They're having this conversation over in SciFi land, but I think it translates well to horror, too.

Don't be embarrassed if you, reader or author, haven't read the entire horror "canon."

Inevitable thread follows.

Horror's been around for a long time, probably longer than SciFi or even fantasy. So many Bible stories are horrific, then there are classics like Gilgamesh or even pieces of the Iliad/Odyssey.

Horror's canon is righteously long.

Then, we get to the post-Stoker period, and let's not even talk about post King.

Horror as a genre is wide--books, comics, films, television--and deep.

How can one human possibly ingest all of this and still lead a life?

Well, some can.

Most of us, let's be honest here, can't even keep up with just @StephenKing's output.

But let's be clear here, you can still be a horror fan and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

There are plenty of authors and plenty of books and plenty of horror films I've never read or watched. I might get to them, I might not.

But I am most definitely a horror fan.

And fuck anyone who says otherwise.

I've not read more than one Koontz book, no Saul books, very little Laymon or Picirilli. There are a ton of horror films, classics, that I haven't seen.

And lets not even talk about all the stuff I have seen or read that I've either mehed or downright hated.

None of this defines who I am as a horror fan. What I read or don't, what I watch or don't, what I like or don't has no bearing on me as a fan of horror.

And it should't for you.

Been accused of not reading deeply enough in horror's canon?

Fuck that noise.

Though it makes sense to have some acquaintance with where a genre comes from--say Dracula or Frankenstein--it might be more important to be more into where it is now or where it's going.

That's up to you.

But never feel like you have to read or watch any single book or movie to be a horror fan in someone else's estimation.

Don't let anyone--a colleague, a fellow fan, even a horror author or movie maker--shit on your fandom or define it for you.

You're a horror fan.

Own that shit. Read and watch what you don't, and no pressure on getting to the rest of it.

Oh...well, you might read a few of my books. But that's absolutely not a hard and fast rule.