Writing a horror story for the sake of "shock value"

[D4isuke]

Before thinking about this concept, let us know the term Horror.

According to Britannica, Horror story is a story in which the focus is on creating a feeling of fear.

In other words, to counteract your "comfort/safe zone", horror stories are your best enemies to challenge for that.

Horror stories are mostly cutting people out of their misery—visually— even they didn't beg to kill themselves, and they merely come here to this "haunted mansion" for a sake of curiosity. I think supernatural horror stories like some typical Halloween/scary stories portrayed differently to some other "quality" horror stories. Such classic horror stories such as Dracula, Frankenstein, Mononoke, and Uzumaki (Ito Junji's manga) are the best example of a "quality" horror story which I enjoyed reading/watching it. It doesn't portrayed much of killing for the sake of "killing", but it does tell the story how they combat the fear through nature, society, or anything else that gives purpose to "why they did something fearsome?".

Personally, I never watch horror stories that most antagonists wanted to kill people for the sake of "playing this survival game", and I think it doesn't give much of a message other than it's just playing with your "shock value" that you wanted not to sleep through nights that nightmares could kill you in a snap second. Thus, I don't want to watch horror films (not just because I am a coward, but I have no clue why they write for that)... Is it because of the marketing value that these "jumpscares" can further the industries?... I have no idea for the purpose of most typical horror stories are like that.

And thus, there is a large boundary between Visual Horror and Conceptual Horror.

Killing people/characters for the sake of "shock value" is so pointless to think what is the context behind it. For you, what is your opinion about horror stories?

 

[K5Rakitan]

I'm not sure why people read horror, but I think the point to horror movies is to have an excuse to cuddle up to your sweethearts. At least, that's the only reason I would watch one.

Wait . . . does tentacle porn count as horror?

 

[D4isuke]

Wait . . . does tentacle porn count as horror?

Slightly yes, take "Urotsukidoji" for an example although most background characters' death (most especially the female ones... I pity them somehow) are seemed pointless— except the "machine" part which is kinda unique to see.

 

[Amarathia]

I think the cuddling excuse is legit in some cases, but more so it's just a matter of adrenaline. People like stuff that gives them thrills and gets their heart rate up, like roller coasters, sky diving, and car chases. Horror movies are the easy watch-at-home option that actually have no real dangers besides the occasional shadow you'll jump at afterwards. In some regards, people are simultaneously disgusted and horrified, yet entertained and amused by the 'shock value' films that portray brutal deaths.

 

[GDLiZy]

It's more of a thriller than horror. I don't really like horror that relies on shock value and jumpscare.

I'm more of a fan for unnerving, disturbing slow-burn kind of story.

 

[Horrorific]

A horror story is about psychology, what would happen to people when they face their fear. What would happen when they were faced with unknown.

I think Jumpscares are a good thing, although they were used the wrong way in most movies. 'A girl slowly trying to stare into the dark room'. Don't you think it's kinda obvious they will fake it like there's nothing in the room and when the girl turns around, something scares behind her?

I personally like certain running away from the monster scene. I just stand up and keep yelling at the screen to tell the person that being chased to stop stumbling when there's nothing in front of them.

Killing characters in the movie isn't really a necessary thing. It's only there because they want to show how powerful the monster is. They also want to show how people will retaliate once they were cornered. Just like Predator (too bad, the series is in the trashcan now).

 

[D4isuke]

I'm more of a fan for unnerving, disturbing slow-burn kind of story.

Mononoke is a right series for that

Killing characters in the movie isn't really a necessary thing. It's only there because they want to show how powerful the monster is

Quite a best presentation of how that "monster" indicates the danger, but I think it's between necessary or not based on the context follows.

 

[Moctemma]

My sister loves horror stories for the impact of something unexpected happening. I rarely watch it or read it, but when I do I expect competent characters.
What I look for in a horror story is the despair, absolute and overwhelming dread about the future, but we still fight and never give up. One example of such is the universe of Warhammer 40K. But well, I look for that even on stories that aren't horror, like my favorite series Wa Yuusha de Aru (for some it may be horror); where the enemies are infinite and the god Amaterasu came personally to destroy us.

I hate, totally despise cheap horror (jumpscares, pointless gore, mindless violence, etc.), I also have a low tolerance to it. For example games like that make me dizzy and my head hurts.

 

[Vaerama]

Before thinking about this concept, let us know the term Horror.

According to Britannica, Horror story is a story in which the focus is on creating a feeling of fear.

Is it because of the marketing value that these "jumpscares" can further the industries?... I have no idea for the purpose of most typical horror stories are like that.

And thus, there is a large boundary between Visual Horror and Conceptual Horror.

Killing people/characters for the sake of "shock value" is so pointless to think what is the context behind it. For you, what is your opinion about horror stories?

The human condition is an inherently horrifying one. We're smart enough to escape that we can largely escape from the most primal concerns of other life, though we're not necessarily perfect about that (the deaths to starvation every year are indicative of a 'relative crowning success' in the animal kingdom while being at once 'a terrible tragedy that might have been entirely preventable')... but we're also smart enough to experience a whole new gateway to terror among our fellow animals. We're 'too smart' if you will.

Conceptually speaking, the deterministic existential concerns that all humans are affected with is an absolute hotbed for horror, and it is unique to us. It requires that one face the fact of their limited and fragile existence will come to an end, and this is so terrifying on an intellectual level that we often attempt to entirely circumvent the problem by placing our faith in the gods. This isn't at all a stupid thing for us to do, for why should we endure to suffer nihilism when we can simply pretend that the weight of the universe just doesn't exist? :) It leads to better functioning... but from a perspective of horror: anyone who dares to encapsulate it is guaranteed to plant insidious ideas at the heart of those readers who would have done without it.

But we're more than merely conceptually at risk of fear: we are also emotional like no other creature on Earth. There are so many fears that the world brings upon us that make us feel emotionally small, such as bereavement and 'out-of-control' emotions which we cannot well account for... and our social fears are the most dynamic and wholly terrible the world over. Is not the story of a person enclosed in their own mind and subject to their own emotions, existential crisis, and gross social ineptitude the very most 'horrified' state a person can be brought to emotionally through literature?

Much of the intentionally designed 'horror' (as a genre) is designed to bring us back down to that original primal state where we still had to fear of the dark, and of the terrible monsters which lurk within it... to put our survival at risk through running out of those key elements to our continued living, such as running out of food and water, and you'll see it in any modern disaster movie: the first thing people always have to lose is the ability to communicate with anyone who might truly help them, so where there are mobile phones: they always are destroyed, out of battery, lost, or out of signal.

I adore the potential of horror in all of its forms. I find that exploring death in particular can provide the truest splendor of the genre: the reminder of just how wretched and terrible the world is, couched amid a sufficiently entrancing concept both emotionally and intellectually to allow us to be taken in by the primal evisceration we might soon experience~

Vampirism has the potential to flex every one of these elements, and my favorite classic example would have to be Carmilla and my favorite modern take would have to be A Journey Of Black And Red https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/26675/a-journey-of-black-and-red

I got to enjoy finding out that 'body horror' was an actual 'subgenre' fairly recently, and I was supremely excited because I've got a shapeshifting MC who does gruesome things, so I momentarily was like, 'yeah, Falling Petals is totally in the horror "genre" now!'... only to realize that I'm probably the only other person on the planet who thinks that conceptual and emotional and social 'horror' also apply as 'horror'. Tragedy > Horror, it would seem

 

[D4isuke]

I got to enjoy finding out that 'body horror' was an actual 'subgenre' fairly recently, and I was supremely excited because I've got a shapeshifting MC who does gruesome things, so I momentarily was like, 'yeah, Falling Petals is totally in the horror "genre" now!'... only to realize that I'm probably the only other person on the planet who thinks that conceptual and emotional and social 'horror' also apply as 'horror'. Tragedy > Horror, it would seem

Looks like I enlighten your thoughts.

 

[Yiphen]

Some of them are pretty terrifying and some just miss the mark. If I had to say, I'd imagine them as a "Keep that night light on for the next week or so" button.
EDIT: I just read flucket's post and his opinion is probably better than mine.

 

[D4isuke]

The problem is horror is "niche" genre, and like many niche genres, it becomes corrupted through capitalist consumerism. The 80s slasher boom, the 00s found footage boom, and more recently production company Blumhouse turning out cheap, shoddily made schlock horror has lowered public perception of horror and its potential as a storytelling genre. It's only more recently we've seen horror elevated to art and sharp social commentary once again

I even doubt the "true" ghost stories which I always heard from my classmates or peers alike. Even the film has "Based on the true story" credit, I wonder if there's any proof for that... or maybe, they just simply put it there to believe that this kind of "real" horror will possibly come before them. It's kinda out of dimensional fact when they merely created this phenomena for preaching "the gospel of horrors" that might worsen the people's mindset, most especially the out of context that they religiously believe this kind of stuff.

The slasher horror films is what I despised of since it's really unrealistic and unreasonable to do such a thing.... except he has some sort of syndrome which sounds harsh to those who have it. Even we are fragile human being, we also have the tendency of not being so fragile.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Before thinking about this concept, let us know the term Horror.

According to Britannica, Horror story is a story in which the focus is on creating a feeling of fear.

In other words, to counteract your "comfort/safe zone", horror stories are your best enemies to challenge for that.

Horror stories are mostly cutting people out of their misery—visually— even they didn't beg to kill themselves, and they merely come here to this "haunted mansion" for a sake of curiosity. I think supernatural horror stories like some typical Halloween/scary stories portrayed differently to some other "quality" horror stories. Such classic horror stories such as Dracula, Frankenstein, Mononoke, and Uzumaki (Ito Junji's manga) are the best example of a "quality" horror story which I enjoyed reading/watching it. It doesn't portrayed much of killing for the sake of "killing", but it does tell the story how they combat the fear through nature, society, or anything else that gives purpose to "why they did something fearsome?".

Personally, I never watch horror stories that most antagonists wanted to kill people for the sake of "playing this survival game", and I think it doesn't give much of a message other than it's just playing with your "shock value" that you wanted not to sleep through nights that nightmares could kill you in a snap second. Thus, I don't want to watch horror films (not just because I am a coward, but I have no clue why they write for that)... Is it because of the marketing value that these "jumpscares" can further the industries?... I have no idea for the purpose of most typical horror stories are like that.

And thus, there is a large boundary between Visual Horror and Conceptual Horror.

Killing people/characters for the sake of "shock value" is so pointless to think what is the context behind it. For you, what is your opinion about horror stories?

I kind of like those that actually brings people to despair horizon no matter their choices, it can be fluffy and heartwarming at first and then give you the one-two knockout. To me a good horror story no need to have deaths, a simple trauma and unforeseen future with dread is good enough, what can be more terrifying than the unknown? Lately most horrors are becoming gorn or gorn x orgy = gorgy or plain jump scares, so much so it kind of undermines the fun of horror.

 

[weakwithwords]

Boxing Helena gives me the chills although I only learned about it because it was referenced in P. Eiji.

Soylent Green, another indirect knowledge, is a concept I find scarier than a world-crushing meteor or a zombie apocalypse.

Jumpscares are artificial and mostly one-hit impacts, unless you have the odd habit of replaying the scenes in your head while alone in the dark. On the other hand, there might be more fingers. YDMV. Betrayals tend to leave lasting impressions.

Tentacle Grape is a drink. Just saying.

Ranma, probably one of the most frequent target of dimensional displacement in fanfics despite him not being Ryouga, finds himself in a Lovecraftian setting. Although those eldritch horrors were described in detail enough, I didn't find them scary. Since it was not a lemon fic, the tentacle threat to his Ranko form could be disregarded.

Context and mindset, horror ingredients. YMMV.

 

[gaylolis]

personally i think horror is a pretty good complement to lewd or fluffy stories, when you see something so scary like it's going to kill you, but it end up cuddling you and be a lot nicer than your friends.

like when you see a tentacle monster with one eye that wants to drain your sanity, but they didn't even attack you and their tentacles are nice as a pillow. and so they became your pet that will even accompany you forever, and even giving you immortality as you discover the abyss filled with decapitated headless corpses that knew nothing but memes. or when you walked to the trail of blood and entrails and see your dark past of torment, but the scary beings actually spout encouraging words to move on, and look at the brighter side.

i guess i do like horror when it described the scariest things in the most casual way possible, made it more of a surreal journey that made you accept your fears and turn them into nonchalance or something healing. pretty groovy.

 

[NotaNuffian]

personally i think horror is a pretty good complement to lewd or fluffy stories, when you see something so scary like it's going to kill you, but it end up cuddling you and be a lot nicer than your friends.

like when you see a tentacle monster with one eye that wants to drain your sanity, but they didn't even attack you and their tentacles are nice as a pillow. and so they became your pet that will even accompany you forever, and even giving you immortality as you discover the abyss filled with decapitated headless corpses that knew nothing but memes. or when you walked to the trail of blood and entrails and see your dark past of torment, but the scary beings actually spout encouraging words to move on, and look at the brighter side.

i guess i do like horror when it described the scariest things in the most casual way possible, made it more of a surreal journey that made you accept your fears and turn them into nonchalance or something healing. pretty groovy.

Monster musume fan over here!

Though the notion is nice, turning lovecraftian monsters into everyday norm or even moe. Totally going full weeb over here.

 

[ChronicleCrawler]

Before thinking about this concept, let us know the term Horror.

According to Britannica, Horror story is a story in which the focus is on creating a feeling of fear.

In other words, to counteract your "comfort/safe zone", horror stories are your best enemies to challenge for that.

Horror stories are mostly cutting people out of their misery—visually— even they didn't beg to kill themselves, and they merely come here to this "haunted mansion" for a sake of curiosity. I think supernatural horror stories like some typical Halloween/scary stories portrayed differently to some other "quality" horror stories. Such classic horror stories such as Dracula, Frankenstein, Mononoke, and Uzumaki (Ito Junji's manga) are the best example of a "quality" horror story which I enjoyed reading/watching it. It doesn't portrayed much of killing for the sake of "killing", but it does tell the story how they combat the fear through nature, society, or anything else that gives purpose to "why they did something fearsome?".

Personally, I never watch horror stories that most antagonists wanted to kill people for the sake of "playing this survival game", and I think it doesn't give much of a message other than it's just playing with your "shock value" that you wanted not to sleep through nights that nightmares could kill you in a snap second. Thus, I don't want to watch horror films (not just because I am a coward, but I have no clue why they write for that)... Is it because of the marketing value that these "jumpscares" can further the industries?... I have no idea for the purpose of most typical horror stories are like that.

And thus, there is a large boundary between Visual Horror and Conceptual Horror.

Killing people/characters for the sake of "shock value" is so pointless to think what is the context behind it. For you, what is your opinion about horror stories?

Don't go to senseless tragedy or fear. Learn from this video.

 

[BenJepheneT]

The Babadook is a story that is largely about grief and mental illness and wrestling with the proverbial monster of depression as much as it is a monster movie about a widower and her child being terrorised by a malignant creature. If you took out the titular Babadook, it would remain a compelling character piece drama about a woman who is not coping with the death of her husband and the ordeals of single parenthood, and is spiralling into a concerning psychological breakdown to the lack of a support network. But the addition of the Babadook, turning it into a monster movie, elevates the themes of the movie.

oh man the ending where

Spoiler Alert:
she goes back down to feed the Babadook is fucken genius. not only does it retains the lingering horror in surface level, it shows that grief never goes away, but you can deal with it everyday in short doses to keep it at bay. fuck man, that took me away and had me clutching my heart in pain