Favorite Horror Sub-Genre

[bendk]

Do you have a favorite horror sub-genre?

Sci Fi Horror, Lovecraftian Horror, War, Western, Urban, Ghost stories, Psychological, Fantasy, Existential, Gothic, Splatterpunk, etc.

Like most people, I imagine, I feel a good story is a good story regardless of venue. But I am naturally drawn to the more realistic tales of urban horror. Some of my favorites being Ligotti (of course) and T.E.D. Klein. I remember S.T. Joshi saying something to the efftect that he has a more difficult time relating to some of the stories of Clark Ashton Smith than to say Ramsey Campbell.

[JadedFool]

Hmmm... Right now I'm leaning towards psychological and urban fiction. Usually, I prefer a horror story containing an unexplained supernatural element.

[Joe Pulver]

Agreed, good is good no matter what its stripe is. As a reader, I lean towards eerie, esoteric, urban, cosmic, and psychological, and I'll take a pass on zombies. I do love ghouls.

[waffles]

I'm sure I could name at least one favorite author for a particular sub-genre, but I'm unequivocally devoted to cosmic/Lovecraftian horror.

[sundog]

Gay Horror!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZuK_wYrqp8

[When_MP_Attacks]

Splattergothic.

[gryeates]

This is certainly something that has changed for me over the years. When I was a teenager, I was primarily interested in zombies and the slasher-killer sub-genre. In my early twenties, it was mostly visceral/body horror and what has now been christened torture porn by the media, a term I'm not so keen on myself. Since my late twenties, also when I started writing seriously, I've been moving more and towards admiring forms of depressive cosmic horror.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

I have to say that the main thing I prefer is fantastical beauty and grotesque, highly imaginative visual power. Horror set in fantasy worlds with as much complex outlandish stuff as possible. But mainly beauty.

I've always wondered if there was stories similar to extreme metal music and album art. With those John Martin, Gustave Dore landscapes populated by robed corpses and demons.
Or like Castlevania games with a big parade of monsters and settings.

I've heard that Michael Shea's Nifft has a sort of Bosch quality.

I guess I like sightseeing.

[Druidic]

Mr. Gilmour, I think you would absolutely enjoy Shea's picaresque tale of strange beauty and visceral horrors. It's a great romp and it sounds like it was made just for you.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

I own the three Nifft books (and like most books I own, I haven't read them yet), I don't know if he had more Nifft planned.