To say I'm a horror writer would be misleading. But I can't think of anything closer to it other than Weird Fiction. Aside from Steven Erikson, the other literary figures I admire - HP Lovecraft, China Mieville, Neil Gaiman, contribute to speculative fiction, or wired fiction. Then again stories are exploratory in nature, be it exploring a world, a culture, magic, a demented psyche, or exploring the way something goes through a process.
What inspires me the most are the ideas that something lurks just out of sight, just beneath the surface, poised to unleash a greater horror into the world. What inspires me is the notion that we are all powerless in the greater scheme of things yet we struggle and make meanings in our struggles.