  Horror/Scary
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I’m a grandmother. I’ve been scared a lot in a lot of different ways. I’ve also seen my share of gore. Gore doesn’t bother me. Scared does.
So what is the difference between horror (scared) and gore (a disgusting mess) in the genre?
For me, as in so many other things, the difference boils down to good writing describing powerful emotions. Throwing in a chain saw massacre to liven up the story really doesn’t do much more than throw in a chain saw massacre. Fearing such a massacre and describing that fear---that’s horror.
Others, of course, may have many differing opinions, but for me the most terrifying of stories are the ones that balance precariously over the edge of anticipation. There is something sinister out there, something your mind senses and your body can almost feel----
Yeah. Like that.
The “Boo!” jumping out from the closet doesn‘t scare me, it startles me. The blood guts and gore don‘t scare me, they make me want to upchuck. So the combination of a buzzing chain saw jumping out of a closet and cutting up body parts doesn’t cut it (pun intended) for me.
When is gore scary? When it’s part of a setting, such as rotting bodies in a pit. The bodies in and of themselves are not scary (unless someone is really a fraidy cat!); but a good writer can draw that scene into the rest of the story as an addition. Something like this is the culmination of a long search for a --------(fill in the blank: sweetheart, father, friend, etc.). Descriptions of the feelings of the protagonist as he looks over that pit, trying to make out features he might recognize from the rotted skulls---
There you go.
Gore can also be scary when it’s part of the character; but that, again, depends on the descriptive words and the plot. I mean, everybody knows vampires are gory with the blood drinking thing and all, but just saying vampire as a description doesn’t work. The hot red eyes glowing with anticipation of the kill; the tongue lightly flicking against the sharp canines, trembling for the thrill of the gushing blood, the warm ooze of ichors over the chin---
Now you get the idea this is not some romantic fantasy of a vampire, but a monster, a gory monster.
Gore as part of an action can be horror, too. A leg going septic, for instance, in the midst of a desperate escape when the leg is needed, the enemy closer and closer as the infection becomes worse and worse---that kind of thing.
To sum it up, horror, to me, will always be about feelings. Gore is not feelings. Reaction to gore, anticipation of gore---those are feelings. So that narrows down the difference for me. Is the gore doing anything to enhance my feelings? If so, it’s horror. If not, it’s just plain gore.
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Some gore to explore:
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Horror/Scary: September 07, 2005 Issue [#597]
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