Kissing Monsters 
by John "JAM" Arthor Miller
Horror markets are falling by the wayside: paying publications, and even non-paying publications. Why do you think this is?
I have my own thoughts and would like to share them with you. I may be wrong and will be the first to admit that I don't have all the answers. But I do tend to analyze things that are important to me, from relationships to diseases that affect loved ones to different writing styles. One important element to my writing-other than fantasy-is horror. I tend to write horror stories every so often, so when I see horror markets folding, I have to stop and ask why?
The falling away of many horror markets affects Liquid Imagination, too. While our goal is to combine stories and poetry with fantastic artwork and photography, we do publish horror stories (calling them dark fantasy). We've been somewhat successful to date. First "official" issue was September 26th and we had 26,000 hits two days ago. Silver Blade, our sister publication, released December 15th and we received 2,000 hits in a day or so. As of today's date of December 16th, Silver Blade and Liquid Imagination has the total combined its of 50, 528. And "horror" has something to do with that. That is why the waning horror markets is important to Liquid Imagination.
Just as every individual has their own personalized story, each publication has its own story about "what happened," whether that publication was a print magazine or small-press publisher turning out yearly anthologies, or a larger venue. It doesn't matter what it is because I am lumping them all in the same category here: "fallen by the wayside" or the FBW (the horror markets that have NOT fallen into obscurity cannot be labeled as FBW). They are all in the same boat: they're folding.
Why?
One reason is the turbulent economic times we now live in, with uneasy eyes fastened to the stock market and newspapers detailing still-yet another major corporation or factory gone bankrupt. The FBW's have dropped out during our present recession-we can officially call it a recession now, can't we? Obviously, the population has less money today. Others are worried about their economic futures, and thus they spend less money. But that in and of itself doesn't explain why horror markets are dropping away faster than other genres, does it?
One reason that may go hand-in-hand with the current economic times is faith. I once heard a joke about prayer and schools: As long as they keep testing students, prayer will remain in schools. Students will pray, "Dear God, let me pass." While that is humorous, it happens with adults, too. People tend to turn to faith and religion more when beset by hard times (either that or crime). And since horror in its most-open form is considered taboo by many, those turning toward religion may feel inner or outer pressure to forsake pure horror publications.
Erotica hasn't gone anywhere, however-in fact, it's stronger than other. But that could be because, like the internet porn industry, erotica caters to something that can never go away: the human libido. Erotica, unlike the number-one internet item that is porn, uses class and literary style to reach readers. Still, if readers are shirking horror because they're turning to faith in troubling times, wouldn't they also turn from erotica, too?
So we know that isn't the answer; we know people aren't turning from horror markets simply because they're getting in touch with their faith, that they're going back to church. There must be another reason for the FBWs, so we'll look at some other possibilities.
First of all, monsters reveal a lot about the general public. That is, the most popular monster of the time. In the old black and white movies, insects and
people bombarded by energy grew into monstrosities, reflecting the public's fascination and fear concerning atomic bombs and radiation. This led into "Night of the Living Dead" when the general population became concerned with diseases such as cancer. Sexual revolutions brought on the vampires, and Ann Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" occurred during the AIDs craze, when people were stifling their sexual libidos for fear of kissing someone with AIDs and becoming infected. Their repressed sexual expression seemed to shift toward vampires (erotica and romance took an upswing, too). The creatures of the horror genre often reflect the population's greatest fears. During the serial killer craze of the late Eighties and Nineties, many successful horror films showed the still-popular "slash and hack" movies like "Halloween" and "Friday the Thirteenth." Basically, at the core-root, those films are about homicidal maniacs; what the movie-goers of those times feared.
Monsters are symbols of our fears. What they seem outwardly rarely, in my humble opinion, reflect what we truly fear. Zombies are making a popular comeback, it seems. Two years ago skin cancer was up 300% as was melanomas. Zombies also seem to reflect (other than disease) chemical warfare and/or radiation fears the general populace represses.
The next big monster? What will it be? Monsters are fun but they also reveal who we are as a people. Every horror writer wants to create the next big monster, or capitalize on the monster right for the times (as Ann Rice did with Lestat and Louis). Horror writers are looking for the next big monster, and perhaps when that monster is discovered the FBWs will disappear in the horror genre.
But we have no new monster craze (other than the zombies which isn't as strong as the zombie craze Romero's first films garnered). And we still have FBWs. So why are horror markets leaving us in droves?
One answer is the general population isn't as scared anymore. Cancer-related deaths are less and less, and many people tend to survive cancer today through the Cancer Treatment Centers throughout the land, as well as chemotherapy and other experimental drugs. That is not to say people don't die from cancer; that is to say the recovery rate is higher than its ever been. The point is this: we're not as scared as we once were. Radiation doesn't create monstrous mutations. AIDs isn't as bad as we thought it was. Serial killers can be handled with a course in martial arts and a can of mace (and perhaps a good ol' can of whoop-ass). Our societal monsters are losing their fright factor. We're no longer scared of the dark. In fact, we embrace the dark as modern fantasy shows. Just look at Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files." In horror we have the "Anita Blake Series," a cross between fantasy and horror. Our characters are no longer running from monsters; they're becoming the monsters. The characters in our novels are becoming wizards and vampires and werewolves and demons.
We are becoming the monsters. The only things we fear, it seems, are ourselves. That is, "IF" the newest type of popular monsters are to be believed. Harry Dresden becomes the wizard; Anita Blake screws her vampire lover. We're no longer running from the monsters; we're chasing them and asking for their autographs as a society-we're kissing the monsters and inviting them into our bedrooms. Just ask Anita Blake.
Does that mean pure horror markets are gone for good?
No. That means they're evolving and publishers and writers haven't caught on. The next big monster will reflect what society fears most. This is just my opinion. I could be wrong. But let's examine what society might possible fear now, shall we?
War. The government, Big Brother and covert operations blowing up the world in a FUBAR mission. Disease (cancer and other debilitating diseases are still out there). Poverty from the recession and thus crime-and because I'm naming crime we must discuss the fear of roaming street gangs (such as the out-of-control gangs who raped women in plain sight after Hurricane Katrina). Other economic superpowers such as China and Japan. Terrorists.
These fears will translate into literature and especially monsters within the horror genre. The horror markets that are falling away probably publish stories detailing what we were afraid of yesterday and yesteryear. Who cares? We want to read about what scares us today, now, and what's going to scare us tomorrow. I could use my imagination and create new monsters based on what I listed, but what's the point? I could be wrong. The demand to be scared is out there; writers and publishers just have to ascertain what it is that scares the population today. Easier said than done.
The next best-selling monster will probably surprise us. They usually do. "Ruins" was about unleashing something from digging into ancient ruins. That movie could reflect the fear of unleashing monsters (AIDs and the HIV virus) from the rainforests, or sacrilegiously digging through the bones of our sacred past. If I had to venture a guess about possible monster-candidates for future successes, it would be a terrorist-monster brainwashing the minds of a poverty-stricken America standing in unemployment lines. The terrorist-monster will provide safety and a sense of security for the poor who fall before his hypnotic powers. Converts become like the terrorist-monster, zealots who kill, perhaps infected by nanonite-technology, recreating them into supersoldiers or-as the movie/book would have it-the ultimate killing machines. In order to destroy these monsters, the hero would have to become the same type of monster and thus we're fighting fire with fire.
That was nothing but speculation, imagination and my attempt at guessing probability. In the end, no one knows what the future holds. It is my personal belief that horror publications are falling away simply because they're not recognizing the fears of the general populace. Dracula has lost his venom. Frankenstein appears in children's cartoons. Mummies have been wrapped up and stashed away since Brenden Frasier's last "Mummy" movie flopped. The new monsters will breathe live into the horror genre. And, I hate to say it, we may ultimately become the new monsters. We may be more terrified of ourselves now. I may be wrong, but then Anita Blake is screwing a vampire even while I write this, and Harry Dresden is helping the Chicago Police Department hunt down a pack of werewolves. We are evolving along with our fears: we are becoming the monster we fear. And we're getting pretty damned comfortable.
