Opinions About Horror Writers

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Red Barchetta

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Have you ever run into people who say things like:

1. How do you write (scary/sick/crazy) stuff like that?
2. If you write stuff like that, you must have a strange mind.
3. There must be something wrong with the way you think.
4. You're weird.

From what I've noticed over the years, some people just don't get it. Horror may not be a genre they like to read generally, so when reading something by someone they know, they may see it as strange material. They don't realize that many of us have read some stuff that's so much more horrifying than what we've done so far. But anyway, many people seem to think horror writers (King/Koontz/Saul, etc) are crazy people.

When people have said those things to me, I've replied with something like, "Well, a cop who spends his time going after criminals isn't necessarily a criminal himself," "A writer who writes about rape or murder isn't necessarily a rapist or a murderer, why would you think a horror writer is comparable to the villain in his story, or that he feels a relationship to the horrors in his story?" "Why would you think just because someone writes horror that they are horrifying people?" And I've asked: "Haven't you ever studied the works of H.P. Lovecraft or Edgar Allan Poe in a literature class?" I also mention that the main characters in a horror story, the good characters, often overcome amazing odds, and that they live through situations most people will never have to encounter, making them special and interesting to read and write about.

Obviously, these people are often not very well-read, or are somewhat outside the parameters of knowing about literature in general. But how would you reply to statements such as these?
 

Maryn

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No more than I get as an erotica writer:

Man, your husband is so lucky!
Wow, your sex life must be amazing.
You're totally kinky.
Want to have sex?

Only fools think what we write has much direct relation to who we are.

Maryn, shaking her head
 

itsmary

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I get those every now and then, but they don't really bother me. I usually just shrug it off or give some generic answer like "I like it." I've accepted the fact that some people will never understand it. Plus I think it gives me some added personality; most people are surprised because I don't "look" like the "typical" horror writer/fan.
 

kobold

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Responding to similar remarks throughout his career, Stephen King has more than once said (and I'm paraphrasing), 'We horror writers are the poor relations at the dinner table."

Semi-related: Someone once asked Hitchcock how he could show so much blood in his films.

Hitch (again, I'm paraphrasing): 'It isn't blood. It's red.'
 

C.bronco

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All fiction, including horror, is a study of human life. Horror delves into the physical, intellectual and spiritual aspects of our lives as much as any other genre.

I can cite so many horror works that address problems in the human experience, and the questions that arise from them.


The Shining made me think a lot about dealing with personal demons and the idea that even the villians can be sympathetic; I read that in middle school.


There is nothing wrong with a person who writes horror or any other genre, except for the lack of intellectual understanding it may incite from his peers.
 

ShaunHorton

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I find horror writers to be better grounded than others. Everyone has their dark side, no matter how deep they bury it. And many psychology professionals will tell you it's almost always better to get something out in the air as opposed to try and deny it and lock it into a box somewhere. :D
 

C.bronco

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My Dad read the first ten pages of my graphic novel, Capon Frank, and questioned my sanity. Of course, my first reaction was, "You've known me me entire life and are just figuring this out now?" However, I then explained that I get out my crazy on paper, and that is how I handle dealing with trying situations, that and watching Mel Brooks movies. Of course, the piece was humor, but I have written horror stories and the same rules apply.
 

itsmary

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My Dad read the first ten pages of my graphic novel, Capon Frank, and questioned my sanity. Of course, my first reaction was, "You've known me me entire life and are just figuring this out now?" However, I then explained that I get out my crazy on paper, and that is how I handle dealing with trying situations, that and watching Mel Brooks movies. Of course, the piece was humor, but I have written horror stories and the same rules apply.

Every time my love for horror comes up in conversation, my dad asks where he went wrong in raising me. :D
 

Red Barchetta

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All fiction, including horror, is a study of human life. Horror delves into the physical, intellectual and spiritual aspects of our lives as much as any other genre.

I can cite so many horror works that address problems in the human experience, and the questions that arise from them.


The Shining made me think a lot about dealing with personal demons and the idea that even the villains can be sympathetic; I read that in middle school.


There is nothing wrong with a person who writes horror or any other genre, except for the lack of intellectual understanding it may incite from his peers.

Very good replies. I'll have to add them to my list already mentioned above. Thanks.

Funny about these statements from people. I've found that they're generally the type that scare much too easily, and they stay clear of horror books, as if the demons will leap from the pages and bite them. Mmmmm ... now there's a thought.
 

Hoplite

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I've gotten similar responses from family members. I wrote one (just 1) dark fantasy short story, and family (mostly in-laws) were giving me sideways glances. And they don't mention that story to any of the elderly family members.
 

Red Barchetta

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I've gotten similar responses from family members. I wrote one (just 1) dark fantasy short story, and family (mostly in-laws) were giving me sideways glances. And they don't mention that story to any of the elderly family members.

When you're present anyway.
 

Rhoda Nightingale

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Very good replies. I'll have to add them to my list already mentioned above. Thanks.

Funny about these statements from people. I've found that they're generally the type that scare much too easily, and they stay clear of horror books, as if the demons will leap from the pages and bite them. Mmmmm ... now there's a thought.

The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You = My favorite trope in everything, ever.

I'm kinda okay with the "Your mind must be strange" thing, because, well, can't argue with the truth. I embraced "weird" as an important part of my identity when I was ten years old, and never looked back.

The thing that frustrates me about horror crits, or just people who don't like it, is the assumption that all horror is created equal. Like they hear "horror" and hear "slasher" or "haunted house" and that's, like, it. The genre is SO much more diverse and complex than that.

Everything else, I kinda brush off. That assumption is something I try to correct whenever I run into it.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Have you ever run into people who say things like:

1. How do you write (scary/sick/crazy) stuff like that?
2. If you write stuff like that, you must have a strange mind.
3. There must be something wrong with the way you think.
4. You're weird.

It may just be my experience, but I find these things to be pretty accurate for most writers I know, whether they write horror or not. I would reword three to read: There must be something very different with the way you think. I don't think any of them are insults.
 

quicklime

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agreeing with JAR; horror writers may get it a bit worse, because it goes from "where do you get all your ideas?" to "and seriously, WHY? Why write such freaky shit? Can't you just be nice, for Chrissakes?" but most of those questions just reflect on a general ignorance of writers. Folks who don't do it assume only freaks and nut-jobs and obnoxiously pretentious intellectuals do.....
 

Rhoda Nightingale

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I think romance/erotica writers get more flak than we do, honestly, but there is definitely a stigma.
 

Feidb

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I get more of a blatant bias from agents and publishers (but not the public) when I mention that I write icky bug. When I describe any of my stories, they automatically compare it with some movie, whether it's the same or not. They say the same about any short story I write.

I honestly believe there's an inherent prejudice/bias toward icky bug writers out there. They don't like us and they think all of us write the same B-movie.

Well, I happen to love those B-movies!

The thing is, they don't say a word when someone writes a mystery and it has the exact same plot as any Agatha Christie novel. They don't care if you write a thriller and it has the exact same plot as a Dan Brown novel. They don't even blink an eye when you write a western and it has the exact same heading them off at the pass as a Louis L'Amour oater. Why? Because it isn't icky bug.

Face it, we're the bastard children of writing (I hate to use the word literature, which brings up a whole new set of biases).

So, when I say I write icky bug, the first thing I get is an arched brow wondering what I'm talking about. When I explain that I'm talking about horror, they (publishers or agents) immediately compare whatever I tell them to a movie or something Stephen King did, and dismiss it right off. Case closed.

Once in a while, someone takes it at face value, especially when I do a serious pitch and they take a further more detailed look at it. However, go to Barnes & Noble and scour the shelves and tell me how many ick bug novels you see on the shelf? I scour them every time I go there and I don't find many.

Some authors get around it by calling their horror supernatural thrillers, or just plain thrillers. As long as you don't say horror, you have an even chance of getting away with it.

Once in a great while, a good icky bug (monster horror) novel pops up. Do they sell? I guess not that well, from what everyone seems to think. However, I can't be the only one that reads them. There have to be fans out there like me. Hell, SyFy does pretty good every Saturday night with the likes of Sharknado and some really bad(good) ones. Someone is out there liking this stuff!

I write icky bug, but with a sense of humor and often (but not always) in the spirit of the old B-movies from the 50's and 60's. The thing is, they're MY stories and not mere copies of what's already been done.

So, no, people don't think I'm twisted, perverse, sick, whatever. They see the twinkle in my eye and take it at face value. It's the powers that be that usually have all the prejudices.

Okay, I'm done.
 
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CharleeBeck

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Honestly, there is something "different" about my brain. I am autistic. It's one of the reasons I got so into developing my writing skill at such a young age (I was writing novel-length stories by the time I was about 11, and spent most of my teens studying the craft). Horror is an area I excel in because, due to the way my brain works, I can separate myself from the subjects I'm writing about and just be fascinated by them rather than actually affected by them. It also makes me a good erotica writer, because my own sexual tastes don't limit or cloud my writing.
 

RJenn

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It's fascinating - I do get a ton of these critiques, but it's mostly from family members or friends that I let read my work. People who know me well or are supposed to know me well. I wrote a screenplay called Shudder a few years back and before I sold it, I let my mom read it. I wish I took a picture of her face after she read it. Just horrified. But I've gotten to the point where I feel like I've failed if people aren't questioning my sanity after they read one of my horror pieces.
 
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Kitty27

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My brother is firmly convinced I am completely insane. He fully expects that when I hit it big to be paid for reading "your crazy ass mess" (his term for my stories)


I love horror,both watching,reading and writing. I was always creepy,lol. Monsters,Tales From The Crypt,and Tales From The Darkside were my faves. I still go into raptures about the original Howling werewolf transformation.

Horror is my fave always and I'm a horror writer for life.
 

Poet of Gore

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i say, "look, dude, you are kind of boring me and stuff, but, like, just don't look in my trunk. That's all. Can we just agree on this one thing? Super."
 
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