 Horror/Scary: August 03, 2011 Issue [#4531] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: When Animals Act Human -> True Horror Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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Welcome to this week's edition of the WDC Horror/Scary Newsletter!
All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream
...quoth the Raven, nevermore
Edgar Alan Poe
All animals are equal, but some
animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, Animal Farm
Foremost in a work of horror, I believe, is the writer's ability to provoke fear or terror in readers - a sense of dread or anxiety from the opening image, a foreshadowing of impending doom. Let's explore some of the techniques by which we can make our readers feel this horror while absorbed for a time in the world we create prosaic or poetic.
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As writers of horror in prose or verse, we don't have to perpetrate acts of terror to instill terror in our readers. And, think about it, humans are the only sentient creatures, as far as we know, who perpetrate acts of terror and revenge and mayhem not in response to a wrong, but just because. Animals don't do that, unless we give them that bit of our humanity.
We as writers do that through personification. We give animals human attributes, things we see humans do. Sweet Kitty may talk, or wear a cap, or live in a bedroom, or set a trap in the bedroom (you don't need opposable thumbs for everything). We as writers can grant animals human characteristics, whether real or perceived, to instill horror upon hapless humans.
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics (or characteristics assumed to belong only to humans) to non-human animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s, but as a literary device, it has a long association with the art of storytelling, where it has ancient roots. Paraphrasing dictionary.reference.com Consider the characters in Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story as examples. And, what of the awesome George Orwell's Animal Farm.
What if animals in nature do have some 'human' emotions; and the means to do something about it. As writers, we can give them the power, the ability to not only defend themselves, but also turn the tables on some morally impaired mortals. If you choose to take up the gauntlet, horrifying your readers with some delicious canine, equine, or perhaps avian victories, remember to keep it real. The 5-pound shih Tzu trying vainly to defend its home is not going to remove the perp's shoe with toe grinding accuracy. But the neighbor's bullmastiff might, in response to his fellow canine's ardent yelping carried through through the broken-open window.
Consider the realism is Stephen King's Cujo, Hitchcock's Birds. The creatures do not act outside their nature, which merely becomes focused or channeled in response to the action of mortals. The great white Jaws and Moby Dick also act according to their nature. Neither shark nor whale suddenly take wing and fly or walk on land, but they do appear to react to the aggressive action taken against them by humans, with a focused response that's perhaps 'humanized' with a bit of horrific vengeance.
So, the details come from nature, a fish remains a fish, a dog remains a dog, a rabbit remains a rabbit, and a rat remains a rat, acting in accord with their physical abilities. The horror comes from 'humanizing' the force of the creature's reaction to an act of aggression, whether overt or covert.
As writers, we have license to inscribe 'human' emotion and thought patterns on the action of the apparently sentient animals, evoking horror not with massive gore, but alluding to what the sentient animals can and likely will do to preserve their own realm. They don't always win outright, the horror is in the nature of the battle - inscribing human emotion on their faces, human reaction (if not always reason) in their actions.
You might also consider sending along your maliciously masticating mastiff's tale to one of the following publications, which welcome both established and emerging writers:
http://darknessproductions.com/guidelines.htm
http://apex-magazine.com/submission-guidelines/
So, as you nuzzle your kitten or feed your fish or ride your favorite mare, remember that they each have a wild side that, if unleashed, you don't want to have channeled in your direction. Do be kind to them, however, and they will return your affection unconditionally (this last is from me, sustaining member of the ASPCA).
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Share some of the other lives of those cute pets ~ let the writers know how well they've changed your opinion of their innocence with a comment or review, pechance
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Thank you for this brief respite in the relative safety of your virtual home. Until we next meet, may your kittens be coy and your puppies a pleasure, until you unleash them to wreak mayhem on unsuspecting readers
Write On!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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