The Form is a Book, the Art is Horror

If I showed you this cover, what would you think?

As someone who has been reading books since the end of 2022, mostly horror, the cover of any book is important. You may not read the back first but the cover will tell YOU whether or not it’s worth investing.

And like with eating, we consume with our eyes first. Colors, layout, typography choice (I went to school for this, lol), all of these are important to make you the consumer, interested in picking up said book. And of course, things vary because of the genre. And you can apply this to anything entertainment wise with video games, television series, films, anything for consumption. All of these things are there to tell a story, hell, even artwork does the same thing. It’s about evoking a feeling of interest and intrigue.

I personally think that nowadays, horror book covers, and maybe covers in general, have gone through this evolution of “being in your face” to “minimalist” to “a return to form”. And for someone who thrifts often enough now in the book section, I can see major differences in how the art form of a book cover has changed. Most can be boiled down to printing or publishers, what number the edition is, maybe an author’s choice, there are variables.

Let’s look at what I have in my personal collection and see which ones I prefer, what you prefer, if you like the more simple easy cover or the ones that tell the actual story.

Stephen King is someone I have a lot of books of and someone who is a perfect example of how covers changed in order to grab an audience. Popular and best selling, a lot of his work has been adapted into films or inspirations for television, he’s a great candidate. In my collection, I have Salem’s Lot, Carrie, The Stand, IT, Desperation, The Dark Tower, The Gunslinger and The Tommyknockers so far. I will use Carrie as an example. When you look at these four different covers, which one grabs your attention? I have the 4th one.

Another author I have a bit of now is Anne Rice (rest in paradise). The Vampire Chronicles has achieved longevity with the 1994 film adaptation, there is the Lestat Broadway play and now the AMC tv series that is about to release season 2 (please watch S1 and 2, it’s a great show) but what’s funny is how I remembered the book covers pre-reading and post-reading.

Let’s look at some covers from the 1970s-1980s which to me is like the renaissance period.

The 1990s for me are the Baroque period (it’s after the Renaissance, it’s very gaudy, over the top, let’s put extra gold flakes on the frames’ history) and the most familiar because that is my childhood.

2000s is we’re in a gray area, a transitional period in A LOT of ways and it seems like this also reflects in horror films. Dark Harvest is a pretty cool cover, in my opinion. Also, was everyone using the same font choice?

2010s is what I call the “lacking a bit of imagination” era of book art. The artistry that was left in the 2000s really is sucked dry for me.

And book covers from maybe the 2020s which I’ve seen a bit of a return to form. The art is back with colors, patterns, silhouettes, smart design elements like Tender is the Flesh, What Moves the Dead, Such Sharp Teeth, Black Sheep, The Haar or A Certain Hunger implies exactly what you think the title is by the image.

I think it all comes down to the art form being lost for a while. There’s something nostalgic about hand painted cover art to these minimal, simplistic covers that remind me of advertising. And it can be chalked up to the period of time when books looked boring and not interesting, despite the author’s name or a familiar title attached. Remember the book cover from above? Now look at this different cover, same title, just now the book has more attention from me. And if you want to market your book or have the customer LOOK at your book, the cover makes or breaks it. And it is about making $$$.

Huge shoutout to others who have thought and covered this type of subject to In Praise of Shadows on youtube and the book Paperbacks from Hell from Grady Hendrix.

What do you guys think of book cover at? Specifically horror? Do you prefer simplistic vibes or borderline creepy? Leave a comment below!