  Horror/Scary
This week: The Fear of the Familiar Edited by: NaNoKit  
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Stories set in unfamiliar worlds, about unfamiliar creatures and unfamiliar objects can be good fun. Sometimes, though, the real horror is in what we do know and recognise.
This week's Horror/Scary Newsletter is all about the power of the familiar...
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Last year, a Canadian friend of mine visited Britain. She toured around, meeting up with friends she’d interacted with online, all the while recording her adventures in a journal. She stopped by my place near the end of her trip. It was the first time we’d met in person. We had a fabulous time together and more often than not we chatted deep into the night.
My friend stayed in my bedroom, whilst I’d relocated to the attic for the duration. One night I asked her if she’d noticed anything unusual about my room. I wasn’t overly surprised that she had. Like my sister before her and, indeed, like myself, she’d felt something (a presence?) in one of the corners, and heard some strange sounds. She’d also heard the footsteps on the stairs, only to discover there was nobody walking on them, not even the cats. It was a relief to have somebody else confirm my observations, though it was spooky all the same.
That November, we both took part in NaNoWriMo. I started on a fantasy/thriller. She wrote a collection of horror stories, some of them created with the aid of her travel journal. One of the stories was set in my village, with rather gruesome events taking place in my bedroom. I shouldn’t have read it just before going to bed. Especially as the characters were based on real people. I was one of them. I didn’t get much sleep.
My friend’s story made me realize the power of the familiar. Some of the best horror stories include elements we recognize. Of course, it’s generally impossible for an author to write a novel that’s personal to the reader. There are too many different readers, with too many different surroundings, and too many individual fears to play on. However, most people like their own little world and the familiar items/people/animals within it to be safe, and a writer can strike a chord by turning that comfortable sense of safety on its head.
There’s the cherished teddy bear, snuggly settled in a child’s arms, that comes to life and turns on its owner. There are the books, nestled together on their shelf, unleashing a myriad of nightmares. There’s the television, trapping the viewer in more ways than one. And, always, there are the things that go bump in the night, only this time it isn’t the cat, or the dog, or the old woodwork.
There’s the old lady across the road – the innocent one, always helping out the neighbours – who holds the key to dreadful secrets. There’s the partner who you thought would be the love of your life, who’s not who you thought they were. There’s your home, your haven, drawing on your life-force, sucking you dry like a carnivorous plant, and there’s the dreaded cymbal-banging monkey toy that just won’t go away no matter how you try to get rid of it, over and over and over again… okay, I admit it, that Stephen King story really got to me.
The point is, a skilled author can work with the familiar and make the reader see objects and settings in a different light. The harmless and innocent can be made to appear creepy and dangerous. That’s the impact of a good horror story.
There’s nothing wrong with marauding, big teethed aliens attacking the workers on a space station, but that’s far away and would never happen to us. Sometimes it’s fun to get all shivery about something a little closer to home.
Now, does anyone know why my can of Diet Coke moved around my desk all on its own last night? I noticed it from the corner of my eye…
kittiara
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I'm only a guest editor for the Horror/Scary Newsletter, so unfortunately I don't have any questions, suggestions or feedback to respond to. That leaves this space rather empty this week. However, I would like to encourage you to send in your thoughts, as newsletter editors love to read them! 
I wish you a week filled with inspiration,
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Horror/Scary: August 10, 2011 Issue [#4546]
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