In the second installment of our Question of Genres series was pose the question: What is the attraction of horror fiction for you?
Horror has existed in literature for ages. Heck, some folks cite the Bible as having stellar horror imagery spread throughout the book, but especially Revelations.
Of course we have vampires, ghosts, zombies, demons and lycanthropes running about the horrific worlds 
conjured by classic writers like Robert Louis Stevenson, Machen, Shelley and Stoker. Transition to the modern era, when the age of pulp rose and made horror a broader genre. We have Lovecraft, King, Barker and Mattheson setting the modern standard for things horrific.
What drew you to horror? At what age did you take the plunge? Did it scare you straight only to return out of curiosity? Or was it an automatic fit? What’s the best book or series in the genre and who is your favorite horror scribe?
Let’s hear it.
I happen to like the supernatural elements of horror, especially ghost stories. While I’m not into the hard-core violence aspect (a ghoul biting off heads doesn’t scare me as much as it offends), the scariest moments are when an entity is present and you can’t really see it … but it has greater than earthly powers and a purpose in haunting. That kind of mysterious intensity makes me shudder. Spirits of the dead! And I like psychological horror, like The Yellow Wallpaper by Gilman, where the lines blur between madness and ghosts.
I just read Mary Shelley’s The Mortal Immortal. Every line held me in suspense. But of course, she’s the Queen of horror!