Okay, if you’re reading this, I’m sure you’re familiar with the concept of “elevated” horror, horror that tries to bring the horror genre to a “higher standard.” Yeah, don’t fall for it. Here’s why, and it all boils down to a very old fight, a fight that’s been going on long before I was born, and that fight is:
LITERARY FICTION VERSUS COMMERCIAL FICTION:
This fight’s been going on for so long that I couldn’t even tell you when it started, but I do know that the literary elites have sunk to a new low, and before you say anything at all about me being biased, to be fair, publishers, authors, and critics of literary fiction have always been the aggressors in this fight, and like I said, it’s been going on for a long, long, very long time.
Literary fiction has been pushed by education and academia for forever; they straight up worship it, and it’s their weird god in a sense, but I think I should go over what literary fiction is and what commercial fiction is before I get into the real meat of the rant, so here goes:
WHAT IS LITERARY FICTION?
Literary fiction has a message or a meaning that is pushed by the author, a.k.a. the theme of the story. Ever heard of theme? Theme is just that, the deeper meaning behind the story you’re reading. At best, the theme of a literary story can be a deep and thought-provoking lesson, or at worst, it can be straight-up propaganda; it just depends.
The second inherent trait and identifier of literary fiction is the prose. Literary fiction authors, critics, and publishers drool all over eloquent and clever prose, and I’ll be honest, though I’m talented in prose myself, I don’t care to be a slave to it.
In fact, prose is so big with literary elites, it’s the number one reason they masturbate at the mouth over Shakespeare, who, in my opinion, was a mediocre storyteller. His prose was phenomenal, but his plots were basic and for the beer crowd. Do a little history on Shakespeare and where he performed, and you’ll come to the same conclusion.
That’s literary fiction in a nutshell, so let’s get to genre fiction, otherwise known as commercial fiction:
WHAT IS COMMERCIAL FICTION?
Commercial Fiction, or Genre Fiction, typically has nothing to do with a deeper theme. No, it’s generally about action, adventure, comedy, drama, dread, romance, and thrills, and it may or may not have great plots; it depends. In other words, commercial fiction is all about entertainment and escape, the two things literary fiction despises with a passion.
Yeah, don’t make the mistake of equating literary fiction and commercial fiction as being the same, because I’ve seen people online who believe all fiction is the same, and I assure you, it is most definitely not.
That leads us to the next question:
SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
The problem is that the literary fiction elites have stopped attacking commercial fiction in the traditional sense. No, they’ve come up with a new plan, and that plan is:
THEY ARE INFECTING COMMERCIAL FICTION.
You don’t know how much literary fiction is out there making money by pretending to be commercial fiction. It’s gotten really bad, and the primary reason they’re doing it and the primary reason for the beef with commercial fiction in the first place is just that…money.
Commercial fiction makes money, and it sells, because most people, the vast majority of them, want to sit down and read a book, watch a movie, or play a video game for entertainment and escape. Why do you think romantasy sells so well? Actually, my irritation with romantasy is a whole other rant, and I’m not going to get into that here, but at least romantasy is, in fact, true genre fiction.
Anyway, if you don’t believe me about the infection, just read anything by Cormac McCarthy. His books (Blood Meridian, No Country for Old Men, The Road, for example) are literary fiction disguised as commercial fiction. Hence why he won the Pulitzer for The Road…Yeah, not my bag. I’d sooner watch the grass grow, but hey…each to their own.
There are numerous other examples of this infection, but let’s just concentrate on the subject of this rant and that is:
ELEVATED HORROR?
Elevated horror is nothing more than literary fiction disguised as horror. Do I hate it?…No. I don’t particularly care if people read and write this kind of horror, but for the love of God, see it for what it is. It always has a message, so be prepared.
IS ELEVATED HORROR THE END ALL, BE ALL?
No. Not even close. What it is is literary horror. Literary horror has been around since Frankenstein, so it’s not like it’s new. The problem is the branding and the push by the media and major publishers to eliminate all other types of horror.
THE WATERS ARE GETTING MUDDIED…
For example, people will often confuse “elevated” horror with psychological horror, but not all psychological horror is “elevated.” I just finished watching Smile 2, and that movie is a supernatural psychological horror film. It has some phenomenal acting by Naomi Scott, but is it elevated? Hell no. It’s two hours of watching some poor woman suffer through a week of torment that could have been resolved in a few hours by an exorcist. There’s no deeper meaning there.
WHY THE COMPLAINT?
I already explained the complaint, but I’ll explain it again: the problem is the branding and the push by the media and major publishers to eliminate all other types of horror.
Literary agents, professors, authors, editors, and publishers hate commercial fiction. Literary fiction does not make money, not the big bucks, anyway, that Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, Doctor Who, Captain Jean Luc Picard, and Spiderman make.
When I sit down to read, I want to read about Conan the Barbarian cutting a swath of blood through a band of savage Picts. In the same respect, when I engage in horror, I want to read about a clever twist ending where the killer was actually the narrator, or if I’m watching a movie, I want to see rotting zombies eat people alive.
I don’t need to know the deeper meaning of a teenage boy’s struggle with peer pressure while enduring the hardships of puberty. I don’t want to think on the deeper meaning of a young woman struggling with her affair with her coworker because he treats her the way her deceased abusive father did. I don’t need any of that. I don’t need anything on Oprah’s book list.
Look, if I wanted real life, I’d just walk out my front door. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: I read Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises, but I was severely disappointed in its lack of cyber werewolves, giant cockroaches, and bionic underwear.
IS LITERARY FICTION BAD?
No, not particularly; I’m just not interested in it, and I live my life by the motto: each to their own. If you like literary fiction, fine, but don’t push it onto me or anyone else who doesn’t like it.
The problem I’ve got with the literary fiction crowd is that they are actively trying to erase commercial fiction, but that’s like trying to throw an egg through a brick wall. It’s never going to happen. You’re just pissing off the people who read books, watch TV and movies, and play video games who want to engage in that media for entertainment and escape.
They don’t want your message, they don’t care about your message, and they’re not going to listen to your message no matter how many times you repeat it. You’re just going to have to live with that.
And that is my writing rant #2. Agree with it or don’t. At this point, I don’t care. I’m going to write however I want.
Writing Rant #2: The Rise of “Elevated” Horror Copyright © 2025 bloodytwine.com Matthew L. Marlott
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