Horror intersects with fantasy, sf and realistic fiction:
ghosts or vampires;
Frankenstein monsters or Body Snatchers;
cannibals or serial killers.
Some people's idea of sf might be just its horror element:
Frankenstein;
Quatermass;
Doctor Who's monsters.
There is a nightmare quality to some passages in William Dexter's Children Of The Void and also to Chapter XVI of Poul Anderson's Satan's World - Falkayn, holding down the plunger of a grenade, not only confronts a monstrous Minotaur-like alien but also moves closer to that being in order not to be trapped on the wrong side of a bomb-proof barrier where he could be killed by a robot. Many people would be inclined to escape from this situation merely by removing their thumb from the plunger...
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree it would be terrifying for us to confront an enraged, Minotaur like being like this Shen, I can't really compare it to the chills grues classic horror such as Bram Stoker's DRACULA gave me. I think the closest Anderson came to writing horror of that sort was Dahut the Siren in THE DOG AND THE WOLF, the last volume of THE KING OF YS.
Sean