Monday 18 April 2011

In the Mood for Horror

I've got a yearning to write some horror short stories or poetry. I'm fond of horror, but don't write as much as I could. What's your favourite horror venues? I'm looking for inspiration.

That's got me thinking. What's the history of horror literature? Dante's The Divine Comedy?  That's 14th century. What came before that?

18 comments:

  1. You know what, all I need to do is put on the news, watch a great episode of Criminal Minds or another documentary and there would be inspiration right there. What makes it horror? The fact that it happens in real life.

    Shudder.

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  2. Yeah the best horror writers can make anything ordinary into something terrifying: Houses, cars, St. Bernards, etc...

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  3. Hi DU, that's for sure. And there's a market for it. Not my cup of tea, though. Sometimes my horror even has a happy ending.

    I'm reading the Stephen Jones's Mammoth Book of Horror, at the moment *checks* 2010. There's some great writing in there.

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  4. Are you a horror fan, Patrick? Do you write any yourself?

    I'm a big fan of a certain type.

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  5. Speaking of horror, I just subbed my rejected W1S1 Week2 story "You Kill Me" to a relatively new market today: One Buck Horror. (They pay better than a buck, by the way...)

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  6. Thanks, Milo, nice market. Horror markets seem scarcer than fantasy or scifi markets.

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  7. I don't read much horror, except for a book here and there--but I have to say there are some really good writers who write in the genre!

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  8. I would like to write horror but have trouble with 'nasty' can't write a villian to save my life!!!

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  9. I don't know much about the history of the horror genre, but Beowulf seems like a horror tale doesn't it? That's several centuries older.

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  10. I don't read a lot of horror. I did love Poe though. Oh, and Ray Bradbury's short stories are scary too.

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  11. Black Static magazine is a must read.

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  12. Hi, Golden Eagle -- there are some outstanding writers of horror. They can rock the language, so lyrical.

    Alberta -- you're not like me then, I love villains -- maybe a bit too much. Likeable characters give me problems.

    Good tip, Cate, Black Static -- must get a subscription.

    Lynda, Poe's great. There seems to be a demand for Poe inspired storie, I recall a number of anthologies over the lat year or so.

    Rusty-- Yep Beowulf's a good one. I haven't read it though, although I know the story somehow. I guess going even further back, you can pick elements of horror out of the stories. Any horror in Gilgamesh, I wonder. Quite a few of my stories are set in the deep past (or far future). Hmmm interesting.

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  13. I don't read a lot of horror. I don't write much horror either (What? how can that be? you ask. Aren't you writing a zombie book?--okay, I write a little).

    BUT, there are times I like me a good horror flick. The pumping of my heart. The escape into my husbands arms. The peering between my fingers. Sometimes it's good to be a little scared. Try watching a few movies to put you in the mood.

    ~Angela

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  14. Good luck with the horror. I think I'd agree that Beowulf would be one of the earliest.

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  15. Angela, I'm such a wuss. I can't watch horror, all the music scares me. Reading, I can cope with.

    Hi, Simon. I got a good Lovecraft grove on today, and am eyeing a couple of cool markets for it.

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  16. I've just realized I wrote a horror story. Well, actually not. The horror is how I've murdered the english language. *sigh* Thank goodness for revisions. Love a good (not too gory) horror movie though! Good luck.

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  17. Kari, I think i've got a few stories like that, too. Plus there's the classic: 'Murder your darlings'.

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  18. While not much of a horror fan, I'm a sucker for anything "zombie." I actually have a story idea for one. In time, it might just shuffle along. :)

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