Do I Need a Defense?

It feels good to finally be back on here again. I am appalled to see how long it's been since I last wrote a post. I blame a lot of things: a trip to Prague, a new job (full-time writing and editing!), and a baby that has decided to become a parasite in my body. Mostly, though, I think I have just been procrastinating, which isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes writing can benefit from a little break. I've finally been able to work out the sticky parts in my second novel. (My first novel is going well, by the way. I'm getting favorable responses from literary agents. Fingers crossed!)

But this is not my main point in this post.

I've noticed a trend in conversations lately. When I meet someone new, he or she always is curious to know a little about me (which is natural, I guess, in the "getting to know you" of new friendships). Talk will inevitably turn to my writing or what I like to do in my spare time, which then leads to my love of the horror genre.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like to talk horror with people. And I love to discuss the genre in a rather nerdy way (I blame too many years in grad school for that one). As a side note, for anyone looking for a good book on the subject, I highly recommend Jason Zinoman's Shock Value. I just finished it and can't say enough good things on the book. It deals with the rise of the horror movie in the 1970's. Great Stuff. I am also in the middle of reading (finally) Stephen King's Danse Macabre.

But this isn't the kind of thing most people want to talk about when they talk "horror" with me. No, they want to know why I like horror. I guess people don't expect a petite (and currently pregnant) blonde to like horror. What I should like...I don't know. Or what a "horror fan" should look like...that confuses me too. Whatever it is, I'm not it.

So, they want to know why I like it.

I used to give all sorts of reasons why I watched, ranging from the more academic ("horror tells us about our society" and "it allows us a safe place to experience our fears and anxieties") to the less so ("I enjoy movies with buckets of fake blood"). Now, though, I'm wondering if that is even needed.

After all, no one ever asks for a defense when someone professes a love for romantic comedies or comic-book movies ("Really? You watch romantic comedies? You don't look like that kind of person? Why? Have you liked them since you were a child?" It's a ridiculous thought). No one who likes comedic films ever has to defend his or her tastes (although I would point out that many comedies have more violence than a lot of horror movies I've watched--and horror movies generally have a good dose of funny to them too--but that's another post for another day).

Why, then, do I have to offer a reasoning behind my obsession?

I don't think I owe that to anyone. Next time someone asks me why I like horror, I'll just shrug and say, "Because I do."

And that's all the defense I need.