 Horror/Scary: June 04, 2014 Issue [#6355] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: How Will Your Character Survive? Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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An Elf (written} Horror/Scary Newsletter
A newsletter considering the survival instincts that the character might need to survive a horror story.
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One thing that I’ve noticed, when it comes to many horror stories, is that the character gets put in a scary situation where they are forced to make decisions and act in order to survive. And it’s not easy. Surviving is a big deal in horror and in order to achieve success, depending on the opposition, the character might have to call on strength and skills not often used before. But how do you set up their survival and the skills they need?
Sometimes it’s showing the weapon that will later be used to end it all. Often called “Chekov’s Gun” this is where a weapon is shown on a wall, or talked about in different ways. The main focus behind the concept is the need to foreshadow and have a reason to bring focus to the weapon of choice because if it's not needed then there isn't as much of a point to show the item. On the other hand, it’s better to have mention to weapons and methods to get out of near death experiences than at random have a reason come up that makes everything okay. I like to refer to that method as the Batman Utility belt. It’s like, “oh no, we’re in danger” followed by “good thing I have this item on my belt that is just the thing we need to survive.”
Aside from the type of weaponry and such, there are many other survival tactics that a character needs to know or not know. While I’ve seen many who have to call upon different skills to survive, in certain horror stories the ones that don’t survive, or barely survive, sometimes lack things they need to survive. Sometimes, like in slasher films, we can get annoyed at those characters. They do stupid things and we wonder why anyone would do that instead of something that makes more sense. Maybe they just don’t have that survivor instinct.
Okay, before I ramble too much. Let’s end this by just considering some survivor skills that might come in handy in a horror story.
Build a fire.
Use a weapon.
Act fast under pressure.
Hide.
Research necessary information.
Run fast.
These are just a few ideas that come to mind. There are many different survival tactics that can come in handy in a horror situation. Which ones will you use?
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What survival instincts do you think is important for a character in a horror story?
Last time I wrote about the color red and while there weren't many comments, I hope that people still appreciated the topic. I don't write a lot of horror but enjoy talking about writing with all kinds of writers.
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