[Zombieness]

Yeah, that happens to me too. Horror is just sadly not as loved and appreciated as other genres, and not only in literature. People who go 'Oh' and 'Okay, nevermind then' help motivate me to write good horror.

I had a deal with my mother (this was quite a few years back when she was really starting to worry about my, er, obsessions). I told her I'll stop writing anything 'disturbing' when they stop being good. She was the one who judged everything I wrote first.

She was hooked on most of the stuff I wrote (not like a supportive mother. She was God honest every time, even when it hurt), finding the symbolism and powerful values deep in the story's morals. What made me proud was the fact that my mom hated any type of horror fiction, and after reading stuff I wrote she started really getting into the genre.

Similar stuff happened with me and my friends and family. Almost everyone I gave some stuff I wrote to read to hated horror fiction, and gradually I used my stories to introduce them to the genre.

I think basically the perception people make are that horror writers are the Devil-worshiping, psychopathic and anti-social versions of comedy and romance writers, who make stories to promote darkness and excessive violence.

I believe it should be part of every horror writer's goal to try to teach people that the genre is just as good as all the others, and that it isn't just all about random violence and gore.