significant market.
At least, I hope so, being a horror author!
 

williemeikle

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Nope, horror is not popular, not at all. I'd advise everybody here to stop writing it, right now. I'll shoulder the burden alone. No, that's okay, don't thank me...
 

AW Admin

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I think what's happening in part is that for a number of reasons, horror as a genre is moving out of its traditional (which is sort of a slippery term to use) niche, and expanding into other genres, including dark fantasy, and paranormal and urban fantasy, etc.
 

veinglory

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Horror has always been an odd niche that mainstream publishing has trouble with. But I think the zombie craze has a good 5-10 more years in it.
 

Feidb

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Icky bug has always been the bastard child of the publishing world. It's an acquired taste, like Motorhead.

It'll always be around but don't expect an easy sell.
 

TedTheewen

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Horror isn't popular with people who don't like horror. It's just one of those things. The horror fans love it enough to keep to going. Sure, we acquire new fans, but never enough to really launch the genre as a whole into something broader. Stephen King's popularity isn't because he's a horror writer. It's because he's a story teller who wrote stories that connected with a mass of people on a deep level. He lured them into horror by telling a great story.
 

jdp1886

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I've written several horror short stories, few of which I felt worthy of keeping, and I've just finished my first horror novel, but it has been tough for me to find an audience. That may be lack or failure of promotion on my part, or it may be that horror just doesn't have as big of an audience as other genres unless your name is King. I'm not real sure how exactly to answer your question, but from personal experience, when I tell people that I write horror, more times than not they seem very uninterested. But...I write horror because I enjoy it, so I'll continue to do so!
 

stephenf

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Hi
zombies seem a bit old hat , at a dead end you might say . But horrific stories can be so enjoyable .
 

Darkvoid

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I don't think horror as a genre, TRUE horror, has ever been "popular". It's small in comparison to something like romance but it does have an audience. You can find elements of horror all over the place in other genre's like urban fantasy, paranormal romance, post-apocalyptic fiction, etc.