By JG Faherty
I write horror. Other things as well (science fiction, fantasy, thrillers), but mostly horror. Over the years, I’ve written YA and adult novels and stories. And today I want to talk about the state of teen/YA horror.
The events of September 11 had a profound effect on the world; we all know that. It changed everything. And horror fiction has always been a mirror for our fears, be they political, economic, or religious. So it’s no surprise that in this new world where terrorism is so common it’s rapidly losing its power to shock us, we’re seeing so much fiction that capitalizes on these fears. Zombies, post-apocalyptic lands, military thrillers and horror.
And the biggest changes are in YA horror. Because for teens, the confusion and fears raised by terrorism only add to the ones they are already experiencing just by passing from childhood to adulthood.
Is it any wonder that dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories are so popular with today’s teens? They live in a world where they have no idea if tomorrow we’ll be at war, or if their city will be blown up, or if their parents will come home from work. They go to school each day wondering if theirs will be the next place a mass shooter strikes. They see the economy crumble, their friends and family losing jobs and houses. They are bombarded with hatred and bullying in social media.
It’s a very different world from when I was a teen.
Not to sound like I’m getting ready to chase kids off my lawn, but I grew up in simpler times. Notice I’m not saying better; there’s a big difference. In some ways, kids/teens today have so many things I wish I had when I was their age. Instant access to information. A million scientific discoveries. A future where advancements and discoveries occur on a daily schedule, rather than measured in years or decades.
But we had it good, too. You could go out all day and night without worrying about getting kidnapped or shot or robbed. We played outside, with each other, instead of alone in front of a computer. We drank from hoses, rode bikes without helmets, and played pickup football on empty lots.
And we had no fear.
Notice I didn’t say ‘no fears.’ Fears we had. Same as kids before as and after us. Fear of our parents divorcing. Fear of getting punished. Fear of not fitting in.
Fears, yes. But not fear. We pretty much believed we were indestructible. Sure, we could get hurt. We all knew about someone who lost fingers from a firecracker or broke some bones falling off a bicycle. We didn’t, however, believe we could die. It never crossed our minds that we could get shot, blown up, wiped out by a plague, or sent to war. The draft was long gone, the chances of an atomic war slim to none (as far as we knew at the time!), and terrorism something you knew vaguely from the news when it happened in the Middle East. Things weren’t perfect – we had race riots, drug problems, police brutality, homophobia, and other problems – but you went to bed each night without worrying what the world would be like when you woke up. You almost never heard about anyone committing suicide, and getting teased in school was simply part of growing up.
You see that reflected in the popular YA books of the time. The Outsiders. Lord of the Flies. Carrie. The Body. Watership Down. Forever. Flowers in the Attic. All of these dealt with teen problems and fears on the small scale. Burgeoning sexuality. Alienation. Death. The environment. Our fears then were up close and personal.
After 9/11? The fears became all encompassing – a world torn asunder by war and terrorism. The Hunger Games. Rot & Ruin. The Maze Runner. Divergent. Ender’s Game. The Road. Purple Heart. Badd.
On the personal level, teens became more concerned with bullying and alienation. The Twilight books are a great metaphor for mixed relationships (substitute sexual orientation, religion, or race for vampire and werewolf) and being cast as different from everyone else.
Kids today are on meds for behavior or stress or depression. They are losing friends to cancer, suicide, war, mass shootings, bombings. They’re facing adult problems without adult knowledge or emotional stability. And the horror that speaks to them encompasses these, builds on them for impact.
Because like us, teens read horror not just for the thrills, but to exorcise their demons, their fears, to subconsciously learn how to handle them while at the same time saying, things are bad, but they could always worse.
A lot worse.
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My latest project, The Changeling, is a YA science fiction thriller. It’s up for nomination in the Kindle Scout program, where readers get to view an excerpt and then vote for it if they feel it should be published. If a book you vote for gets picked up by Amazon, every voter receives a free pre-publication ebook. Plus my ever-lasting gratitude and maybe another free gift as well! Please consider checking it out: http://tinyurl.com/Changeling-scout
Struck by lightning, developing new superpowers, and pursued by a power-hungry secret military group that wants to use her as a weapon of mass destruction…it’s so not the 18th birthday that high school senior Chloe Olivetti was hoping for.
