Actually, this is a subject I'm very interested in. I've read
a lot of horror in the past and will probably revisit the
genre again sometime. My take on the subject, for what it's
worth:
1. There's no reason, theoretically, that there couldn't be
"noir horror" or "hardboiled horror".
2. Other writers have consciously tried to blend the two
genres, with middling success in my opinion. I remember
reading an interview with Dean Koontz where he said that some
of his early books were an attempt to blend the two. I think,
though, that what he basically came up with were mainstream
suspense stories with a touch of the fantastic.
3. Some of David Schow's and Joe R. Lansdale's stories have
blending the two genres effectively. I'm particularly
thinking of Lansdale's "Night They Missed the Horror Show",
one of the finest horror short stories published in the last
twenty years, in my opinion.
4. Although what you say about Brite, Barker, etc. is true
(that the scenarios these authors come up have some things in
common with hardboiled/noir scenarios), I think that the
florid, Gothic-styled language these writers use sort of
eliminates them from consideration here. People can (and
will!) use whatever criteria they want for defining the
"hardboiled" or "noir" approach, but for me language and
diction is a key element of it. Personally, I don't think you
can really say that a work blends in aspects of the
hardboiled style without some of this "tough" (for lack of a
better term) language.
5. Your point about Lovecraft and Woolrich is excellent! I'd
never thought of the two together before, but you're right,
there are many similarities. I, however, draw different
conclusions from this. Rather than edging Lovecraft into the
noir world, I think it tends to edge Woolrich into the
fantasy world. Perhaps Woolrich is best appreciated as a kind
of surrealist? (I've noticed that many of Woolrich's admirers
-- Ray Bradbury comes to mind -- are fantasy writers, not
hardboiled writers.)
Thanks for such a thought-provoking post! doug
--- John & Carrie <
johncarrie@sprynet.com> wrote:
>
> 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?"
>
>
===== Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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