  Horror/Scary
This week: The Unknown Edited by: Jeff  
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"Fear is a disease that eats away at logic and makes man inhuman."
- Marian Anderson
Random Horror Trivia of the Week: The Baltimore Ravens professional American football team is named for the classic horror poem "The Raven," by Edgar Allan Poe... who lived and worked (and died) in Baltimore.
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THE UNKNOWN
What could be lurking in the shadows down that dark alley? What's making that scratching, scraping noise on the other side of the attic door? Why is there a light on in that abandoned house near the cemetery? Fear drives horror, and fear of the unknown is one of the most universally understood sources of terror. Most of us like being in control, like knowing all the facts, and feel safe and secure when we can see the whole picture from a distance and evaluate it. When we can't see all the angles... when there's some intangible factor or piece of information we know we're missing... it makes most of us feel uncomfortable and off-balance.
Think about some of the movies that you remember really scaring the heck out of you. Were they movies that showed you every gory detail, or movies that left something to the imagination? For me, movies like Saw and Hostel can certainly be disturbing, jarring, and horrific; but they don't stick in my mind and still send shivers up my spine the same way movies like Psycho do. Movies that tease and taunt without showing us what we're dealing with until the very end are incredibly effective, because they play on our fear of the unknown and realize that the suspense and anxiety of not knowing is usually more effective than buckets of blood and guts. When it's our imagination, the danger can be anything... and we're quite adept at imagining the worst! 
In romance novels and movies (strange things to be discussing in a horror newsletter, I know  ), the story revolves around the relationship, and it typically isn't until the very last chapters or final minutes that the couple finally overcomes all the obstacles in their way and has the chance to be together. I'd suggest treating your horror the same way. The payoff in a horror story is often either the realization of what's been going on, or an explanation for it. By putting off that moment as long as possible and keeping your audience on the edge of their seats wondering what it could be, you can effectively use their apprehension about the unknown to fuel their fears in a very real, very intimate way.
Next time you're putting together a horror story, remember that sometimes, the most effective moments are the ones we don't spell out for our audience. 
Until next time,
- Jeff
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This week, I would encourage you to check out the following horror items:
When she took off her makeup her true features emerged jagged with deep slashes, her mouth like a scar-her eyes like open wounds. She gripped the mirror as if it were a portal where some madwoman stood peering out with a lunatic grin-like a person locked outside of her house but can still look in through the windows and pound on the door. "Where are you, Raheesha? Where have you gone?"
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Lisa felt sick, the world and everything in it seemed to momentarily tilt on its axis: she closed her eyes, trying to slow her breathing as the room started to spin. She reached up to tug at Billy's sleeve as he craned his neck, eager to get a glimpse of the newest arrival shuffling through the curtains.
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After everyone had left she settled down on her bed and waited to fall asleep. It had been one of those nights; a couple of drunken roughnecks had entered her tent and not content with gawping at her, like the rest of the marks, had laughingly shouted obscene comments of what they would like to do to her, and make her do to them.
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It was said that the fun house could predict the future. No one knew if this was true, those who had visited the fun house never spoke of what they saw, and more than a select few died within hours of leaving its coloured doors. So, on this weekend when the carnival arrived to set up, mothers were already telling children to stay away and fans were waiting for them to be done building.
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She saw herself staring from everywhere around her, except for one mirror, placed in the center of the room. At first, she was nervous, remembering what the man had said about not getting lost, and she had no idea where she was. After a short time arguing it over in her head however, she decided it must be some harmless gimmick and approached it. She just looked at it for a while, but no matter how hard she looked it only seemed to be a mirror. It reflected all the images of her just fine, and it seemed to be the same gleaming silver of all the others, but she couldn't see herself.
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Horror/Scary: June 16, 2010 Issue [#3799]
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