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Writing Horror; terror and you!



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Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:00 pm
Bloodsrain says...



You awake, the sky is a deep crimson, the grass as rough as nails. You don't know where you are, but all you can feel is the sickening sensation of death prowling upon you- :twisted:

Horror, what is Horror?

Horror is a genre which is intended to incite fear and excitement in the reader. The dark creeping night, a monster that steals children, all common examples of things that are often written in horror literature. Brother Grimms are some of the first Horror writers, in my opinion, mixing the illusion of childhood and morals into books that all could enjoy reading.

Edgar Allen Poe is another great example of the writing of Horror. The Raven, the Pit and the Pendulum, Night of the Red Death, you've probably all read at least one of these stories, or heard of them.

So, now that we know what Horror is, how do you WRITE Horror?

Your Goal: To frighten the pants off of your reader. You are to make them afraid of the dark, what is around the corner, what lies just outside of their sight. These are things that you are trying to accomplish.

There's several ways to accomplish, and i'll list them here.

Gore: Gore is a very common use of Horror in small time writing. Short stories and creepypastas that are intended to make people afraid often employ the use of Gore into their stories. The problem with Gore their guts look is just going to gross out the reader, and make them less likely to finish the story.

Tension: The BREAD AND BUTTER, of any good Horror story, is going to need tension. You have to make the person feel the fear.
The air was heavy with the scent of fear, it was suffocating.
Dragging your readers in is a good way to get them to like the story, to be invested.

If you keep these ideas to a good point, there are several ways you can use subjects, like creepy farms, haunted homes, ect. Just make sure to be creative!
  





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Wed Mar 18, 2015 4:06 pm
AttackOfTheFlash says...



Nice post! Although I do have one question...
How would you write gore? I have a couple stories were death of a couple characters are important. I don't want it to be too heavy, yet I also want it to be descriptive. Do you have any suggestions or tips?
(Oh, and when I mean killing I don't mean like an axe murderer hacking someone up. I mean like a wolf attacking someone and tearing their throat out.You know, not too heavy stuff.)
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Wed Mar 18, 2015 4:16 pm
Bloodsrain says...



Well, subtle is a good term I like to use. When the wolf tears someones throat out, it should go "The wolf viciously tore at his throat, clenching onto the very thing that kept him breathing. Ripping it out, the wolf held the throat victoriously in its maw, blood dripping from its ends."

A bad way I think, is like "The wolf tore into his jugular, the specky bits of insides splattering out onto the floor, the blood sloshing everywhere as his skin tore into a white cold. The wolf muched upon the jugular with a sickening crunch, blood splattering upon the floor." Too much visuals is bad, but, don't neglect it. You really want to walk as fine line between "letting the words talk for its self." and "Describing it in intense detail." Make sure to leave room for the imagination.
  





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Wed Mar 18, 2015 4:37 pm
AttackOfTheFlash says...



Thank you for the advice! I'll admit: I *did* write something similar to your bad example... :p but I will try to work harder at it!
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Wed Mar 18, 2015 4:38 pm
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Bloodsrain says...



No problem! Remember though, even though this is how I write, its not for everyone. If you feel that blood and intense gore is the way to go, go all for it, you know? Keeping it not too visual has worked for me though.
  





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Wed Mar 18, 2015 4:39 pm
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Holysocks says...



Lovely tips for horror! Mind if I put my two sense in for Attack's question? :-P

For gore, I always like using blood. Sure, it's pretty predictable for it to be used in horror, but it seems to be just the right amount of messy. Also, the cool thing about blood, is that it's everywhere inside your body, so where ever your characters get cry, ripped apart, etc., you can always just rely on blood showing up!

The thing about a wolf attack though, is that it's not necessarily going to be pretty. At all. But think of it as fun- try to make it pretty in a very very ugly way... this is where poetry comes in useful in horror. Bitter sweet, flowy descriptions can lessen the sickening gore. In writing your gore, try to make it eerie, rather than simply thowing the blood and guts out there.

Hopefully this makes some sense. x)
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Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:10 am
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horrendous says...



i'm about 8,000 words into a short horror story that contains absolutely no blood... yet, anyway. from my test audience of friends who have read the thing, one described it as a "nailbiter". so i guess i got the tension part down.

what i'm trying to say is, gore is not necessary in horror stories. people being injured isn't the ONLY thing in this world that is scary, i find that exploring a person's mind when they're afraid is a better alternative to "The monster ripped Sally in two, her guts spraying every which way, painting the room red with her blood." that's been done a thousand times (by me as well), and to me it's just old news. gore should be a means to an end, not the end itself.
hor·ren·dous
adjective: shockingly dreadful; horrible
synonyms: appalling, frightful, hideous

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Fri Mar 20, 2015 4:57 pm
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Bloodsrain says...



Of course, I probably should have worded it better, but gore isn't really needed for a horror story to be effective. I personally feel though, that when used properly, its a good way to bring out tension. Of course, not all horror stories have to be murder and blood filled.
  





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Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:15 pm
beans says...



Great post! Though I would posit that gore works two ways... Either people get sickened, or find it cheesy and overdone. Some of the best horror stories and creepypasta don't involve any gore at all. Some are absolutely shocking. It all depends on execution.
  





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Sat Mar 21, 2015 7:21 am
Kale says...



I think it's worth noting that there's a whole spectrum of horror to choose from, and that there's a world of difference between the trappings (gore, setting, common plots and characters) and the type of horror.

The two main kinds of horror are physical and psychological, corresponding to a concrete and abstract focus of fear, respectively. You can also classify horror based on the nature of the antagonist/source of fear: supernatural or natural.

There's gray areas in between as well, especially when it comes to supernatural-natural and psychological horror blends. Is it really supernatural or not? It all comes down to how reliable the narrator is. The Telltale Heart is, and a lot of Poe's works in general are, a great example of this gray area, with the unreliability of the narrator muddying the line between natural and supernatural.

And that's not even getting into blends with other genres. ;P

Personally, my favorite kind of horror is the murky gray between natural and supernatural. Gore is fun now and then, but a lot of gore is either overwrought or overly simplistic with the descriptions, and the rest of the story and characters are flat/practically nonexistent. Gore for gore's sake is more often comedic than horrifying (because it's so bad), which is a shame because truly horrifying gore is pretty gloriously horrifying.

On a side note, I am incredibly saddened to see no mention of tone or atmosphere. Those can really make or break a horror story, and if you can't establish or maintain a tone/atmosphere of horror, then the story really loses out.
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Sun Mar 22, 2015 1:36 am
Bloodsrain says...



The best thing is, this forum is turning into more of a really, a guide, a info of how Horror works.

The fact that people are adding to it, is the best that can really happen.

I can only say so much, and I have a very odd way of wording things.

So, thank you all, for adding your own two cents.
  





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Fri Mar 27, 2015 6:56 pm
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Vervain says...



Well, the fact that people are adding onto it is kind of a necessity—if these things (physical and psychological horror, supernatural elements, writing gore and blood) were mentioned in the first post, then people wouldn't be here pointing them out.

And if this was originally supposed to be a how-to on writing horror, then I don't see much instruction in the first post. Just a tip that if you're going to try to teach people how to use elements of writing (tension and gore, as you pointed out originally), then you should probably include sections on how to write them. That is, you can't just mention tension and gore and expect your readership to automatically go "Oh! I've been doing it wrong all this time!"

To add my two cents to the world of horror—well, I haven't written much of it, and I'm desperately trying to rewrite and edit what I have—foreshadowing is your friend and your foe, as it is with many works.

To expand: You can't just have the horror come out of nowhere. It's important that you build up to it with details, hints, things that aren't quite in place that your characters notice or experience. This can be external or internal, things in the outside world or things in your character's mind, but it's important that you don't overuse it.

You're going to need foreshadowing if you want your readers to feel like something is slightly sickeningly off about the whole thing, but if you use too much you're going to end up with your readers seeing the ending all along. They'll be bored, and all tension that's been built up will die.

In general, a lot of good foreshadowing is stuff that the readers hardly notice except as creepy details the first time around (unless they know the ending), and they notice on a second or third read and go "the hints were there this whole time!"
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Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:56 pm
Zolen says...



My favorite horror stories to write (none of them are on this site) never use blood, plenty of dying happens, but you never SEE it happening, only the signs of them trying to get away. Everything needed for a good scary story is in making the readers imagination go wild, wondering what the heck is going on. Then never telling them.
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