Guest Rumpelstiltskin Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 (edited) What is Horror? Horror is “an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust” [dictionary.com]. Synonyms: terror, fear, fright, panic, revulsion, dread, etc. Why Do People Like Horror? For most of us, horror enables us to be afraid without directly being in danger of anything happening. It’s a thrill, much like riding a roller coaster. Adrenaline soars, hearts pound, teeth chatter -- but your frontal lobe (the thinking center of the brain) quells your natural fight-or-flight instinct because it knows your safe. That disconnect between the body and mind is what drives some of our love of horror. For some of us, it is a cathartic experience, where we can bury all of our metaphorical demons into physical ones and we begin to find deeper meaning in the stories themselves. For some of us, it is that same inexplicable urge to press the red button that says, Do Not Press; it is that same urge for people to stop and watch a trainwreck, without being able to look away; it’s the same as the urge to pick that scab when you know you should leave it alone. For me, it also brings back fond memories. I was introduced to horror by my grandfather. In my childhood, I spent most weekend nights at my grandparents’ house. My grandfather would take me to the local video rental store to pick out a VHS and some penny candy [which was literally piece of candy, that were a penny each]. Then I’d spend my Saturday evening with my grandfather, watching a horror flick -- wide-eyed, half-hiding beneath a blanket, shoveling red gummy fish into my mouth. And my grandfather would never fail to laugh his pronounced “Ha-ha!” laugh whenever something scary happened. Tips for Writing Horror: 1. Tragic Tales a. Horror is centered around tragedy.b. Good horror is centered around tragedy caused by realistic and fundamentally scary character flaws and poor choices.around What makes horror stories the most frightening, to me, is not solely based on whatever entity is trying to maim, torture, or kill a story’s characters. For me, it’s the character’s bad judgment and wrong choices [whether born from fear, stupidity, bravery, or a mix of the three] that can make or break the story. I feel as if these very human flaws and mistakes are what connect the reader to the character(s) experiencing the horror. Take, for example, any one of the Saw movies. Had the characters worked together, been completely truthful, calm, and logical from the beginning, things might have been less tragic than they actually turned out. Plus, let’s be honest, would you realistically react calmly and rationally if being faced with that type of horror? Probably not. 2. Consequences A good thing to keep in mind is that actions have consequences -- except for maybe the killer/monster/ghosty/demon/whathaveyou. This ties into the first point of a character’s decisions. If a character decides to run up the stairs versus run out the door, those actions should have consequence...usually in the form of being terrorized by our starring antagonist. If a character is wearing high heels while booking it through a forest in the middle of the night, that action should have a consequence. If a character is too afraid to properly put the car key in the ignition, that action should have a consequence. It’s those little actions that build up to the grand slasher finale and, let’s face it, are tremendously less fun if we can’t see the consequence of a poor decision. 3. Many Things to Fear, One Set of Rules Another important element to any horror story is, quite obviously, fear. While people’s fears differ greatly from one person to the next, we are all biologically programmed to fear one thing in particular: anything that threatens our survival In the most basic sense, that is anything that can cause us pain, maim, or kill us [or our loved ones, like our children, who we are programmed to keep alive]. This is because, of course, survival is our innate instinct as humans. Most of what we do in our lives is related [whether directly or indirectly] to keeping ourselves alive. It’s also a good idea to play off your own fears while writing a horror piece -- it might make your voice more convincing within the text. Direct Endangerment of Life One of the most obvious fears in this is anything that would directly kill us. It’s the reason that we’re more likely to be afraid of a psychopathic cannibal running at us with a roaring chainsaw* rather than a small boy running at us with an adorable puppy. That’s because one has a very high probability of killing us and one doesn’t, except maybe with cuteness -- but that’s a different genre. Indirect Endangerment of Life This one is a little less obvious. This is why many people are unnerved at the site of blood and guts. This is why many people are afraid of losing limbs and other body parts. This is why many people are apprehensive of the dark. It’s why creepy smiles and ominous-looking houses frighten a large portion of people. It isn’t that these things are going to kill us, necessarily -- but they can and they can put unnecessary and unwanted pressure on survival. It isn’t the blood and guts, per se -- it’s whatever caused them to be spilled. It isn’t just losing a limb -- it’s the possibility of bleeding out, infection, and life becoming more difficult, especially while trying to survive. It’s not actually the dark, it’s not knowing what sort of things are in the dark and where they’re coming from if they attack. It’s why we “judge books by their covers” -- because we’re inherently keen to stay away from/be fearful of anything we perceive as dangerous. This is also why ghosts, for example, are frightening to some -- it plays on the fear of the unknown. TL; DR When you can target people’s most basic fears [the fear of dying/being dead/not being alive], you have the bones of a great horror story. 4. Ew. & Jumpscares Horror likes to incorporate revulsion, plain and simple. According to Stephen King, this is one of the lowest forms of horror, though effective when necessary. Grossing the audience out can create similar feelings of fear and, while it isn’t the go-to for all horror, works when it’s needed. This isn’t so much of an element to look to include, necessarily [there are plenty of phenomenal horror pieces that don’t involve the squick factor], as it is an avenue to explore if you’re ever stuck while writing/wanting to incorporate more ‘scary’ elements. Jumpscares are another one of those elements that can be used when necessary. This element is MUCH more difficult to show outside of movies, so it’s more essential to be building suspense towards your climaxes. 5. Hope One thing that makes for a particularly effective horror piece is hope. The characters have a chance to escape -- they have a chance to live. There is something, somebody, some phenomenon that may or may not save the day but, heck, it’s there. This is almost strictly due to the fact that things don’t seem nearly as bad until you have something to compare it to. You don’t realize the true power of happiness unless you have sadness; you don’t know the difference between a good kiss and a bad one unless you’ve experienced both. 6. Rollercoaster It is important to build up the sense of suspense in a horror story -- it’s what makes the climaxing scary moment that much more frightening. It’s also more fun and more effective to have more than one build-up-of-suspense-to-frightful-moment leading up to that climax. It keeps the reader on edge and in anticipation for the next shocking moment. While riding a rollercoaster, it’s all great fun to be towed slowly up a steep, steep hill to an impossibly tall dropoff and released down the rails at ungodly speeds, but it’s even more fun if you have a series of smaller bumps and loop-de-loops along the way. 7. Tone, Mood, Setting and Word Choice Since writers can’t rely on suspenseful music and perfectly timed and angled camera shots to make our horror frightening, we have to rely on other elements. Setting the tone and mood is very important, and can depend heavily on word choice. Adding in the extra element of an ominous setting (storms, old houses, nighttime, etc.) greatly aids to this as well. Take, for example, three different versions of the same scenario: Sirius clenched his jaw tightly to stop his teeth from chattering as he slammed the window shut. His hands trembled as he fumbled with the latch, his heart thundering louder than the storm brewing outside. Sirius slid the window closed, smiling softly as he caught sight of Remus in the reflection. He looked so peaceful reading beneath the soft glow of the fireplace. Sirius shut and locked the window. No demons of the night were getting in under his supervision. Now the only thing left to do was make some pancakes. Can you spot the horror? [It was the first one, in case I’ve done a terrible job.] Teeth chattering, slamming windows, trembling hands, and storms are all indicators that something frightening is about to take place. The window is being closed in a hurry, he locked the window for security, he was showing visible signs of fear, the setting is ominous, etc. In the second example, the tone and mood are much different. There was no rush in closing the window, for example -- the window was slid closed. Sirius is smiling softly instead of clenching his jaw and quaking. Sirius is admiring Remus in the reflection. The mood and tone are implicative of romance in this example [or, at least, not horror]. In the third, I’ve added the slightest bit of trickery. While I used the words ‘demons of the night,’ the mood and tone are overall comedic. There is no rush in closing the window, Sirius’ determination is showcased by what he thinks about the ‘demons of the night’ and the fact that locking the window was the only precaution necessary. He’s not displaying any signs of fear...in fact, he’s ready to make some pancakes. That’s not to say that the other two examples couldn’t be from a horror fic, it’s just that there are no contextually frightening elements on display in those examples. 8. Aaaaaaah-ction [action] Action is action is action, no matter what genre you’re dealing with. It’s important to get those action scenes right to build suspense and fear. Some key elements to a good action scene are: x. Fast Pace x. Action & Reaction & Consequence x. Character & Emotions x. Move the Plot In terms of pace, you should still stick to the writing style that you’ve established for the rest of the story, but perhaps alter it a bit. A go-to is to incorporate short and stilted sentences in order to pick up the scenes pace and create a punctuated flow. Another is to manipulate sentence structure, which creates the same effect [Instead of long, flowing sentences with a lot of commas and conjunctions, try shorter sentences with em-dashes and semicolons, for example.] It’s an effective trick to force your character(s) to make in-the-moment, quick, spontaneous decisions. As always, those actions should have consequences [whether they’re good or bad]. This ties directly to the final point of ‘character and emotions’. Instead of relying on logic and thought, your characters will be making split-second decisions and be driven by both their emotions and who they are as a person. Take the following two scenes as an example of how pace can affect an action scene: Sirius’s running came to a momentary halt as he slid across the glossy linoleum, sending him crashing into the floral-embossed wall and it took a few fractions of a second to regain his footing. He turned and, as swiftly as he could, bounded up the staircase, all-too-aware of the man behind him who was quickly closing the gap between them. The doorway of his bedroom was in his sights and he knew if he could just get there and retrieve his wand, he would be able to hold off his attacker until backup arrived. Sirius’s feet slipped on the glossy linoleum, sending him crashing into the wall before him. Turning swiftly, he bounded up the staircase, trying to distance himself from the man behind him. There -- just at the top of the landing -- was his bedroom. If he could make it there, he could get his wand; if he could get his wand, he could defend himself. In the first scene, there are more descriptions and unnecessary actions than in the second. This slows the flow of the scene and can be a hindrance on an action scene. In the second example, the sentence was manipulated to eliminate some of the details and shorten or interrupt sentences to speed the flow up. Your action should also always be moving the plot forward in some way or another. An action scene for the sake of an action scene without plot progression can become boring [the opposite effect of what you’re striving for.] 9. The True Monster is the Writer It is most effective while writing to be immersed in your writing -- you probably won’t unnerve your audience if you’re not unnerving yourself. This is the same for all genres -- if you’re not enjoying what you’re writing and you’re not into what you’re writing, there’s a very good chance that it will translate through your writing. Toy with your reader’s emotions by digging into through the back of your own dark closet and pulling out something particularly horrific. You want to terrorize your readers and probably yourself. Put yourself in the decaying clown shoes of your antagonist, get inside their minds. Get inside the protagonist(s)’s mind(s). Start dredging the bottomless pit that is horror and fish out whatever tentacle demon is taking up residence there. 10. The Same Ol’ Ish You still should stick to your conventions of writing when developing your horror. You’ll want some character complexity, a plotline, some relief [hope, comedy, sex, etc.], good grammar, and all those things. Create tension and conflict. Know your characters. Feed the story machine all the elements that you find important to the story and then top it off with the blood of your victims. Feel free to add any of your own horror tips to the mix! *Reference to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Edited July 7, 2018 by Rumpelstiltskin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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