Do You Ever Scare Yourself?

M.R. · Mar 2, 2011

I was working on a story the other day and creeped myself out so much I couldn't sleep for a long time. I quite enjoy the feeling but it doesn't happen very often.

Anyway, here are my questions. How often do you creep yourself out and What stories have you written that managed to scare even you?

Switch-Phase · Mar 3, 2011

I creep myself out almost every night, and once I wrote a story about a guy who was trapped inside his mind, where his best friend's eyes were sewn shut and mud was leaking from his mouth.

Fiona · Mar 3, 2011

I do creep myself out at times.
I had some really weird things happen in my home during the writing of The Banishing and I was convinced I'd summoned something from hell LOL.

AngelRoseDarke · Mar 3, 2011

I terrify myself all the time. In fact, that is why I have decided to make the jump from non-fiction to horror. The piece I am currently working on is based on a nightmare I had that kept me awake for over 24 hours, but I'm not going to give out too many details at the moment because I am entering this one in the Horror Hounds contest on here.

Kitty27 · Mar 3, 2011

I freak myself out all the time. Some of the stuff in my horror stories is truly weird.

M.R. · Mar 3, 2011

AngelRoseDarke said:
I terrify myself all the time. In fact, that is why I have decided to make the jump from non-fiction to horror. The piece I am currently working on is based on a nightmare I had that kept me awake for over 24 hours, but I'm not going to give out too many details at the moment because I am entering this one in the Horror Hounds contest on here.

I can't write non-fiction for the life of me. A lot of my story ideas come from dreams too. Also I noticed you're from crossville. I'm from Jonesborough but near Johnson City. Tennessee isn't a state most Koreans know, so I tell them it's where Elvis and Jack Daniel's are from. They usually say, "Jack Daniel's good," and give me a thumbs up, lol.

Kitty27 said:
I freak myself out all the time. Some of the stuff in my horror stories is truly weird.

I know what you mean. A lot of my stuff is like that. When people ask, what's it about, I'm like um ... How about that soccer game.

Flight said:
I creep myself out almost every night, and once I wrote a story about a guy who was trapped inside his mind, where his best friend's eyes were sewn shut and mud was leaking from his mouth.

This sounds truly horrifying=)

Fiona said:
I do creep myself out at times.
I had some really weird things happen in my home during the writing of The Banishing and I was convinced I'd summoned something from hell LOL.

I don't believe in the paranormal at all, except sometimes, my brain goes, what if there is something to this. In my apartment they have a speaker so they can announce crap. A lot of Korean apartment complexes do this, but it's really loud and I got tired getting woken up at 8 am on the weekends so I cut the wires. (I probably shouldn't admit I did this, lol.) Well, as I was doing it, I had this sudden clear image that the speaker would continue to work. I brushed it off. Low and behold two days later I hear an announcement. I flipped out, took the thing down again. I half expected to see a repairman had come in and fixed it. No, the wires were still severed but I could still hear the announcement. Only it wasn't coming from the speaker.

It was coming from the wall.

Just as I was about to really freak out I realized that the neighbors must have a speaker in their apartment opposite mine. Hello 8 am every Saturday.

Quantum1019 · Mar 3, 2011

I don't know if I've scared myself, but I have made myself nauseous once or twice while thinking about certain scenes.

EFCollins · Mar 3, 2011

M.R. said:
I was working on a story the other day and creeped myself out so much I couldn't sleep for a long time. I quite enjoy the feeling but it doesn't happen very often.

Anyway, here are my questions. How often do you creep yourself out and What stories have you written that managed to scare even you?

Every story I've ever written has scared me in some way. And I scare myself/creep myself out daily.

That's why I write horror.

Ludicrum · Mar 3, 2011

I'm a bit odd in that I don't creep myself out, I just get excited. While writing the more horrific scenes of my novel I get really into it and want to see how far I can go.

If I do feel fear, it's more the fear that people will think I'm deeply disturbed. There are some moments when I stop what I'm doing and wonder "is it wrong that I'm enjoying this?" Not sure of that counts as being creeped out, but it's about as close as I've gotten so far.

If I ever wrote something that freaks even me out I wouldn't be sure if I should burn the manuscript or praise it as my greatest work.

EFCollins · Mar 3, 2011

Ludicrum said:
I'm a bit odd in that I don't creep myself out, I just get excited. While writing the more horrific scenes of my novel I get really into it and want to see how far I can go.

If I do feel fear, it's more the fear that people will think I'm deeply disturbed. There are some moments when I stop what I'm doing and wonder "is it wrong that I'm enjoying this?" Not sure of that counts as being creeped out, but it's about as close as I've gotten so far.

If I ever wrote something that freaks even me out I wouldn't be sure if I should burn the manuscript or praise it as my greatest work.

I get a kick out of scaring myself... I enjoy being scared. That's why I do it... and writing while I'm afraid gets me some really, really good results. I love my imagination.

Jess Haines · Mar 3, 2011

I once wrote a short story where this guy is obsessive about keeping his house clean, but the house starts dripping muck and even making him filthy after a while. The purpose? To drive him out to find it victims to "feed" whatever is haunting it.

I never clarified if it was just the dude's insanity that made him act that way, or if the house really was haunted and preying on his mind.

Gave me nightmares. Heh.

backslashbaby · Mar 3, 2011

I very rarely scare myself, but I do shake loose the random spirit here and there. Everyone's a critic

muravyets · Mar 3, 2011

I terrify myself quite often. But not when I'm writing.

I'm kind of horror-hardened. The things I write scare other people but entertain the hell out of me, like a good amusement park ride. I like it when people complain that something I wrote scared them, but I usually don't know what's scary about it because, to me, it's a just a ripping yarn. If I ever wrote a story that terrified me, I'd probably write a story about it. In fact... *starts scribbling*

MeretSeger · Mar 3, 2011

I get scared by the dark direction my stories can take. I can start out with a nice little kitty story, and sure enough, someone's got a cookbook.

donatos · Mar 5, 2011

Do I ever scare myself? Yes. Disturb myself. Yes.
The last story I wrote was for a friend who asked to send him an extreme horror story for an anthology. Never done extreme horror before. The result, weeks of being creeped out at myself, and still dealing with it.

Oh well, I learned a lot, still am learning alot, about myself as a writer. My cigarette smoking and beer drinking went up too. Actually dealt with some anxiety attacks. Weird that fiction could have this effect on you, even if you deal with a dark genre as a matter of course.

Dandroid · Mar 5, 2011

I don't write horror per se...but here and there i like to inject stuff that settles in the background in an eerie way...when i do this...i find that the anxiety while writing increases...and i periodically shoot glances over my shoulder...

Rhoda Nightingale · Mar 5, 2011

Not often, but yeah--it happens. A few scenes in "The Carrion Girl" shook me up so bad I had to step away from it for a little bit. And those scenes were not fun to edit, let me tell you. However, I also have a great deal of confidence in those scenes for the same reason. It's a horror story, after all. It's supposed to be unnerving.

Then there's "Dusty" which I keep shelving and then coming back to because it deals with a very personal fear that I honestly haven't faced yet. I still don't know how to approach it.

@OP: Sounds like you've hit a sweet spot. Good job, and good luck!

@Fiona: Oooh, I'm even more excited to read that now!

onipar · Mar 10, 2011

Like Ludicrum, I have strange reactions to the stuff I write. I'm more prone to laugh than get scared. Sometimes I wonder if what I write is even scary, or if it's just weird and messed up. I have a strange feeling that what I find normal most people would be creeped out by.

Nathaniel Katz · Mar 12, 2011

I never have, but then again, I don't generally write horror necessarily focused on terror, more atmosphere/unease (IE, more Thomas Ligotti than Stephen King). That being said, I have, once or twice, been fairly unsettled by a vivid vision or daydream that I've later turned into a story.

SouthernFriedJulie · Mar 13, 2011

All the time. My mind is a scary place to live. Probably why I can't sleep and my best writing is after a few drinks. Tend to revel in the evil parts more thanks to being too buzzed to give a rip about cutting loose the pet demons.

Kitty27 · Mar 17, 2011

I just want to say that after reading this thread,it is immensely comforting to know that I am not the only maniac running amok.

*Smooches*

Jcomp · Mar 17, 2011

Not usually with anything I write, because I know I'm in control. Sometimes I'll freak myself out with a random thought that gets away from me. Last night I was dead tired but couldn't go to sleep because it suddenly occurred to me that the idea of being awake one moment, then asleep and unaware of your surroundings an instant later with little-to-zero control of the matter is a bit disconcerting.

Then I started to think of it as a sort of time warp; you close your eyes, hours pass unbeknownst to you, then you wake up and just have to trust that the world hasn't gone insane around you while you were away in dreamland. Oh, and you have to trust that the dreamland you venture through during the warp is going to be kind to you on this visit. Sometimes, it's a pleasant or at least uneventful trip. Other times, you get to face impossible fears that you often can't distinguish from reality until you wake up.

All of which to say... I'm still pretty tired this morning...

SJp · Mar 19, 2011

I don't usually scare myself. I think it's because most horror stories that I write are usually a combination of anxieties and fears that are already present inside me, so horror is often a way of making me deal with my own shit.

However, I have written a few things that repulsed me to know that I could ever think of something so horrible. Not necessarily horrifying, but makes me feel like a terrible person. Those rare gems usually end up in a file that I have yet to reopen. Please tell me I'm not the only one...

TedTheewen · Mar 19, 2011

I've made myself gag a few times. I once wrote a story that explored the topic of poo and I have to say, I gagged a few times.

donatos · Mar 20, 2011

SJp said:
I don't usually scare myself. I think it's because most horror stories that I write are usually a combination of anxieties and fears that are already present inside me, so horror is often a way of making me deal with my own shit.

However, I have written a few things that repulsed me to know that I could ever think of something so horrible. Not necessarily horrifying, but makes me feel like a terrible person. Those rare gems usually end up in a file that I have yet to reopen. Please tell me I'm not the only one...

Go back and look at them. They might seem different now.
No, you're not the only one.

Do You Ever Scare Yourself?

The Banishing, Released March 2011

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