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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/10878-Whats-happened-to-horror-stories.html
Horror/Scary: July 14, 2021 Issue [#10878]




 This week: What's happened to horror stories?
  Edited by: Andy~hating university Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

There are two different stories in horror: internal and external. In external horror films, the evil comes from the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness that we don’t understand. Internal is the human heart.

~~John Carpenter, 2011


Word from our sponsor

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Letter from the editor

I'm Andy~hating university Author Icon, and I'm today's NL guest editor.

It's easy to write a story filled with blood, guts, and gore (BGG). There's nothing wrong with this kind of story, but it seems that we have lost what the horror genre started out as.

The horror genre has ancient origins, with its roots in folklore and religious traditions. European horror-fiction became established through authors who were Ancient Greeks (such as Euripes), and Ancient Romans (such as Pliny the Younger and Plutarch), though the genre dates as far back as the earliest writings of Mesopotamia with the stories of Gilgamesh (dated circa 2100 BC).

A lot of our traditional horror fiction comes from real live historical people, such as Prince of Wallachia Vlad III (the source for Dracula), Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (the source for the vampiress), and the Baron de Rais (the source for Bluebeard). Even Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was greatly influenced by the story of Hippolytus, who was revived after dying.

The slasher genre has a lot to answer for. Now I love slasher films as much as the next person, but they've affected the way we define horror in modern film and literature. Horror has, to some extent, moved away from the plot-driven "natural world" story with a horror element, to a plot-driven "horror world" story with a real world element.

The slasher genre started with films like Bay of Blood (1971), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Black Christmas (both 1974). They spawned some of the biggest characters in the genre, many who are easily identifiable by their first name, such as Freddy, Jason, and Michael. And today we have so-called horror films, such as Saw, that are really nothing more than torture for torture's sake.

Really good horror creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere. Doing that without BGG, or with minimal BGG, is not an easy task.

The next time you write a horror piece try it for yourself.


Editor's Picks

The Medium Open in new Window. (13+)
She could sense the spiritual, unearthly elements around her.
#1702140 by ChrisDaltro-Chasing Moonbeams Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1613512 by Not Available.


 
STATIC
Morley Rising Open in new Window. (18+)
Deja Vu? Or is it...
#1786659 by Orion69 Author IconMail Icon


STATIC
WANTED: One Honest-To-Goodness Vampire Open in new Window. (13+)
Do vampires really exist?
#783940 by W.D.Wilcox Author IconMail Icon


STATIC
In The Dark Open in new Window. (18+)
What's at the bottom of the stairs? [Daily Slice entry for 04-25 prompt].
#1863875 by Write_Mikey_Write! Author IconMail Icon

 
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