Now live at the website for the Seattle Chapter of the Horror Writers Association.
HORROR INHERENT || August 2024 || On Writing Horror in Horrifying Times || by Tamara Kaye Sellman (HWA member)
“Story horror of the kind found in film, TV, books, podcasts, even music (BTO’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” comes to mind) is often the avenue people turn to to process feelings of lost control.
Many of us who write and consume horror stories know already how it works:
From the safe space spectatorship affords us—wrapped up in our favorite blanket, in the comfort of our own home, with loved ones at hand—we can witness the worst situations, feel surges of stress hormones, jump or scream to elicit a needed response, and feel the release of calming hormones that follow like a salve.
Horror writers must never forget the opportunities that our narrative toolkit affords us. We can alchemize these shadows using words, sensory detail, metaphor, mythos, pathos, and dialog to create stories both scary and relevant.
Here’s a question: How many horror writers who watched the debate took notes on how they felt as the debacle unfolded?
This is where horror writers truly ought to begin.
In spite of the general population’s mistaken belief that horror equals slasher violence (because it’s so much more than this!), it’s the emotions behind the things we can’t control that offer the perfect grist for unsettling, scary, dystopic narratives.
Horror.”
Read the whole guest column here: https://hwaseattle.wixsite.com/hwaseattle/post/horror-inherent-on-writing-horror-in-horrifying-times
