 Horror/Scary: August 19, 2020 Issue [#10326] |
This week: Into the woods Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: "Some people ask why people would go into a dark room to be scared. I say they are already scared, and they need to have that fear manipulated and massaged. I think of horror movies as the disturbed dreams of a society."
~Wes Craven |
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Have you ever noticed that many fairy tales, legends, and horror stories take place in dark, spooky forests?
In stories that arose in areas naturally covered by woodland, the forest is a forbidding place of magic and danger. Legends of horrible things that happened to people who left the relative safety of a human settlement may have served to warn children against venturing into the woods on their own.
In contrast to the orderly structure of cities and towns, the forest was a wild, rambling place where it was easy to get lost. Roads and trails built by humans in open country are usually as straight and easy to see as possible, but pathways through a forest can be winding and difficult to see for anyone who doesn't know the area. In a woodland, distant landmarks may be difficult to see or absent completely.
Forests can be dark even during the daytime and contain shadowy places where dangerous things might hide. The forest was home to actual dangerous creatures such as wolves and also the legendary dwelling place of monsters such as trolls and dragons. Even the more beautiful legendary forest dwellers, such as elves, fairies, and unicorns were dangerous and best avoided.
Evil witches and other dangerous humans also are part of forest legends. Hansel and Gretel encountered a strange old woman who attempted to cook and eat them. Forest dwelling people throughout the world had similar legends. The Basket Woman in legends of Native American tribes from the Northwest coast of North America was a fearsome creature who was said to carry off children in a large basket in order to eat them.
Lumberjacks and other forest workers developed their own legends. Many of these stories are part of entertaining tall tales that may have been based on actual occurrences and exaggerated and embellished over time. The hidebehind was a creature said to dwell in North American forests. It was never seen because it always hid behind a tree (hence the name) and was blamed for disappearances and deaths of lumberjacks and others unfortunate enough to meet up with it.
Modern city dwelling humans may fear forests and other wild areas even more than medieval peasants did. Movies and stories such as "The Happening" and "Friday the Thirteenth" take advantage of this fear.
If you write a horror story with the familiar trope of people lost in a dark forest try and present it in an unusual way to make it your own.
Something to try: Write a horror story set in a forest.
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