Before I am Famous

literature is something we infer after the story is told

I Need Your Help- What Scares You?

Posted on | March 19, 2008 | No Comments

Horror is one of the most popular genres out there. In Weekly Shorts alone many people asked for horror. One would think for someone who loves horror as much as I do both in print and film, that this would be a cinch. Wrong. Next to fantasy this is a very difficult task for me to complete because I want something new and not reguritated from what I have read and seen.

My dad and others like horror stories that scare the hell out of you with very little blood or none at all.  I recieved a comment about “The Blood Brooch” on this very topic from the person who requested the story. He suggested I read some HP Lovecraft and I will.  I have read many Edgar Allan Poe’s works and he is someone that I admire greatly and not of all his stories are bloody. In fact many deal with the twisted minds of human nature.

I began searching for the definition of horror fiction and I found this article by the Horror Writer’s Association answering the question, what is horror? This is a definition that changes with the times as it should because society fears different things as life marches on.  According to author, Douglas Winter, “horror is not a genre but an emotion.” Another author, Robert McCammon, stated “…it is the relentless need to confront the unknown, the unknowable, and the emotion we experience in it’s thrall.” This makes sense because tornados scare the hell out of me but if I write a story about tornados this can be construed as a drama.

I suppose when something is terrifying it is just that and can be in any genre. Something such as being a child and watching abuse is a terror or alone on a dark night and the car dies and you are woman and no one is there to help. 

I want to scare you, I want to scare you so much that sleeping makes you uncomfortable and you have the need to bring a flash light where ever you go. I want to know what scares you. Something more than blood sucking vampires, flesh eating zombies and of the like. Come to think of the Alfred Hitchcock great The Birds scares the hell out of me because I don’t like birds to begin with and one day they just go beserk for no reason scares me.

Here is a comment I just recieved in my quest for what is horror:

My theory on horror is, the less you see, the more terrible (in the good
sense, in this case) it becomes. Maybe this is more movies, but as soon as
you see the monster, it is not as scary, where as when it is just some
ghastly thing hinted at, some horrible creature from the dungeon
dimensions that stays at the edge of shadow, just out of view, your mind
conjures up a most unimaginable thing that is unfortunately, to the horror
of the viewer/reader, all too easily imagined. Thanks Chivlary Bean
Please tell me what frightens you because  I truly want to scare you! Thanks in advance!

Just a side note firefly will be up tomorrow.

Category: notes on writing

Comments

No Responses to “I Need Your Help- What Scares You?”

  1. David Robinson
    March 19th, 2008 @ 3:34 am

    Interesting question. I recall hearing an interview with Christopher Lee, a veteran actor of horror movies, and like your previous correspondent, he said that what frightened his audience was not what they saw, but what they DID NOT see.

    I couldn’t honestly say what frightens me, but I know that I don’t read it in most modern novels. I find it in the atmosphere of ghsot stories like those of M.R. James, where so much is left to reader’s imagination.

    David Robinson’s last blog post..Smorty

  2. robert bourne
    March 19th, 2008 @ 5:49 pm

    me when I was a kid camping I had a snake in my sleeping bag it came through the bottom..I could feel it but not see it..now even to this day if I see one I jump….

    robert bourne’s last blog post..Listen

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