Horror vs. Character Development?

Figure with Meat by Francis Bacon

As a horror lover I suppose I've just felt it was a given that if faced with the choice between plot and character development I would go with plot. I've secretly felt that I was judged and found wanting for my preference of plot driven books. That somehow, my decision to read books which echewed any attempt at character complexity in favor of a swiftly moving story line meant that I was in some way a superficial reader lacking depth.

I realize that my choice of reading material should ultimately be influenced by nothing other than my enjoyment of reading. However, I do acknowledge that in general many contemporary horror novels seemed to be written with the belief that the need to keep the plot moving can excuse the existence of stupid, shoddily constructed characters. I believe that authors doing this miss out on the opportunity to create for readers the type of rich literary worlds that keep them coming back for more.

This argument draws attention to those books in which the development of the character is what ultimately makes the book a work of horror . So to close this post here are a few books which, whether they be considered horror or not, feature character development which is horrific none the less.


Books w/ Frightening Character Development
1. Metamorphasis by  Franz Kafka
2. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
3. Lord of the Rings by William Golding
4. Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
5. Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
6. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
7. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
8. The Shining by Stephen King
9. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
10. Resume with Monsters by William Browning