I have recently seen a huge spike in the popularity of horror novellas. Novellas are considered to be 100-150 pages or up to 40,000 words. Novellas are a great way to consume a story without the commitment of a series or a full length novel. Novellas are also, in my opinion, the best way to prove one's capability as a writer. Working in the constrains of a shorter page count means you have to be precise at working on developing a plot, characters, and themes.
I find that novellas generally hit on themes and have more to say about societal topics which makes for an interesting and engaging reading experience. Novellas are able to have more societal commentary on a wide range of topics and not be constrained by the expectations of novels and mainstream publishing expectations about what topics are okay or accessible or will be appealing in mass to the general public.
Novellas also allow for more genre crossover. With those genre crossovers you can have fantasy horror, horror scifi, fantasy historical, historical horror, or a mix of all the genres you can think of. Particularly I have noticed horror novellas are thriving in the market, but also readers seem more inclined to pick them up. I remember a couple of years ago everyone wanted to read large tomes and now people are looking for a quicker reading experience. The problem with tomes is that they tend to drag and go on for too long, but a novella is a quick and fast reading experience. The crossover of multiple genres is also more feasible within the context of a smaller story compared to a large story. Larger stories with too many genres become bogged down by characters and plot. It becomes a boring experience when a long novel is slow and meandering.
Novellas are a ton of fun and they offer and in depth reading experience that provides thought provoking social commentary and a quick story that is easy to consume for someone with a busy schedule like me.
MY FAVORITE HORROR NOVELLAS:
SOME FUN NOVELLAS:
NOVELLAS AT THE TOP OF MY TBR:
Do you like novellas? If you have any favorite horror novellas, please let me know which ones you recommend.
