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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/12493
Horror/Scary: April 03, 2024 Issue [#12493]




 This week: Why is it so hard?!
  Edited by: Gaby ~ Quiet contemplation
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.
~ Edgar Allan Poe

Horror is like a serpent; always shedding its skin, always changing. And it will always come back. It can't be hidden away like the guilty secrets we try to keep in our subconscious.
~ Dario Argento

Some people ask why people would go into a dark room to be scared. I say they are already scared, and they need to have that fear manipulated and massaged. I think of horror movies as the disturbed dreams of a society.
~ Wes Craven

There are two different stories in horror: internal and external. In external horror films, the evil comes from the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness that we don't understand. Internal is the human heart.
~ John Carpenter



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Letter from the editor

Many writers have trouble writing horror. It's a different type of challenge than fantasy where you have to create entire worlds. Sometimes creating new worlds seems easier than writing a short horror story. Why is that? The fear of creating fear.

John Carpenter's quote above is a good reminder of what horror really is. The internal and external aspect of it. He also explains what external evil is. That is part of your imagination. The monster under the bed. The things that go bump in the night. The unfamiliar man outside that give you the creeps. Anything you can think of.

The internal evil is different. It's what we fear. And it's familiar to most. Relatable. So let's talk about some of the phobias people have that can turn into a good horror story.

Specific Phobia Categories:

*Bullet* Animal Type: Common examples include fear of dogs, snakes, or spiders.

*Bullet* Natural Environment: This can include fear of heights, storms, or water.

*Bullet* Blood-Injection-Injury Type: These phobias include a fear of seeing blood, receiving a blood test, getting vaccinated, or even watching television shows that display medical procedures.

*Bullet* Situational Type: These phobias can be as diverse as fear of airplanes to fear of public speaking; it encompasses fear of elevators, driving, and enclosed places.

*Bullet* Other Types: This category includes all others not covered by the other four types of specific phobias. Examples include fear of sickness, loud noises, and even clowns (coulrophobia).


Specific Phobias:

*BurstB* Achluophobia: Fear of darkness

*BurstB* Acrophobia: Fear of heights

*BurstB* Algophobia: Fear of pain

*BurstB* Aerophobia: Fear of flying

*BurstB* Arachnophobia: Fear of spiders

*BurstB* Atychiphobia: Fear of failure

*BurstB* Bathmophobia: Fear of stairs or steep slopes

*BurstB* Bathmophobia: Fear of stairs or steep slopes

*BurstB* Claustrophobia: Fear of confined spaces

*BurstB* Coulrophobia: Fear of clowns

*BurstB* Glossophobia: Fear of speaking in public

*BurstB* Hydrophobia: Fear of water

*BurstB* Insectophobia: Fear of insects

*BurstB* Ophidiophobia: Fear of snakes

*BurstB* Tonitrophobia: Fear of thunder

*BurstB* Wiccaphobia: Fear of witches and witchcraft

*BurstB* Trypophobia: Fear of holes

*BurstB* Gerascophobia: Fear of aging


These are but a few examples of what most people fear. That brings the subject of writing a story about it more approachable and easier to focus on. For whatever reason, there really is a fear of writing horror because horror has a different aspect. Your only and only job is to instill fear in the reader and yet you are afraid you're incapable of it.

What we forget most often is the fact that we're all similar. Most of us fear the same things. Our daily lives have similarities. So do the things we do on a regular basis. Then why do we worry whether or not what we write would be evil enough? If you look outside your own bubble and your personal world, we're rather surrounded by it.

'Til next time!
~ Gaby *Witchhat*


Editor's Picks

 The Wisp  (13+)
Something very strange 'lives' in the marsh...
#2222774 by f.x.keenan


 The Bone Pixie   (ASR)
A bone pixie becomes more than she could ever dream of becoming.
#2317196 by Jeremy


 
STATIC
Beastly  (18+)
Betty didn't usually make things up. What had she seen in the back yard?
#2316333 by Scarypotato is sad


 Angel  (18+)
Psychosis was real to me, & where I met Angel. A journal of events that continues today.
#2310346 by Dr Gonzo


 The River of Pain - Aliens (My Version)  (ASR)
Terrifying, griping tale of what the children went through
#2315530 by Gunny27


 Invalid Item 
This item number is not valid.
#2317269 by Not Available.


STATIC
The Uninvited Hat  (13+)
A lonely old man receives a late night guest
#1108923 by W.D.Wilcox

 
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Ask & Answer

Comments to my previous "Horror/Scary Newsletter (March 6, 2024):


s wrote:

I spend a lot of time in cemeteries. I feel relaxed and comfortable there. I will write being watched by the dead. Australia has only less than 250 years of European settlement (in theory) so the cemeteries are not that old; where I live was a mining centre in the 1800s, and there are a lot of dead children and dead young men in the local graveyard. I take photos of grave markers. I write in their shadows. They relax me.


I can see that as a relaxing spot, but also I'm sure there are a lot of stories to be told, even from those who are eternally quiet.


tj ~ endeavors to persevere! wrote:

I once lived next to a cemetery; best neighbors I've ever had. My wife and I like to stop and explore cemeteries when we have the time, especially the older areas.

*Bigsmile* I bet! No one in my family finds cemeteries interesting.



ChrisDaltro-Chasing Moonbeams wrote:

Thank you for featuring my short story The Old Holy Cemetery in your WDC.Newsletter. I'm so proud. Christina Daltro

*Heart* You're most welcome!

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