A few hours ago a blogger asked me, “How does a non-horror writer like you write such scary stories?” I’m asked this question often. I see people struggling to categorize my genre of writing when they leave reviews and I even had a reviewer send me an email telling me that I was NOT a horror writer (http://wordsmithcrystalconnor.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-more-time-for-good-measure.html) This baffles me. I categorize myself as a horror writer; my only goal when I pick up my pen is to scare the shit of someone, but with my latest release the debate and confusion begins anew.
To get to the bottom of this I think maybe I should try and understand what the immediate “gut reaction” to the word horror means to most people. Because we’ve been thoroughly so inundated with the images of the masked man with a knife, the family with the chainsaw, people dangling from & trapped inside every know entrapment of torture know to man, with our cups runnething over with so much blood and gore that I think that a lot of people think believe horror can’t be horror if these elements are not included.
I saw this movie with my BFF Kathi, and there is nothing remotely whatsoever horrific or thrilling about this movie. It a love story and a tear-jerker, but I super duper love this fan trailer because it’s a perfect example on how mood, atmosphere, and timing can turn the most mundane thing into something scary.
I don’t its necessary for horror to have tons of gore or jump scares for it to be scary, in my opinion when a movie has over the top, gratuitous scenes of violence and tidal waves of blood it stops being effective and becomes nothing more that cheap parlor tricks in attempts to mask the fact that the book/movie is lacking a strong plot or compelling story line.
Not everything that goes bump in the night carries an axe, not all monsters hide under the bed, and sometimes the closest you are to damnation is when your in the presence of innocence.
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