Re: RARA-AVIS: Noir Horror?

From: Ron Clinton ( r-and-jclinton@email.msn.com)
Date: 05 Feb 2000


Zomboy wrote:

> Actually, I was a big horror fan for five or ten years, and my love of
> hard-boiled kind of grew out of this love like a parasitic Siamese twin...

I, too, was - and still am - a big horror fan, alternating my reading of this genre with hardboiled classics, both new and old, as well as a few samplings from other genres. But time and time again I return essentially to these two genres. Call me predictable.

I've often thought that these two areas or writing had a great deal of connection and I'm glad to see I'm not alone. A few authors whose works blend the two include Joe Lansdale, Ed Gorman (though some might argue he only writes "true" horror under his Ransom penname), Richard Laymon, Robert Bloch, (some of) Nancy Collins...heck, even F. Paul Wilson has the Repairman Jack character which is hardboiled with a capital "H". I'm sure there's a whole litany of horror writers that could qualify...I hope this conversation thread continues.

However, to the original poster, I don't believe I could see Lovecraft labeled as "hardboiled" by any stretch of the imagination. His overblown, flowery prose and expansive Mythos is about as contrary to the lean, hardboiled legacy as can be.

Ron Clinton

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