 Horror/Scary: February 03, 2021 Issue [#10595] |
This week: Inhabitants of a horror story Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Supporting characters are important in any story, but in horror stories they have the extra function of adding to the horror.
Some characters serve the main function of explaining the horror that has been encountered or will be encountered in the future. This might be necessary if the story involves a monster, curse, or legend that isn't generally known. It often works better if an explanation is given in dialogue rather than long sections of narrative.
In some horror stories, such as slasher films, certain characters exist just to be killed off, sometimes quite early in the story. Be extremely careful about who you kill off, in any story. Some characters are worth more to the story alive than dead. Don't be surprised if a character you intended to kill off in the first chapter is still alive at the end and has taken over the story.
Some characters just add to the spookiness or general feeling that something isn't right. One of the most frightening characters I have ever encountered is the gaunt, skeletal hearse driver in "Burnt Offerings" by Robert Morasco. The driver has no lines and is only present in the main character's nightmares and imagination. Still, he is the scariest thing I remember about the movie based on the book.
Some characters create an atmosphere of horror by being unnaturally perfect. For example, the beautiful, perfect housewives in "The Stepford Wives" are just too good to be true. Humans seem to be wired to be suspicious of too much perfection.
Something to try: Write a horror story where the horror is shown through supporting characters |
| | The Temple (13+)
A homeless man maintains a temple to an unlikely God accepting extreme sacrifices.
#2191232 by J.B. Ezar  |
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