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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/1640-.html
Horror/Scary: April 04, 2007 Issue [#1640]

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Horror/Scary


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  Edited by: W.D.Wilcox 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

Sig for the Horror/Scary Newsletter
Feathered shadows swooped and shuddered between the sole survivors as the devil counted the souls, and then threw them away like dry, brittle leaves.



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Letter from the editor

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GOOD HORROR STORIES ARE REAL

A good horror tale is something that makes you shiver, and does not necessarily make you sick to your stomach or repulse you. A good horror tale is something you think about later--not just at night but in broad daylight. It gives you a sense of unease, something that lodges in your mind and stays for a while.

For me, a good horror story treats things in a realistic way, non-supernatural, because that’s what comes closest to being real and believable. To me, it's always the real that's the most frightening. I’m sorry, but I just don't find vampires or werewolves scary. Those things aren't real and don't shock me. But the human mind is very real, and very, very frightening.

I think we all have the capacity for evil, for doing monstrous things. I see it everyday in the papers, which terrifies me more than any horror story I’ve ever read. Man has this latent ability to do the most despicable things to its own kind: A mother that can kill her own children, a maniac that likes to mutilate and eat dead people, a rapist that has his way with a toddler and then buries her alive stuffed within a garbage bag, a fanatic that detonates a strap-on-bomb in a crowded bus to kill as many innocents as possible. Therein lies the monster for your next story. Therein lies humanity. So real…because it is real. So frightening…because that kind of horror could happen to any of us at any time.

These terrible things happen everyday, and probably the scariest thing is how our society coddles these fiends after they have been captured. We have lost our way, fallen from the path of sanity only to become what we most fear.

I remember my youngest daughter asking me once if monsters were real. “Yes,” I answered solemnly, “they live within us.”

So, the next time you can’t think of what kind of horror story to write about, or what kind of monster to use, just look in the mirror, the monster is you.

Until next time,

billwilcox



Editor's Picks

HORRIFYING PICKS


*Dead Rabbit Open in new Window. (18+)
Rabbits, chocolate, and wasps oh my!
#1103644 by AliceNgoreland Author IconMail Icon

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#732403 by Not Available.

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#1102240 by Not Available.

 Monsters Burning Monsters Open in new Window. (13+)
one mans monsters both in his writing and his life
#1126674 by Take apart your head Author IconMail Icon

Condition Black Open in new Window. (18+)
Fear is what keeps you alive.
#1138307 by Eddo36 Author IconMail Icon

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#1083233 by Not Available.

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#1169856 by Not Available.

 REVENGE Open in new Window. (13+)
Pride; the fall
#1210754 by GEOFFREY ROBSON Author IconMail Icon

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Mightier Than The Pen Open in new Window. (18+)
A horror writer discovers a unique way to inspire his stories.
#1229512 by W.D.Wilcox Author IconMail Icon

 
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Ask & Answer

A FRENZY OF FEEDBACK

Ric The Woolicane Author Icon observes and comments:
Another intriguing article. Just wanted to add my 2 penneth. The way I see it anything can potentially make you darker and harder, not writing because of the fear of becoming what you write can be worse then writing it. The important thing is not to want to become the monster, to keep the harmony in the heart. How you do that of course is the hard part, something I can’t really answer, I know that watching Disney films helps me when I feel myself getting too dark for my liking.
Now that sounds like sound advice, thank you.

writeone Author Icon agrees:
Way to go! It sounds as if there is a glimmer already. We are all writers slogging through the muck of our emotions, our fears, and our tragedies. Write through it. Like Blade tells Whistler's daughter in Blade Trinity: USE IT.
You have a truly incredible (although twisted) writing talent. It becomes you. Keep your pencil up, Mr. Wilcox.
That's the problem, my pencil is always up...lol. Thanks Cristy *Heart*.

zwisis appreciates:
Bill,
Thanks for featuring my story! And it was really great to read what inspires different writers. Just shows what a diverse crowd we are, and that inspiration can come from the most "interesting" sources!
I agree wholeheartedly.

GhostDragon Author Icon explains:
To tell the truth, W.D., I know what you mean, to an extent, of which would be having dark thoughts. Personally for the most part I just let them go through my mind and completly ignore them. Also with this seeming, to me, to be somewhat around a death in the family. I know what that can do I don't know when dark thoughts began going through my head but I have a good guess when I was 10 my grandmother died and my great-grandmother one week later. Although I believe that you, as well as anyone, wont necessarily become what they write if they stay true to themselves. That's what I believe.
Now that is the truth of it, stay true to yourself. Write On!

Blanknow Author Icon asks:
I'm writing a Novel right now, hopefully I'll get it published, by there have been some concerns on the name. Originaly I was going to call it Red Mist because there were a whole bunch of scary freeky creatures that were made out of red myst, but I cut the creatures out and now I'm changing the name. The name Red Myst sounds way cooler than my other one- One By One- but it has nothing to do with the story. Should I keep the Name Red Mist or go with One By One?
Well, my suggestion would be not to worry so much about the title. That will come. Concentrate more on what your story is about. There's always a line in a novel that stands out as the clear title for the story.

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