Saturday, 4 May 2013

The Growth of Teen Horror Novels

By Sherman Wills


The teen and young adult genre has branched out enormously over the past few years. It is now one of the more dominant forms of literature in terms of book sales, giving veteran categories like historical romance a run for their money. In fact, the New York Times bestseller list was so overrun with young adult books - such as the "Harry Potter" series - at one time that a separate children's bestseller list had to be created.

Thus, it comes as no surprise that books for teens and young adults have developed a rabid and devoted following at all levels of the general population. Furthermore, much of this writing seems to embrace fearsome and foreboding subject matter. For example, the "Cirque du Freak" series takes the reader across a dark landscape filled with creatures like vampires.

Not surprisingly, the ominous nature of books of this type has led to the emergence of an additional category of novels: Horror for young adults and teens. The young protagonists of these books often deal with situations that require drastic measures. Moreover, they seldom run from dangerous situations like many of their literary predecessors.

This willingness to embrace topics that were often avoided in traditional children's literature has had an unintended effect: adults have a tendency to thoroughly enjoy such books as well. Of course, that is not to say that a book has to have these types of elements in order to be enjoyable. However, it does give the books a type of weight that is unexpected.

Basically, literature directed at teens now includes a broad swath of subject matter. Hence, we see elements such as horror - which were once avoided - being intentionally interwoven in plots. That being the case, it is clear that the current teen and young adult demographic is viewed differently than it was years ago in terms of its ability to accept this type of reading material.




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