“Four Legs in the Morning” by Norman Prentiss will be appearing in Prime’s forthcoming Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2012 edited by Paula Guran. T.J. McIntyre interviews him on the story.

“Four Legs in the Morning” revolves around the ancient Oedipus Rex play. What is it, you think, that causes some stories to last and deepen in meaning while others disappear?

I’m going to answer this question as a horror author, and say that the lasting stories often have some element of horror in them, even if they’re not technically classified as horror. They connect with readers’ deep fears. Oedipus Rex is a play about identity, with a great man doing his best to escape an unthinkable fate—and then slowly realizing he’s failed. I think Oedipus experiences a sense of growing cosmic dread similar to what Lovecraft writes about.

Then again, a comedy or romance writer would answer the question differently!

MORE: Read the rest of the interview here!