Reclusive Reads

That's a word almost all readers are familiar with. A condition they accept. And one that, I think, horror readers truly embrace. What could be better, when you are by yourself, than curling up with some tale of terror in the dark reaches of the night? For the simple act of reading is a solitary activity. One in which you are alone....but never lonely. For you have opened a window to another time, another place, in your hands and in your minds. The masses, those social creatures who need a group for every little act in life, never really understand that. That special quiet time, by ourselves, and within ourselves, when we can get away from it all, without ever leaving our quiet places.
As I write this, a realization struck me. Something I know that is true for me, and perhaps you feel the same. The "alone" of reading goes beyond the act of reading, that state of being we are physically in while reading, and finds us seeking the "alone" in our choices of reading material, at least in the realm of horror, and speaking for myself. Because, for me, the best horror, the books that resonate in my mind and heart, are the ones that involve individuals sharing that "alone" moment with me while I am reading. The solitary souls facing the horrors playing out across the pages alone. Kindred spirits, real and fictional, facing the terror together in that quiet time and place where horror works it's dark magic best, in our minds and our nightmares....when we are alone.