 Horror/Scary: January 29, 2020 Issue [#9993] |
This week: Horror Incites Terror Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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Welcome to this week's WDC Horror/Scary Newsletter ~ where the mundane takes a back seat to the realm of the unknown, a realm of limitless possibilities. When I listen, sometimes I even hear.
"All that I see or seem is but a dream within a dream"
"...quoth the Raven, nevermore"
Edgar Alan Poe
Foremost in a work of horror, I believe, is the writer's ability to provoke fear or terror in readers - a sense of dread or anxiety from a given image - tangible or envisioned - a foreshadowing of impending doom. Let's explore some items which may give us a head start along the way. |
| ASIN: B01FST8A90 |
Product Type: Toys & Games
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Amazon's Price: $ 24.95
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Greetings, fellow afficionados of the dark, speculative world of horror. I propose to you that a good horror story, in prose or verse, is a poetry, a conversation between the writer and reader. The depth of perception and detail in horror is like that in a poem. Horror evokes a sense of terror, a mood, that draws the reader into the otherworld the writer creates, whether that 'otherworld' be somebody's backyard or a world envisioned in outer space, or even another realm.
Think about it, don't you find yourself whispering aloud or mouthing the words in a really vivid horror story (prose or verse)? Reading aloud to taste the words and sense the image being created. This is the 'dialogue' between writer and reader, and I think it's most dynamic in horror fiction. What causes me to cringe may be ordinary to you, but if I present it so that you can see it with my eyes; smell, touch, taste and hear it as I do, by use of words, then you can sense my horror and enter my 'otherworld,' creating our conversation.
Key in a work of horror, I believe, is the writer's ability to provoke fear or terror in readers - a sense of dread or anxiety from the opening image, a foreshadowing of impending doom. This is done by engaging the senses, including the mind, with vivid images.
I think horror in all its versatile forms (subgenres) is two stories, whether presented in verse or prose - the story of both the main character, and that of his/her environment or surroundings. The setting is inscribed by the writer with a personality of its own, which interacts with that of the character(s) engaged with the surroundings.
The horror tale takes the reader on a journey where the ordinary becomes unfamiliar as it gets entangled with supernatural or surreal elements; a common, known entity, item, or place becomes unfamiliar, alien to the character (and reader).
 Horror tales explore the dark, malevolent side of humanity, whether or not the characters are human. The tone or mood of the tale quickly becomes bleak and menacing, eliciting an immediate visceral response by the reader.
 The main character is one to whom/what the reader can relate or in some way understand, feel kinship or empathy for, as they (character and reader) tread deeper into the tale.
 Lives often depend on the protagonist's success in surmounting or destroying the cause of the horror, as he/she encounters frightening and unexpected events or influences.
 There is violence, either served directly upon the protagonist, or characters he/she encounters.
 Most horror stories are in third person, not to distance your readers, even if from multiple characters' perspectives, in a plain, clean style. Your readers are drawn in to engage the horror you weave in prose or verse, based on their experiences, as though they also were observing, and sensing, feeling and seeing what your characters experience. This also allows you, as writer, the option to expand description of the setting (the other character I noted earlier) to evoke dread or foreboding, making the ultimate horror believable, and memorable.
So, you see, with all its versatility, horror writing does have common elements, ways in which you, the creative writer, evoke horror in your readers.
So, engage your readers, as well as your characters, in horror that is just around the corner, ever there just outside the corner of your eye
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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I offer the following visions of horror in verse and prose for your reading pleasure. See if you can engage these 'otherworlds' of horror and fright created by members of our Community; and answer back with a review perhaps? Then, accept the challenge to weave your own 'otherworld' of horror for your characters and readers
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| | | Swan Song (E)
On the eve of his hopeful step toward the big time, a small town talent runs into trouble.
#2210931 by Con  |
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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| ASIN: B01IEVJVAG |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 9.99
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Thank you for the safe respite in your virtual homes. Until we next meet, may the horror you weave remain outside your door and windows.
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading |
| ASIN: B083RZ2C5F |
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Amazon's Price: Price N/A
Not currently available. |
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