 Horror/Scary: March 05, 2014 Issue [#6190] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: How to scare with words Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: Where there is no imagination there is no horror.
~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Horror movies can use spooky lighting, shadowy sets, creepy music, and cats jumping out of every possible hiding place to scare the daylights out of viewers. Writers of horror stories must create the same effects with words alone. So how do you make your readers jump out of their skins when they can't see or hear what is happening?
That is a trick question, because of course they CAN see what is happening.  With a well-written story, the reader will not only be able to see and hear, but touch, smell, and taste as well. A writer can also get inside a character's mind, something that is difficult to do on film.
Moviegoers experience a story as it exists in the filmmaker's imagination, but readers of a horror novel create the "screenplay" themselves, from their own imaginations. Every person who reads your story will visualize it in a slightly different way, based on their own experience and feelings. Here are a few suggestions for bringing a story to life in the reader's imagination:
Create believable, likeable characters If readers like your characters, they will care what happens to them and keep reading. Your characters don't have to be perfect, but the reader should be able to identify with them. I've given up reading more than one story because the main character was so annoying that I started cheering for the villain! 
Create believable situations Even if your story has a supernatural component, the characters' actions still need to be believable. Don't make your main character do something stupid just to get him or her into a scary situation. If any intelligent person would run out the front door, why is your main character running up the stairs? When readers have to ask questions like this, it brings them out of the story. Make sure your characters have good, or at least understandable, reasons for their actions.
Use short, vivid description A frightening or tense situation is not the time for long, detailed description. Try and put yourself in the character's place. If a monster was chasing you through a house, would you care about the color of the drapes? People who have been in accidents or other life threatening situations report that certain details become sharper while others seem out of focus or disappear completely. Show only the details that would be most important to the character at the time. For example, if someone came toward you with a knife, you might focus on the knife and not notice the attacker's clothing.
Don't describe too much too soon If your characters are fighting an unknown monster, don't show too much of the creature too soon. Let the readers wonder, along with the characters, what they are really dealing with until the climax of the story. The unknown is always more frightening than the familiar.
Don't resort to grossing the reader out Excessive blood and guts are not scary, and may actually desensitize the reader to bloody scenes. Show only as much gore as is necessary to get the point across. Leave something to the imagination and the readers will scare themselves.
Take the reader by surprise If the main character is alone in a spooky house, a dark forest, or a cave, the reader will expect something frightening to happen. That doesn't mean you can't use these settings, but you might also want to consider a busy library, a shopping mall, or a sunny meadow. Characters and readers will feel safe in these settings, and you will catch them off guard.
Use your own feelings Think of the thing that frightens you the most and use your reaction to develop your character's reaction. If you are terrified of snakes or spiders, think of how you feel when you see one. Even if your character fears something completely different, the reaction will be similar.
Something to try: Write a horror story in which the main character never sees the attacker.
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