 Horror/Scary: July 03, 2019 Issue [#9625] |
This week: Evil vs. Insanity Edited by: Angus  
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"Insantity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage."
~Ray Bradbury~ |
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I think Mr. Bradbury’s quote above makes a lot of sense!
If you write horror, then you know you have to have a bad guy or a bad something in your story. So the other day I got to thinking about human villains and just what makes them tick.
Think like me for a moment (Heaven forbid!). Was Ed Gein or Jeffrey Dahmer insane, or were they evil?
Now let’s think like me for a little longer. Regardless of whether or not they were insane or evil, were they always that way? Or did their environment make them that way? Or was it genetic?
That’s a pretty thin line, especially when you’re the defendant having a jury of your peers decide which one it is and choosing whether you’re going to live or die!
The reason I bring this up—you can quit thinking like me now—is because of the thousands of horror stories I’ve read and reviewed on here, I’ve seen evil used a lot more than insanity.
I’m a big Dean Koontz fan, and although he seems to write thriller/mystery more than horror these days, he was one of the first presidents of The Horror Writers of America (originally called The Horror Writers Association). Of course characters die in his stories, but it’s usually because they snap. They’re evil.
Here’s an example from one of his recent books: ‘So he shot him in the head.’
There was no lead up to it. In fact, his victim was his partner. No gore, just short and simple.
And then there’s a scene from a mafia movie, The Godfather, I think, where the Don says something to the effect of “Well, I’m sorry Louie, but you’re still late with the money,” and then casually pulls out a gun and shoots his friend right between the eyes.
Same thing, right?
That’s just casual, evil, civilized killing, right?
As opposed to insane and crazy killing, like somebody walking around in a hockey mask killing everybody he sees.
Temporary insanity or temporary evil?
You don’t have to be insane to be evil, just like you don’t have to be evil to be insane.
I’ve been called a lot of things on here: sick, twisted, demented, etcetera. Strangely enough, the majority of those comments were meant as complimentary, but a few have been obviously and seriously derogatory. Things like ‘What’s wrong with you?’ ‘You’re a disgusting person.’ ‘I’ll never read another one of your stories.’
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and I’m cool with that. It wouldn’t surprise me if some folks have even blocked me.
But I’m not constantly thinking about evil things, nor am I insane. But let’s be honest here. Just like an actor on TV or in the movies, the actor portraying their character has to ‘become’ that character. Stephen King is not really Pennywise, Robert Englund is not Freddy Krueger, and Anthony Perkins is not Norman Bates.
Yeah, I know I’ve been rambling here, but think how much different we are from other writers. Some people just don’t think like we do.
We is who we is.
After all, insanity is relative, right? 
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The question for this edition is: What makes a good horror character?
Last time I asked what your favorite horror book was.
willwilcox
My favorite Horror Book? Wow, so many to choose from . . . Desperation & Cell by Stephen King are two but I love everything by Dean Koontz as well.
Paul
I think the first book that really scared me was Poe’s A Cask of Amontillado. I was 6 to 8 years old and the thought of being slowly walled in frightened the hell out of me. I’ve read so many horror stories since I can’t pick a “Best.”
I haven’t been frightened by a book or movie since I was 18, in the navy, in japan in 1960 and met a woman that had radiation burns on her right shoulder from the atomic blast at Hiroshima. It was only 15 years after the wars end and I saw areas of massive destruction. One channel back into a protected harbor was a couple miles long and the channel was lined, sometimes 3 and 4 deep, with sunken, rusty ships. When I heard her story the horror of it hit me like a freight train. A BIG freight train.
I like books from Peter Straub, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and many others.
Osirantinous
Okay, so I like to write horror (more psychological than blood, guts, gore) but I'm not so good at reading it. My brain take things far too far and for far too long. I like to sleep at night. So, I don't really have horror on my shelves but there are two stories/books I'd probably name as stand-outs (being two of the less-than-ten I've probably read!): Stephen King's Misery (because it was very psycho and a good lesson for all writers about stupidly killing off characters) and Zoran Drvenkar's You (because it's incredibly suspenseful and you're really hooked on the characters and freaking out who's going to get killed at the same time you kind of feel for the serial killer, who is only one of the killers in the book).
The Dark Faery
Don't have a favorite, but I love reading stories about vampires.
Laurie Razor
A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson.
Sum1's Home
Anything by Stephen King, as some others have said. Favorite? Insomnia, though Tommyknockers would be a close second.
Paul D
Anything written by Robert Bloch (he wrote Psycho).
Jeannie
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
River
I loved the The Haunting of Hill House
Lilith🎄🦌Christmas Cheer
Salem's Lot by Steven King is the first book that ever scared the bejeezers out of me. I've read scarier since, but I'll always remember that one.
That was also the first book of King's I read, and yes, it scared me too! But it also got me hooked on horror!
quiet web
Dolores Claiborne by Steven king
🌖 HuntersMoon
Title 26 of the United States Code, aka The Tax Code... 😱
Ain't that the truth? 
Nixie🦊
Favorite? Ha! Tommyknockers is the ONLY horror book I've read. It still creeps me out.
Now the quote is stuck in my head.
“Late last night and the night before, tommyknockers, tommyknockers knocking on my door. I wanna go out, don't know if I can 'cuz I'm so afraid of the tommyknocker man.”
Stephen King
Jayne
Omigoodness, Nixie! I read that when I was really young, and my brain STILL pulls that rhyme up whenever I'm headed outside in the dark.
Ask me what I ate for breakfast yesterday. I have no idea. Did I remember to buy bread? Nope. Did I make it to the dentist last Thursday? I had an appointment?
But go outside in the dark...Tommyknockers on repeat.
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