Poll: Horror Books?!?!?! Can a horror book compair to a horror movie or game?...
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Go read The Shining, The Exorcist, or The Grudge. I'll wait.
Have you shit your pants yet?
Although, those are by Stephen King and other experienced authors, so it would be a little bit more challenging for an amateur to pull off. One thing I've learned is that just by saying "foggy" or "dark" a person's mind, knowing it was supposed to be a scary book, would fill in the visual blank themselves, subconsciously freaking themselves out with images they themselves conjured. You can also instill fear by saying there were sounds. "Laughing" or "The sound of a broken and screeching, but still somehow singing, music box" are two exceptionally scary ones. Just by saying those, people will imagine those sounds in the background, thus, again, creating their own creepy atmosphere with you, the author, doing minimal work.
Have you shit your pants yet?
Although, those are by Stephen King and other experienced authors, so it would be a little bit more challenging for an amateur to pull off. One thing I've learned is that just by saying "foggy" or "dark" a person's mind, knowing it was supposed to be a scary book, would fill in the visual blank themselves, subconsciously freaking themselves out with images they themselves conjured. You can also instill fear by saying there were sounds. "Laughing" or "The sound of a broken and screeching, but still somehow singing, music box" are two exceptionally scary ones. Just by saying those, people will imagine those sounds in the background, thus, again, creating their own creepy atmosphere with you, the author, doing minimal work.
Really? I had absolutely no problem with that book, and I read it almost exclusively at night. The marsh scene was a little creepy, but other than that there was nothing.Clumpcy said:
I haven't read many actual horror books before... I've read action-horror (Darren Shan) and some more childish horror books (Crimson Moon (I think)) but the other day I went out and bought myself Stephen King - It and the H.P Lovecraft Necronomicon - Best of Commemorative Edition (Hell yes I'm proud of it).
So soon enough I shall know what true horror books are like.
So soon enough I shall know what true horror books are like.
For me horror books are far scarier than horror movies. And then games can be even scarier (or much, much less depending on the game). But books generally provide the best horror experience for me, as things you read about and have to imagine for yourself are scarier than anything someone can show you.
1408,
At the Mountains of Madness,
The Raven,
Lord of the Flies,
The Historian,
Frankenstein,
Rebecca
So many books that simply wipe the floor with any movie. Movies can't unsettle you as much as book can, because you're always aware of being visually tricked.
Words, however, can get behind that carefully built facade, and remind you of things that used to scare you, that still scare you, and parts of yourself you're still afraid of.
I never meant to hurt them... Don't shout at me, Dad!
At the Mountains of Madness,
The Raven,
Lord of the Flies,
The Historian,
Frankenstein,
Rebecca
So many books that simply wipe the floor with any movie. Movies can't unsettle you as much as book can, because you're always aware of being visually tricked.
Words, however, can get behind that carefully built facade, and remind you of things that used to scare you, that still scare you, and parts of yourself you're still afraid of.
I never meant to hurt them... Don't shout at me, Dad!
I always found that horror books make me uneasy, but not scared. I think the only book that gave me a bad dream was one of Poe's stories that involved a guy getting buried alive. I wish I could find a novel that could actually make me feel frightened instead of just uneasy. I've tried reading Stephen King's works, but I hate his writing style.
Yeah, horror writing can be terrifying. But crafting any sort of properly effective horror - prose, film or game - is HARD. There are plenty of poor horrors... Hell, Sturgeon's Revelation applies here as it does to all things: 90% of everything is crap. The only way to get into the 10% is to try it. And keep trying it.
The most disturbing book I've ever read was called: The Jigsaw Man by Gord Rollo. Not sure what you consider horror, as this doesn't fit the classic definition as Dracula or Frankenstein would. If your definition of horror is broader though and encompasses books that are just downright creepy, disturbing or in some cases disgusting then this book has it in spades. Far worse than any horror film I've ever seen anyway
Probably more than in a movie. Horror movies don't exist anymore. They are all porn/torture flicks, or just have really loud banging noises to make you jump...
Sorry, but that story was pretty lame and boring compared to the movie (at least to me)...The_root_of_all_evil said:
Really? It had the completely opposite effect on me. I found the story realistic, frightening, and otherworldy whereas the movie was too full of special effects, outrageous scenes, and relied on horror cliches of the past. It just didn't come off the way I thought it would. Whereas the story felt raw and demonic.Assassin Xaero said:
Might have been because I saw the movie before I had the book, but by the time I finished the story it was a "that was it?" reaction.Arsen said:
As a bunch of other people have said, horror works better the less you see. I think this is because information is a fundamental part of warfare. An enemy that you can at least see puts you almost on equal terms with it, while a enemy that is only vaguely described is something you have no idea how to fight, which is just the way the author likes it.
Horror movies have to make most of the details concrete and often end up stretching credibility. You often see protagonists enter a room and look around carefully only to be assaulted from behind anyway. Monsters that appear to move much slower than a running human nonetheless manage to keep up. Protagonists often make decisions which are incredibly poor given the location or props around them, which are not necessarily bad choices if you only read the script.
It gets even worse for games, because the monster must appear invincible even against players who make sensible decisions without resorting to bullshit like making it indestructible.
Writing books is easier to do because you can get away with fudging to a certain extent, since the reader will modify his imagined setting to accomodate the facts in the book. If the protagonist is surprised, the reader will assume he wasn't paying attention, or that there were a lot of good hiding places. If the protagonist "runs like the wind" and the zombie "lurches awkwardly after him" but nonetheless catches up, we may assume that these were initial speeds and the zombie merely had more stamina. If the protagonist forgot to refuel the car we probably won't realise that the model specified beeps "warning, fuel low" at the driver every two minutes and makes a no fuel situation unlikely.
Horror movies have to make most of the details concrete and often end up stretching credibility. You often see protagonists enter a room and look around carefully only to be assaulted from behind anyway. Monsters that appear to move much slower than a running human nonetheless manage to keep up. Protagonists often make decisions which are incredibly poor given the location or props around them, which are not necessarily bad choices if you only read the script.
It gets even worse for games, because the monster must appear invincible even against players who make sensible decisions without resorting to bullshit like making it indestructible.
Writing books is easier to do because you can get away with fudging to a certain extent, since the reader will modify his imagined setting to accomodate the facts in the book. If the protagonist is surprised, the reader will assume he wasn't paying attention, or that there were a lot of good hiding places. If the protagonist "runs like the wind" and the zombie "lurches awkwardly after him" but nonetheless catches up, we may assume that these were initial speeds and the zombie merely had more stamina. If the protagonist forgot to refuel the car we probably won't realise that the model specified beeps "warning, fuel low" at the driver every two minutes and makes a no fuel situation unlikely.
in a movie or a video game, usually the things that are trying to kill you, you see right away. in a book it's your imagination that does all the work.