Some students of this genre find that the best way to examine it is to deal with the way horror fiction is organized or structured. Examining the organization of a horror story shows that it shares certain traits with other types of fiction. Horror stories share the use of suspense as a tactic with many other kinds of literature. The tension we feel when a character goes into the attic, down into the basement, or just into the abandoned house is partially a result of suspense. We don't know what is going to happen. But that suspense is intensi- fied by our knowledge of the genre. We know that characters involved in the world of horror always meet characters involved in the world of horror always meet something awful when they go where they shouldn't. Part of the tension is created because they are doing something we know is going to get them in trouble. Stephen King refers directly to our anticipation of horror. In Salem's Lot[2] Susan approaches the house which is the source of evil. "She found herself thinking of those drive-in horror movie epics where the heroine goes venturing up the narrow attic stairs...or down into some dark, cobwebby cellar...and she...thinking:... I'd never do that!" Of course Susan's fears are justified. She does end up dead in the basement, a victim of the vampire.

Question

What is the central idea for the paragraph

Make the answer as short as possible

Answer 1

The paragraph discusses how suspense in horror fiction intensifies due to the genre's conventions, highlighting characters' risky actions that lead to disastrous outcomes.