Wanted to throw something out here to see what sticks and
what just slides down the wall.
There's been abundant discussion at various times regarding
so-called "noir westerns" and "noir sci-fi." In this respect,
it appears from the discussions that while any one of us
might disagree whether a particular western or science
fiction work is "noir" or not, there appears to be general
agreement that at the very least, it's certainly not
inconceivable that "noir" elements can exist in those
genres.
I think there is also some sort of general consensus that
"noir" sort of transcends genres (assuming that "noir" is a
style, as opposed to genre yadda yadda yadda.)
Starting from there, does anyone have any thoughts on "noir
horror?" For one thing, the modern horror novel is something
of a descendant of the Gothic novel, just as the modern
mystery/detective/hardoiled/noir novel. For another,
Universal's horror films were an important influence on the
development of film noir (at least those wacky theorists
think so, anyway). And they flourished with the pulps (for
whatever that's worth).
With these things in mind, it seems that, for example, Poppy
Z. Brite's and Caitlin Kiernan's (maybe even Clive Barker)
have substantial "noir" conventions in their work: dark
atmospheres, amoral protagonists, settings and characters on
the fringes of society, etc. (of course, I'm not saying that
these conventions are exclusive to the noir style). On the
other hand, the conventional noir novel generally seems to be
set in the "real" world and the diction is generally
hardboiled. The ghastly stuff that the new gothic novelists
like Brite, et al. tend to not share that sort of
setting.
Then again, Cornell Woolrich didn't write in the hardboiled
style, and he's acknowledged as an important ficgure in noir
fiction. I'd dare say that H.P. Lovecraft at times reminds me
somewhat of Woolrich in his ornate and decadent prose
describing lush, dark settings teeming with hidden with
unknown dread.
Any thoughts or comments about this? I'm specially interested
in opinions regarding Lovecraft as a noir writer.
Thanks folks.
Tribe
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