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How-tos for all things horror; tips and tricks to help you write like Stephen King, tell a scary story, keep the monsters at bay and more.
Easy As 1...2...3
Kali had an interesting type of trepidation. She suffered from Necrophobia, the fear of numbers. Imagine the festering dread of that... counting change, making a phone call, ordering a number 5 at the drive-thru. Numbers are part of our daily lives... one cannot just avoid them.
By Shanice Wadell5 years ago in Horror
What not to do when trapped in a Horror Movie
You knew the day was coming and now it is here. You are trapped in a danged ole horror movie. You tried to tell people this would be your fate , but they laughed and laughed and called you crazy. " Who is laughing now you thought to yourself, I told all those suckers, I would find up here, and now I am stuck in a real life horror movie." You remembered all the times you made fun of people in the horror movies you watched . Like people trying to fit in holes 4 times to small for them in order to escape. Or when the bimbo damsel in distress becomes completely naked after pricking her finger. And that is just a few examples of things you are not going to do while you are trapped in this horror movie. You decide to make a list of things you are not doing while trapped in this horror movie. I mean hell you have time the Monster or bad person is not here yet, why not make a list. So here it goes.
By Adriane Kirby6 years ago in Horror
EDITORIAL: Can a Horror Movie Go Too Far?
Shock value is a valuable, and versatile, tool in horror movies, and some types of horror are more reliant on shock value than others. Some movies, like Dead Alive and my personal favorite horror film, Evil Dead II, use absurdly excessive gore for black humor. Other horror films, like Pieces and The New York Ripper, show brutal violence in graphic detail for (consciously) cheap thrills. And some films, like Midsommar and I Spit On Your Grave, starkly depict abuse as a way of generating awareness for such atrocities. But whether it’s being used for comedy, exploitation, or social commentary, is it possible for a horror movie to go too far with its shocking content? Sure, plenty of films over the years have been accused of doing so, but pretentious critics have been dismissing horror movies as filth for decades, even going back to Psycho, a movie that, while fantastic, is incredibly tame by today's standards. But has it ever actually been true?
By Will Lasley6 years ago in Horror
5 Magazines Accepting Horror Short Reprints
Starting out as a dark fantasy writer myself with one self-published horror short under my belt, I just want to get some exposure. Wherever we submit our horror shorts, rejection is inevitable and writing the ideal piece for a magazine that has specific requirements and dislikes reprints takes time. All the more reason to keep our heads high as we put our completed work out there, somewhere, and keep writing. The golden rule for having your reprint published is "always check for nonexclusivity”, which means the platform will just publish it, not own it. Some platforms, however, will ask for exclusivity, especially online, for a period of time. It's understandable as to why some platforms in the horror market don’t accept reprints, but here are five magazines that respect the golden rule and want to help you out.
By Aliciel Alone6 years ago in Horror
50 Spooky Things You Can Do Without Leaving The House
The world is an ominous place to be right now with everyone existing only within the borders of their own home, aside from the traumatising trip to grab essential groceries and the emotional roller-coaster that ensues when they are out of stock. If the global situation unfolding is not unsettling enough for you and you are getting Halloween fever then we have got you covered.
By A. N. Merchant 6 years ago in Horror
Establishing the Corkscrew: Visual Film-making in 'The Wretched'
In the new horror movie, The Wretched, there is a scene in which directors, Brett and Drew Pierce, have a scene featuring a corkscrew. This corkscrew will have no significance in the long run. Our antagonist, that we will simply refer to as ‘Wretched,’ has taken the form of one of our protagonists. Wretched is using this female form to deceive another character and enact an enchantment upon them.
By Sean Patrick6 years ago in Horror
20 Tips For Writing the Perfect Short Horror Story
The key to writing the perfect short horror story is not to panic! Pick something that could happen to your reader. Pick a location that’s familiar to your reader. Eat, drink, sleep the horror that you have created before you actually begin to write. Lie back in a darkened room and really visualize it. Scare the pants off yourself. Go to your location or one that looks like it and sit there quietly for a while. If your story takes place on a quiet street in the early hours, find one, get up in the early hours and drink it up. Take a pad and write down some notes about what you see and how you feel. Try to see the story from three or four different views even if they won’t be in the final version. Choose someone timid, someone thick skinned, someone religious. The choice is yours. Take your time, build up the pressure, slowly but surely. This may be a short horror story but you’ve got more time than you think to lay out your stall. Stay focussed. Don’t get bogged down in back story. In fact, try giving back story a miss altogether. Anticipation is nine tenths of the horror story battle – let your reader know something bad is going to happen, lead them there by the hand. Dig deep into that horror. Choose one that scares you. If it doesn’t scare you, how do you expect it to scare the hell out of your dear reader? Throw a few red herrings in there, twist them on their heads. The old cat jumping out of the fridge is a bit of cliché but you get my drift. If you’re scared of heights, go and stand on the edge of a tall building and lean over, if you’ve got a spider phobia, go and put one on the palm of your hand. Remind yourself how real fear feels. Don’t overload your reader with gore. It becomes boring and they quickly attain sensitisation. A splash of blood here and there will do fine. Don’t over describe. You’re not Dickens. Give your reader some credit that they can imagine your ultimate horror. Don’t be afraid that they won’t get the point. Keep the monster/horror hidden for as long as possible. Read the best and the worst of horror. Reread the passages that got your heart racing and try to see how the author did it. Look at the way you reacted and imagine that’s what you want your reader to feel. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles. Write a couple of different versions of your short horror story to see how it comes out. Leave your first draft for a decent amount of time so that you come back to it fresh. For some people that’s a couple of days. For others it’s a couple of months. Always, always read your draft through once without touching it before you sit down to edit. Check you have the right vocabulary to scare. Choose the words to describe your fear with care. Make sure they fit and sound right. Try not to use unusual words that your reader won’t readily know the meaning to. It will break the flow. You’re trying to build fear not a larger vocab. Don’t forget that your short horror story isn’t written in stone. It can change. It can evolve. It can be totally different from the original. Don’t be afraid to delete stuff that doesn’t belong.
By G S Meredith6 years ago in Horror
