 Horror/Scary: May 28, 2014 Issue [#6346] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: The Grim Reaper Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
~Benjamin Franklin |
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Benjamin Franklin once said that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. Although taxes can be frightening, this horror newsletter will focus on the other certainty.
Death may be the greatest mystery of life. Every society has myths and legends about what happens after death, but none of us will really know until we die ourselves.
If you make a list of your greatest fears, death is probably near the top of the list, if not number one. Even if you don't fear your own death, you probably worry about it happening to a loved one, especially if you are a parent. Our primitive ancestors faced death every day, and the "fight or flight" response kept them alive. Even though most of us no longer live in such a dangerous world, we still crave the adrenalin rush that comes with evading a predator. That is why so many horror stories involve characters trying to escape something that is trying to kill them.
While we might like the thought of cheating death, we realize that it is not natural. In horror stories, coming back from the dead is seldom a good thing. Remember "Pet Sematary" and Doctor Frankenstein's creature!  Ghosts may not be evil, but usually some traumatic experience keeps them from moving into the afterlife. Vampires must shun the light and feast on blood to continue their existence. Zombies are rotting, mindless killers. I'm not sure what would be worse--being killed by one of the undead or becoming one yourself.
Characters who obtain eternal youth or immortality usually do so at some cost that is not worth it in the end. While the werewolves in Patricia Briggs' stories are not immortal, they retain their youthful appearance and health, and may live to be thousands of years old. However, many of the older ones are severely depressed, and some go insane after outliving all their human families and friends.
Throughout our history, disease outbreaks have killed millions of people. Though medical science has made great strides since the days of the Black Plague, conditions such as AIDS and Ebola still claim countless lives. It is no wonder that diseases play an important part in many horror stories. Edgar Allan Poe lost several people close to him, including his wife and mother, to tuberculosis. This may account for the recurring theme of a beautiful woman dying in his stories and poems. Other authors take advantage of many people's distrust of the government and fear of alien invasion. Stephen King's "The Stand" deals with a mutated virus that had been researched as a bio-weapon, and Michael Crichton's "The Andromeda Strain" is about a deadly extraterrestrial organism that kills humans by clotting their blood.
Many religions tell frightening tales of a legendary place of eternal torture for the souls of evildoers. Books like "The Omen" and "The Exorcist" are based on stories of demons and other creatures from hell. The first legends of demon possession probably arose when primitive people observed mentally ill individuals who acted strangely. The TV show "Supernatural" deals with the ongoing war between demons and angels and the way they use humans as pawns in their struggle. For some reason, I find the demons in this show more likeable than the angels!
The personification of death as the Grim Reaper, or a hooded skeleton who harvests souls with a scythe, is only one traditional representation of death. Death is represented by male and female figures in different cultures, and is usually not seen as evil, but as a part of life. The death figure is often a psychopomp, or leader of souls to the next world. One of my favorite death figures in pop culture is the one created by Neil Gaiman and Michael Dringenberg for the comic book "The Sandman". She is a perky goth girl who wears an Ankh symbol (ironically a symbol of life). She visits people not only at death, but at birth.
While death is not always a comfortable subject to think of, writing horror often means writing about death. Oh well, it's more fun than writing about taxes!
Something to try: Write a horror story where the main character is a ghost.
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Question for next time: Do you use first person or third person narrative in your horror stories, and why?
Answers to last month's question: What was your greatest childhood fear?
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
Um, how about my mother wearing her cold creme. 
Scary! ~ Arakun
LJPC - the tortoise 
Hi Arakun! I loved your newsletter. It took me right back to when I was a kid and had to go late at night. I was sure that as soon as I swung my legs out from the protective layer of blankets and put them on the ground, I'd feel hairy hands grab my ankles. It was almost enough to make me hold it until morning. All horror writers should definitely try to tap into primal fears their readers have. Great NL! 
~ Laura
My parents would always look under the bed and in the closet and tell me nothing was there. What did they know? Just because it was not there when they looked didn't mean it couldn't appear as soon as they left the room! ~ Arakun |
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