A Short Shot At Horror

[AuthorsDread]

The Flesh System | Scribble Hub
I don't usually write horror stories, but I sacrifice a bit of time to try. It's call The Flesh System, a post-apocalyptic zombie infested short-story with bit of descriptive gore.
Are you a horror writer, what sort of horror fiction do you prefer or have written, and how do you make the scariness pop? Is first person or third person better to bring it off?

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

The Flesh System | Scribble Hub
I don't usually write horror stories, but I sacrifice a bit of time to try. It's call The Flesh System, a post-apocalyptic zombie infested short-story with bit of descriptive gore.
Are you a horror writer, what sort of horror fiction do you prefer or have written, and how do you make the scariness pop? Is first person or third person better to bring it off?

I think I write horror, though I lean more towards the psychological aspects of the genre - trying to invoke nausea and disgust in the reader - and don't really commit to the scares or thrills. There is a good chance that it may not be horror. You'd have to read it to determine whether it is... *wink*
To make the scariness pop, I find shorter is better, when contrasted with either my verbose style of writing or the incredibly hyper, but manipulative, personality of the main character. Mainly though, I try to include strange descriptions, and almost lean towards a more poetic style in scary moments. Repetition is also helpful for mounting horror, though it is the 'repeat/reiterate in a different way but means the same thing' that is the repetition I prefer.
First person is definitely easier for me, as you can make use of an unreliable narrator, though third person is used to great effect by other writers.

 

[BB_Tensei]

Mmm, biopunk for the masses \o/

Horror's a hard thing to tackle. One kinda needs to have a build up and then produce a shocking outcome or maintain oppressive tension for the reader. Let's take zombie movie music for example:

The intro sets a mood of normal life, suddenly there's a buildup of tension into dissonant variation of the same theme. As the theme changes, a ghastly chorus adds to the dissonance, chasing after the melody. The intent is to convey shock and disturbed feelings. The next act in the music adds electric guitars to release the tension into an aggressive action packed scene, basically saying "scary shit is going down." Finally there's a short elegy of an outro with detuned guitars which implies a bad end.

Music uses contrast a lot to convey ideas. I figure a structure where there's a contrast of what's normal as opposed to disturbing and horrifying would help a lot. Usually zombie stories tackle that by providing a recount of the outbreak itself. Stories that don't, tend to create tension by having characters exist in a constant state of danger even when it comes to individual zombies. You've picked a difficult setup to work with. :X Pretty cool imagery, though.

 

[AuthorsDread]

Mmm, biopunk for the masses \o/

Horror's a hard thing to tackle. One kinda needs to have a build up and then produce a shocking outcome or maintain oppressive tension for the reader. Let's take zombie movie music for example:

The intro sets a mood of normal life, suddenly there's a buildup of tension into dissonant variation of the same theme. As the theme changes, a ghastly chorus adds to the dissonance, chasing after the melody. The intent is to convey shock and disturbed feelings. The next act in the music adds electric guitars to release the tension into an aggressive action packed scene, basically saying "scary shit is going down." Finally there's a short elegy of an outro with detuned guitars which implies a bad end.

Music uses contrast a lot to convey ideas. I figure a structure where there's a contrast of what's normal as opposed to disturbing and horrifying would help a lot. Usually zombie stories tackle that by providing a recount of the outbreak itself. Stories that don't, tend to create tension by having characters exist in a constant state of danger even when it comes to individual zombies. You've picked a difficult setup to work with. :X Pretty cool imagery, though.

Thanks for sharing this information, I just wanted to expand my wings and try a bit of horror.

I think I write horror, though I lean more towards the psychological aspects of the genre - trying to invoke nausea and disgust in the reader - and don't really commit to the scares or thrills. There is a good chance that it may not be horror. You'd have to read it to determine whether it is... *wink*
To make the scariness pop, I find shorter is better, when contrasted with either my verbose style of writing or the incredibly hyper, but manipulative, personality of the main character. Mainly though, I try to include strange descriptions, and almost lean towards a more poetic style in scary moments. Repetition is also helpful for mounting horror, though it is the 'repeat/reiterate in a different way but means the same thing' that is the repetition I prefer.
First person is definitely easier for me, as you can make use of an unreliable narrator, though third person is used to great effect by other writers.

This is very insightful. thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

Thanks for sharing this information, I just wanted to expand my wings and try a bit of horror.

This is very insightful. thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[TotallyHuman]

I like reading bizarre horror with strange unnatural behavior from characters.
It may not scare me at times but it will leave me disturbed at least.
Here is an example

The World Below Surface - Novel Updates

www.novelupdates.com

 

[TheEldritchGod]

I always wind up writing comedy horror.
Think Welcome to Night Vale.
When I try to write ACTUAL horror, I wind up getting banned from places and told. NEVER POST HERE AGAIN.
SCP rejected by Coffee elemental and my story about a interdimensional casino where currency was "innocence".
The MC in that last one wound up a "rape cube".

 

[Western42]

I have tried making horror stories, and I won't give up on doing them. To me, to write a horror story [not like King since, face it, we will never write stuff like him] is to write something that will not only captivate the readers, but also make them feel a certain way at any given time.

While Zenar 24 isn't that much of a horror story (Unless you count the mc being a monster), I did once write another Zenar story from the perspective of humans. In it, I showed just how scary Zenars are to everyone else, and always tried my best to give the readers a sense that there is no hope, and no chance of fighting back. Survivors have a safe place? Bam! A Single Zenar finds it, breaks in, and kills someone. Things seem safe? Bam! Zenar has been spotted. (It's important to make sure that there is some downtime and some cases where the mc and their group makes it through something)

In another story of mine, Your God, I base it off classic rpg horror games like Corpse Party, that one Blue Oni game, and etc. An old student returning to her old school years after a terrible massacre occurred, claiming the lives of most of the students there. The atmosphere I am going for in this one is more tension than hopeless. The school is now owned by the monsters that used to be the dead students, with the school itself seemingly going on forever. The difference between this and the other Zenar story is what the mc is doing.

In the Zenar story, it is about a group of survivors trying to survive against a deadly infection that creates planet-ending threats on mass. In Your God, the mc is trying to make it through her old school to find a missing friend. What the goal is for the mc, or group, is important in how you're going to make a horror story.

I can go on and on about more types, but I think ya get the gist by now. Make your readers feel a certain way, and make the horror fit the goal of the mc.

 

[AuthorsDread]

I have tried making horror stories, and I won't give up on doing them. To me, to write a horror story [not like King since, face it, we will never write stuff like him] is to write something that will not only captivate the readers, but also make them feel a certain way at any given time.

While Zenar 24 isn't that much of a horror story (Unless you count the mc being a monster), I did once write another Zenar story from the perspective of humans. In it, I showed just how scary Zenars are to everyone else, and always tried my best to give the readers a sense that there is no hope, and no chance of fighting back. Survivors have a safe place? Bam! A Single Zenar finds it, breaks in, and kills someone. Things seem safe? Bam! Zenar has been spotted. (It's important to make sure that there is some downtime and some cases where the mc and their group makes it through something)

In another story of mine, Your God, I base it off classic rpg horror games like Corpse Party, that one Blue Oni game, and etc. An old student returning to her old school years after a terrible massacre occurred, claiming the lives of most of the students there. The atmosphere I am going for in this one is more tension than hopeless. The school is now owned by the monsters that used to be the dead students, with the school itself seemingly going on forever. The difference between this and the other Zenar story is what the mc is doing.

In the Zenar story, it is about a group of survivors trying to survive against a deadly infection that creates planet-ending threats on mass. In Your God, the mc is trying to make it through her old school to find a missing friend. What the goal is for the mc, or group, is important in how you're going to make a horror story.

I can go on and on about more types, but I think ya get the gist by now. Make your readers feel a certain way, and make the horror fit the goal of the mc.

Wow, thanks for the insight. Your story sounds interesting by the way. Where can I find the horror?

 

[Western42]

Wow, thanks for the insight. Your story sounds interesting by the way. Where can I find the horror?

Ahh, the joys of moving. The time when I lost a whole bunch of stories that I had made because I was young back then, and wrote all my drafts on google docs.

...Yeah, the Zenar story is gone before I even posted it on any site. As for the Your God one, I'm working on a newer version of that currently.