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On Writing Horror Fiction:: One dark October evening over a decade ago, I began noodling with an idea for a horror novel. The idea became an obsession and throughout the process of writing and editing that novel, I became entranced with the complexity of horror fiction. Over the years I’d read a library of blood soaked screeds but had never enjoyed the sheer liberation of writing it myself. The process gave me a window into the soul of other horror writers I never imagined to open.
I’ve spent most of my creative career as a painter. But the labyrinthine psychology of the genre ensnared me and as a result, I’ve become blissfully entangled in the unholy fellowship of horror writers. I honor their passion, intellect, and commitment to not only push the envelope, but to bend it and totally reshape the trajectory of Horror Fiction.
To me, Horror Fiction is the literary equivalent of the magnet, polarizing the positive and negative charges within our own imperfect natures. It attracts even as it repels. It puts the reader in touch with the magical gift of fear. It draws us inexorably to witness terror and invites us to touch, yet allows us to remain apart, untouched by the violent outreach of monsters.
Atmosphere is the most important thing, for the final criterion of authenticity is not the dovetailing of the plot but the creation of a given sensation.
- H. P. Lovecraft.
At it’s best Horror Fiction makes the hairs on our arms stand up, makes us question the nature of good and evil and its place in the universe. It also gives us the opportunity to expel the blackness of our own nature through the conduit of a fictional character’s words and deeds.
Try on the skins and hides of many different soul travelers on their way to oblivion. Walk a mile in their hooves and vicariously practice the dark arts from the safety of your comfy chair to be forever changed.
From my introduction to the Short Story Anthology, EXIT The Light, by Horns and Walt Hicks. - Aventine Press 2002
I’ve spent most of my creative career as a painter. But the labyrinthine psychology of the genre ensnared me and as a result, I’ve become blissfully entangled in the unholy fellowship of horror writers. I honor their passion, intellect, and commitment to not only push the envelope, but to bend it and totally reshape the trajectory of Horror Fiction.
To me, Horror Fiction is the literary equivalent of the magnet, polarizing the positive and negative charges within our own imperfect natures. It attracts even as it repels. It puts the reader in touch with the magical gift of fear. It draws us inexorably to witness terror and invites us to touch, yet allows us to remain apart, untouched by the violent outreach of monsters.
Atmosphere is the most important thing, for the final criterion of authenticity is not the dovetailing of the plot but the creation of a given sensation.
- H. P. Lovecraft.
At it’s best Horror Fiction makes the hairs on our arms stand up, makes us question the nature of good and evil and its place in the universe. It also gives us the opportunity to expel the blackness of our own nature through the conduit of a fictional character’s words and deeds.
Try on the skins and hides of many different soul travelers on their way to oblivion. Walk a mile in their hooves and vicariously practice the dark arts from the safety of your comfy chair to be forever changed.
From my introduction to the Short Story Anthology, EXIT The Light, by Horns and Walt Hicks. - Aventine Press 2002
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