Never heard of Nancy Collins, Todd. Poppy Z. Brite is a good example, but not as mainstream as I was thinking.

The only female horror writer I can think of that doesn't do vampire stuff is Caitlin. R. Kiernan. And while Caitlin has done well, I know she hasn't hit any best seller lists.

Shirley Jackson?

Joyce Carol Oates has a couple pretty good short stories that turn up in horror anthologies, and then there's Whassherface that wrote The Yellow Wallpaper.

Shirley Jackson?

Oh, good one.

Shirley Jackson. There you go.

Caitlin Kiernan's debut, Silk, looks really good, Jilli. I may have to get my hands on that.

I guess I'm wondering if there will be any other really mainstream successful horror writers of either gender at this point. Stephen King certainly isn't writing strictly *horror* at this point, but he's earned his audience over the years. Same with Straub. Horror simply isn't as big as it was in its heyday, although I wish it were. I wish there was more *good* horror, like The Haunting of Hill House or Floating Dragon or The Exorcist. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, though. I've been wanting to read The Ruins, which is supposed to be fantastic.

Silk is fantastic, Amy. Actually, I think all of Caitlin's work is good; she's one of the few writers who can creep me out. I can't read her books after dark anymore.

I recently read The Ruins and was disappointed. It seemed long and drawn out and nothing really original. Maybe for those familiar with horror stories/movies it's been done.

It used to be there were no female science-fiction authors or female fantasy authors. Now I would say that women are prevalent in fantasy and well-represented in sci-fi...maybe the same will happen in horror.

I wish horror would have a renaissance too. Maybe we need a less horrifying real world for that to happen.

I'm sure there are theses that link the sociopolitical climate of the time to whether or not horror is entertainment, and if so what kind.

I mean that is why people do film degrees, right?

Horror *film* has made a comeback, though. Even television is embracing the paranormal again (and I don't just mean Supernatural). Romance is publishing paranormals like crazy again, when as little as eight or nine years ago they wouldn't touch them.

It's straight-up horror fiction that hasn't really made a comeback, as far as I can tell, although I think there are hopes for it based on the success of The Ruins. Sucks to hear that was disappointing, Todd.

In films, do you mean horror as in classic horror or the torture-type things that seem to be coming out in bunches?

And, in re The Ruins I read it because a friend - who doesn't really like horror - told me she really enjoyed it. So ... YRuinsMV.