The mark of their Enemy
"There is a fundamental difference between the horror story and the so-called horror novel. Anyone familiar with both of these forms can observe the distinctions between them. In essence, the horror novel is a movie and its audience is a movie audience, while the horror story is a literary work and its audience is a literary audience. I realize this is a simplification, but in this world you either simplify or shut up. And who can shut up?"
“To my mind, a well-developed sense of humor is the surest indication of a person’s humanity, no matter how black and bitter that humor may be. If you think of the real bastards in world history as well as those with whom you are personally acquainted, they are people who invariably have no sense of humor. And they will often regard your sense of humor as ‘inappropriate.’ Humor is the mark of their enemy.”
“Let's say it once and for all: Poe and Lovecraft - not to mention a Bruno Schulz or a Frank Kafka - were what the world at large would consider extremely disturbed individuals. And most people who are that disturbed are not able to create works of fiction. These and other names I could mention are people who are just on the cusp of total psychological derangement. Sometimes they cross over and fall into the province of "outsider artists." That's where the future development of horror fiction lies - in the next person who is almost too emotionally and psychologically damaged to live in the world but not too damaged to produce fiction. It's a delicate balance . . . and the determining factors are not predominantly literary.”