– One of the most requested subjects for an article is writing horror, so I decided to make this week predominantly about that. I’m also posting a “Resources For Horror Writers” in the next couple days so keep an eye out for that. For all of you horror writers our there who requested this, here you go. If you’re interested in the genre and are looking to give it a shot, this might also be useful to you. These are some pretty universal, basis tips, but should either be a helpful start or a helpful reminder. Either way, I hope you enjoy.
Ground The Main Conflict In Reality
Some of the scariest stories out there are completely possible. You don’t need a scary demon alien monster to scare people. A really cool thing about horror is that it leaves the reader feeling paranoid and you, as the author, get to decide about what. Your reader’s stream of consciousness should be as follows (or similar):
“Oh my gosh, the protagonist was brutally murdered in a house. I have a house. And they were beaten to death by their uncle. I have an uncle. And he owns a hard object. Oh my gosh. What if I get beaten to death by my uncle in my house. At night. Oh god. No sleep for me, I guess.”
That’s the goal.
Be Intentional With Your Characters
You need to know your characters really well in order to infer how they would react in certain situations, especially ones that are full of pressure and strenuous, emotional weight. For this, it might be useful to evaluate their past that you’ve created. Think about how they would react in less pressure-filled but similar situations, pick out a few key details about how they made decisions and turn up those aspects in the main event. Your character’s actions should be true to their personalities and your readers’ reactions shouldn’t be “Really? That doesn’t seem like him.”
Sort Out The Tone
So you know that you want to make your book scary and suspenseful. Now you need to learn how to do that. Common things that increase suspense: ditching the predictable outcome, making it seem out of the blue, etc. Things that set the tone for a scary scene: darkness, fog, silence or ominous sounds, etc. Figure out what you want the tone to be and find ways to convey it.
Frustrate The Reader
Part of the beauty of horror is that, in 99% of situations, the conflict, or at least the major tragedies were completely avoidable and the red flags that signaled danger were right in front of the protagonist’s face. The girl who picks up her phone and hears “I’m outside with a knife and I know you’re alone” doesn’t immediately lock herself in a safe place and calls the police. Instead, she gets the bright idea to venture out of her home and try to find the person who is pretty damn confident they could kill her and get away with it without a problem. The frustration the reader feels due to this incredible lack of common sense is really quite special when it comes to horror, because feeling frustration is a very nice segway to feeling fear.
Recognize What Horror Is
Horror is, essentially, just like any other story. There are characters, a conflict, twists, turns, and elements that make us care when the protagonist is struggling. In horror, the art to it comes with taking the plot twists and making them more intense, upping the tragedy when our beloved characters struggle, and turning the fear of the whole ordeal into the main attraction. In horror, you’re taking the underlying anxiety of normal fiction and throwing it in the reader’s face.
Get To Know Your Psychology
Part of the beauty of horror, or any writing really, is that with a little bit of research you can learn ways to trigger emotions and parts of the brain the human reading your story doesn’t even know exist. Humans are programmed to be afraid of the dark. Use that. People are commonly afraid of things like heights and spiders because their ancestors were harmed by them. Use this basic psychological knowledge to manipulate your readers’ emotions.
Hulu has released the official trailer for Castle Rock. The Stephen King anthology series will premiere this summer exclusively on Hulu.
Castle
Rock is based in the fictional Maine town of the same name in which
several Stephen King works are set, intertwining its characters, themes,
and mythologies. I have no idea how they’re going to pull it off, but
the teaser certainly looks promising.
From executive producer
J.J. Abrams, the psychological horror series is created by Sam Shaw
(Manhattan) and Dusty Thomason.
André Holland, Sissy Spacek, Bill Skarsgård, Melanie Lynskey, and Scott Glenn star.
Mostly reblogs and random words 