I am also struggling to categorize my novel. Here is the query letter blurb:
Locals call the area the Hickory Barrens.
There, among the forests and abandoned farmland, three lonely houses stand. When Jason Evans moves with his parents into the Masterson House, his nightmares of being buried and his visions of ghostly apparitions hint at a history of murder and tragedy. Jason meets Cynthia Grey, the great granddaughter of the original Masterson family, and a presence in the house takes notice. When the secrets of the three houses and the generations who lived there are revealed, Jason must face his own role in the cloud of mystery overhanging the Hickory Barrens.
I am currently calling it (yeah, I flip-flopped a few times) a "modern interpretation of the Gothic novel." Essentially, it is a ghost story with some horror elements and strong romance elements. The ending is HEA in a way; however, I'm getting the sense that it doesn't quite fit within paranormal romance. For one thing, the protagonist is male.
Help! I understand that the "horror" genre is on the skids, although lots of books are being published that are truly horror, but being called something different. Is there any life to gothic fiction today?
Locals call the area the Hickory Barrens.
There, among the forests and abandoned farmland, three lonely houses stand. When Jason Evans moves with his parents into the Masterson House, his nightmares of being buried and his visions of ghostly apparitions hint at a history of murder and tragedy. Jason meets Cynthia Grey, the great granddaughter of the original Masterson family, and a presence in the house takes notice. When the secrets of the three houses and the generations who lived there are revealed, Jason must face his own role in the cloud of mystery overhanging the Hickory Barrens.
I am currently calling it (yeah, I flip-flopped a few times) a "modern interpretation of the Gothic novel." Essentially, it is a ghost story with some horror elements and strong romance elements. The ending is HEA in a way; however, I'm getting the sense that it doesn't quite fit within paranormal romance. For one thing, the protagonist is male.
Help! I understand that the "horror" genre is on the skids, although lots of books are being published that are truly horror, but being called something different. Is there any life to gothic fiction today?