I don’t need to tell you that people are reading less and less these days.

One poll reveals how one-quarter of American adults haven’t read a single book in the last year. Another survey finds that only seventeen percent of thirteen-year-olds read for fun every day, with three in ten saying they either never or hardly ever do so. Even more shocking is the fact that men make up only twenty percent of all fiction sales in the US, UK, and Canada!

While I do think it has something to do with which books are being published/promoted and which aren’t, I also believe people are finding it HARDER to read. As in, they’re becoming functionally illiterate, if not technically so. Meaning, beyond texts or social media posts, a lot of us can no longer focus on the written word for a sustained amount of time.

No doubt, much of this can be blamed on smartphones and social media ruining our attention spans. The result being a cursory gist of a complex issue from a three-minute TikTok clip vs. poring over a book that might take you six hours; basically, the nutritional difference between licking a sandwich and eating it.

Yes, it’s frightening to live in a world where one-sided, simplistic factoids and outright disinformation reign supreme. But just as bad, or maybe even worse, is how many are missing out on character-building and soul-enriching fiction.  

What if it doesn’t have to be this way? What if we can make reading more appealing to those who are opting out? And what if more quality horror fiction is the answer?

Horror is that “dark sweet treat” that can get the mouths of starving readers watering again.  After all, only horror packs that gut punch, that dizzying thrill of transgressing boundaries or even dabbling in the downright naughty. What the hell else is going to compete with all the murder docudramas?

Naturally, as an author, editor, and publisher I think certain standards should apply, namely: several years’ writing experience, passing work through a critique group, and/or getting it semi-professionally edited. Because as we’ve seen, putting out books not quite ready for prime time does the genre—and the publishing industry—more harm than good.

We’ll also need to address gatekeeping, as the pet ideologies of editors and publishers are definitely filtering out a lot of books that many members of the “Great Unread” (i.e. younger people, men) might really enjoy and/or learn something from.  

In other words, this is just another reason why you might want to read, review, and, for the love of the dark gods, spread the word about my latest short story collection, WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN! As one reviewer claimed, “This one is like trail mix for horror lovers. You get a little bit of everything in a handful…”

So, if you’re looking to beat back the creeping plague of illiteracy that threatens not just our democracy but our very souls, you know what you’ve got to do!