- Joined
- Sep 23, 2018
- Messages
- 64
- Reaction score
- 5
- Location
- Las Vegas, NV
- Website
- deadeyemouse.wixsite.com
I'm having a bit of trouble really nailing down where my book will fall in the ever opinionated, marketing driven spectrum of genre description.
In my head, it has been a horror comedy from the beginning. It plays on dark themes like hauntings, fear, abuse, and oppression but also exploits the absurd of the situation and the character's general sense of humor and friendship to tear down the horror. Pretty much, the synapses of it all is captured in a line at the beginning: "what I’m trying to convey here is that life is absurd. It is funny, it is dumb, and then its gets very, very real."
We have deep elements of the supernatural and toying with magical elements that would also classify it as paranormal fiction, but it pays far more homage to stories like Poltergeist, It, Insidious, and Amityville than the likes of the Supernatural tv show or Dresden Files. Then again, it doesn't really take itself seriously enough to play in either horror or paranormal Fiction. Heck, the current title is "The Paranormal Life of Jonathan Young Presents: The Beast From Between Worlds That Even The Devil Fears & The Peach Tea O’Christ." Yet, as with many of my favorite horror comedies, it is as about being funny as it is about paying true and real homage to the horror genre it is working within. When the comedy drops away, the characters are depressed and lost, they are being attacked by something they don't understand and those moments are given their due.
I guess what I'm trying to get to is the question of, what genre fits? Is Horror Comedy an effective or marketable genre these days? Has it ever been outside of the occasional hit?
In my head, it has been a horror comedy from the beginning. It plays on dark themes like hauntings, fear, abuse, and oppression but also exploits the absurd of the situation and the character's general sense of humor and friendship to tear down the horror. Pretty much, the synapses of it all is captured in a line at the beginning: "what I’m trying to convey here is that life is absurd. It is funny, it is dumb, and then its gets very, very real."
We have deep elements of the supernatural and toying with magical elements that would also classify it as paranormal fiction, but it pays far more homage to stories like Poltergeist, It, Insidious, and Amityville than the likes of the Supernatural tv show or Dresden Files. Then again, it doesn't really take itself seriously enough to play in either horror or paranormal Fiction. Heck, the current title is "The Paranormal Life of Jonathan Young Presents: The Beast From Between Worlds That Even The Devil Fears & The Peach Tea O’Christ." Yet, as with many of my favorite horror comedies, it is as about being funny as it is about paying true and real homage to the horror genre it is working within. When the comedy drops away, the characters are depressed and lost, they are being attacked by something they don't understand and those moments are given their due.
I guess what I'm trying to get to is the question of, what genre fits? Is Horror Comedy an effective or marketable genre these days? Has it ever been outside of the occasional hit?