Wow, we have two amazing interviews coming up. Today, we have Courtney Alameda, author of the amazing Shutter, and on the 10th, we'll have the fab Mackenzi Lee, of the soon-to-release This Monstrous Thing! Between the two of them, we're covering the great old ones of horror from Frankenstein to Dracula. Courtney Alameda is back with Trigger, a short story in the Shutter-verse, which you can find at Tor.com (the story will go live at 9 AM EST). Courtney's debut blew my mind into all sorts of pieces, large and small, and she was kind enough to answer a hai[...]
Category
Writing Horror
7 Research. A necessary evil in the writing world, yes. Although all writers do research for the same reason--to better the story--there are a few different ways this can be done. For example, if I were to write a book about mythology, I would absolutely have to research so that my facts were correct. That I was writing a story with the correct information. Now, I don't write the type of stories where I need to do a lot of fact checking. But I do research. When I'm writing a horror story, I immerse myself in the world of fright. For my first novel (a NA psychologi[...]
The Scream by Edvard Munch I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to write YA horror. I suppose a lot of fiction that I like is horror but maybe not in the typical ways. I love Gothics of all kinds and am reading a book by Carol Goodman right now. In some places, it’s pretty horrific. People die. There’s constant tension over a really nasty villain. Even some of the good people are willing to kill over their beliefs. But I don’t think many readers consider The Blythewood series horror, but it’s very dark, dark in all the right places. So, I did so[...]
I've been working (not as quickly as I'd like) on my second installment of short stories. Titled Tragic Tales of Strange Girls, Volume 2, the stories are about exactly what you'd think: unhappy stories with odd female characters. I write horror, but less blood and guts and more pretty, unsettling creepiness. Okay, who am I kidding... there is a nice amount of blood and guts, too. But, with this first song in particular, you may listen and scratch your head like "Um, how is this supposed to sound scary?" As the lyrics suggest, I'm writing a character who is in the[...]
I never set out to write a New Adult story. What I did set out to write was your good old fashion YA horror, one that I've submitted into many contests and to many agents. It was during one of these contests that I had my first "ah-ha" moment when an author came to me and said that my story really fit better in the New Adult category. The second eye opening moment came from an agent I had queried. Needless to say, she was sending me a rejection but noted that really my story was not meant to be labeled as young adult. New Adult Since I had these two experiences,[...]
When it comes to writing horror, there are certain advantages to setting your story in winter. If you live in the North, it is a season marked by peril. You make decisions simply on whether or not they may cause you to freeze to death, your water pipes to burst, or your cupboard to run out of back-up food. In addition to a mental state of bravery, it is a time marked by warmth, magic, and fresh starts. I made this infographic on Picktochart to organize my thinking. I focused on clothing, holidays, and causes of death that are a part of winter (or could be). May[...]
We all know of Scrooge from Dickens' ghost story, A Christmas Carol, but how many of you have actually read it? If nothing, you've heard it retold, but I want you to write like Scrooge, not a scrooge. A scrooge is stingy. He sits on piles of wealth, but exercises thrift in handing it out, even when he knows the dire circumstances of those around him. In the story, even Scrooge lives a modest life in spite of his wealth. He doesn't live like Scrooge McDuck. At all. Unlike the retellings, Scrooge has depth. There are clear reasons why he's afraid to invest in pe[...]
People brought the freak with October’s Top Scare Flash Fiction contest. Bravo to all participants. Here are a few of my favorite lines: Gina When I turned around I saw a pumpkin in front of my feet with the words “You’re Next” carved into its orange skin and the outline of a shadowy figure walking towards me. Alice “Pumpkin stew is best with young meat,” the third said as she pinched Jake’s arm. Joe Tatman As I sit on the ground in the cornfield with my knees drawn up to my chin and listening to the breeze whispering through the corn, I wonde[...]
Today I am proud. So proud. Over a year ago I had an idea. I love horror and I love carnivals. I said to Kristen, the co-founder of my other blog Pen and Muse, "What if we did a writing showcase? One that involves a Dark Carnival?" We ran with the idea and to my shock and awe, we met our sign-up goal of ten people. And the list kept growing. In fact, almost one hundred different authors and illustrators signed up. I was shocked. I was elated. I was longing for the dark and creepy things to crawl out of their minds. Each person had to pick one ride or event at[...]