Oh, the horror.

I used to hate horror movies. I still hate them.

That was an example of two sentences that could have been combined into one, thusly:

"I have always hated horror movies."

But that wouldn’t really be accurate, because before I knew what horror movies were, I didn’t hate them yet. So I guess the sentence should be:

"I have hated horror movies ever since I became aware of them."

The problem with that sentence is that it suggests I always hate horror movies, even when I am not watching them. But I don’t actively hate them at times that the topic hasn’t even come up. I mean, I don’t sit around hating horror movies when I’m eating at the all-you-can-eat donut buffet down the street. So perhaps a more accurate sentence would be:

"Ever since I became aware of horror movies, I hated watching them, and have avoided doing so in favor of other things, including, but not limited to eating at the all-you-can-eat donut buffet down the street."

There. See how much better that structure is than in the beginning two sentences? To be a good writer, one has to consider such things.