Story telling is truly an old art form in fact it was the
first way we had of transferring or passing down knowledge, and sometimes that
history that was passed down was in itself terrifying. The first horror stories
may have been campfire stories of battle won and lost.
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a genre of literature,
which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing
feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be
either supernatural or non-supernatural.
Supernatural horror stories tend to deal with subjects like
folklore, superstition, religion, ghost, or demons. These are all powers that
we may not be able to see but still believe that they have power over us.
Horror stories like these don’t need blood necessarily to connive fear to the
reader.
On the other hand non-supernatural horror stories deal with
acts of human nature. In this area you get more into slasher horror, where you
might have a serial killer committing acts of violence and terror on people.
You won’t see any ghost here but you will more than likely get a lot of blood.
The genre has ancient origins which were reformulated in the
eighteenth century as Gothic horror, with publication of the Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace
Walpole.
Then there were the Gothic Blue Books which were short
fictions popular in the 18th and 19th century. They were descendants of the
chap book trade and are now a thing of the past. What was a Gothic Blue Book?
Gothic Blue Books were abridgements of full-length Gothic
novels. The subjects of the books fell into one of two categories; the first
being set in a monastery or convent and the second being set in a castle. In
terms of the physicality of the book, they were three and a half to four inches
in width and six to seven inches in height, with a page count of thirty-six to
seventy-two pages in length.
These little pieces of terror were popular at the time
because they were affordable, a sixpence or a shilling each. Their cost
affordability led them to be nicknamed Shilling Shockers or Sixpenny Shockers.
Burial Day Books presents its first Gothic Blue Book, The
Haunted Edition. The following twelve short stories and two poems honor the
Gothic story. Misery, fear, despair, regret and dread are highlighted in the
following pages, stirring old ghosts, witches, and awakening death. The
following collection of new and established horror authors weave together
brilliant tales of terror celebrating the history of the Gothic story with a
new twist.
Burial Day Books is a boutique publisher of supernatural
horror. Once a month we feature an established or emerging horror writer.
These short supernatural horror stories deal with elements of superstition,
folklore or myth. We look for writers that are innovative but can also give a
nod to past – classic horror. We feature stories with limited gore and limited
extreme violence because of the belief that fear, true fear, comes from the
unknown. Go to http://www.burialday.com/
to read these scary horror stories.
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