Horror

[Fyle]

I have been recently offered to have a short story published in a book my friend is releasing (kind of like the Iron Pen format I imagine), I kind of have an in through a published author I know. He says so long as the story is horror and set in the modern day, he will publish it.


I would like to ask the forum, what do's and don'ts there are for horror? What chilches to avoid and possible ideas for setting. I was thinking of going with a closed down prison or something like that in an island region - something islolated.

Anywhere from 10k-30k words is acceptable.

Thanks!

 

[X Equestris]

I would say you really shouldn't make your characters do stupid things. You know, like "Let's split up, gang!" and stuff like that. Also, I would try to avoid the standard order in which characters die. Maybe you could twist it around a bit, and have a minority character be the last to die/sole survivor, instead of being among the first to die like in a lot of horror works.

 

[Penpilot]

Here's a link that might be helpful. It describes 10 basic steps in developing horror story.

http://www.epopp.com/savethecat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/10-Horror-Concept-FINAL.pdf

As for dos and donts, I'd say it's the same with any story. Don't have smart characters do stupid things. BUT you can have stupid characters do stupid things. It's all about consistency.

In bringing the horror, don't write what you think others will find scary. Tap into what you consider scary and unsettling and amp that up.

What's unseen can be way more scary than what's seen. When something gets seen, it loses some of the mystery to it and stops the imagination from imagining because, well, it's right there in front of you, all concrete and well defined.

 

[Fyle]

Thanks for the comments！

This is something I know little about.

Is a lone survivor too cliche？Seems like it comes down to that alot...

 

[Feo Takahari]

A criticism I've gotten in a couple different forms:

The story has a satisfying ending, with karmic retribution coming for Petite Mort. Which is also fine, on its own, but in my experience horror stories nowadays mostly don't. The horror convention nowadays seems to be that monsters always live on, and that satisfying endings lessen the horror of living in an uncaring universe.

I'm not sure how big an issue it is, though.

 

[Penpilot]

Is a lone survivor too cliche？Seems like it comes down to that alot...

We had a thread about cliches a while back, and one of the things that came up is cliche is only bad when it's executed poorly.

I think you can think of lone survivor in a broader sense. It seems that there's a path were people fall by the wayside until it's one on one between the monster and the hero. Falling by the wayside can mean many things, leaving, getting injured, trapped, etc.

Take for example Jaws. Brodie ends up one on one with the shark. Quint got eaten, but Hooper hid and reappears after the shark is destroyed.

 

[Feo Takahari]

We had a thread about cliches a while back, and one of the things that came up is cliche is only bad when it's executed poorly.

I think you can think of lone survivor in a broader sense. It seems that there's a path were people fall by the wayside until it's one on one between the monster and the hero. Falling by the wayside can mean many things, leaving, getting injured, trapped, etc.

Take for example Jaws. Brodie ends up one on one with the shark. Quint got eaten, but Hooper hid and reappears after the shark is destroyed.

Come to think of it, it's not horror, but Rowan of Rin ends with one person against the monster without a single death. Characters run off in a panic or are presented with an obstacle they're incapable of passing, and eventually it's down to Rowan and the guy who presents himself as an awesome hero. Said hero spends the whole final battle curled up in a ball and panicking, so it's down to a terrified Rowan to save both their lives.

 

[skrite]

have two people die at the same time. It would shake things up.

 

[Fyle]

have two people die at the same time. It would shake things up.

Hmm. Maybe. Thanks.

 

[buyjupiter]

If you want a better sense of a modern horror ending read Joe Hill's "Horns". You won't want to visit the town it's set in.

 

[ChasingSuns]

If you're writing horror make sure to read some Lovecraft. Few can write horror like he did.

 

[skrite]

If you're writing horror make sure to read some Lovecraft. Few can write horror like he did.

Ditto.. good advice