Anybody out there write horror/crime or horror/hardboiled fiction?

[carole gill]

Just wondering. Would also like very much to hear from readers as well.

[Christa Faust]

I've written both but not together (yet.) I'm a big fan of Steve Niles' hardboiled monster-fighting PI Cal McDonald (Dial M for Monster and Savage Membrane.) Haven't read Huston's Joe Pitt novels yet but I'm curious.

[carole gill]

Thanks for that. I was wondering aside from graphic books--if there was a sub genre out there, I have a feeling there isn't and I was hoping there would be one. oh well.

[Christa Faust]

Not sure exactly what you mean by "graphic books." If you mean comics, yeah Niles does comics too, but both Dial M for Monster and Savage Membrane are straight-up fiction. And if by "graphic" you mean "gory and violent" I can't think of any hardboiled/horror stuff that is more in the PG13 range.

[Alan Cranis]

Carole: You and Christa should both seek out the Joe Pitt novels by Charlie Huston. They are some of the finest examples of this type of genre-melding I've read in a long, long time. More so than other authors who have over twice as many titles to their credit. Enjoy!

[Don Anderson]

Check out BAD THOUGHTS by Dave Zeltserman.

[Don Anderson]

I agree-make sure you read both of Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt novels. Another author who does the crime/supernatural blend extremely well is Tom Piccirilli.

[Stephen Blackmoore]

It's what I'm writing at the moment. I like to think of it as Zombie Noir.

I would second (third, fourth and fifth) Huston's books. He is goddamn good. Disturbingly so.

Depending on what exactly you're looking for there are a lot of books like this out there. The Dresden Files comes to mind, though I've only seen one of the tv episodes. Horrible. I hear the books are much better.

Also, Clive barker did a short story in one of his Books of Blood, though the title escapes me.

Personally, I think crime and horror are a perfect match for each other.

[carole gill]

ooh! thanks for that. really helpful. all the best.

[Christa M. Miller]

You know, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who didn't care for The Dresden Files TV show. I know a couple of people here like it, but it never grabbed me.

[Stephen Blackmoore]

Yes. That would be it.

I didn't care much for the movie. I love gore. Lots of it. But when all of the blood looks like caro and grenadine it tends to pull me out of the story. Had the same problem with Nightbreed, though having Cronenberg as the psycho killer was a nice touch.

[Anne Frasier]

i would say that's what i write. i'm finding that kind of crossover a tough market, but i'm also hoping it will eventually become a hot market. could be a pipe dream.

[Christa M. Miller]

I'm working on a short story that fits that classification, but I'm not sure if I'll continue with other horror/crime stories. I mean, I would love to, but the story would have to be there first. In this case I combined an older story with a dream I had.