This week: What's happened to horror stories? Edited by: Andy~hating university  
More Newsletters By This Editor 
 
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions
There are two different stories in horror: internal and external. In external horror films, the evil comes from the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness that we don’t understand. Internal is the human heart.
~~John Carpenter, 2011 |
| ASIN: 0996254145 |
|
Amazon's Price: $ 12.95
|
|
I'm Andy~hating university , and I'm today's NL guest editor.
It's easy to write a story filled with blood, guts, and gore (BGG). There's nothing wrong with this kind of story, but it seems that we have lost what the horror genre started out as.
The horror genre has ancient origins, with its roots in folklore and religious traditions. European horror-fiction became established through authors who were Ancient Greeks (such as Euripes), and Ancient Romans (such as Pliny the Younger and Plutarch), though the genre dates as far back as the earliest writings of Mesopotamia with the stories of Gilgamesh (dated circa 2100 BC).
A lot of our traditional horror fiction comes from real live historical people, such as Prince of Wallachia Vlad III (the source for Dracula), Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (the source for the vampiress), and the Baron de Rais (the source for Bluebeard). Even Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was greatly influenced by the story of Hippolytus, who was revived after dying.
The slasher genre has a lot to answer for. Now I love slasher films as much as the next person, but they've affected the way we define horror in modern film and literature. Horror has, to some extent, moved away from the plot-driven "natural world" story with a horror element, to a plot-driven "horror world" story with a real world element.
The slasher genre started with films like Bay of Blood (1971), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Black Christmas (both 1974). They spawned some of the biggest characters in the genre, many who are easily identifiable by their first name, such as Freddy, Jason, and Michael. And today we have so-called horror films, such as Saw, that are really nothing more than torture for torture's sake.
Really good horror creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere. Doing that without BGG, or with minimal BGG, is not an easy task.
The next time you write a horror piece try it for yourself. |
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1613512 by Not Available. |
|
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
Don't forget to support our sponsor!
| ASIN: B07K6Z2ZBF |
Product Type: Kindle Store
|
Amazon's Price: $ 4.99
|
|
| ASIN: 0910355479 |
|
Amazon's Price: $ 13.99
|
|
To stop receiving this newsletter, click here for your newsletter subscription list. Simply uncheck the box next to any newsletter(s) you wish to cancel and then click to "Submit Changes". You can edit your subscriptions at any time.
|
Horror/Scary: July 14, 2021 Issue [#10878]
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
