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  1.  

    Okay, so I think I would really like to write a horror novel. It just seems fun. So I decided to create a thread to discuss writing in the horror genre and how to make books/stories scary. I also think I’ve seen at least one person say they were writing a horror novel. This is just a general discussion about things that are good in horror and things that are not so good.

  2.  

    I know nothing of horror, but as a reader, excessive violence and blood spatter turns me off. The suspense of the unknown is much scarier.

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      CommentAuthorJabrosky
    • CommentTimeNov 10th 2009
     

    I don’t plan to write a whole story that’s in the horror genre, but I would like advice as to how to raise tension.

    Also, how do I describe fear? The only physiological reactions from fear that I know of are cold spines, crawling skin, sweaty skin, and pounding heartbeats.

  3.  

    I would like some advice as to how to raise tension.

    Me too. The only thing I can think of is to describe in very minute detail every sensation the character feels, but if done too much, it gets boring.

  4.  

    The suspense of the unknown is much scarier.

    I agree, though I don’t mind blood and gore so long as it’s not excessive. I have a high tolerance for it, but it needs to add to the story. The unknown is a lot scarier than overly bloody scenes though. The unknown is what makes you scared to walk into rooms alone after reading a scary story.

    I want to know how to raise tension too. I also want to know how best to invoke fear in the reader.

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      CommentAuthorTakuGifian
    • CommentTimeNov 10th 2009
     

    Best advice for writing Horror (or anything, really) comes from the immortal Stephen King: Make the readers care about the characters, and only then have bad things happen. Give the readers a reason to want the characters to escape with their lives.

    Not an exact quote, but a fair summary of it.

  5.  

    Stephen King=Awesome

    I just think it would be fun to write at least one horror novel, though I’m not sure why. I don’t want to specialize in horror, but doing one would be fun I think.

  6.  

    A lot of horror plots are kind of cliche now, for being done so many times.

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      CommentAuthorPearl
    • CommentTimeNov 11th 2009
     

    I would imagine that it would be difficult to write horror, because you have to be so well tuned to what makes people afraid. When you look at Poe’s work, he was obviously familiar with the feelings he wrote of, and knew how to convey the message. Its one thing to make a reader really happy or make them cry, but making them actually scared is very different, is it not?

  7.  

    I want to know how to raise tension too. I also want to know how best to invoke fear in the reader.

    I find that horror works best in the first person. So I make him/her think about what could happen, what will happen, and how s/he will deal with it. I like SWQ’s method too; describing absolutely everything usually works out pretty well, provided you know when to stop.

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      CommentAuthorMoldorm
    • CommentTimeNov 11th 2009
     

    A good way of creating a sense of anxiety is to use a familiar object in a new and threatening way, as it makes the threat more immediate and present for the reader. There’s also the Uncanny Valley principle (things that look like humans but are not (dolls, mannequins, clowns etc.) are scarier than actual humans), which can be applied by taking a familiar object and twisting it in a new and threatening way, making the danger more immediate and present for the reader.

  8.  

    Those are all good ideas…. I also have to figure out how to write about scary things without scaring myself (I’m easily scared). Or it might be more effective if I wrote about things that did scare me because I would know they were scary.

    I also agree with Pearl; it’s harder to scare people than it is to make them feel other emotions.

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      CommentAuthorApep
    • CommentTimeNov 12th 2009
     

    I remember a great quote I heard about horror once (or maybe I’m paraphrasing). “Terror is a monster jumping out of the clost. Fear is knowing the monster’s going to jump out of the closet.” I think that was more about modern horror movies, and the general reliance on gore and jump-scares, rather than building tension.

  9.  

    I like that quote. =)

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      CommentAuthorApep
    • CommentTimeNov 13th 2009
     

    Yeah, wish I could remember where I heard it…

  10.  
    In the name of getting this site back to its original purpose I'm going to be conducting a little Necromancy.

    True horror IMO is a story of someone you care about and their struggle against an overwhelming evil. As for the gore, I have a high tolerance for it but there's an art and science to gore, with the proper description and timing it improves the story, but if it's just mindless bloodshed it becomes boring and tasteless.

    And the atmosphere is the most important part, Silent Hill anyone?
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      CommentAuthorMoldorm
    • CommentTimeFeb 13th 2011
     

    I recently read Terry Dowling’s afterword in Songs of the Dying Earth, in which he urges writers to “don’t just show, suggest”. This seems to me especially pertinent to horror, given the arguable merits of leaving things to the reader’s imagination.

  11.  

    Kilgore… Everything you said, I agree with. I only watched about 5Let’s Plays of Silent Hill 2 and I had nightmares about Pyramid Head that night.

  12.  

    The unknown is a lot scarier than overly bloody scenes though.

    Exactly. Was 300 scary?
    Not one bit.

    Make the readers care about the characters, and only then have bad things happen. Give the readers a reason to want the characters to escape with their lives.

    Excellent. I love it.
    Although, many horror movies try their utmost to make you care… and fail miserably.
    This is what we call Twenty Minutes With Jerks.

    Or it might be more effective if I wrote about things that did scare me because I would know they were scary.

    Yes. For example, I’m more into scifi/fantasy than actual horror, but when I put scary stuff in, it’s usually either psycho murderders or uncanny valley (or a combination of both). Because they freak me the hell out.

    “Terror is a monster jumping out of the clost. Fear is knowing the monster’s going to jump out of the closet.”

    This and

    And the atmosphere is the most important part

    this reminds me of Jaws.
    Sure, Bruce the shark was scary as hell, but that music...

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeFeb 21st 2011
     

    The more that is left to the reader’s (or watcher’s, or player’s) imagination, the scarier. It’s like whatever the monster was from “Midnight” (a Doctor Who episode) or the Slender Man—if you knew anything at all about them, they would stop being scary, because then you maybe, just maybe, might be able to figure out a way to defeat them. But when you know nothing at all? That’s terrifying, because you’re just so powerless.

    I’m sure this can be done poorly, but in general, atmosphere is SO important in horror. Gore is only scary in that it’s horrifying. So I guess that makes for good horror, but not good mind-chilling, pants-wetting terror.

    There’s a trope for this, naturally.

  13.  

    I looked up the Slender Man, but I didn’t allow myself to read anything past, “He is described as wearing a black suit” because I didn’t want to freak myself out. “Midnight” is incredibly disturbing/creepy, and that is why it’s one of my favorite episodes.

    And in the same vein of the more you know, the less scary it is, “In the Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone” made the Weeping Angels much less creepy to me because:

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      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2011
     

    Ah, Slendy. He doesn’t exist, you know. Unless you think about him. Good luck with that. :D

    Yeah, if you ever want to go in the woods, cough, take pills, use a camera, or see a person in a suit (or mask, for that matter) ever again, don’t watch Marble Hornets. Or any other Slender Man-related thing, although I’m less familiar with other parts of the mythos.

    I agree on Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, although the

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      CommentAuthorApep
    • CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2011
     

    Dammit, swenson, why’d you have to go and mention Slendy? I was actually hoping to sleep tonight…

  14.  

    Ah, Slendy. He doesn’t exist, you know. Unless you think about him. Good luck with that. :D

    I hate you.

    Also, don’t forget to count the shadows before you go to bed. Remember, fear of the dark is not at all irrational.

    Dammit, swenson, why’d you have to go and mention Slendy? I was actually hoping to sleep tonight…

    Hey, I don’t even know anything about him, and I’m freaked out just by the “don’t think about him” thing. That’s the exactly the type of thing I did not want to find out about him. And I have a cough. D:

    I’ve decided that since I don’t know anything, I can’t actually think about him. He’s just a man in a suit who offers people jobs. He fights poverty. That’s what I’m going with.

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      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeFeb 24th 2011
     

    Nah, he’s just looking for his twenty dollars.

  15.  

    Also, VERY VERY glad I read this at 10 in the morning. Because the shadows thing would’ve made me sleep with my light on last night. :D

    Yeah, that was payback for the “he’s not real unless you think about him” thing. :D

    This was me last night because I couldn’t stop thinking about it:

    Allie’s picture