I read a lot of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and never really thought about whether it was written in the past or present tense. It turns out that it's almost always been written in the past tense. Recently, I started reading a book called The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor for a post I'll be doing for Mythic Scribes. And, to be honest, while I like the story and the characters reading it has been a huge adjustment for me. It's written in present tense. I was wondering if someone could tell me why an author chooses to write in present tense, and why it seems that so few do. Perhaps that's just my experience, though. I'm not sure. I did notice that one of the authors of this book usually writes in the horror genre. This might be the first book I've read that can be classified in that genre. Is it common for horror to be written in the present tense? My theory is that it could increase the fear response by giving the impression that the events are happening now.