What elements of horror frighten you?

[terrance_B]

Hello everyone. My name is Terrance Bezar, a writer/author with four books in the publishing process (yes, I've been very busy) . Since I write tales of horror, I wanted to ask a question as indicated by the subject line...What elements of horror frighten you?

1. Is it being at home during a thunderstorm...alone with the lights flickering?

2. Is it the fear that you are being watched, but when you turn and look...no one is there?

3. Is it the fear your spouse is having an affair?

4. Could it be you are afraid of snakes, spiders, or other crawly things?

5. Do you harbor fear of tight, cramped spaces that makes breathing difficult?

6. Is it the fear of the unknown, something lurking around a dark corner and breathing heavily?

These are elements of horror I intergrate into my writing (s) to give my reader(s) the feel of true horror, for there are many types of horrors and many of them are things that don't "go bump in the dark."

Any comments will be deeply appreciated.

Terrance Bezar

www.ryze.com/go/bezar69

[KRUGERKID13]

yeah what he said

[fluffho]

if im too scared to watch a horror movie i will turn off the volume. that helps a lot

but ur writing books or whatever so im not sure that helps.

but that thing about people looking at u but noone is there scares me. i thuoght someone was poking around at the shoewr curtain when i was howering and i got scard. but then i forgot i put the fan in cuz i had jujst painted and wanted ventilatoin.

damn im smooth

[Hate_Breeder]

Number 2 sometimes, Loud Shit, trippy noises(TCM for example), and stuff that looks so real its crazy.

[Egekrusher]

2. Is it the fear that you are being watched, but when you turn and look...no one is there?

That is one of the biggest factors, yes. I'm scared of the dark, and when I'm alone late at night, I always feel as if I'm being stalked by something. I feel like I'm going crazy sometimes.

6. Is it the fear of the unknown, something lurking around a dark corner and breathing heavily?

Same thing on this one.

[Je Suis Phnomne]

Im afraid of midgets.... hairy lil wee people.

[lucky18234]

i would have to say all of the above

[movieman64]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by terrance_B
[B]Hello everyone. My name is Terrance Bezar, a writer/author with four books in the publishing process (yes, I've been very busy) . Since I write tales of horror, I wanted to ask a question as indicated by the subject line...What elements of horror frighten

6. Is it the fear of the unknown, something lurking around a dark corner and breathing heavily?

and heights

[Freddy Krueger.]

Michael Jackson naked. True Horror.

[lucky18234]

if friday13thfan or massacre man come they should be the ones truly afraid of him cause they are boys

[Vodstok]

Elements that i find work pretty well in my own writing:

1. Fear of the unknown. Revealing tiny bits of information at a time lets the reader develope their own picture of what is coming, often which is far worse than you can describe.

2. Hopelessness. I use this one a lot. In Gloom and Father Dillon's Funeral (hell, even Bearwood, come to think of it), there are parts where the characters are compeltely stuck, with no obvious way out. I am rather proud of the ending of Father Dillon's Funeral. Very Dark :)

Unexpected things can also be very effective. I always refer to loud noises as "Boo!" scares. They are a cheap (but effective) trick that pretty much all horror uses at some point. Anyone remember the scene in Aliens where there is a liong build-up of suspense hearing the motion tracker pinging, the team with Hicks, Drake, Ripley, Gorman, burke and Frost all floow it into the hall, the guys get ready and then BAM! There is a burst of motion, and Hicks sprays off a bunch of rounds from his gun. 2 seconds later, you realise it's Newt, but up until then, and when the noise hits you, it scares the piss out of you.

Another, slightly different version of this is the face in the Exorcist. usually the things that pop up and scare you are noises, but the face that they slip in for a a frame is downright frightening, and it pops out of nowhere. It is probably one of the most effective horror tricks ever used, because most of us arent even aware we saw it the first time, but it is deeply unsettling.

[lucky18234]

i am afraid of jello it is food that moves

[friday13thfan]

when it happens in real life like the 9/11 aattack.. that was trrue horror to me:(

[Egekrusher]

I think a lot of people are missing the point of the question. He is asking which among the common elements of horror movies really scares us the most. He is trying to figure out exactly what to put into his story.

[Vodstok]

I think i offered up some constructive info with my 1 and 2. the rest was commentary, because i love hearing myself talk and reading myself write (:confused: )

[Gravegirl666]

the thought of celeine dion (sp?) making a new cd ,scares me..... and turning off a light and when you leave the house and as you leave see it come back on....

[Vodstok]

We have a lamp that refuses to turn off properly. the first time we realised we had a problem with it, we had just finished watching the Ring, and were talking about it in bed, and then the light in the living room turned on all by itself. it took me a full minute to pull myself out of bed to go check on it....

[Gravegirl666]

i would have broken that lamp....

[Egekrusher]

Jesus, I would have wet myself. I had a hard enough time driving home after watching that movie... at 2am. Alone. On back roads.

[lucky18234]

i saw a really creapy spider just now

[Hate_Breeder]

Originally posted by lucky18234
i saw a really creapy spider just now

bum deal

[Vodstok]

Yes, but it was frightened of the dark and took steps.... :rolleyes: :)

I dont believe plagerism was his goal, he was just asking for suggestions/comments. Innocent research, i would say.

[Stingy Jack]

I completely agree with Vod about the "Hopelessness" element. I think this is the main reason why The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is so great. No movie does hopelessness better than this.

The only element in the list that frightens me is "fear of the unknown". The monsters (or whatever frightening thing it is) in a film are always scarier when you don't see it. But, as soon as you see it, you can deal with it right away (and it never lives up to your expectations.)

The claustrophobia element is good ... but I think that goes hand-in-hand with hopelessness.

I was also going to add "oppressiveness" and "relentlessness", but those go right along with hopelessness too.

[Vodstok]

Letting the viewer/reader guess, this is why Alien and Aliens are classic, and Alien Ressurection is a huge pile of rat droppings... Okay, one of many reasons....

Ive said it before, and I will say it again (regarding Ressurection)

Fuck you Joss Whedon. Fuck you hard in the ear. Stick with Buffy, you seemt o understand teenage girls better than you do good horror (or writing,m for that matter) anyway.

[Egekrusher]

Originally posted by WUF0NGTAN
in other words he wants plagiarise others here? what a talent *rollseyes*
but anyway. once when i was walking home from school. and i was eating a cookie and the cookie monster saw it. and started to chase me!so i ran! and i saw this house! so iwent in it! but there was a ghost in it! and it chased me too! but it was ok! cause it was a friendly ghost! and it wanted to be my friend! so isaid yes! but after a while ! i said i dont wanna be ur friend! cause when he was no good at playing catch! he couldn't catch it! cause when he went to catch it! the ball would go right through him! so isaid i dont wanna be ur friend no more mister friendly ghost. and he cried! and got mad! and wanted to fight me! so i got my cookie! and hide it in his pocket! and went out side! and told the cookie monster that the ghost had the cookie! so the cookie monster went inside! and fought the ghost! i dont know who won! cause i went home

This was not an attempt to plaigerize (sp?). He wasn't even asking for specific examples. He was just asking what general elements of horror scare you the most.

[lucky18234]

ok....