Robert Dunbar, author of The Shore, The Pines and a recent collection of short stores entitled Martyrs and Monsters, is the Featured Author at Horror Bound Online Magazine.
Here’s a bit of what he has to say:
Interviewers are forever asking me, “Why is there a stigma attached to the genre?”
I notice no one ever asks if such a stigma exists. Of course, the literary mainstream feels contempt for us. We’ve earned every bit of that contempt. Think about it. Most of what’s touted as the best the genre has to offer appears to be written on a YA level. What message does that send? Reflect on the writers who established the traditions of the genre. Suddenly, it’s tragic, right? Mary Shelley was not exactly grinding them out like sausages. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Algernon Blackwood could hardly be called hacks. The same applies to Oliver Onions and M. R. James. These were accomplished wordsmiths. Stylists. Geniuses. From that pinnacle of artistry we’ve plunged to … what? Vampire bodice rippers? Torture porn? Zombie sitcoms?
Catch the complete article on Horror Bound: Robert Dunbar
