tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post3188434890932975161..comments2024-03-12T12:38:23.542-04:00Comments on The Kind of Face You Hate: The Kind of Face You Slash - Day 11: And Then He Just Cried Againbill r.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-33616509110924613132013-10-15T10:13:10.780-04:002013-10-15T10:13:10.780-04:00Thanks for checking in. I probably overstated my ...Thanks for checking in. I probably overstated my case, but it's not that I think you have anything against horror, just that you denied writing it in the same way, as I said, Vonnegut denied writing SF, even though that's what he wrote. But it bothers me probably a bit less than I let on.<br /><br />Also, I may have picked some nits, but I liked both your stories.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-87681354340118385062013-10-15T07:47:01.224-04:002013-10-15T07:47:01.224-04:00Honestly, I have nothing against horror whatsoever...Honestly, I have nothing against horror whatsoever. Clearly I don't. I wrote a horror collection! But my background is mainly in writing theatre comedy - and that's what Steve Jones is alluding to, the way that when I was first commissioned by him I was rather baffled that he even thought I could do it. I was delighted to be given the chance.(There's another story in the book - the fictional afterword, Merely a Horror Writer - which bounces off Steve's introduction, and is an MR Jamesian tale of academic snobbery about horror.)<br /><br />I know it's not done to defend your work from criticism, and please, say what you like about my stories. Clumsy as they may well be! But I adore horror, and I spend a lot of time in academic circles trying to say exactly why the horror genre is such a noble one, and challenging the snobbery you accuse me of. :)Rob Shearmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18205107042427885784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-17906315038765898102013-10-11T15:22:50.420-04:002013-10-11T15:22:50.420-04:00The situation seems hopeless, and the two of them ...<i>The situation seems hopeless, and the two of them are trapped over a period of several days, to the point that starving to death becomes a concern. This bothered me a good deal because they'd both die of thirst well before that happened, but they're never shown drinking anything.</i><br /><br />Yikes. That's about where I'm likely to stop reading, unless the writing itself is so bloody amusing that I don't care what it's actually about. And that's pretty rare.<br /><br />Great points about horror-averse horror writers. Part of it might be a sincere desire not to be pigeonholed ("Most of what I write isn't horror."), but there's just as likely to be an element of snobbery to it ("Horror? Pffft. Puerile trash."). I don't know this guy's work, but that "Best Dark Fiction" title just sounds like a slightly awkward, if more <i>tasteful</i> substitute for the directness of "Best Horror Stories" of so-and-so.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05364322006357208797noreply@blogger.com