This week: Ice cold fear Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: "Humans are pretty crafty but will fold quickly in severe cold."
~Henry Rollins |
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Winter is a time of snowball fights, sledding, ice skating, and hot cocoa, but it can also be a great time for horror. Here are just a few reasons why a story set in the winter can be especially horrific:
Cold
If you are one of those lucky people who has never experienced a cold northern winter, come and visit me in North Dakota in January. My home state has the distinction of the coldest average winters in the lower 48 states, but winters here are still warmer than many places in Russia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada. The coldest temperature ever recorded on earth was at Vostok Station in Antarctica, where the mercury plunged to -89 degrees C (-128 degrees F) on July 21, 1983.
During severely cold weather, unprotected skin can become frostbitten in a couple of minutes. Death from hypothermia can occur in less than 15 minutes, and possibly even faster if the person falls into cold water. People have frozen to death inside cars or buildings if the heating system fails.
Ice and snow
Ice and snow on roadways can make winter travel difficult, and often impossible. If your car slides into a ditch, you might be stranded for hours or even days before help can arrive.
Deep snow cover can make walking difficult and can hide dangerous features such as barbed wire or holes in the ground.
Wind
Wind exacerbates the effects of cold. Wind chill describes how cold it actually feels based on the amount of heat lost from exposed skin during windy, cold conditions. For example, if the temperature is 0 degrees F and the wind is blowing 15 mph, it actually feels like -19 degrees F.
Add wind to heavy snow and you get a blizzard. A blizzard is a severe snowstorm that lasts at least three hours with winds of 35 mph or more. A blizzard can lead to complete whiteout conditions where it is impossible to see anything. In some cases, people have gotten lost and frozen to death within yards of their homes.
Darkness
In areas far north or south of the equator, winter means short days, and long, dark nights. People in Utqiavik, Alaska (formerly Point Barrow) experience approximately 67 days when the sun does not rise above the horizon between November and January.
Long periods of darkness create a naturally spooky atmosphere. The long winter night might hide some evil or supernatural activities that would not survive the light of day.
Isolation
Everyone loves and occasional snow day, or time off from work or school due to weather. However, prolonged isolation due to a storm can lead to cabin fever, a claustrophobic condition characterized by irritability, restlessness, and in extreme cases, irrational thoughts, paranoia and suicidal behavior.
The conditions described here are just the normal hazards associated with winter. Imagine how they might add to the tension of a horror story and the roadblocks they might throw up for your characters. Escaping an evil entity would be hard enough without having to drive through a blizzard to do it. Or maybe the storm or the winter itself is the evil entity.
Something to try: Write a horror story set during a blizzard. |
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Horror/Scary: December 11, 2019 Issue [#9909]
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