Just finished NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. Is Joe Hill a horror or thriller/suspense writer? I can't tell.

He is categorized as horror but this novel didn't feel scary. It felt like a thriller instead, keeping me on the edge of my seat.

The two really go quite hand in hand. Frankly there's very little I'd personally classify as actual "horror," I think probably 90% of books under that title are really thriller/suspense books, but...

Is it because people can't handle true horror?

Eh? That's an incredibly subjective viewpoint, so...

The only Joe Hill I've read is his terrific comic series Locke and Key. It starts out seeming more like a "suspense" story, but the horror elements come in very gradually, and ultimately very fully.

3 Scribscribe: What is "true horror" in your opinion? Please give examples. Not trying to be a dick, really interested.

lovecraft. poe. matheson. the hellbound heart by clive barker

Sorry but that's just a completely loaded term. There is no such thing as "true" horror or "fake" horror. There are different kinds of horror (as with anything else); there's psychological, supernatural, Gothic, slasher, any number of things. They are all horror. Whether or not any one person considers them to be scary is entirely subjective and utterly open to interpretation.

More important than classification, did you enjoy it? Would you recommend him as an author?

I haven't read any of Joe Hill's books yet, but he's very much on the radar, I do intend to check him out. After all, I do love books by, ummm, well, I do enjoy other books! :>)