Horrifying Horror and Crime

Tips to writing effective horror

Horror. What is it in us that makes us so attracted to darkness, to "creeping ourselves out" over evil most of us will never be exposed to in our lives? Monsters and demons, forces of evil that may or may not be defeated by the "good guys"- gore and violence- all are abundant in our horror writings in endless combinations. But how does our writings or films produce the chills that we horror lovers crave- the thrill made all the more tantalizing because it is available from the relative distance and safety of the pages of a story, or the screen of our television?

The following make up important aspects of the horror genre for its successful impact on the reader or viewer. Any horror story lacking a combination of these ingredients, when used properly, is not nearly as strong, and indeed, can hardly be called horror at all.


Humor: Unexpected humor in a horror story can be a wonderful touch as long as it is geniunely funny. One who can master this has the Midas touch. Many will remember the long running television series The Addams Family and The Munsters. Both of these were programs with laughable monsters and victims who were scapegoats for the writers' humor but suffered no serious injuries. These would be example of extreme humor, but incorporating some humor is an excellent way to draw the reader into the story. Use of irony in the situation or the victim's or villain's dialogue is also an effective in horror, and can be rather enjoyable when blackly humorous. For instance, in the often blackly humorous movie Scream, the teenaged victim, Sidney, tells the mysterious stalker/killer on the telephone that she dislikes horror movies because they are all about stupid, big-breasted women who run up the stairs instead of out the front door. When the voice on the phone breaks into her house five minutes later, the first thing Sidney does is run upstairs.

Monsters, Demons, and Villains: What I appreciate most is a villain that I like. Deadly, coldhearted, yet likeable. John Travolta does this often. The movie 'Pulp Fiction' is a great example. Another is Hannibal Lecter in 'The Silence of the Lambs.' Paul Newman and Robert Redford in 'The Sting' and 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' are likeable villains. Being sympathetic is a great quality for a monster. 'King Kong' is another great example. I wanted to see him survive while I knew all along that he wouldn't and I felt contempt for the humans who were trying to enslave or kill him. Most villains are unsympathic and you usually feel for the victims. Usually the evil doer gets caught in the end or destroyed. It is refreshing when the Villain gets away. Some feel remorse for their evil deeds and some do not. They may be shrouded in a cloud of mystery. Rarely do I see a truly happy monster. That would be an interesting touch. The more vicious the villain is, generally the more I feel for the victim. If applicable to the story, the pyschological and emotional sides of the evil doer should be emphasized. Draw the reader's respect, sorrow, contempt or hatred for the evil doer.

Victims: Victims are usually sympathetic, unsympathic or collateral. When a victim is sympathetic it usually makes the monster seem more evil. Keys to the success of this are often the use of young, innocent or female victims. Although a sympathetic victim may be young, innocent or female; it doesn't mean that victims must be limited to this for the reader to empathize with them. The deeper the writer goes into the character of his victims, the more the reader responds in a positive or negative way. This is true, of course, for the villains as well. In the movie 'Lone Star State of Mind' two victims were so pitiful you had to love them although they had no redeeming qualities. In fact, even the male and female leads were hilarious. In Stephen Kings 'Sleepwalker' the primary victim is a young innocent female, but after what she does to the monsters, I lost all sympathy for her. This movie was mostly action and gore, character development was poor, but when the victim is unsympathetic, you feel more for the monster. Collateral victims are characters with very limited development with whom the reader has little empathy, therefore feels little or nothing for them. However, if they are young, female, or innocent the reader is more likely to wince when they are hurt. Common adult males are the least appreciated victims as a rule. If a victim is bad, they deserve what they get and if the victim is good, the reader is left feeling. "How could that happen to them?".

Gore: Some people can't stomach gore and others may love it, but there is a multitude in between. I have found through my experience that often the suggestion of gore, however, in writing, can horrify a person just as much as vivid descriptions- the reader's imagination is often adequate to fill in missing details. I recommend that the horror/crime writers who are on one end of the spectrum or the other learn to write gory and goreless stories. It is good practice either way. I don't mean that there has to be a lot of gore or no gore in each story, the story can be inbetween where most of the readers are; but it is good practice to occasionally write away from one's comfort zone to expand skills. If in a habit of writing gore, try to write without it, and if in a habit of writing without gore, try to add some. As a horror or crime writer, gore can be an important part of the story.

Suspense: Suspense is not my strong suit, but it adds a lot to a story if done well. It is hard for me to think of examples because once you have seen the movie or read the book, the suspense is usually gone. The definitions of suspense and there seem to be two which apply are: Pleasurable excitement anticipating an approaching climax and apprehension of what is about to happen. Try to make your reader anxious for what comes next. Suspense is best achieved when you make the reader care about the victim or the villain and what happens to them. If they are in danger throughout the story, the reader naturally has heightened suspense if they feel they know and like the characters.

Surprise and Shock: These are hard to accomplish in writing. Often the reader is thinking ahead as they read a story and the possibilities are being anticipated. In a movie, the sudden slam of a door may send chills down the spine, but in print it may hardly mean a thing. "Swish, his head fell from his shoulders to the floor!", just doesn't have quite the same effect as seeing it. Still, the use of surprise and shock are strong components to any horror story. This can be used through dramatic or situational irony, as well as the 'twist endings' that are rather popular in the horror genre. The thing to be aware of with twist endings is that you don't make it implausible for the sake of being a suprise. There should be plenty of clues within the text that make are subtle, so when the reader gets to the twist, they feel stunned, but as though they should have seen it coming, for all the pieces were there before them. This can be very difficult indeed to achieve in writing.