Help Needed: What is horrifying?

Goshawk31

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I'm weighing in late but I think the most horrifying thing ever is the apparently "perfectly normal' that turns out to be perfectly horrible. The scariest story I've ever read is Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery".
 

InkFinger

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What horrified you about The Lottery?
 

Roxxsmom

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I find stories where the world is subtly, or not so subtly, wrong (and the protagonist is the only person who seems to know this) to be especially scary/creepy. One of the recurring nightmares I had as a kid was coming home to a completely empty, and apparently abandoned, house with no family and no explanation for where they were or how they could be missing like that. And there was a pervasive feeling of something sinister being at work, or a sinister presence, or creepy noises. And the creepy set up comes to a horrifying crescendo when it extends to the reaction of people not being what you'd expect. Like going for help and having people act like you're the crazy one, or behaving in a threatening of abusive manner.

Now expand this, possibly, to an entire town or even world that is deserted for no reason, or where things are simply "off" and people aren't acting as they should. The element of mystery is a hook, but the sense of menace sets the stage for it becoming horrifying. Or heck, it doesn't even have to be deserted--just a changed reality that everyone else but you takes as normal but is definitely wrong and disturbing to normal sensibilities.

I can think of movies like The Quiet Earth as examples of this. Not classic horror, perhaps, but surreal and creepy.

I remember a horror movie where a a kid starts to think his parents are cannibals (I think it was called Parents) who were always trying to get him to eat the meat they were preparing, and he couldn't tell if he was crazy or they were. That was another take on this kind of thing, I suppose. I found it very disturbing.

Oh, God, and the original 1975 Stepford Wives movie too (this movie was more horror-ish and less satirical than the novel it was based on). Again, the element of a normality that is subtly wrong, and the wrongness becomes less and less subtle as the story progresses.
 

RoseLaflesh

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I find stories where the world is subtly, or not so subtly, wrong (and the protagonist is the only person who seems to know this) to be especially scary/creepy. One of the recurring nightmares I had as a kid was coming home to a completely empty, and apparently abandoned, house with no family and no explanation for where they were or how they could be missing like that. And there was a pervasive feeling of something sinister being at work, or a sinister presence, or creepy noises. And the creepy set up comes to a horrifying crescendo when it extends to the reaction of people not being what you'd expect. Like going for help and having people act like you're the crazy one, or behaving in a threatening of abusive manner.

Now expand this, possibly, to an entire town or even world that is deserted for no reason, or where things are simply "off" and people aren't acting as they should. The element of mystery is a hook, but the sense of menace sets the stage for it becoming horrifying. Or heck, it doesn't even have to be deserted--just a changed reality that everyone else but you takes as normal but is definitely wrong and disturbing to normal sensibilities.

I can think of movies like The Quiet Earth as examples of this. Not classic horror, perhaps, but surreal and creepy.

I remember a horror movie where a a kid starts to think his parents are cannibals (I think it was called Parents) who were always trying to get him to eat the meat they were preparing, and he couldn't tell if he was crazy or they were. That was another take on this kind of thing, I suppose. I found it very disturbing.

Oh, God, and the original 1975 Stepford Wives movie too (this movie was more horror-ish and less satirical than the novel it was based on). Again, the element of a normality that is subtly wrong, and the wrongness becomes less and less subtle as the story progresses.

Yes, that's exactly what some of the best horror is about. Where things are subtly wrong and it's hard to tell if there's actual danger or if a person's over reacting. I just finished reading Rosemary's Baby and it did this perfectly because for a big chunk of the story the danger is "my neighbours are being too friendly and I'm not sure about what my doctor's telling me." Coat the danger in something familiar and safe because you need to give the main characters reason to not run until they are up to their necks in trouble.
 

rosemary1023

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I really need some counsel from people that know. What makes something horrifying? I'm really struggling to write something that I would consider horror because while I can create tension, and maybe a thrill, it's not horrible or terrifying. Here's my problem. I've read King, Koontz, Lovecraft, Poe, and others. I don't find them horrifying either. I've only ever been scared in one movie, and it was terrible, I'm not sure what was going on with me. Maybe I was kid - I was, a kid. So maybe I'm just broken.

For those that know, what makes something horror instead of a thriller?

Thank you for your comment.

I think what makes something horrifying really is subjective. But I feel like where the line is lays on total loss of control. There may be a moment of recovery and a happy ending in horror, and in thriller there might be a sudden drop of safety, but for true horror the powerlessness is weightier than the mystery IMHO.

I watched a bit of the Santa Clarita Diet show, and even though there is a heavy dose of dark comedy and agency on the protagonist's part, I'd still call it horror (body horror specifically) because, up to the point I've watched, the potential loss of self-control and decomposition is always looming over her head. I've watched a little bit of iZombie and I'd call that a mystery rather than horror, even though that too involved a sentient zombie that ate people, because that protagonist knew what was up with her body, her specific issues, and had control of her situation.

Gore sort of plays a part in it for me too, because, well, it's damn disturbing, even with characters I don't like or find annoying. For me, excessive gore and torture exemplifies the theme of horror being a loss of control. There's a bunch of splatter punk books out there that don't have any supernatural element, they're just about terrible people doing terrible things, but I wouldn't dare call them thriller. Misery I'd say is horror because while the protagonist regains agency and has a happy ending, it's not entwined with the narrative and his plight never lightens until the end (that I can remember). Silence of the Lambs (movie) is regarded as a thriller, but a lot of people in the horror fandom also stake claim. I think if it was just a story about Agent Starling stopping Buffalo Bill it would be a thriller, but she falls victim to Hannibal Lector's manipulation and her actions enable him to continue his own murder streak and ultimately escape.

So that was just a really long winded way to say "I think helplessness and a palpable loss of agency with no reprieve makes horror".

If you don't find those narrative horrifying, I don't think it means you're broken--it just means you don't find those narratives horrifying. If you find NOTHING horrifying and you're absolutely fearless then maybe go see a neurologist--but otherwise, figure out what horrifies YOU and pursue those topics. You will probably have people that go "oh wow, me too" and "nothing scared me until this book".
 

Horrorschach

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I will tell you one interesting pattern I've recognized lately in regards to well crafted horror.
One angle is to give just enough detail for the reader to know the horror exists, but do not explain it outright.
Let the reader's imagination have as much agency to illustrate the source of horror. It will fill in the blanks with what scares them.
Give the reader crumbs of explanation to know something is wrong but do not feed them any more than necessary.
Starvation motivates.
 

druid12000

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Great thread! I'm just going to throw my two cents in here. When I was a kid, my mother took me and my two older sisters to see Friday 13th. The original, in the theater, at eight years old. I had nightmares for a week, mainly because of the scene where Kevin Bacon is lying on the cot and the killer's hand shoots out from under the bed, clamping his head down to the pillow and the arrow slowly piercing up through his throat. The rest didn't really bother me, but that scene scared the bejeezus out me. I believe it scared me so much, particularly at that tender age, because of the lack of control. An eight year old doesn't have much control of their life or surroundings. Show him something where any semblance of control is yanked away and you have a recipe for terror.

Clive Barker illustrated this brilliantly in his short story 'The Body Politic'. The MC's hands have been plotting a coup for a while and final muster the courage to sever their bond with him (literally!). In describing the character's loss of control over something so intrinsic as control of his own limbs, Barker delved DEEP into terror. It still gives me the creeps, but I was also laughing loudly while reading it, just out of the sheer absurdity of the premise..................................................we. will. be. free.
 

MR. MACABRE

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mr. macabre

In my opinion, for something to be horrifying, it must break through the barriers of what is considered taboo. Like in the movie THE WITCH, the scene where the old hag kills and then uses the baby to keep herself young. Those kinds of subjects are always implied, but never shown. The killing of children is never shown because it is horrifying. A story about a demon or other creature killing and eating children would be repugnant to everyone, therefore it would be horrifying. You have to go beyond what most people are willing to accept.
 

Viva Venezuela

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mr. macabre

In my opinion, for something to be horrifying, it must break through the barriers of what is considered taboo. Like in the movie THE WITCH, the scene where the old hag kills and then uses the baby to keep herself young. Those kinds of subjects are always implied, but never shown. The killing of children is never shown because it is horrifying. A story about a demon or other creature killing and eating children would be repugnant to everyone, therefore it would be horrifying. You have to go beyond what most people are willing to accept.
That reminds me of Thomas Tryons book "the other" when the delusional kid hid the baby in a wine barrel. They searched for the baby for days and the kid didn't know he put her in there. It was quite a horrifying surprise.
 

stephenf

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Horror is a personal thing . In Orwell’s 1984 , it was Winston Smith fear of rats that broke him. Personally, I don’t think vampires exist and I‘m not frightened of the dark. But I was walking in long grass in India and a cobra popped up and bit my leg. A big black patch formed , but I managed to get to hospital in time to save my life . About 60,000 people die of snake bites in India every year. long grass and snakes are things I avoid .
 

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There's definitely something extra creepy about the mundane becoming horrific. I saw some scary stuff as a kid and, as an adult, I love me some scary stories, but the only thing to really, truly terrify me long term was the bathtub scene from Ghostbusters II.


I was nervous about running a bath for YEARS after I saw that... if I had the water going, I made sure to keep a watchful eye on it. Intellectually, I knew I was being silly, and I didn't tell anyone about the fear, but I was in college before I willingly turned my back on a running bath, just in case...
 

dickson

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I may have told this story in another post, but it could be relevant here.

When I was eleven, and my brother was eight, our parents took us to a midnight showing of a double-bill. Straightjacket and Dead Ringer. Dead Ringer starred Bette Davis and Karl Malden: Davis played identical twins. She killed herself and tried to make it look like suicide.😀

Straightjacket starred Joan Crawford. It was a psychological horror film involving ax murders, scripted by Robert Bloch. If you’ve not seen it, it is intense, and intensely disturbing.

I have no idea why our parents thought this suitable fare for children. Looking back, I think the most remarkable thing about the episode is that not until well into my own adulthood did it occur to me anything about it was at all strange. From this I might infer our upbringing was a bit odd, something one might not notice from the inside.

This tale, of course, is not horror, but it might do as an example of the stuff out of which horror is made.
 
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SaladArtz0

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I really need some counsel from people that know. What makes something horrifying? I'm really struggling to write something that I would consider horror because while I can create tension, and maybe a thrill, it's not horrible or terrifying. Here's my problem. I've read King, Koontz, Lovecraft, Poe, and others. I don't find them horrifying either. I've only ever been scared in one movie, and it was terrible, I'm not sure what was going on with me. Maybe I was kid - I was, a kid. So maybe I'm just broken.

For those that know, what makes something horror instead of a thriller?

Thank you for your comment.
Hmm, I'd probably put my own works as horror or thriller without much distinction since I think they could go into either category.

Now how to make horror/thrillers scary? Boy, that's a tough one. I'd say the way I usually do it is I take something normal like say a chirping bird, a painted door, a needle and thread (that's turned into one of my favorites), a noise in the car, something of the likes that most people wouldn't give a second thought about and I try to mix that with a darker part of humanity such as drug addictions, alcoholism, human trafficking, cannibalism.
Once I get the story plot idea I try to write it with as many surreal feelings, sensations, and emotions as I can without cluttering the work. Many of these turn into unrealistic, but still somewhat probable in the real world stories.

These things tend to come to me off a whim, and they typically sound like something a lot of people would find unnerving, or scary. I don't often find myself afraid of these ideas, but if you want to feel that thrill as well, really try to imagine the concept happening in real life.
 
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Pyrephox

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Horrifying for me is something insidious and creeping that strikes at the heart of a person's identity. Jump scares and gore aren't horrifying - they might be creepy, or exciting, or thrilling, but they're not horrifying.

Horrifying is waking up every day with another little piece of yourself missing, or distorted into something you don't recognize or accept. Body horror has a special, visceral quality to it, but identity horror is even worse.
 

dickson

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Read the latest posts to this thread (and was surprised to find one of my own). Reading (or rereading) them suggested a couple of thoughts.

First, it seems to be easier to bring off horror in film than in print, although what counts as horror may not really be the same in the two media.

Second, written horror tends to be subtler, and less visceral, than filmed horror. Arthur Machen is regarded by many as a master of written horror. Common threads in his stories are something uncanny emerging from the ordinary, with gruesome elements suggested rather than shown. (The May 28, 2020 New York Review had a nice retrospective on Machen that prompted me to get his collected works on Kindle, which I have enjoyed greatly.)

Third, what counts as horrifying can be intensely personal. I summon as witness every poster in this thread who shared what they find horrifying!

Fourth, everyone has favorites they love to share. I plead guilty.

As a kid, the only story I remember giving me a jolt the first time I read it was Lovecraft’s The Color out of Space, at the very end, with its suggestion that the eerie contagion that destroyed the isolated farm household could be out there still, slowly contaminating the whole world.

Another favorite is, for my money, one of the best ghost stories ever written, William Hope Hodgson’s The Whistling Room. It could make a splendid horror film, come to think of it.

When it comes to horror films, I have in mind two very different films. Polanski’s Repulsion, starring a young Catherine Deneuve, hits below the belt in a way that (say) The Excorcist does not.

Finally, reading these posts made me think of a film that has a moment of a subtle kind of horror. Near the beginning of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night the male MC is walking home after having his car stolen (if memory serves). As he crosses a small bridge over a ditch the viewer sees it is filled with corpses. The man doesn’t react, and no explanation is given. It’s not a plot element. It‘s just something everyone knows. Sound familiar?
 
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