  Horror/Scary
This week: Horror is a Chameleon Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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Welcome to this week's edition of the WDC Horror/Scary Newsletter.
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"Horror is not a genre...horror is an emotion."
Douglas E. Winter
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,”
H.P. Lovecraft
Writing horror opens a dialogue, interactive, between the writer and reader. And the dialogue is as varied as the writers and readers who embrace this otherworld, be it supernatural or mundane. |
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Horror is not one fixed form of writing. Horror opens a dialogue, interactive, between the writer and reader. The story or verse gets under the reader’s skin and elicits a primal reaction – fear. I see it as akin to poetry or music, the writer creating with words an ‘otherworld’ where the atmosphere, the rhythm, the action elicit fear. And just as we each have varied taste in music, be it rock, hip-hop, country, opera, jazz, or new age, or we may seek inspiration from an epic or sonnet, or prefer rhythmic free verse or the intense brevity of haiku; what incites fear is just as individual.
Horror is a chameleon, changing shape and tone and texture as the writer envisions, and the characters (and readers) engage that which creates horror or incites fear.
What incites fear and, thereby horror, varies from person to person. One may shiver at a ghostly visitation, while another cringes at the image of alien invaders, or the mundane terror incited by fellow mortals or other earthly beings. What may scare you enough that you wrap yourself in bedcovers and blankets as a kid may yield only a smirk, if that, ten, twenty years later. Just as our perception of life, our taste in clothing, what frightens us evolves along with us as mortals.
Despite individual preferences, horror writing embraces the basic "dark" emotions -- fear, aversion, disgust, dread, shock, panic. Horror as a ‘literary genre’ was typecast for a couple of decades by the numerous films that jumped on the popularity of ‘Carrie’ and ‘Leatherface’ with attempts to clone the slash and gore.
The ghosts, vampires, creatures of magic realism, horror both supernatural and mundane, however, would not lie still. They rose to incite fear under the aegis of ‘dark fiction.’ Consider the continued popularity of Moby Dick, Shakespeare, Edgar Alan Poe, Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, and continuing with Barbara Michaels, Jonathan Carroll, Ann Rice, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and others. Publishers and marketers may tweak the label, but the atmosphere is there and the stories and verse reach for and pull out that dark emotional response - Horror!
Consider the following ways horror writers today incite fear and horror in their readers.
 Dark Fiction – coined originally to separate it from the typecasting of the 1970s and ‘80’s, it remains to include contemporary horror, dark fantasy and suspense writing. I therefore include Dark Fantasy ~ verse and prose with supernatural elements other than the known vampires, lycanthropes, gnomes and their ‘kin.’
 Cutting Edge- Not the tip of a switchblade (but it could be in your story or verse). Cutting edge I think has come to mean a departure from the accepted or known definition of horrific elements; embracing the surreal, eerie, alternative, pop, or unique treatment of the ‘supernatural.’
 Gothic Horror – Here reside the familiar haunted settings in English Gothic: gloomy castles and crypts where persecution and torture inscribe the present with a stranglehold from the past, or find a way to inflict the oppression of the past upon those living in the present. Ruin, decay and persecution are the operative elements to incite fear. American Gothic is similar, but the gloomy atmosphere plays second to psychic breakdown or dissembling. In a gothic horror atmosphere, one is trapped somehow by destiny, heritage, location.
 Ghost Stories – I see these as different from the gothic or supernatural, in that the ghost or spirit intervenes directly, interacts with the character, or to thwart the character. I would include haunted house and graveyard stories here.
 Supernatural – Here is where we find chilling tales of vampires, demons, were-creatures, sentient creatures outside the human, including ghosts. I see this as distinct from Ghost Stories in that the interaction between the human and ‘other’ is less relevant to the atmosphere than the story of the non-human sentient beings.
 Psychological Horror – Both overt and subtle exploration (and perhaps dissemination) of the human mind or psyche. This would include serial killers and rampaging psychotics as well as more subtle insanity. Psychological horror can also invoke an alternate reality via an insane viewpoint.
 Lovecraftian – H.P. Lovecraft is considered the father of modern horror and wrote with the premise that the world was once inhabited by another race of dark powers. If you like to write with scenic depth, this form can speak from the imagination its desire for a return to power of the dark forces.
 Noir – Dark Horror develops in the urban underworld. Dark, cynical, violent, morally ambiguous characters exist and interact in an atmosphere of anxiety, pessimism, menace, with little chance of redemption. I would include cyber or tech horror here, as manipulated by characters bent on revenge or other nefarious ends, creating an atmosphere of dread or fear.
Quiet Horror – Soft horror uses almost exclusively atmosphere and mood to instill fear, in place of graphic descriptions, and create horror.
Extreme Horror – Graphic depictions of gore and violence that horrify with vivid visceral realism. This is what typecast horror writing a couple decades ago and, unless you have a really new take on it, it’s been done.
 Visceral - Although it's not a formal sub-genre, this writing involves earthier, more reality-based or supernatural fiction with a tendency to be "in-your-face" with descriptions of the bad stuff -- but not as far out as Extreme Horror.
Young Adult – Horror stories intended for teen readers create an atmosphere of fear with heroes at or slightly older than the intended readers. These often blend horror with science fiction or fantasy, as well as action-adventure. Check out some of the manga on bookstore shelves.
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Now this is not an all-inclusive list of the types of horror in literature prosaic and poetic, nor does Horror stand alone, but meets with Mystery, Adventure, Romance, History, Comedy, and more.
This week, I wanted to engage the chameleon that is horror ~ its mutating and morphing forms, colors, textures, dis-guises, what it feeds on and where it lurks, and encourage you to write your own tale of terror, and have fun doing it ^_^ .
Write On 
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Check out some of the following, where the authors strive to instill horror and, perhaps, a good scare, by means as versatile as their (and your, fellow writer/reader} perception and imagine. Engage in the dialogue - perhaps with a review 
First, I'd like you to check out the following, submitted to our newsletter by A*Monaing*Faith 
Now, engage the terror in prose and verse 
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Thank you for unlocking your virtual door for me – see, I didn’t cause you much harm  . When I come back next month, perhaps we'll try again. I'd like for you to check out some comments in response to last month's exploration and perhaps continue the conversation with a good read (and review)
From: A*Monaing*Faith Responding to our March 30th issue, entitled, "Where Does Fear Come From"
Great question. I find, the best horrors lack a lot of physical violence, though there is often the threat of such. Psychological thrillers aren't usually jump scares but are terrifying all the same.
Thanks for your thoughtful answer - the depth of horror that engages the mind lasts longer for me as well than the knee-jerk flinch and jump of chain sawed and axe chopped images  .
From: Quick-Quill 
Please address this question that has bothered me. What used to frighten me growing up. No longer has that affect. I read ghost stories and horror, but now it seems blasé. I know movies are far more scary. Do books really scare people or is it just the story line people like to read?
Thank you ^_^ Todays exploration was in part incited by your question  I find that what instills horror is as varied as the writers and readers who want a good scare, whether visceral or clad in subterfuge ~ and evolves for each of us, I believe, over time. Horror is a chameleon
From: Patrece ~
Kate...this is a wonderfully engaging and informative newsletter. Thank you so much for sharing your views and knowledge! Very thought provoking!
Thank you for your encouragement  and for offering your voice in the conversation on creating horror
That's it for this week ~ If you hide a key under your mat for me, I'll be back next month. In the meantime, enjoy the upcoming issues from our editors designed to scare, engage, and incite your muse creative.
Until we next meet
Write On
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Horror/Scary: April 27, 2016 Issue [#7612]
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