Writing Horror

MacAl Stone said:

So why do you?


I dunno. But it got me wondering about ya'll...:grin

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This is an old thread, but I liked the question so I thought I'd bring it back up. I don't know if I'd exactly classify what I write as horror...but creepy and disturbing, sure.

That wasn't what I meant to happen. But that's what's been coming out lately. Maybe it's my revenge on the happy endings, the perfect-life TV shows, or maybe the tendency of our society to push the distrubing realities of life away until they're just some plasticized trinket that can be safely stored away.

I went to a funeral once where no one showed any real emotion--no one even seemed to choke it back. It was just...empty. And at least half of the people there loved the woman. Honestly and truly loved her.

I want people to feel something...sometimes anything, it seems like. And I guess creepy stuff is the best way I've found to do that.

Or maybe I've just heard "It's all for the best, dear" too many times. Sucky things happen, and people seem to have this need to pretend they needed the sucky thing, rather than facing the horrible utter randomness of awful events.

I like that reasoning, Blue.

Sad that the mourners did that. But that's a very good example of what I see around me all the time, too. Not to put too much of a political face on it, but I wonder, if the push to make our language more "Politically Correct", has also forced us to try to make our emotions the same way?

I see it happening all around me, and it seems to have gone too far, IMO. There are too many people now who allow themselves to be easily offended, or are too afraid to offend, that we watch every thing we say and do.

I mean, seriously, how real is it when someone says in the heat of an argument, "You are interfering with my personal well-being"?



Yes, I heard someone use those exact words recently. I honestly thought maybe they were joking, but come to find out later, they weren't.

And if people are talking like that, then sure as sh**, they're "feeling" like that (or acting like they feel like that...which is worse, really).

And that's the wonderous thing about horror. It's -NOT- politically correct. It's filled with negative, and unpleasant things, words and feelings. It's a visceral, knock-down, drag-out, dirty, grimey, dark, and creepy place.

It's positively delicious, because it's "real" and raw.

drgnlvr said:

I mean, seriously, how real is it when someone says in the heat of an argument, "You are interfering with my personal well-being"?



Yes, I heard someone use those exact words recently. I honestly thought maybe they were joking, but come to find out later, they weren't.

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Oh my. This is exactly what I mean! That's frightening.

I love to read horror, but every time I try to write it something goes wrong. As an example, three stories I recently wrote for a class I was taking:

#1 was meant to be an homage to The Colour Out of Space. Everyone thought it was an adventure story, and an adventure story only. (How the hell did that happen?)

#2 was a fluke -- a sci-fi* romance that didn't pretend to be anything else.

#3 I started as a horror story, but by the end the horror and science-fiction elements were about equal.

And since then I haven't been able to think of another "horrific" plot that doesn't involve vampires (which I'm sick of reading, and would hate writing) or historical settings (which I'm too ignorant to write about). From my track record so far, it looks like SF is my genre -- but I'm too ignorant for that too.

Maybe my problem isn't genre instability, but lack of education.

* Sorry to use the word; the sentence wouldn't flow without it.

From my track record so far, it looks like SF is my genre -- but I'm too ignorant for that too

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The great thing about writing fiction is it's fiction. Just make it up as you go along and hash out the problem areas in the re-writes.

Maybe my problem isn't genre instability, but lack of education

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This is an easy remedy. You've got all the education you need at the click of a mouse.

Long story short... just write. If it sucks, do some editing, fix 'er up. It's all good!

I write horror because my friend, Dallas, said he doesn't like horror for one reason: The way people (sometimes) go about making books scary. And, really, I agree. When if comes down to it, books are generally not as scary as movies, because its hard to see books (sure sure, there ar 'word paint', but how far can that go?) So this presents me with a challenge. A challenge I can take on. Thats why I write horror. And its fun creeping my friends out, making them wonder if I am sane or not. hehe

And its fun creeping my friends out, making them wonder if I am sane or not. hehe

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A sure sign to question your sanity. You'll fit right in here. My friends all know I'm insane, but they like me just the same.

Movies

Samuel Dark said:

I write horror because my friend, Dallas, said he doesn't like horror for one reason: The way people (sometimes) go about making books scary. And, really, I agree. When if comes down to it, books are generally not as scary as movies, because its hard to see books (sure sure, there ar 'word paint', but how far can that go?) So this presents me with a challenge. A challenge I can take on. Thats why I write horror. And its fun creeping my friends out, making them wonder if I am sane or not. hehe

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With the possible exception of "The Ring," I find books much easier to see than movies. Movies show far too much in some ways, and far too little in other ways.

I think most who love books would say they see books much clearer than they see movies. I certainly do. The movie that plays in my head when I read a good book is always far superior, and always easier to see, to the movie I see made from the book.

Samuel Dark said:

And its fun creeping my friends out, making them wonder if I am sane or not. hehe

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That's something I enjoy, tremendously!

To meet me face-to-face, you would think I'm a very nice, and very stable person. But then you read what I write, and start to wonder. And usually at that point, all the stuff you hear about serial killers pops into your head ("She was so normal, and nice!" "She was so quiet!" "She always kept to herself, and never seemed creepy at all!" Buahahahahahahahaha!).

Of course, tapping into that dark half, and channeling it into a work of fiction helps keep me sane.

Hey! I love books! You see, I agree with you -- movies aren't scary. But, I think with the music, with the visual effects -- if use right, like in 'The Ring', and just seeing it -- you can get a lot more involved, and forget ur watching a movie. Yet, with a book, you are holding the book, you can't use music to spark the tension, the person is thinking everything in their head -- so there goes the possible thing where the person looses the sense of reality, so there is no real threat. But -- there are ways to make ppl scared, depending on who is reading your book. I think the best way is to mess with the persons mind, using psychology . Anyway, I personally just don't think a book can be scary. lol, funny I am writing a horror book, then, isn't?