: Re: Mixing humour with horror in fiction I got into trouble last year for submitting an assignment (Masters in Creative Writing) that included a story that sprinkled elements of humour (think Despicable

@Debbie451

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The problem, psychologically speaking, is that horror is intrinsically alienating while humor is intrinsically identifying. Humor brings us closer to characters, where horror drives us away to the position of hapless onlookers. If the two are mixed badly, it can end up implicitly asking the reader to identify with the horror, as though the horror were something good and right and normal. At best that effect is distasteful and disquieting; at worst it comes across as downright psychopathic. This isn't to say the two genres can't be mixed, but it would be a delicate task.
We can't underestimate the moral dimension. Readers always read from an implicit moral worldview. Horror violates that moral worldview (in any of a number of ways) but makes the violation seem overwhelming, an oncoming juggernaut that looms larger as the story progresses. Humor is a moral judgement: an ability to express a moral compass even (or especially) in contexts that have gone morally haywire. Finding a balance between those two moral imperatives is a challenge.
If I'm remembering the novel correctly, you might want to look at "The Dwarf", by Pär Lagerkvist. As I recall, it had a lot of dark humor and a truly evil main character. Perhaps not truly horror, but Lagerkvist is worth studying.

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