Horror Writing Tip: The Biggest Mistake Amateur Horror Writers Make
by NotherCaucasianGary
I saw this response to a question on amateur horror writers @ Reddit, in r/horrorwriters. I think he nailed it, so I decided to share it here.
The biggest mistake amateur horror writers make is believing that a story needs only to be scary to be good. You can’t just throw a few ghosts in a house and call it a day, and a pair of glowing eyes out in the woods isn’t enough to make a story worth reading.
The very best horror speaks to a relatable truth. Horror isn’t just ghouls and gore, it needs to be about something. I’ll use Stephen King as an example.
The Shining is about alcoholism, and the isolated struggle of recovery and temptation.
Pet Sematary is about grief and the deep emotional turmoil that follows trauma and loss.
It is about generational trauma, abuse, bigotry, and the inherent evil of small town life and the willingness of locals to turn a blind eye to the terrible things happening in their own backyards.
Gerald’s Game is about misogyny, sexual abuse, and the violent, uphill struggle women face navigating a man’s world.
Misery is about the mental and emotional (and sometimes physical) risk of exposing your creative endeavors to the monstrous, grinding machine of critics and fanatics.
Every ghost, goblin, monster, and beast is a metaphor, an ugly stand-in for the very real and visceral horrors that real people face every day. Plenty of folks can write stories that are spooky or scary but go no further than that. If you want to write good horror, meaningful and effective horror that gets under your skin and leaves a mark, you better have something to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment