Down the Rabbit Hole

Chills/Thrills & the Persistant Theme of the Darkness of Man

BLOG CITY: October 27th Day 600Prompt: Is there an image, a story line, or a scene that keeps coming up and persisting in your writing? Do you know why? Do you put it there knowingly or does it show up on its own, unannounced?

Over the years I have been writing I would say there are definite themes that persist in my writing, even across the different genres. I think I'm a very deliberate writer so I am aware of these elements, they don't simply just show up involuntarily. I think in general, I am drawn to the darker shades of human behavior and emotion. I enjoy exploring the fine line, or the shadows between what might be described as traditionally good and evil. I like complex characters that are just damaged enough inside that it makes you second guess their actions and motivations but eventually reveal enough good that you can't help but root for them. I also have a character that haunts me. I have to finish her story but she's so beautifully complicated and so wonderful echoes some of my own personal narrative that I'm terrified, I think, to give her life and screw it up.


Blogging Circle, October 27th: Do you enjoy being scared such as watching horror movies or reading scary books? Share with us, one that really got to you.

I can remember being very keen on haunted houses and spooky hayrides when I was younger. I like the shot of adrenaline you get when the hayride mysteriously stalls on covered bridge and, though you know a chainsaw or zombie hoard is imminent, you can't help but scream in horror when they show up. I loved the mob mentality of a good scare...you scream simply and organically because everyone around you is screaming. I enjoyed that interactive experience far more than simply watching a horror movie. I liked engaging all my senses in the scare. I have found that over these later years I am less apt to go for the thrills and chills - despite all the wonderful offerings in my coastal New England towns - if only because I'm turned off by the lines and the crowds. These days I am far more likely to get lost in a scary novel. I've found my own imagination can generate some pretty terrifying scenarios with the right inspiration. The novels that scared me in some very primal way are the ones that have stayed with me the most.

Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" was one of the first books I read that really frightened me. I think for me the scariest part was that even the priest, someone with God on their side, was still not safe from corruption and ultimately destruction at the hands of the vampire. I remember being so immersed in that book that on the rare occasion I put it down, I felt like I was surfacing with far too little air left in my lungs.

Peter Straub's "Ghost Story" would be second in my list of volumes that scared the crap out of me. It was so beautifully crafted that I seemed the big scares crept up on me, distracted as I was by the quality of the story. The terror of the characters as they face their "demon" was so believable, so absolute, that you couldn't help but experience it right along with them.

Lastly, another King classic, "It" was one of the few books that truly kept me up at night. There were simply too many uber-creepy things going on in this story. Pennywise is probably one of the most horrific characters I've even encountered. There was something so nightmare inducing about his rabid cackling, his serrated teeth and yellow eyes. He was a merciless, seemingly indestructible foe. King is a master storyteller when he is on his game and "It" was really intense.