Writing Sci-Fi vs. Horror

In an extended TV promotion of the new video game, Dead Space, writers and actors pontificate about the definitions of "horror" and "science fiction". One shocked me with the thesis that sci-fi is more akin to fantasy, being "way out there" and horror is the here and now. The game, of course, incorporates aspects of both genres. I found this amusing as I was rereading Alien, a classic tale of a very personal monster out there in space. Very fantastic, too.

I always thought sci-fi to be grounded in the here and now of science, just pushing the boundaries of what is currently possible, imagining what might become of it. And horror, well we all know what horror is--for each of us individually--even if we can't define it (much like porn). Last night I complained to my friend, Betsy, that I was watching the most boring movie about giant spiders. I could hear her shivers as she moaned, "Now that is horrible. I hate spiders!" The venom-dripping fanged arachnid advanced on the heroine.

"Really?" I came back with immense intelligence. "You know I like vampires, and creepy space monsters like the one in Alien." Apparently we will receive no more goodies from the great vampire queen, Anne Rice. Last Sunday The New York Times Book Review carried a full page advertisement for Rice's latest, Called Out of Darkness: a spiritual confession. It's about her romp with atheism and return to Catholicism. *sniff* I miss the vampires, badly.