Humans are obsessed with horror. Across every form of media, we love to thrill, scare, and terrify ourselves within the safety of our homes. In modern times movies, television shows and video games are the preferred source for our horrorphilia. However, it was not too long ago that novels and other forms of literature were the dominant way for us to quench our thirst for fear.

True horror literature was described by  Literary historian J. A. Cuddon who defined the horror story as “a piece of fiction in prose of variable length… which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing”.

Before Written Literature

All civilizations and cultures have shared fantastic and terrifying tales through oral storytelling, a practice still used today, usually while sitting around a campfire. This practice is also referred to as folk literature,folklore or oral tradition. It is transmitted by word of mouth and consists, as does written literature, of both prose and verse narratives, poems and songs, myths, dramas, rituals, proverbs, riddles, and the like. Nearly all known peoples, now or in the past, have produced some form of folklore. Until approx 4000 BCE all forms of literature were oral, but, beginning in the years between 4000 and 3000 BCE, writing developed both in Egypt and in the Mesopotamian civilization at Sumer. From that time on there are records not only of practical matters such as law and business but increasingly of written fictional literature.

Ancient Horrors

As I mentioned in my previous article,The Time Before Horror Films, as long as societies have been able to write we have shared stories of monsters, demons, hell and anything else that has been passed down through multiple generations of folk tales. Many of the stories told could be seen as warnings for unknown animals or anything else seen only in the veil of night, allowing the storyteller’s imagination to fill in the blanks. Other tales were told of heroes who fought magnificent beasts and showed heroic prowess in an unbelievable adventure.

From the oldest known surviving book, The Epic of Gilgamesh, we follow the titular character on his journey to discover the secrets of life. The depictions of a half man/half beast (Enkidu) and the great guardian Humbaba the terrible, a huge monster that breathed fire and was hideous to look at, are prime examples of how our imaginations and creativity always gear towards the unimaginable. However, the intent of Gilgamesh was not meant to invoke fear but rather to tell a fantastic story of great adventure and triumph. Similarly the Greeks and Egyptians had many written myths and legends which contained monsters, beasts and deities who rule their underworld. While these depictions may conjure horrid images they were not the sole focus of the stories being told, but rather backdrops for a heroic journey.

Religious Inspirations

Some of the earliest examples of horror literature can be traced back to the Inquisition,  which started around 1235. During this period there were detailed accounts of witchcraft and heresy to the church. Multiple books were created to help examine, explain and outline how to fight off witchcraft. In 1486, Inquisitors Henry Kramer and Jakob Sprenger published Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches). The book, which codified a belief in witchcraft, was reprinted 14 times throughout Europe by 1520. It certainly contributed to the witch craze that gripped the next two centuries.

In 1307 Dante Alegheri would introduce one of the most detailed and terrifying depictions of hell with his first volume of the Divine Comedy, Inferno. Later John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) would take these ideas of hell and further develop the images that are still popular today, as it outlines the path of Satan and the fall of man in explicit detail. For another century most forms of horror were contained in religious texts with gruesome depictions of punishments and reminders to stay on the righteous path.

Gothic Horror Emerges

The Gothic horror novel is most commonly recognized as a story that combines romance and horror. It is not uncommon for these stories to also include;  murder, a supernatural twist and a medieval setting such as a castle.

The Castle of Otranto, written by Horace Walpole in 1765 is frequently listed as the first gothic horror novel. While the impact and the influence of this title are undeniable in the world of gothic horror, there were other pieces of literature such as poems and reports that capture the spirit of the genre which preceded Walpole’s work.

In 1714, Thomas Parnell published A Night-Piece on Death. Considered the first work of the so-called Graveyard Poets (aka the Churchyard Poets), the group was made up of poets known for their preoccupation with mortality and death. Oliver Goldsmith, William Cowper, James MacPherson, Robert Blair, and Thomas Chatterton were among the Graveyard Poets. Highly criticized at the time the poet’s main focus tended to be geared toward the macabre inspired by graveyards.

In 1731, the Austrian government ordered an investigation into a mass hysteria that gripped the village of Medvegja after a local citizen Arnold Paole had died in 1726 who claimed he was bitten by a vampire. About a month after Paole’s death, villagers said that the deceased man had risen from his grave and killed four people. Believing Paole to be a vampire, they’d disinterred his body forty days after his death. It was relatively undecayed, lending further “credibility” to their theory. They drove a stake through the heart of Paole’s corpse and burned it. His four supposed victims’ bodies were treated the same way. Despite these precautions, ten more people died of mysterious circumstances in 1731, and the village blamed Paole.

Johannes Fluckinger made the report, corroborating the villagers’ claims. The story quickly gained attention throughout Europe. Even scientists and philosophers were fascinated. From this unlikely source sprung our modern obsession with vampires.

The Castle of Otranto inspired many works such as The Italian (1796) by Ann Radcliffe and The Monk (1797) by Mathew Lewis, but its greatest legacy would be a group of authors who would create some of the most iconic monsters in horror history.

The Birth of Horror Icons

One of the most dramatic turns for horror literature took place in June, 1816. For three days, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Wollenstonecraft Shelley, and Dr. John Polidori shared a villa at Lake Geneva. The group decided to have a ghost story-writing contest. The result: Mary Shelley originated the genre of science fiction with Frankenstein (1818), while Dr. Polidori established the vampire sub-genre with the publication of The Vampyr in the New Monthly Magazine (1819). Dr. Polidori’s work was originally attributed to Lord Byron, and the main character is indeed a caricature of him.

France would help spawn another iconic monster in 1831 with The Hunchback of Notre Dame, written by Victor Hugo. The hunchback, similar to Frankenstein’s monster, was more misunderstood and sympathetic than other villains at the time.

Slowly moving away from the romantic ideas of gothic horror, Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), had readers looking inward at our own morality and the terrible deeds we were all capable of as well as the dangers of scientific experimentation.

At the end of the 19th century, more specifically 1897, we would be introduced to two more classic monsters with H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The Invisible man would once again examine the risk of experimentation and the results from having too much power. Dracula was not the first vampire novel but it did establish the most iconic and well known blood sucker in history.

Horror for the Kids

During the meteoric rise of the horror genre in the 1800’s writers and artists would also create stories and tales aimed at children. The Brothers Jakob and Wilheim Grimm created a compilation of short stories from 1812-1858 forever memorialized as “Grimm’s Fairy Tales”. These stories would be tamed and converted for the masses in future generations. Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1872) may not qualify as horror novels but they certainly had moments of great terror for young readers.

Penny Dreadfuls

The mid 1800’s brought the Industrial Revolution  and part of this meant improved literacy for the masses. Since horror was already on the rise thanks to the Gothic horror genre, the taste for something more visceral and gory grew with the crowds. The Penny Dreadful (aka Penny Bloods) filled the void of gore and emerged as a cheap form of entertainment for mass audiences. Thomas Prest brought us Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber (originally The String of Pearls, 1847). And James Malcolm Rymer was behind Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood (1845). George Reynold’s Wagner the Werewolf was published in 1846. At the time, people saw exposure to Penny Dreadfuls as a sure-fire path to juvenile delinquency. Parents banned the cheap books and frequently burned them if they were found in a child’s possession.

American Gothic

The works of Edgar Allan Poe are known world wide but in the 1800s he is the author responsible for bringing gothic horror to the United States. Poe’s most notable works include; The Raven, The Black Cat, The Tell Tale Heart and the Pit and the Pendulum.

Poe’s writing helped influence another major icon in H.P Lovecraft, who has created an entire world of lore that is filled with fantastic monsters, magic, robots and aliens. Lovecrafts greatest contribution has to be considered the Cthulhu mythos which helped shape the idea of cosmic horror.

Before the states had Poe and Lovecraft, Washington Irving brought us The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in 1820. This story introduced us to the headless horseman and cemented the quiet town of Sleepy Hollow in horror fandom forever.

The 20th Century and Modern Horror

By the end of the 19th century there was a movement towards scientific curiosity as well as a deeper examination of the horrors committed by common citizens. Supernatural beasts were no longer a requirement to tell a tale of terror when we had Jack the Ripper running the streets in london. Bringing ghosts into the spotlight in 1860, Ambrose Bierce published Can Such Things Be? which contained a collection of short stories. 

H.G Wells would make popular the idea of invading aliens with War of the Worlds (1898). As horror continued being available with shorter stories and at a cheaper cost the novel began to decline in its popularity. Even in America, where horror was flourishing, we had horror magazines such as Weird Tales being published in 1923 which was stealing the spotlight from books.

By 1910 audiences were also being introduced to new forms of entertainment, the radio and film. Vivid imaginations were not required when you could see moving pictures of your favorite icons such as Edison’s Frankenstein (1910). Radio shows grew in popularity as most homes centerpieces revolved around their radios.  Once again with children in mind, popular shows like “The Shadow” (1930) and “The Spider” (1933) spawned successful spinoffs in the form of novellas and comic books.

Due to major events such as the great depression and two world wars people were ready and needed to be distracted from the horrors of the real world. Unfortunately, for most writers  people found their entertainment through the Universal catalog of Monster films and the ongoing success of popular radio shows.

It wasn’t until the 1950’s when we would see horror make its comeback to the bookshelves. Richard Matheson’s 1954 I Am Legend was the first modern vampire novel, and Shirley Jackson’s 1959 The House on Haunted Hill remains one of the most critically acclaimed genre novels of the past sixty years.

The potential of another world war between the USA and Russia, filled the public with fear and paranoia. Writers responded by capturing this fear in books like Ira Levin’s novel Rosemary’s Baby (1967) and soon after we would be introduced to The Exorcist (1971) written by William Peter Blatty. These books would bring the devil, demons and possession back into mainstream media with a focus on the female leads.

A King and some new faces

The 1970s would introduce the world to the most influential modern horror writer, Stephen King. The success of Carrie (1974) helped launch King’s career and cement his place on the mount rushmore of horror authors. The majority of his most famous works such as IT, the Shining, Misery, Salem’s Lot, the Stand, and many more would all be re-imagined for the big screen or television. His stories and influence are just as strong today as many of his classics are being remade on the silver screen to a booming success.

The 70’s also brought us two more notable horror authors with Peter Benchley who published Jaws in 1975, a great example of a modern monster tale. And Anne Rice published Interview with the Vampire in 1976, bringing a new invigoration to vampire fiction.

Dean Koontz would begin to gain traction in the late 70’s and maintain his foothold in the 80’s. Considered a suspense thriller author his works ranged from the supernatural to science fiction. He continues to write new books on an almost annual basis.

The 1990’s introduced the most successful kids horror book series with R.L Stine’s Goosebumps. The short novels would introduce many young readers to old ideas, from vampires, ghosts, werewolves, to aliens and abominable snowmen.

Modern horror authors seem to be dominated with a focus on teen angst, love triangles between werewolves and vampires and comedic twists on modern issues. Max Brook’s World War Z, a New York Times Best Seller, cashed in on the zombie craze and showed that smart writing has a place in horror.

In conclusion, I wanted to present a brief history of horror literature. There are countless authors not mentioned here, some of my personal favorites, but I felt the need to keep as brief as possible. The influence of the film and television on horror are here to stay but there will always be a place for a horror fan to grab a book, sit next to a window on a rainy day and get lost in some truly terrifying worlds.

Sources:

[1] https://www.britannica.com/art/folk-literature

[2] http://thecircular.org/evolution-horror-fiction-brief-guide/

[3] https://www.gutenberg.org/files/696/696-h/696-h.htm

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle_of_Otranto

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_fiction

[6] https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/-a-brief-history-of-horror-literature

[7] https://www.britannica.com/art/horror-story