Making Horror Fun

Who said the horror genre can't also be fun?  Horror can combine elements of the gory and horrific with the sweet and reassuring. Don’t believe me? Here’s two to try:

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell

This surprisingly delightful debut was fun, sweet, AND gross–frequently all at once!

Who gets to call something or someone a monster? This question animates this book, narrated by a “wyrm” named Shesheshen who devours humans and uses their assorted parts for both sustenance and for shapeshifting fodder. Three monster slayers arrive at her door during her hibernation on a quest to vanquish her. But they were not prepared for her humor, her cunning, or her gelatinous strength.

Shesheshen enters the world of humans with bemusement and fear. When her cover is blown, she falls into a ravine where she is cared for by a Homily, a woman whose kindness and attentiveness confuses her. Could those funny feelings in her stomach be hunger or love?

At heart this is a story of queer love, connection, and acceptance that asks us to take another look at who and what we deem monstrous.

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

A landlocked mermaid and a non-binary plague doctor begin a journey together across a bleak landscape and wind up ensnared in a mystery as well. But along the way they develop a friendship and growing affection for one another. Who knew that horror could include so much swoony pining?

This novella showcases Khaw’s visceral prose style which offers profane poetry in which the horrific is gut-turning yet gorgeous. I have no idea how they do it, but Khaw has a way with words and descriptions that is their unholy own.

Khaw’s use of language creates a creeping sense of unease, and temporarily masks the horrific acts it describes while rending your brain’s ability to unsee the flaying of flesh.

The ending is quite something, too.