Taboo?

TedTheewen · Jul 28, 2009

Is there something you feel is taboo to horror writing?

The reason I ask is because I've come up with a character and voice that allows me to let it fly. This is what I've been working towards for a long time and now I'm just about "there".

Are these things taboo to just you or is it more of an industry thing?

FOTSGreg · Jul 28, 2009

Child sacrifice, abuse, and pornography is awfully close to being taboo.

I think the needless slaughter of cats and dogs might be close to taboo (especially dogs since they're so much closer to us familialy than cats are).

Those are really the only two that I can think of off the top of my head.

BigWords · Jul 28, 2009

Sparkling vampires.

Kerr · Jul 28, 2009

And rape, of course. Whatever they frown upon in the zine quidelines is a good rule of thumb to go by. But do what you need to do, just leave off the gory details when you cross into iffy territory.

TedTheewen · Jul 28, 2009

Do you folks think a day will come when editors just tell writers to let it fly and damn the social taboos?

BigWords · Jul 28, 2009

No. As interesting as it would be to see the kinds of stories produced under completely free direction, the end results would, in all likelyhood, be completely OTT in terms of violent and inappropriate material. The small press and self-publishing routes already exist for people who want to offend, sicken and horrify their readers, and who don't give a damn about the consequences.

I would like to think that 'horror', at its' best, pushes the envelope but doesn't rip the paper. Crap metaphor, but it's the best I can come up with at this time of night.

Zazz · Jul 29, 2009

I think a lot of it depends on how it is handled, so IMO, there isn't much that's completely off limits.

CACTUSWENDY · Jul 29, 2009

I think, for what it's worth, that the main purpose of horror is to only flirt with the taboos. Let the reader do his/her own 'fill in the blanks'. What I might think is really bad might not be so with someone else. If the reader can do their own thing then it can fill the spook part. If you 'show' it in all the details then I will have to either like it or stop reading.

This might be why horror is such a tuff genre to do. The stories that are shared here in the SYW that only give the impression of bad are usually the best ones.

Again...IMHO.

alcoholicnightterror · Jul 29, 2009

follow Nabokov's lead.. always strive for perfection and a certain loftiness of language
and you can pretty much write about whatever you want from whichever perspective you want. Lolita: a 12 year old demon child and seductress (she in fact seduces Humbert if you read close enough)-- does that kind of child exist in the Real World? Quite possibly. But the question becomes rather boring and pedestrian when you're taken over by his elevated language and clever plot devices..

TedTheewen · Jul 31, 2009

True. Hinting around something and letting a reader's imagination go with it can be fun.

I think it says a lot that Navokov was upset that so many people came to him and called Lolita a comedy. He kept telling them it was a horrible story.

CH1 · Aug 1, 2009

FOTSGreg said:
Child sacrifice, abuse, and pornography is awfully close to being taboo.

Agreed

mommyjo2 · Aug 1, 2009

I don't think porn, rape, child abuse, etc. ARE taboo in horror writing, depending on how it's done. I'm thinking of books like "Gerald's Game", movies like "The Ring", etc. Even cannibalism isn't taboo - The Silence of the Lambs, et al.

What is taboo, IMO, is over religiosity (not just "let's call a priest for an exorcism"). This is why Frank Peretti's books are classified as Christian fiction, NOT horror. Also, mentions of good angels seem to doom a horror novel and are rejected by horror fans.

That said, if submitting for publication in a horror zine, read some issues to get an idea of what is acceptable and not acceptable.

Ruv Draba · Aug 1, 2009

Every successful horror strains some sort of taboo. Our taboos are built with unthinking fear, and it's confronting those fears that create horror.

While some of our taboos are social triggers for outrage (child abuse being an example), many of our taboos are personal and psychological, and breaking them makes us unaccountably uncomfortable. Both sorts can work with horror.

Trigger-point taboos need special handling though. The purpose of horror isn't to maximise our discomfort but to maximise the entertainment from our discomfort.

soapdish · Aug 1, 2009

Wow, interesting topic. My thought is that nothing should be taboo. But I know realistically that publications have to put some restrictions on things. As far as just *writing* in general goes though, no--I have no taboos. If you have a character that allows you to “let it fly”, you should write whatever they have to say. Taboo or not. Though it may not be publishable.
You can always go back and edit it to leave more to the reader’s imagination if you want it to be saleable.

Zazz · Aug 1, 2009

One can't help but think of writers like Richard Laymon, Edward Lee, and even Bentley Little. Seems there isn't much taboo to those guys.

Alphabeter · Aug 2, 2009

According to the Bible, we are all descended from incest so I don't think there is too much more that is taboo...unless it involves a pig or a cow and purple purses.

Ruv Draba · Aug 2, 2009

soapdish said:
Wow, interesting topic. My thought is that nothing should be taboo. But I know realistically that publications have to put some restrictions on things.

Yep. Publishers don't get to pick the taboos of the readers. Also, a lot of writers just aren't good enough to deal with topics that can hurt people. It takes some talent to understand the reader, understand the material and make a bridge that adds something new to the thinking. I suspect that of the writers are attracted trigger-point taboo topics, for most it's because they don't write very well in the first place.

TMA-1 · Aug 5, 2009

I think we can write about pretty much whatever we want, I'm not sure there are many taboos there.

Zazz · Aug 7, 2009

I think it boils down to an important question regarding writing about taboos: one is "should you?" the other is "should you be able to?"

Ultimately, it should be up to the writer. No one else should be able to tell you what you can and can't write about. But in the end, the market will ultimately dictate what it wants to read. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about that. But I wouldn't let it stifle your creativity.

alcoholicnightterror · Aug 7, 2009

Then there's always Creation Press. Wait, do they exist anymore?

Feidb · Aug 8, 2009

The first scene in my latest icky bug, The Factory is an attempted rape. The perpetrator later dies a horrible death. I just wanted to draw him as the worst of the worst and I think I accomplished that with out going over the line into an actual rape. However, I've read plenty of books, especially in the women-in-jeopardy category that all have rapes in them. Some pretty graphic, even for a woman writer.

As for hurting dogs and cats, I think it would be okay to make the reader THINK it happened, only to find out later it was an illusion, or something. However, just the idea of huring them is hard for me to take, and so far, I haven't done that.

Same with child abuse, etc., though I've seen plenty of examples of that in not only horror, but mysteries and thrillers. Even incest.

The point being, all of the stuff you've mentioned (pretty much) has already been used in fiction. It's how the author uses it is whether it crosses the line or not.

DavidZahir · Aug 8, 2009

Overt racism, as in making your hero a devoted Nazi or KKK member. Ditto a violent Muslim extremist.

Jacquelyn Hyde · Aug 8, 2009

I think taboos are more important in horror than any other genre, at least for me. I've seen too many horror movies/books/what-have-you. I'm largely desensitized. I don't get scared. If you're going to horrify me, it normally needs to be on a moral level.

I think you can get away with any taboo, as long as it's well written. Gore or sex or racism that's there only for a shock factor probably isn't going to fly. (Probably. What can I say? Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted was a guilty pleasure.) Kick the dogs, abuse the kids, and rape everything in between... just make it relevant to the story.

TedTheewen · Aug 8, 2009

It seems that taboos are a personal taste.

miss marisa · Sep 16, 2009

For me, as long as it's well-written and makes me look over my shoulder, do whatever taboo you want. The thing with child and animal abuse, along with rape, is that it happens in real life and is horrorfying. Do it well, and not just for shock, and it can work.

Taboos change with the person, and honestly, you can't please everyone. Something that may be sensitive for one person, may not bother another. But you also have to think of publishers, who sell it mainstream. There's a few limits on things like that, so you have to be careful.

Taboo?

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