i said i'd explain about the dull yellow eye next post, didn't i? it's kind of the perennial question isn't it? why writers who like dark subjects like them? i've never thought up or read an answer to that question i identified with, but here are a few other writer's answers:

"People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk." Stephen King

"Horror fiction upsets apple carts, burns old buildings, and stampedes the horses; it questions and yearns for answers, and it takes nothing for granted. It's not safe, and it probably rots your teeth, too. Horror fiction can be a guide through a nightmare world, entered freely and by the reader's own will. And since horror can be many, many things and go in many, many directions, that guided nightmare ride can shock, educate, illuminate, threaten, shriek, and whisper before it lets the readers loose." Robert McCammon

"Horror is that which cannot be made safe -- evolving, ever-changing -- because it is about our relentless need to confront the unknown, the unknowable, and the emotion we experience when in its thrall." Douglas Winter

for me, horror allows the most freedom in exploring what frightens us. other genres follow rules of accepted character types, story structure, appropriate subjects and writing style. horror feels wide open. any topic, no matter how taboo, can be poked and pulled out into the light of day. every other genre fits inside horror, as well. any style, voice. the only stipulation is that the story must pay off with a scare or sense of dread, or even nausea (if that's your bag.)

i write about all sorts of situations. i may incorporate a romantic element into my sf/adventure story if it feels right. my characters may cavort nekkid through a field of flowers to discover they've stumbled into the pasture containing Big Bongo, the mad randy bull of Cucamonga. as far as i'll take my story from reality, i always return. horror is rooted in reality, and i always feel that connection to the darkness.

so, the dull yellow eye cracks open. evil is all the more terrifying for its sentience.