Horror Isn't a 4-Letter Word

"Horror isn't just a genre of stories but an outlook on life," Matthew Warner writes in his foreword to Horror Isn't a 4-Letter Word: Essays on Writing & Appreciating the Genre. In this collection of articles published between 2002 and 2007, the author of The Organ Donor, Death Sentences: Tales of Punishment & Revenge, and Eyes Everywhere challenges us to look beyond the stereotypes associated with a much-maligned type of fiction. Horror empowers us to cope with our fears by teaching us about them, he says, either overtly or through symbolism. It's not just about blood and guts. The book consists mostly of editorials written for the Horror World website, plus selected articles from venues such as Hellnotes Newsletter. Warner runs the gamut in subject matter--everything from ghost hunting, to gory holiday decorations, to effective writing techniques--in his meditations about horrific things, whether they be fictional or real. Contents include some of his most controversial columns: "My Summer with a Book Doctor: An internship at Edit Ink, a Notorious Scam Operation," "Message Versus Medium: The Agenda of Left Behind," "Addictive Plotting as Taught by Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and "Obscenity v. The First Amendment: Why the Prosecution of X-rated Films Affects Books."