King-Free, Modern Horror Fiction Quiz

Answer: Final Girls

Riley Sager, formerly a journalist, started on the horror scene in 2017 with the highly-anticipated release "Final Girls", which sends itself up as a psychological thriller/mystery with shades of slasher horror since its protagonist, Quincy, is one of three girls in a grouping of survivors, each one having made it through horrible, tragic massacres.

In the novel, however, it seems like the tragic events of their past have reemerged.

Answer: The Troop

Nick Cutter is one of the pen names of award-winning Canadian author Craig Davidson, whose earlier works have evolved into films. He won the Giller Prize in Canada for "Cataract City". His horror novels, released under the name Nick Cutter, have proven to be varied, graphic, modern treats, the earliest being "The Troop" due to its clear nods to the works of Stephen King and zombie/infection fiction.

In the novel, a group of boy scouts heads to an island off the Canadian Atlantic coast for a three day camping trip but it's interrupted by a man fleeing a biomedical centre, infected with a horrible creation. What results is gory, unsettling, and horrifying.

Answer: Ring

It's amazing to know how far the story of "Ring" ("Ringu", in Japan) stretches back. Although published in 1991, the book became a Japanese film series in 1995 and Gore Verbinski filmed the American remake in 2002, sparking a wave of Japanese-influenced horror movies all throughout the decade.

The story, of course, follows an investigative journalist who tracks the tragic story of a relative until finding a mysterious video tape said to kill anyone who watches it in seven days. Highly supernatural, the series would continue to see new books more than twenty-five years later, all written by Suzuki.

Answer: Feed

Combining the horrifying surreality of a zombie outbreak with the political side of entertainment, "Feed" follows two siblings in a dystopian future in which they provide adventurous blog content and pick up on the campaign trail of a presidential nominee.

The situation escalates throughout the series as the rogue journalists get embroiled in a much bigger conspiracy. "Feed" was followed by "Deadline" and "Blackout" to round out the trilogy, though a fourth novel, "Feedback", was published in 2016 between Grant's later novels.

Answer: Penpal

A strong indication of the benefits of self-publishing, "Penpal" likely wouldn't have made it to the page without the popularity of online creepypasta-- short fiction produced to be copy-and-pasted on internet message boards. Dathan Auerbach's story about a young boy's experience with a mysterious figure in the periphery of his life, created over several instalments under the username 1000Vultures on Reddit, became an online release in 2012.

His subsequent novel, "Bad Man", would be published by Doubleday and Blumhouse Books, the latter of which evolved as a publishing branch for one of the leading horror film production companies of the 2010s.

Answer: The Terror

Although Simmons is perhaps better known for some of his sci-fi/fantasy works (in the "Hyperion Cantos"), his horror novels, often framed by real historical events, are some of the best researched in the genre. "The Terror" followed the crews of the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror as they struggled to cut through the Northwest Passage in 1845, though their real-life disappearance opened the door for supernatural possibilities in the Arctic.

The book became an acclaimed AMC TV series in 2018. Simmons followed it up with "The Abominable", a story set during the possible first ascent on Mount Everest.

Answer: Unbury Carol

Unlike Malerman's earlier novels in nearly every way, "Unbury Carol" visited what seemed to be the Wild West, tracking James Moxie as he headed across The Trail along the countryside, rushed of course, to save Carol Evers, a woman quickly buried alive by her husband. Unbeknownst to Moxie, a man was on his trail as well-- the terrible, psychopathic arsonist, Smoke-- who was commissioned to stop Moxie from getting Carol out alive at all costs. Malerman started his writing career in horror with the novel "Bird Box", considered an instant classic upon release in 2016.

Answer: The Grip of It

This short novel by Jemc, praised for its chilling contents and its depiction of James and Julie's crumbling relationship as they settled into their new forest-backed property, caught the eye of many readers upon its release. In the story, the happy couple buys the property only to be plagued by horrible dreams, unsettling occurrences, and the perplexing presence (or lack) of their neighbour. Soon, the psychological wear-and-tear breaks them down.

Answer: The Ritual

Praised by horror fans in the years after its release, "The Ritual" seems to be split down the middle due to its interesting narrative structure. Nonetheless, this story of a vacation gone wrong, partly due to tensions throughout the group and partly due to the horrible forces hiding in the dense woods of Sweden, was a big enough deal to result in an August Derleth Award, an award Nevill would take three times in four years. "The Ritual" also became a limited release movie and NETFLIX acquisition in 2017.

Answer: A Head Full of Ghosts

Tremblay's release of "A Head Full of Ghosts" was met with a great amount of critical renown in 2015 and catapulted the author into the spotlight due to its deft tightrope walk between conflicts of mental illness and potential possession. The novel follows two sisters and their family (though it's narrated by the youngest, Merry) as they try to come to terms with their teenage daughter's potential possession, even going so far as to document the events of their life in a reality TV show format. The book won the Bram Stoker Award for Novel in 2015; he was nominated again in 2016 for "Disappearance at Devil's Rock".