 Horror/Scary: January 30, 2008 Issue [#2196] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: Edited by: schipperke
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"Horror is not a genre, like the mystery or science fiction or the western. It is not a kind of fiction, meant to be confined to the ghetto of a special shelf in libraries or bookstores. Horror is an emotion."
Hello, this is schipperke, your Horror/Scary newsletter for this week. I really love an interactive newsletter, so remember to send me your horror submissions, questions and comments. |
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I asked the Horror/Scary newsletter readers at the end of the last newsletter I wrote to tell me why they choose to write horror fiction. Glance on down to the Reader feedback section and see how the question was answered. For myself, I will admit, I have only written one piece of horror; "Invalid Item" , which received deservedly lukewarm reviews on the site. I am a horror fiction reading addict, however, and have been one since I learned how to read in kindergarten.
I know why I don’t write horror fiction, but I wanted to find out why some people do. First, we should figure out what horror fiction is.
Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the audience.
I like Wikipedia’s definition of horror, because it fits all kinds of horror fiction I enjoy reading. It fits the everyday people kind of horror Stephen King writes about. It fits the sci-fi kind of fiction Matheson wrote about. It fits the psychological terror in books written by Thomas Harris (Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal and others).
“Why do you choose to write about such gruesome subjects?”
“I usually answer this with another question: Why do you assume that I have a choice?”
I think the quote by Mr. King defines what makes a writer write horror fiction. Mr. King has discussed his childhood and experiences he has had and how they influenced his short stories and novels in the intro to his collections and in the nonfiction book, On Writing. He feels that he doesn’t have a choice about writing horror fiction versus something like romance novels, because he is writing about things he knows.
Let’s say a group of writers comes upon a herd of deer lapping water from a peaceful pond. The romance writer might be inspired to pen a novel about making love on a deerskin in a log cabin. The sci-fi writer starts entered text about a race of horned humans with white tales on the planet Cyuioy on his Blackberry. The horror fiction writer sees the deer and thinks about rabid deer turning and darting over toward the group of writers to attack them. He decides to run back to his Jeep, not admitting to the group he has always been afraid of Bambi.
Earlier, I said I know why I haven’t written horror. It is because I don’t think that way, although I could easily bring forward ‘things I know’, or experiences I have had, to use as horror subjects. From the comments I received in the last newsletter, I know there are more of you out there like me, who enjoy reading horror fiction, but haven’t yet been able to write in the genre.
Some writers, like Stephen King, and maybe some of you out there (do you here me? billwilcox  ) seem to have minds that have no choice but to write horror. They see the deer as rabid; my first tendency is to see the deer and think, “God, I hope they didn’t eat all my daffodil heads again!”
Although if I thought hard enough, I could write a story about rabid, daffodil-head-eating, deer...
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I included some picks that are first horror fiction stories from our authors along with a couple of stories from our more experienced horror writers. |
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I asked the question, "Why do you write Horror?" in the last newsletter. Here are your replies. THANK YOU for taking the time to answer!
mw1993:I want to write horror because I have a warped sense of the violent and disturbing - I am impossible to gross out or scare as far as books are concerned. I laughed my way through The Silence of the Lambs. I enjoy the genre, though, and find it fun to write.
phoenimaid:Schipperke well done on your first newsletter.
I have just started working on my first horror piece, which was a bit odd really, as I have been wanting to write something for awhile, but never found the inspiration. This piece actually started as me writing about my daughter Freya's first taste of autumn and how excited by it she was. The next thing I knew Jason Lee was hiding in bin bags. Go figure lol.
I will definitely be looking up some of Hirai Taro's short stories as I love Japanese horror films. Even if I don’t sleep for a day or two after.
Thanks for the tip!
Sarah
zwisis:Schip, I am so pleased to see you back as a Horror/Scary editor!!! Excellent newsletter as always. I agree - a good horror film will stay with you for several days after watching it. This one sounds good!
CursedFreedom   :I write horror/ghost poetry mostly, I just feel the dark side of myself is the most interesting to write about. I would love to write a great many things, but I periodically get into depressive states, and that's when imagination kicks in.
Arthur : I haven't written any horror since I was 10, but have read all I can get my hands on. I will save this newsletter so that I can refer back to it next time I make a trip to the book stores that I frequent to see if they have anything by Rampo.
Susana Lorena :I don't write Horror stories. But I want to. To me this kind of story shows a lot of passion from the writer. You have to give in and live the fear that you want to pass through your words. You have to be the monster behind the cellar door. You have to be the terrified victim. You have to experiment both sides of the haunting! That is exciting!!!
billwilcox:Congrats on a great newsletter and welcome to the team! 
twyls: Why do I want to write Horror? I have honestly never asked myself this question. I've just always written some form of dark fantasy or horror. I used to write horror in order to express the darker thoughts that lurked in my subconscious. Now that I've had ten years of therapy, that need is lessening. I think I write horror these days because it is a familiar comfort. It is a chance to talk about the things I normally wouldn't be allowed to discuss. Thanks for a great newsletter.
QUESTION FOR NEXT NEWSLETTER: What is the scariest story you have ever read and why? |
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Footnotes
Douglas Winter, 1982 Prime Evil
Wikipedia
Stephen King, intro to Night Shift This printed copy is for your personal use only. Reproduction
of this work in any other form is not allowed and does violate its copyright. |
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