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This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
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This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. It follows on from the old one, which is now fullf. An index of topics from old and new can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"  Feel free to comment and interact. |
| 10 Under-Utilised Horror Settings First published online at https://horrortree.com/10-under-utilised-horror-settings/ December 30, 2019, Updated September 14, 2022. Revised just a little for this blog Itās the Gothic mentality that still permeates horror fiction. The dark castles, the grave-yards, the small country towns, the old churches, the old deserted houses, even the cellars ā itās all there. Always all there. The settings for the standard horror stories. Look, Iām a reader and a writer, and I understand the sense of isolation that can increase tension and terror, and the darkness is something that makes horror work because the hidden is often more terrifying. There is something to be said for the imagination of the reader/viewer being allowed to have a go. I think thatās why a lot of horror does not translate well from book to screen ā what they create visually often does not match what we have created in our own minds. And Iām going off track. The point Iām trying to make is that we see these settings and we know we need to be ready for jump scares and clichĆ©s and the old-fashioned tropes. And thatās fine; it works and the reader knows what to expect. But in my reading, I feel there are some other settings that are not used anywhere near enough and yet could well be used to create a gripping horror story. In my opinion. As such, hereās ten I think should be looked at more closely. 1) Schools Now, what I mean here is a regular school. Stephen Kingās The Institute is about a special school that is more a concentration camp, but what I am talking about is a real school. The Treehouse Of Horror series from The Simpsons may have reduced this idea to a concept of fun, but I feel there is still great value in a school. And not a deserted school, but an operational school with real people and students and teachers and administration staff and custodial staff and all that goes along with that. There is a myriad of possibilities there. And if you donāt think schools are scary places ā ask any kid about thatā¦(Note: I did sell a ghost story set in a school a few years ago, so this is a possibility.) 2) Suburbia Take a standard Australian soap opera ā Neighbours or Home And Away for example āand you have suburbia in all its dull, tedious, banal boredom. Boring normal people doing boring normal things, just amped up to make it vaguely interesting for people with nothing better to do. However, how hard would it be to tweak that to make it the setting for a good horror story? I donāt mean a done-to-death zombie flick but something more insidious. Weāve seen it a few times ā Invasion Of The Body Snatchers for one, Stepford Wives for another ā but nowhere near enough. A normal suburb with normal housing (no deserted old house on the hill tropes) surely has great possibilities for horror beyond replacing people. 3) Seats of Power Some would say that looking at the current crop of world leaders that maybe horror has infiltrated the seats of power in real life, but we read horror to escape, and so we could surely up the ante in these places. Not necessarily those in power ā who are, after all, just puppets, if the brilliant BBC series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister are anything to go by (and they are) ā but those bureaucrats pulling the strings. The horror could possibly be an all-encompassing ādevil in chargeā tale to a strange creature using politicians to get access to victims. And, really, who wouldnāt be scared when faced with mind-numbingly brainless politicians zombies slaves to aliens ruling the world? 4) Factories The nooks and crannies and machinery make a factory the ideal setting for strange goings-on and evil to lurk. Weāve seen it in the beginning/end of The Fly (original version) and thereās a scene in one the Hulk movies and the ending of Terminator 2 set in factories, but these are really just scenes. A whole factory with workers and functioning machines could be an ideal setting for a creepy horror film. There is so much darkness, with all those hidden and forgotten places, that this could be a great setting for a swarm of rat-like creatures to run amok. Or people to merge with their machines. Orā¦ look, there are a heap of possibilities. And Iām not going to give away all my ideasā¦ 5) Shopping Malls Sure, Dawn Of The Dead was set in a shopping mall, but that was a deserted one, post-zombie-apocalypse. For an idea of how a shopping centre could be used in all its glory, see the car chase scene from The Blues Brothers and nod and smile. Now, take away the cars and replace with, say, a werewolf (An American Werewolf In London style of huge animal, not a wolfman) and let the horror and fun begin! You have so many different shops, so many hiding places, so many potential victims, so many other things that could go awry in these places! (Note: I did sell a story last year about a hungry escalator in a shopping mall, so this is also a definite concept.) 6) High Rise Apartments Weāve had suburbia, so how about a different sort of living space? The high-prise apartment block, many storeys high and filled with different rooms and different people living in them and different levelsā¦ Again, it lends itself so well to a nice open-ended world in just one place. Again, not a deserted one, but one where normal people live and work and play. Rosemaryās Baby was set in a similar place, but there are so many more ideas than just a cabal of Satanists bringing forth the anti-Christ into the world. Look at Robin Bailesā The Golem Of 2020 for a decent example, but thatās just one. Iām surprised it hasnāt been used more often, to be honest. 7) Pubs, Hotels, Bars and/or Nightclubs Drinking establishments. Places where people go to get drunk, to catch up, to unwind and be with like-minded people. Yes, there have been vampire books with nightclub settings (e.g. Robin Bakerās Chasing The Sun) but letās get away from vampires and look at something a little different. Pubs are a great place to set all sorts of things. FAQ About Time Travel is an awesome sci-fi comedy set in a pub; The Worldās End is a great sci-fi apocalyptic comedy. What about real horror, though? Surely, we can find something out there that works because pubs can be quite disturbing places. Think about it ā a nightclub which is actually a level of hell where people are forced to dance for eternityā¦ and thatās off the top of my head. (Note: I have sold a story about a barman that kills certain individuals, so this has selling potential.) 8) Beaches Not out in the water, like Jaws and its sequels, but the actual beach. Sure, the 1980s gave us Blood Beach (a āso bad itās goodā film) but if we take that as a precursor to some more interesting horror concepts (though the idea of a beach that eats people is awesome) then the beach can become a scary place. It might look idyllic, but go to an Australian beach when itās forty-plus degrees Celsius (104Ā°F) ā which is quite common ā and tell me that despite the clear blue skies and golden sands and wonderful ocean you donāt feel like youāre dying. Monsters, people, sands ā there are so many things we could worry about in an Australian summer. Or a Hawaiian summer. Or a Californian summerā¦ 9) Art Galleries Museums have been done, although I am yet to see a good one (except maybe some of the Wax Museum filmsā¦ and, no, Stillerās Night At The Museum is not a good one), but what about the art gallery? Pictures, sculptures, installations ā you name it, there is everything there for a decent horror yarn. Statues that come to life, paintings that trap people, installations that draw people in ā these are all tales that have been mentioned in passing or used as part of a greater story, but to bring these aspects out on their own could make a really decent little horror story. 10) Brothels Now, I do not watch pornography ā never have doubt I ever will. Just does not do anything for me, Iām afraid. And this means I do not know if any porn horror films set in brothels have been made. However, for a mainstream horror tale, the setting could be ideal. I have seen some horror comics with a tale in a brothel ā all involving vampires, Iām afraid ā but surely it could be so much more than that? There are endless possibilities in an establishment that exists slightly outside the law, and so could be forced to deal with its horrors in-house. Whatever those horrors may be. (Note: I have sold a story about a ghost brothel, so this is yet another idea with distinct possibilities.) Of course, I am the first to admit I have not seen or read everything to do with horror, so there could well be some fine examples set in these places. But for writers looking for somewhere different, looking to avoid the clichĆ©s of writing, looking to expand themselves, these ten settings could well lend themselves to all sorts of wonderful tales. Good writing! |
| Novel #26 Yes... I have filled in my old blog, so here we are, but the links remain the same. And we start the new with a novel. Iām really proud of the next story. I wrote it with a young adult audience in mind, though it became much more New Adult or even adult in tone by the time it was finished and edited. Yes, it has many dark undertones throughout its 88000 word length. Cult Of The Snake is a horror/urban fantasy story about a small group of university students out to stop a snake goddess/Naga queen from coming back to Earth, with the help of Garuda. Hindu mythology, splashes of Greek mythology, a lot of death, destruction and mayhem, and the destruction of lots of property. Itād make an awesome film, but Iām biased. For the first time in ages, two of the characters are actually based on real people. The gay best friend of the main character is based on a gay friend of mine, who helped me a little with the way his relationships have worked in the past. It was his idea, by the way, to [*spoiler alert!*] kill off the character at the end. And the main female character was based on a lady I had come to know at around the time it was written (early 2011), just with her age halved, and her appearance changed a fraction (probably not enough). Of course, enough other changes were made in the characters to make them different by the time the story was finished, but for this one I just needed some help to get the characters the way I wanted them, with all their little inconsistencies. As a famous author once said (and Iām paraphrasing here): the difference between fiction and reality is fiction has to make sense. Any way, this story is a weird one, and I still like it. The main male character starts a little emo-like, but the female drags him out of it, and he becomes that staple of horror fiction ā the reluctant hero. Excerpt: Sunday 12:30pm Craig sighed as he played with the drink in his hand. Tayla stared at it as well before she lowered her eyes. āIām sorry,ā she muttered. āWhat for?ā Craig asked. āDragging you out here like this, making you listen to me bitch and moan, and now weāre just sitting here like two strangers.ā She looked up at him again and was unable to stop the tears from coming. Without really thinking he rested his hand on hers. āTayla, itās okay. At least it got me out of the apartment for a change.ā She smiled at him. āYouāre just saying that.ā She sighed again and looked at his hand on hers, but made no attempt to move it. He stared at her. Her thick, dark hair fell more than half way down her back in natural waves, offset perfectly by wide hazel eyes. She had a sweet, almost child-like smile and not for the first time he found himself thinking of her as quite an attractive young lady. āNo, Iām not,ā he laughed. āIf you hadnāt called, Iād be sitting at home watching football all day, maybe doing some study.ā āYeah, I should be doing that as well,ā she muttered. āYou donāt need a tutor this year, then?ā he asked suddenly, just trying to prevent the conversation from falling into another lull. āSecond semester when my psych subjects start. Definitely. Iāll be calling you. This semester everythingās easy, and for psych itās just stats.ā Her face seemed to perk up for the first time since theyād come into the pub for lunch. āAnd thatās just maths. Thatās all.ā āWho you got?ā āCarmichael. I canāt think of his first nameā¦ā āMichael.ā Craig laughed. āHe was my stats lecturer as well. How many octopus stories have you heard?ā āMy God! Like, every lecture!ā She laughed, a real genuine laugh, her head thrown backwards. Craig smiled and shook his head, noticing that her hand did not leave his. āWait. Youāve got the film he made about octopuses and stats to come yet. Last lesson of the semester.ā He shook his head. āGuy knows his stuff, but heās a complete nutcase.ā The strains of the opening bars of the song āJessicaā interrupted them. āSorry,ā Craig said, finally removing his hand and fumbling for his phone. āCraig Stevenson,ā he said down it. Tayla watched him curiously as his face went from joy to genuine concern. He said very little, until, āIāll get there as soon as I can. See you soon, Bry.ā He disconnected the call and just stared at the screen in front of him blankly. āWhatās the matter?ā Tayla asked carefully. He looked up at her. āYouāre not going to believe this,ā he muttered, ābut one of my friends has disappeared.ā She stared at him, eyes wide, mouth open a little. āHe was exploring a tunnel underneath the railway station and he justā¦ā He pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his cane. āIāve got to go. Iām sorryā¦ā āNo, wait. Iāll give you a lift.ā Taylaās mind had gone into a numb sort of shock. How could this be happening again? āNo, Tayla, I couldnāt askā¦ā āIām giving you a lift,ā she repeated as she made her way ahead of him to hold the door open. He shook his head and limped after her. This story has been submitted six times for six generic rejections. But I still think it has legs. I really do. Iāll give a little back story as to how this one came about. I was playing Dungeons & Dragons and our characters were in a reptile world, with lizard-men, yuan-ti and all manner of other intelligent reptilians. My head asked after one grueling session (my cleric character had barely survived), āWhat if reptiles like this tried to take over Adelaide?ā I started writing the story the next day, during the next D&D session when my character was not needed. What ifā¦? Best friend a writer has. |
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