 Horror/Scary: September 12, 2018 Issue [#9115] |
This week: Crafting vivid horror with words Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading  
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Words have no power to impress the mind
without the exquisite horror of their reality.
Edgar Allan Poe
Welcome to this week's Writing.Com Horror/Scary Newsletter, where we journey into the 'dark' side of writing ~ prosaic and poetic ~ to create a reality that portends the horror to come. What makes us seek horror; what makes us desire to be frightened, mortified; what makes us want to embrace the darkness within ~ and without? Is it a modern-day phenomenon, or older than graveyard dirt? Come join the exploration.
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Greetings, let me ask a question ~
What scares you? What makes you cringe and shiver with a sudden need to get someplace safe, right away? Think about it for a minute, there has to be something - could be of this world, of another world, of your own mind (or loss thereof). Now believe it's real, know it's real for you. Then, write it out in all its visceral detail - show my eyes what you see, make me hear, smell, taste, feel everything you do at the moment of your greatest fear.
 Set the scene with words that describe, that bring to life, the where and why of the horror that is ongoing or to come. Yes, adjectives and adverbs have their use, to set the stage and show/touch/taste, make the horror visceral. See, the adjective works here as it sets the scene, evokes an emotional response, or perhaps a gut -wrenching sight .
 Choose words that set the mood; create an eerie atmosphere, show the reader the story to come will be depressing, scary, or gloomy, somber, forbidding, eerie, chilling (but not all of these in one sentence). You can also assign human characteristics to inanimate objects: the tree rubbing gnarled limbs against the wall. A building can be intimidating, an abandoned hospital menacing.
 Choose words that engage the senses; make your readers see, hear, taste, touch, smell things in the story. The place with an acrid, or cloying aroma. A character hears scraping sounds following him in the dark alley. The roller coaster operator welcomed the passengers with a steely hello, or a sibilant whisper. The path through the forest was pitch black or ebony. The pasta was rancid or fetid. The trowel was slimy or the towel was gritty.
 Choose words that increase suspense. Allude to the nature of the 'beast' or the sense of a place to incite fear in your reader. Don't 'show' it all, but let the reader imagine with you the encounter. Allow the reader to fill in the blanks based on his/her experiences. Consider introducing an amorphous, being, or opaque air or unintelligible shout. These images create a disturbing, unfamiliar atmosphere for our readers.
 Choose words that show fear; the character scared out of his wits, one who is horrified, petrified, aghast. Maybe he is sshuddering, quaking, transfixed in place, riveted to the scene impressed upon his eyes. Droplets of sweat on his forehead, lips quivering.
Remember, one or two of the above images work, a plethora interrupts the story and takes the reader out of it.
So, grab your thesaurus and add depth to the terror, visceral life to the surroundings, and taste, sound, sensations to objects thwarting or enticing the character (and reader).
Write On 
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading
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Scary Stuff as perceived and created by members of our Community ~ show them how they've engaged your senses, made your hair stand on end ~ perchance with a review  ; and while you're at it, write one of your own 
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Now tell us ~ no, show us ~ the scary stuff of what is seen, heard, imagined to scare and terrorize your readers.
Until we next meet, may the amorphous figures stay outside your locked doors - keeping the scary things at bay, at least from yourself.
Write On 
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading |
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