Does Horror need a slow start?

[Brandy]

Hi all! I need help. I am writing horror for the first time (historically I've written fantasy and thrillers), and I cannot nail the start. I started of jumping into the action, and then pulled back so that readers could get to know the characters first and have a chance to care about them, but now it feels way to slow to me. Add to this that I'm writing YA which I feel like usually likes things to happen more quickly. At what percent of the book do you usually introduce your first spooky element and/or does the first body drop?

 

[gtanders]

I'm no expert, but reading horror occasionally, it seems to me a slow build is fine, as long as the first creepy hint comes early (and the hints continue). I'm of the opinion that a novel should signal its genre within the first scene. Since the first scene also has to build the characters, that genre signaling shouldn't be too intense, just a hint.

Hope that's helpful. Cheers!

 

[Jinks]

In my current WIP, my first death is in the first chapter, though it was a random character that none of my MCs know. My first major kill is probably a fourth to a third of the way in. I did hint at spooky elements between those scenes.

 

[Brandy]

I'm no expert, but reading horror occasionally, it seems to me a slow build is fine, as long as the first creepy hint comes early (and the hints continue). I'm of the opinion that a novel should signal its genre within the first scene. Since the first scene also has to build the characters, that genre signaling shouldn't be too intense, just a hint.

Hope that's helpful. Cheers!

Very helpful! I think the idea of just providing a "hint" in the opening will keep me from going too overboard. Thanks!

 

[Brandy]

In my current WIP, my first death is in the first chapter, though it was a random character that none of my MCs know. My first major kill is probably a fourth to a third of the way in. I did hint at spooky elements between those scenes.

I like this in terms of pacing. So your first kill kind of leads into Act 2?

 

[Charles Bates]

I also prefer a fast start-like an appetizer. It provides a way to wade into the plot a little bit before the main course arrives, and you don't get that excruciating first quarter of a book with creepy grandpa shuffling around his spooky house while his character gets established. There's plenty of time to get to know him after your readers are hooked.

 

[Jinks]

I like this in terms of pacing. So your first kill kind of leads into Act 2?

Basically. I will be attempting another method in my next project and that one will have a slower pace, but generally speaking I introduce the characters in Act 1 and start Act 2 with a death.

 

[StarsForScales]

I don't know if I'd call it a slow start, but, before the corpse turns up/the monster jumps out of the shadows, I like to at least have some idea of what sort of Normal this event is overturning. Who is the main character? What do they want, what is their life like? If I don't know who/what is being thrown into danger or chaos, it's harder to care whether they make it out the other side.

I do think there's a balance, though, where you want to at least hint at what is coming while you are doing your introduction/build-up. I'll risk using my own story as an example, even though I'm honestly not sure yet that I've pulled it off well enough. It takes a bit of time (twelve pages or so) for the MC to stumble across her colleague's body. But before that, she receives a phone message from him, in which he sounds not at all like his normal self. So there is already the suspicion that something isn't right. This suspicion colours the way we are introduced to her world - we see this extraterrestrial colony filtered through her worry that something could be wrong with it.

So my opinion (largely echoing others above) would be, take a little time if you need it to introduce your characters and world, but weave in hints or background murmurs of wrongness that remind us we are walking with the MC towards something horrible.

 

[Cyia]

Hi all! I need help. I am writing horror for the first time (historically I've written fantasy and thrillers), and I cannot nail the start. I started of jumping into the action, and then pulled back so that readers could get to know the characters first and have a chance to care about them, but now it feels way to slow to me. Add to this that I'm writing YA which I feel like usually likes things to happen more quickly. At what percent of the book do you usually introduce your first spooky element and/or does the first body drop?

As someone who's first YA novel was labelled "horror" (This was 10 years ago, and I didn't write it with horror in mind, but most people on the other end thought it had the right elements.), I can say that an action opening can work. At least that's how I opened mine. It can introduce the reader to the "monster" upfront, so they have a first-hand understanding of the danger / threat level.

Make it a close call, and then back-off the baddies for a bit to get the character work in. This way, the danger is always there, lurking off page. The reader knows what the enemy is capable of inflicting, and they're anticipating a rematch.

In my case, the first near death experience/anticipation of death started within the first 5 pages, and the confrontation with / escape from the creatures was the hook between chapter 1 and chapter 2. Mine was more sci-fi/post-apocalyptic, if that helps.

 

[Brandy]

I don't know if I'd call it a slow start, but, before the corpse turns up/the monster jumps out of the shadows, I like to at least have some idea of what sort of Normal this event is overturning. Who is the main character? What do they want, what is their life like? If I don't know who/what is being thrown into danger or chaos, it's harder to care whether they make it out the other side.

I do think there's a balance, though, where you want to at least hint at what is coming while you are doing your introduction/build-up. I'll risk using my own story as an example, even though I'm honestly not sure yet that I've pulled it off well enough. It takes a bit of time (twelve pages or so) for the MC to stumble across her colleague's body. But before that, she receives a phone message from him, in which he sounds not at all like his normal self. So there is already the suspicion that something isn't right. This suspicion colours the way we are introduced to her world - we see this extraterrestrial colony filtered through her worry that something could be wrong with it.

So my opinion (largely echoing others above) would be, take a little time if you need it to introduce your characters and world, but weave in hints or background murmurs of wrongness that remind us we are walking with the MC towards something horrible.

Thank you! Yes, the consensus seems to be to give a little hint or taste of the genre, let it simmer while we get to know the characters, and then overturn the world. Super helpful!!!

 

[DottieLK]

Hi all! I need help. I am writing horror for the first time (historically I've written fantasy and thrillers), and I cannot nail the start. I started of jumping into the action, and then pulled back so that readers could get to know the characters first and have a chance to care about them, but now it feels way to slow to me. Add to this that I'm writing YA which I feel like usually likes things to happen more quickly. At what percent of the book do you usually introduce your first spooky element and/or does the first body drop?

I like when books "get on with it" you know? But horror? No, definitely would want that beginning, who are you? Why should I care if you die or get possessed? It's always great to get used to someone's writing style and get to know the characters before something jumps out and eats them, at least a bit.
I also think it adds some suspense, at any moment something horrible is bound to happen. Everyone who is saying that the danger should be known/leaking into the early story has my full agreement.

 

[jayelmitchell]

I generally like stories that get ON with business, but horror can take longer to get established without me losing my interest. That being said, it probably also depends on the kind of horror you're going for. I think something like cosmic horror would need more of a slow build to really be able to get a grasp on just how frightening it can get. But if it's something more down to earth and easily understandable, like a killer on the loose or a popular creature like a vampire that doesn't need a great deal of in-story lore building for the reader to understand, then you can probably get by with jumping into some of the scares fairly early on.

 

[Jlombardi]

I think it really depends on the subgenre of horror. We are seeing a revival in gothic which is all about atmosphere and slowly building up to scary moments.

But I think creature features and murder based horror is shifting away from slow builds.

Historically slow builds were the norm but the Troop changed the game on that. The book opens with the sick man and builds up once the kids are introduce rapidly. Things are gross and freaky from the get go.

The last few books I read all had pretty splashy openings. With some keeping up the action throughout the plot and others having an explosive prologue and then switching to the slow build.

I think a slow build is now a trait of established authors but not necessarily debut.

I have seen horror fans on Reddit complain about how "everything has to be written like a Marvel move" now which tells me there is a market for old school slow burn horror.

My suggestion would be to read more recently published works in the genre. As I'm down to a horror novel every other month recently as my interests have shifted to dark fantasy. So I might be miss reading the market.

 

[Brandy]

Thank you all! I appreciate all the guidance, and I think I have a strategy to move forward.
This will be cosmic horror so I think the slow build will allow me to crank up the tension for characters that I will hopefully get the reader to love in the meantime. Thanks so much!!!

 

[Nether]

Horror doesn't need a slow start, but I prefer a slow start (and I tend to write slow starts). However, the cheap way around a slow start is to show anybody getting killed then flash to the main group, who either know the deceased or are heading to the same place. (And you could even work a character introduction into that opening, albeit a much briefer one where there are tidbits that make somebody care.)

You don't really need to introduce characters and set a mood to start a horror novel, though. If you have an apocalypse happening, you can start with the action then character-build when the survivors meet. Likewise, a classic set-up is the WUIR -- aka "wake up in room" -- where the action starts after a character has already been kidnapped.

None of my horror manuscripts have a first-chapter killing (although two fantasies do), although one involves a hallucination where kids are watching a puppet show and blood starts spurting from the puppets, landing on their faces while they continue to laugh. One of my manuscripts has a second-chapter murder (involving a person impaled on a walking stick), but that horror novel isn't particularly frightening -- it's more of an AHS-type thing where there's more drama than scares (although it primarily concerns ghosts, involves multiple grisly murders (often in detail).

 

[Frankie007]

my MG horror, that i plan to finish for NaNo ... the first bit of horror doesn't really happen until page 7. until then, everything seems innocent, yet odd, to show the MC's 'normal'.