Here There Be Monsters Forum Greatness, they name is the ne..

[color=darkred][/color]There is a ton of books out there, but it seems that the truly original works go unpublished. I hate to say it, but i blame the popular writers.

let me explain a bit. when a writer gets famous for something outstanding, it seems they settle into that one thing they did right, and just do that, and xerox their way through a lucrative career. its a shame. it seems that it is this complacency that is ruining the genres that were once the stronghold of rule breaking: occult, horror, and fantasy.

i know there has to be some great things out there, and they just arent seeing the press, strangled out of the limelight by yet another faux horror story cranked out while some uber writing kingpin that gave it no more thought or heart than what he mustered up on his drive to the hamptons. the truly wonderful gems are banished to the net!!! i have found more than a few here, as well as other places online. its the one saving grace to the written word.

though i could be wrong. any other ideas out there on it?

I agree, on the one hand. I think that the internet gives writers a never-before-heralded opportunity, if only because it opens up an incredibly vast audience at a click. You get known that way, you can even get published that way. I do, however, think that you might be a little too harsh on modern writers. Part of the reason they stay in the trend is because their editors/agents/publishers TELL Them to. Their managers and various staff don't want them to try something original, for fear that they'll go from "Respectable Agent of John Q. Successful" to "Broken Houseboy for John Q. Nobody". Man, that was corny.

Anyway, writers like Stephen King and Dean Koontz (although his style can be repetitive, even I'll admit that) keep the genre fresh for me. I can read a Stephen King book over and over and enjoy it...it's like watching a favorite scene from a movie. I know I'm a little off topic, but I feel like I had to point out that the true Master of Horror really is a shining star among admittedly stale prose. He's also six-foot-four, like me, so it's like we're brothers, man! (Kidding).

Stephen King is a pretty good writer, I recently read "The Cell" and loved it. He just draws stuff out sometimes for too long. Dean Koontz is good at times. I loved "The Taking" by him. But the problem with Koontz is that throughout most of his books the characters are the same. Strong women with sometimes a male character that go through a struggle and come out on top. As a woman it's nice to have strong female characters in books, but he should differentiate a little bit more. (I know not all of his books are like that). There aren't that many good horror authors out there in the bookstores. There should be a horror invasion of books.

One thing I notice is that when it comes to horror movies they seem to all come out at once with the same sort of category. Like when all the living dead movies came out at once. Or all the ghost movies. There's too much of that and not enough variety in books or movies.

I have to add this. The other day I was watching my nephew and he loves Spongebob. Well on Spongebob they did a parody of "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Poe. I didn't know how to react to that.

I would have punched myself if I saw that.

I agree about Koontz. His characters get a little archetypical at times, especially the female leads...every time I read one of his books I almost know that there's going to be a strong, sassy woman to save the day when her man fails. I still consider him one of the best writers of our day, though. His capacity for creating storylines is amazing.

The reason for genres coming at us in categories is pretty simple, I think. A good zombie movie comes out - people like seeing zombies all of a sudden - several imitators release zombie movies to do a quick cash-in from the success of that one, first zombie movie. A cluster effect is inevitable in a business that relies on taste and pop culture.

Yes, the business of writing is a tough one to crack. Editors and publishers go with what they think will sell, not necessarily what they think is good. Very few take risks on things that they feel may sell. A writer can get lucky and have their work fall into just the right hands at the right time, but it doesn't happen often. Most writers struggle for years trying to find the right work for the right publisher. Some publishers wouldn't know a great book if it bit them in the a*s and others see only dollar signs. Great work, I feel will eventually be rewarded. With the Internet and self-publishing there are new ways of being discovered. It can give a writer the exposure he or she needs to get noticed.

However, the Internet can also be a down side too. There are tons of writers out there. Some are truly talented and need a way to put their stuff out there. Unfortunately there are also a ton of writers who have a voice, but have not mastered their craft. I see so much crap out there and wonder how it got published and why are others that are much better did not. The personal computer and the Internet have given anyone who has inspiration a way to be a writer. Although I believe everyone has a right to express themselves, I also believe that not everyone deserves the honor of being recognized and published. There has to be a way to distinguish between what is good and bad. Getting published was or should have been that marker of distinction.

In a consumer society such as ours though, it seems publishers go for what will make money and not for what is quality work. Therein lies the problem. Money.
We value being a bestseller over being a best writer.

Yeah, I see writers very often who have some style and skill, but really don't deserve to be as widespread as they are. I guess it's more envy and jealousy than anything, that I just resent that they are published and I'm not. And I'm not saying I'm better than them, because trust me, I'm my own worst judge (I think everything I write blows, period). It's just that I want to be published so badly, and I can SEE that they aren't up to the grain of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, etc etc, and it makes me mad. I guess I should try to get over it, but getting over things has never really been my strong point.

One author that always does something original, in my humble opinion, is Clive Barker. I love his work because even though it can all be categorized in the same genre, no two stories are remotely alike.