 Horror/Scary: May 03, 2017 Issue [#8265] |
  Horror/Scary
This week: Top five scares Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: "Change the story, even if you don’t mean to, and the story changes you."
~Terry Pratchett |
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What is it about your favorite horror stories that makes them so good? Why do these stories keep you turning pages long after you should put the book down and go to bed? And when you finally do put the book down, you have to check the closet and under the bed, before you go to sleep, don't you?
Your favorite horror stories can help you write better stories yourself. No author wants to copy other writers, but understanding the qualities that make a good story can help you incorporate those qualities into your own writing.
First, make a list of the five stories that scare you the most. You might have more than five, but the five best ones are a good place to start. Think way back, even to stories that scared you as a child. Childhood fears are often behind the fears of adulthood.
Here is my list:
1. "Burnt Offerings" by Robert Marasco
2. "Harvest Home" by Thomas Tryon
3. "It" by Stephen King
4. "Jaws" by Peter Benchley
5. "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury
After you have made your list, think of what it is about these stories that scares you. Is it the setting, the dialogue, or unexpected things jumping out without warning, or something else. Since fear is an emotional response, it may take some reflection to understand why some stories scare you more than others
For anyone who hasn't read the stories on my list, or seen the movies that were made of them, I won't give away the plots, but these writers knew how to scare! For me, one reason these stories are frightening is because they are set against a backdrop that isn't supposed to be scary. "Burnt Offerings" takes place on an elegant country estate. "Harvest Home" is set in an idyllic rural village. Like most of King's books, "It" happens in a peaceful little Maine town. "Something Wicked" takes place at a carnival. And even though I love the water, I didn't even want to swim in a lake for a while after reading "Jaws."
Several of these stories scare me because they involve children to some extent. Children as horror protagonists or villains make the story especially frightening, because they are expected to be innocent and our instinct is to protect them. Also, anyone who knows me knows I love a good plot twist, and these stories have some great ones.
Your five scariest stories might not necessarily be your favorite ones. "It" was one of the scariest stories I ever read, but I rank it lower than others, because I HATE CLOWNS! Parts of the story also involve deaths of a child and a pet, which are deal breakers for me. Even the most diehard horror fan has some story elements I call "deal breakers." For me the deal breakers are deaths of children or pets, excessive grossness, and sex or violence that are not vitally important to the plot. A horror story should be disturbing to some point, but the deal breakers are so disturbing that the story is no longer fun to read. What are yours?
Figure out why you like some stories and dislike others, and use this to guide your own writing. You can also ask friends, relatives, and review partners to make similar lists for you, but remember you don't have to please everyone. While everyone might not agree with you on the elements of a good horror story, it is hard to write a story for others if you don't like it yourself.
Something to try: Make a list of the scariest stories you ever read, and another list of the horror stories that did not scare you. Try to figure out what is different about the stories in the two lists.
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