 Horror/Scary: April 17, 2013 Issue [#5609] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: Distorted Philosophy Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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Does your antagonist have a philosophy?
In order to flesh-out your 'bad guy'' you've got to get inside his head, let the reader know what makes him tick. It's one thing to have a crazy serial killer in your story, but all together another if we, the reader, know why he is that way.
Much like a mystery or a crime thriller, we need to understand the motive of the antagonist just as much as we need to know about the hero. Like this piece for example....
Girls, they were all alike. As a boy, he'd seen no use for them, had wanted nothing to do with them. Girls had made him sick with all their coy manipulations. The best thing about them was that he could make them cry without much effort. Decades of torturing them emotionally had not, however, made them any more appealing to him than they had been when he was just a preschooler dropping bugs down their blouses. Girls still annoyed more than charmed him, left him feeling vaguely ill after he had indulged with them, and the fact that he was also fascinated by them only made him resent them more. Worse, sex was never enough for them; they wanted you to father their children. The marrow crawled in his bones at the thought of being anyone's father. You couldn't trust children. They were inside your defenses, and when you least expected it, they could kill you and steal your wealth. He knew all about such treachery. And if you fathered a daughter, the mother and child would surely conspire against you at every turn. In his view, all other men belonged to a breed different from--and far inferior to--his own, but girls were another species entirely, not merely another breed; girls were alien and ultimately unknowable. He would continue to use them at his leisure, and then extinguish them like a snuffed-out candle.
It doesn't take a lot to show the distorted philosophy of your antagonist; just a paragraph here and there to let us know what he is thinking.
A majority of real serial killers have a history of sexual and physical abuse during childhood. In half of the serial killers families, the biological father has left before the child was 12 years old. In cases where the father didn't leave, there was evidence of him being domineering and abusive. Also delinquent acts such as pyromania, theft, and cruelty to animals are usually present in the childhoods of most serial killers.
Serial killers are made, not born. It is your job as a writer to delve into their minds and come up with new and creative ideas that show why they are like they are. It is always disturbing to do so. You have to look deep, examine yourself as well as your character.
Behind every closet door is always a skeleton no one wants to meet, a distorted philosophy prone to evil acts and deeds beyond man's comprehension.
Until next time, my lovelies
billwilcox
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LIVE/EVIL
Cynthia’s reaction told him all he needed to know. “I see,” he said, his cheery face turned stern. “It looks like you have a case of cytomegalovirus. CMV for short. Everyone has it to some degree, but the immune system can usually fight it off. The HIV virus apparently is suppressing your immune system, which is no surprise. CMV is the most common type of virus that infects those who are HIV positive, you see. It can cause damage to the eye, as you know, and the rest of the body as well.”
|  | Monster (18+)
If you call someone a name often enough they may soon believe it
#259585 by Andrea  |
Such change doesn't happen overnight and I could never be described as pretty; the fake glass eye will never be the same as a real one, but at least I now have some semblance of normality. I can do every-day things like walk down a street, go into a supermarket or get a job. Although I'm not asked on many dates, children don't point at me and run screaming to their mothers any more. So I'm pretty much cured, right? Externally, yes as much as I can be. Yet after my therapy I still felt it necessary to face my demons head on and confront my "monstrosity".
Now, he had another task, one that he felt was far more important. A voice had spoken in a dream. Utterly compelling, he offered not even token resistance nor wonder why it had chosen him.
Now, I know what you must be thinking, “This chick is insane, a real monster”, but I assure you I’m not.
It was supposed to be for a filling, but before the day was out he ended up having an emergency root canal. He remembered the sight of the drill, the feeling of the bit as it bore into the enamel, the chipping and grinding, the vibrations in his lower jaw for what seemed like eternity. He could even remember the stupid song that played quietly in the background while he looked out the wind
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1599979 by Not Available. |
Slivers of moonlight fell through gaps in the barn’s roof and cut across a pig carcass. The lines of light swayed as the ripe mound shifted. Chomps and slurps thrummed from inside the pale-pink body.
| | Possession (18+)
In an asylum for the criminally insane, a young orderly discovers true possession...
#1028269 by W.D.Wilcox |
He quickly snagged the pills, dropped them into his mouth, as if performing a magic trick, and then chewed them up growling like a wild animal. Through clenched teeth speckled with green pieces of granulated pills, he forced a smile as if he were working to stay calm--struggling to appear normal. "Tell the doctors I'm all better now," he grimaced. "Tell them I'm cured. I don't need to be here anymore. Tell them I want to go home now." Then he started to cry, not just weeping, but more like the sobbing of a broken man about to die. "Please..." he said shuddering, "tell them...tell them for me." Then he lunged at the door, screaming violently. "Tell them!"
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DEAD LETTERS
Ẃeβ࿚ẂỉԎḈĥmas 
Screams:
Welcome back, Bill! Your take on the chilling has been sorely missed.
As for the questions of the week:
1. No, not all monsters are bad--at least to a particular character whom the monster protects. (Think Shadow Man, who would not harm the person under whose bed he slept.)
2. It doesn't need to be a monster in a neon tutu--most anybody we see on a daily basis wearing one, would scare the crap out of me! *Laugh*
~WW
rachie
Shrieks:
Happy to see you are back!!!
Kotaro 
Chortles:
It's good to have you back at the helm.
LJPC - the tortoise
Gurgles:
Bill - Welcome back! I loved the NL and the example you gave. Great! 
~ Laura
pinkbarbie
Snaps a Bone with:
Hi,I totally agree that the choice of diction spices up a story and attracts the readers. I think all monsters are bad that's why they are called monsters and no I wouldn't be afraid of a monster in a neon tutu. I'd be entertained. Thanks for this useful newsletter.
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry 
"Army of Humans and Monsters-The Book"
Howls:
Not every monster is evil. One might be the person who saves your hide.
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