Fear lies at the heart of horror. People read horror because they want to feel scared, its our need to deal with emotions we’re unable to experience safely in the real world. In the right conditions I believe horror is healthy for our psyche. All fiction is a means of escape from humdrum everyday existence, but horror is the most extreme ride out of reality. None can ever forget a really good horror tale that kept them awake at night.
So how can you give your readers what they want. A truly terrifying tale that will upset them so deeply it won’t ever let go. You’ve got to connect to your own fears and show them to your readers.
One of the scariest books I’ve ever read, No One Gets Out Alive by Adam Nevill, held me by the throat. It was a hard book to read yet impossible to put down.
In No one Gets Out Alive, Stephanie Powers is a young woman, recently single, between jobs and stuck in a very lonely and cash strapped situation. She has no family and just when she thinks her life can’t get any worse, she sees an advert for a room at an incredible price. This, she hopes, is how she’ll turn her life around, but once she moves in, things get much worse.
Aside from the superb craftsmanship that went into writing this book, the reason it made me so scared to read No One Gets Out Alive was it was eerily reminiscent of a situation I had been in when I was younger. I could have very easily been Stephanie Powers. A young vulnerable woman walking into a trap too dark to comprehend.
This was a horror story that could have happened to me! I thought as I read. What Adam Nevill so brilliantly pulled off was writing of the fear of loneliness and helplessness. A young woman fell through the cracks of society and not one person came looking for her.
No One Gets Out Alive was such a powerful book as we have all been in a situation where we felt unprotected and downtrodden, life wasn’t going our way and we feared it never will. I connected so deeply with Stephanie Powers’ fears that they became my own until it was me, not her, trapped in that house, desperate to get out.
The point I’m making is, to really scare your readers, you need to write about your own fears. We’re always taught as children to push the bad thoughts out, focus on the positives in life but if you’re a horror writer it’s time to let the bad thoughts in, let them run wild in your mind, and then cast them out for good in your stories.
People always say write what you know because there’s a truth in that. Your life is unique, so are your fears. No one else will quite see the world as you do, so bring it alive for your readers, let them see your fears.
The world constantly changes, people today aren’t afraid of vampires, yes, they love them still; but do they fear them, absolutely not. Though people hundreds of years ago were terrified of vampires visiting them in the night as they slept in their beds.
In today’s society, not being able to keep up with mortgage repayment, not being able to protect your children’s future from climate change, or living under a corrupt government will install fear in most people.
To stand out from the crowd, a horror write must create truly memorable horror. It’s vital to connect with your own fears and bring them to the surface of your work. Use your fear to power your writing.
Things which we find scary will not be scary to others but if we connect with that fear, we can present readers with a new fear they’ve never thought of. I have a friend who has a terrifying button phobia. It’s all those little holes, they explained once, what if there’s something hiding in all those little holes. What if its something bad waiting to creep out when no one is looking. Imagine being able to pull off a terrifying tale of buttons. No one would forget that in a hurry.
The idea of a horror story about clowns, beloved by all children, seems preposterous but it was perfectly pulled off by the king of horror himself, Mr King. 36 years later, his legacy remains. No one looks at clowns in the same way they did as children. Even if you don’t read horror, you know of the book and its huge impact.
Once you connect with your own fears you can start to have fun. A weird fear I have is when I’m waiting to cross a busy road, I always fear someone might come up behind me and push me into speeding oncoming traffic. Whenever I’m waiting to cross, I always look behind me. Maybe it’s the fear of sudden death, of some anomaly, something unexpected just popping out and changing your life forever. You are alive in one moment and then dead the next, as quick as that. Our bodies so weak and frail it’s a surprise we manage to stay alive at all. I know this is completely irrational but every time I cross a road, I’m looking out for someone creeping up behind me.
Part of a horror writers skill set is to recognise danger and horror in our everyday lives and turn them into truly memorable tales to thrill and terrify your readers. So, when you write your next story, think of something that really scares you, no matter how trivial it may seem. You may be surprised what you may discover about yourself.
Enter the Darkness by Sarah Budd
Publisher : Brigids Gate Press, LLC (6 Nov. 2022)
Paperback : 202 pages
ISBN-10 : 1957537108
ISBN-13 : 978-1957537108
During the Spring Solstice, four people enter the caves underneath London.
Garth: a shy young man, who seeks to save the girl of his dreams.
Cassie: a beautiful young woman, who seeks to use the dark magic of the caves for her own purposes.
Bill: an older man with a terrible secret, who seeks to find Garth and Cassie before it’s too late.
Sienna: a con artist with a dark past, who seeks to escape her fate as a chosen sacrifice.
Four people enter. Each of them must battle their personal demons before facing the White Lady, who rises each year during the Spring Solstice with a hunger for human flesh.
Only one of them will survive.
