Meta Horror

For almost as long as the genre of horror has existed, the subgenre of meta horror has too. Self-aware, meta horror plays into the common tropes of horror and subverts them, defying the reader's expectations. The characters within meta horror are aware of the scary movie stereotypes, and some may even be aware that they are IN a horror story. The Scream movie series and The Cabin in the Woods are great examples of meta horror in movies, but it's just as plentiful in books too.

The title of Chuck Tingle's novel, Bury Your Gays, is a reference in itself to the common trope where queer characters face tragic and often deadly demises in media. (Think Lexa from TV's The 100, or Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) In Bury Your Gays, the main character, Misha, is a scriptwriter for a popular TV show. After his boss asks him to kill off a gay character, creatures from horror movies he's written come to life and begin stalking him. It makes for a surreal read to have a protagonist facing off with monsters he created.

Horror Movie, by Paul Tremblay, is layers upon layers of horror as the novel alternates between the memories of the nameless main character as he helps his two friends make a horror movie and present day, where a major motion picture studio has decided to reboot the movie. Every other chapter includes part of the script of the original movie, which has never seen the light of day. Creepy and poignant, the image of a gangly, thin kid wearing a monster mask in an empty classroom, will haunt you for days after finishing the book.

Stephen Graham Jones is a master of contemporary horror, and it's never been more evident than in My Heart Is A Chainsaw. Main character Jade Daniels is obsessed with slasher movies and is fully prepared for her life to turn into a horror story as well. When bodies start turning up in the lake in her town, she's knows it's time to find the Final Girl (that one girl who always survives at the end of the movie) so Jade can guide her with her extensive cinematic knowledge.

Author Nat Cassidy knows what people expect from a traditional werewolf story, and turns it on its head in When the Wolf Comes Home. Jess is a waitress/struggling actress in LA who finds a very scared five-year-old boy hiding in the bushes outside her apartment complex one night. Upon bringing him inside, a horrifying werewolf-like creature attacks the apartment and in the ensuing carnage, Jess realizes the wolf is after the boy. They begin an intense quest to find safety from the relentless pursuit of the monster. As Jess learns about the boy's almost magical special ability to control reality, she references the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life" and the classic sci-fi novel by Ursula Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven. Having a main character acknowledge the fictional parallels to the horror she's experiencing makes this a subtle but excellent addition to the meta horror genre.