This week I’ve been attempting to write a horrific fantasy (fantastical horror?) and not sure how I am doing with it. I do not read horror as I have nightmares and scream at my shadow more often than I am comfortable with. More than you’d be comfortable with too if you are close enough to hear me.
I have watched my fair share of horror films.
When I was under five years old, my parents took my two sisters and me to the drive in movies pretty regularly. They believed we fell asleep before the cartoons were over. So they went to see horror films. I remember seeing blood dripping from a shower head and being poured from a carton of milk. I saw a masked killer drown a cheerleading coach in a milk bath and skewer a row of cheerleaders holding large plastic fruit. For a long time after I didn’t want to pour my own glass of milk and to this day I prefer the see through plastic cartons to the other for the same reason.
During 6th grade camp the teachers put on the movie Watcher in the Woods. I put a coat over my head and only listened to it and I was still screaming at every shadow I passed on the path back to my cabin afterwords.
Not long after this, we had a family movie night when we watched The Creepshow. The segment Something to Tide You Over scared the bejeebers out of me. I slept on a waterbed then with my sister and I refused to enter my room for bed after. I sat on the floor in the hallway and screamed my head off, I did not want to be anywhere near that watery piece of furniture.
My brother, Brian, took it upon himself to “toughen me up” when we were teenagers. He made me watch movies like Night of the Living Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Ants. The first one scared me at the time but didn’t have any lingering aftereffects. The second scared me so much I still occasionally have nightmares about it 20 years later. The third didn’t do a thing for me but it scared my brother. It was fun to be the one pointing and laughing at the one cowering behind a pillow. Ha ha, insects to not scare me.
So I bring this background to the endeavor of writing a horror story. Why would I want to since I am not a fan of horror? Because it is fun, a challenge, and will stretch my skills.
These are the things I am bringing to the table, or desk, that I’ve noticed in horror films.
Pacing is key. Some parts have to be slow and methodical, others have to race ahead chaotically. Like the girl running through the woods, branches whipping at her face, roots tripping her up.
Word choice. I didn’t learn this so much from the movies as my own observations. Word choice has to fit the ambience. And multiple uses of the word “blood” won’t cut it.
The Slow Reveal. Cue the creepy music. Everyone knows something is going to happen, afterall the music is playing. This is when I hide my face against my husband’s shoulder or behind that pillow mentioned earlier. In words I am not so sure I can bring on the creepy music but I am going to give it my best.
What are your tricks for writing horror? Or what do you like to see in horror stories you read?
