SFGirl
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What makes a "good" horror story?
I don't know the answer to this one, but I thought some of you might have opinions...
Sherry
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Reading: Low Port ed. by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Rewriting: short story: The Price of Roses
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4/22/2005, 11:22 pm
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David Meadows
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Re: What makes a "good" horror story?
Only one horror book has ever disturbed me so much that I woke screaming in the night and that was Dracula. And this was as a 30-something jaded veteran of dozens of vampire films and novels. Why? Can't have been because of the plot twist; can't have been because of the scary monster; can't have been because of the gore. What did Dracula have that none of the other vampire books have?
I have no idea... sorry...
I think it probably rests on the quality of the descriptive writing. A hackneyed situation, convincing described, will remain in the reader's mind.
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Reading without thinking will confuse you.
Thinking without reading will place you in danger.
-- Confucius, Spring and Autumn Period
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4/23/2005, 2:41 am
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Sita08
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Re: What makes a "good" horror story?
This is what I think makes or breaks any story, no matter the genre. The reader has to really care what happens to the
character(s), whether it be the hero or the villain. You can have the best descriptions in the world, but if the reader has no interest in the outcome, the story dies.
Stacey
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4/29/2005, 7:16 pm
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McDoogle
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Re: What makes a "good" horror story?
David's Dracula comments> I think there is just something about Bram Stocker's writing itself that is a little ...um... creepy. Not sure if that explains the night chills, however!
I think there is a generalized 'horror' story and serious horror writing. Anyone can write stories about wolfmen, zombies, and vampires using the standard stereotypes and they would be considered horror stories but not send nothing but laughter to a four year old. True horror stories (I think) send a shiver down your spine. And that's a personal fright. Not all people are frightened by the same things. Heights, spiders, snakes, vampire, blood, unkillable things that just won't stop, TAXES, etc. It's a pretty subjective genre.
McD
Last edited by McDoogle, 9/15/2005, 5:01 pm
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Now Race Reading vs. nephew: Furies Of Calderon
Slightly Writing: 'Resume for a Gladiator' (2005 novel)
Watching: Pushing Daisies (X- Canceled!!)
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9/15/2005, 4:54 pm
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SFGirl
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Re: What makes a "good" horror story?
Junebugs. Yeeeecccchhhhh.
Sherry
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Reading: Tapping the Dream Tree by Charles deLint
Rewriting: One's Aspect To The Sun (novel)
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9/15/2005, 4:57 pm
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