 Horror/Scary: October 14, 2015 Issue [#7265] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: Fear or shock? Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week:
"Dot, dot, line, line,
Spider crawling up your spine.
Cool breeze, tight squeeze,
Now you've got the shiveries!"
~Children's Rhyme |
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You may think you are scaring your readers, when you may actually be shocking them.
According to the Cambridge English dictionary, shock is "a sudden, unexpected, and often unpleasant or offensive event, or the emotional or physical reaction to such an event."
Fear is "an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat."
Both are important ingredients of horror stories, but it is important to know the difference.
 Shock gets up in your face. Fear is all in your mind.
 When a spider the size of a dinner plate drops down on your face, you feel shock. When you feel the brush of bristly legs on the back of your neck, you feel fear.
 Shock comes when you see blood and guts everywhere. Fear comes when you see one drop of blood dripping down from the ceiling.
 Shock is a killer crashing through your living room window and rushing toward you, brandishing a knife. Fear is the creak of footsteps on the stairs when you think you are alone in the house.
Creating fear in the mind of your reader is the basis of horror stories. Many of the scariest stories start with a seemingly innocent situation. Lull your reader into a false sense of security, and then instill a tiny bit of fear, with something that isn't quite right. Ratchet up the fear a little at a time, and then, WHAM! hit your reader with a shock!
Some very good stories use only fear, but be careful about overdoing shock. If the reader is hit with one shock after the other, they will become desensitized to it, and you will lose the "shock value". And remember, shocks do not have to be gross. Too much grossness will send your readers beyond shock to revulsion and disgust. 
Something to try: Write a horror story that includes a well-placed shock.
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| Question for next time: What scares you the most in horror stories or movies? |
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