Best Resources for Horror Writers

Not all horror writers tap away at their typewriters in a pitch dark basement below their dead mother's house. Horror writers, like writers of any other genre, often do a lot of research and work intently on mastering their craft. But many feel there are very few resources available to them. Here are some of the best resources for horror writers.

The Horror Writers Association has been around for approximately two decades, and the organization remains a great resource for all horror writers. On their website at horror.org, you will find their Dark Whispers blog, press releases, information on the Bram Stoker Awards, free excerpts, market listings, tips for writers, and even a valuable reading list. Much of this information is available to the general public; some is restricted to members. Details on becoming a member are available online.

The Horror Writers Association has also published a very valuable book. Titled On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association, this resource includes comprehensive instruction by some of the masters in the horror genre. With information from such writers as Stephen King, Harlan Ellison, Joyce Carol Oates, Jack Ketchum, Mort Castle, and David Morrell, this book is a must-have on any serious horror writer's shelf. On Writing Horror will help you create and utilize characters and setting, craft visceral violence, and avoid some of the common pitfalls in writing within the horror genre.

Although it's not specific to the horror genre, another valuable resource for horror writers is Stephen King's On Writing. Part-autobiography, part-instruction manual, On Writing is the last word on mastering the craft. It is concise and easy to digest. It offers practical solutions to just about every writing problem. Stephen King, often a bit long-winded, somehow managed to be very economical with his words in this non-fiction masterpiece. As with On Writing Horror, On Writing is available online at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.

While you're at it, purchase a copy of Stephen King's Danse Macabre. Reading Danse Macabre is like sitting down over coffee with King himself and discussing thirty years of horror culture. It covers up to 1980 (around the time it was published), but if you're writing horror, presumably you were alive these last two or three decades anyway, so Danse Macabre is a great way to catch up with any horror you might have missed before then. As a horror writer, it is as important to know the history of the genre, as it is to know what's hot right now.