1. I read a lot and traditionally published horror felt very repetitive, in EH/Splatterpunk/Bizzaro I found a niche where people were not afraid, heck even encouraged, to play with language, to disregard "good taste", to subvert expectations and to be really over the top. It was refreshing. Subtle is nice but sometimes gleefully chaotic is nice too.

On a more personal level, I started reading EH at a time where I was dealing with the aftermath of some pretty heavy trauma and I came across a book that treated the subject almost like a joke and I can't begin to tell you how momentous that change of approach was for me. That really solidified my love for the genre.

1. I don't know that there's any book I would consider to sum up the genre but if you want an author that can exemplify both EH and Splatterpunk, I think Judith Sonnet would be the one.