Sekourah the evil magician in The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad . When I was a boy that was my favourite movie for years. The actor who played him, Torin Thatcher, was the friend of friends of my parents. He came to a party at our house one night. When I walked into the room and saw him, Sekourah, ruler of dragons and cyclopses, capable of turning servant women into green snakes, I almost died and went to heaven.
Some authors impose an element of self-censorship.
Many readers wish other writers would do it. The furor about the ending of Hannibal by Thomas Harris, perhaps one of the more fiercely compelling stylists I've read, is a recent example. I'm sure some of my disgruntled readers would say well there's a lot of horror in your novels. Which could be argued, but if I use something that is horrible or offensive, it is always for a specific purpose. The scene in Bones of the Moon , for example, where the narrator sees herself and her child crucified on a door is certainly gruesome.