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A lot of people think horror fiction’s the sole provenance of trashy, forgettable novels sold in airports and supermarkets. Nothing could be further from the truth; fright literature has a long and glorious history, and some of its best works are among the finest pieces ever written in any genre. We’ve covered horror mavens Stephen King and Anne Rice in previous articles--now here’s a guided tour to the rest of the world of fright fiction.

The founding father of horror fiction (and perhaps the only one popularly known as a Great Author) is,

of course, Edgar Allen Poe. Stop by The Complete Edgar Allan Poe for the complete texts of dozens of his works, several different biographies, a list of film adaptations, links to FTP sites and a lot more. CyberTour: Edgar Allan Poe covers a number of little-known facets about Poe’s life (such as his contribution to humor writing) as well as a guide to real-world monuments to the author.

Next to Poe, perhaps the most influential American horror author is H.P. Lovecraft. His 1920s science fiction-influenced short stories (which include the tales collectively known as the Cthulhu Mythos) set the course of the genre for the rest of the century, for everything from the Alien film series to several of Stephen King’s stories. (Plus, he invented the word "Non-Euclidean.") Check out the H.P. Lovecraft Page for a comprehensive guide to the author and his works--including a great collection of pictures of his house and hometown. If you’d like to read some of his stories, stop by the H.P. Lovecraft Archive.

Horror’s still a vibrant genre, and authors continually are pushing its boundaries. Some of the top current frightmasters include Clive Barker (the brains behind the Hellraiser series), best-selling authors Dean R. Koontz and Peter Straub, reigning "Splatterpunk" queen Poppy Z. Brite and British vampire author Kim Newman. They’re all well worth checking out.

And if you want to know more about the weird and wonderful world of horror fiction, take a look at HorrorNet--it’s a "hub" with links to dozens of pages dealing with horror literature, from publishers to bookstores to interviews with authors. Also recommended is OmniMag’s DarkEcho Horror Index, a great-looking site that approaches the genre from a more literate viewpoint. They’re proof that horror fiction’s definitely a genre worth getting into--for fans of literary merit and gruesome thrills alike.