An overabundance of shadows. An obsessive preoccupation with death. A pathological fear of the unknown. Downbeat endings. These are all elements of noir fiction. They are also components of horror fiction. That's why I consider noir to be a spiritual cousin to horror. They aren't the same but there are points in which they overlap and blend together effortlessly.

"Noir" is French for black and the term came to be applied to a subset of literature and film years after its golden age from the 30s to the 50s. "Noir" is an apt term because the medium conveys doom and gloom. I can imagine that the 30s was a bleak time to live in. It was a time of desperation, disillusionment, economic collapse, and it bore witness to a massive upsurge in fascism. Noir fiction was a reflection of the times in which it arose. In this sense, it became more common for the protagonists to be people, so hungry for success that they would sink to the lowest lows and become criminals. The lives of John Dillinger as well as Bonnie and Clyde are solid examples of this. They were criminals but they were seen by some as heroes who fought a broken system. The fear these characters exhibit, the violence they commit, and their downfall create an overarching mood of fatalism that enables noir fiction to cross into psychological horror. There are several examples I can give out but for now I will focus on Jim Thompson.

Thompson wasn't recognized for his unique take on crime fiction until after his death. He wrote dozens of novels, penned true crime for the pulps, and contributed to Stanley Kubrick's early film work. He had a unique way with depicting the seedier side of life and convincingly wrote about how people corrupt themselves and each other in tawdry efforts to get ahead. The results are often madness and death.There are no heroes in these stories, even many of the victims are scumbags.

The Killer Inside Me is one of the most compelling horror novels ever written. It is about Lou Ford, a sadistic deputy who becomes a murderer. He appears to be nice enough on the outside but is rotten to the core. This dichotomy is similar to Robert Bloch's psychopaths who may appear normal but have lost their humanity and ability to empathize. This reminds me of something Douglas Winter wrote concerning Robert Bloch's exploration into writing psychological suspense, "Explore he did-fathering-along with Cornell Woolrich, John Franklin Barden, and Jim Thompson-the psychological horror novel, in which the dark corridors of the human mind supplant the supernatural. " I read this passage early in my exploration of Bloch but it was instrumental in introducing me to the other excellent writers mentioned here.

Thompson went a step further from The Killer inside me in his later novel Pop 1280, widely considered his masterpiece. In this one, a small town sheriff quietly dispatches of anyone who threatens him or gets in his way. He may appear lazy and dopey on the outside but he is more cunning and successful than Lou Ford. In A Hell of a Woman, a salesman finds an opportunity to help out a young girl and make a lot of money at the same. Of course to do this he has to commit murder. The price is too high and the situation spirals out of control into insanity. A similar result occurs in Savage Night. The Grifters might not be a horror novel but the con man in the tale finds himself a victim in the book's gruesome conclusion.

I'm still learning about Thompson and I'm eager to read more of his stuff. He has been accused of writing incoherent books but to me his work is tightly written and seems to convey what Thompson wanted to get a across. If they appear incoherent, it may be because his protagonists lose control over their perception of the world as they become more wound up in their crimes. Not everything Thompson wrote is a winner but so many of his stories about losers trying to get out from under succeed so well under their own merits. Thompson's books tend to stick to you which may be an uncomfortable feeling but that is one of the things that makes them special.

Written by Nicholas Montelongo

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