Do You Like Mystery in Your Horror?

‘Salem’s Lot: Illustrated Edition (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do You Like Mystery Involved with Your Horror?

Traci Kenworth

 

In the horror stories you read, do you like a bit of mystery involved with who/what the monster/evil etc. is? Or do you like to know up front what’s involved (vampires, werewolves, clowns) so you can dig into who the characters are and what is going to happen to them instead? In other words, do you like what the gooey blob is to remain hidden until the climax, or would you prefer to know it’s something that escaped from a science experiment and how that experiment came about? I actually like both types, but I’m working on the mystery part with something I’m kicking around in the developmental stages right now.

There’s a story to be had in either case, whether you pick the traditional vampires (Salem’s Lot by Stephen King) or the mystery (The Heart-shaped Box by Joe Hill). Both are haunting but I read in a recent interview with Joe Hill (Yes, I know he’s Stephen King’s son) that the best “monster” in horror would be Jaws because the shark isn’t onscreen (or on the page) much. Twelve minutes total in the first movie’s version but each time it IS there, it’s terrifying. He also went on to say that we’re more afraid of something we’re not familiar with (exposed to constantly), and I think that’s true as well.

Look at the vampire. It’s become a bit less intimidating with all the recent press it’s gotten (Twilight). Werewolves, are in the same boat. Zombies are the current craze and I wonder if they’ll falter as well. Perhaps that’s why they pull in human “evil” as well on Walking Dead, so it’s not the creatures we shudder at all the time. So, I’m trying to leave my own monsters off the page as much as possible in my own stories. I want the reader to be conscious of them sure, but not pummeled by them. That way, when I do cut them loose on the pages, they can spill blood all over them. So what do you think? Would you like to see more of, or less of, the monster/evil/monstrosity you’re reading about?

Heart-Shaped Box (Photo credit: sweet mustache)

 

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The Helpless Hero or Heroine…

Magazine cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just a quick note about
more changes to my blog. Since I made the last ones in January as I mentioned
then, I was going to do some thinking on the state of things here. I love
blogging, I do but I’ve come to realize it subtracts from the time I have for
my stories and that’s not good. So, I’m going to cut back to blogging once a
week on Tuesdays and try to do topics that may interest readers as well as
writers. Most of the focus will still be on horror, so I hope that you’ll stop
in. It has been such a wonderful experience getting to know you all. I just
feel if I want to become a published writer, I need to concentrate on getting
my work out there.

 

The Clueless Hero or Heroine

Traci Kenworth

 

How many of you dislike the hapless hero or heroine
in horror stories? I know the clichés have been turned inside out many times
with different films but personally, I like my characters to have a bit more
smarts. Isn’t that what it takes to defeat evil, after all? Oh, yes, courage is
a definite plus when it comes to things that go bump in the night, but the
survivor/s usually have to figure out a way to get out of whatever they’ve
dropped into, unless it’s, of course, a changed world where they have to
recognize a path to take that will either save or end them. Every corner has
its openings, we just have to look for them and sometimes risk all.

Granted, not everyone is a fighter. There are just
those who will not defend themselves. Often, another character will fight for
them and try to keep them alive. I like to think, eventually that person will
see that they’re worth defending and begin the change necessary to make it in
the new world/situation at hand. Maybe, over the course of the tale, they’ll
even become heroic themselves. Most horror has characters that often don’t
really change at all. I find this boring and sad. Each of us would react to
things in a different way. Some who may have been lost in life, might find a
purpose. Others, will rocket toward destruction. These different types are what
make life up and exploring them is what I like to focus on in my own work: the
overcomer. Rather than fleeing from terror, they reach a point where they make
a stand. Because they have to, if only to go on.

So, for you readers out there, what do you
like/dislike about the characters in horror stories/films/etc.? What type of
personalities would you like to see more of?

And writers: do you strive to make your characters
stand out? “Breathe” on the pages? Or do you settle for the usual horror
formula?

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Mixing What You Know with Something You Don’t

 

Mixing What You Know with Something You Don’t

Traci Kenworth

 

In writing horror, we sometimes mix something we know with something we don’t. For instance, we pick a town, any town (or city), and set some monstrosity upon it. This has happened since writers first took up ink pens. Stephen King knows Maine. I’m assuming, he doesn’t know any vampires (Salem’s Lot), girls with supernatural powers (Carrie and Firestarter), or evil clowns (although, okay, It’s representative could walk into our lives via a circus or carnival), but here’s the heart-and-soul of the matter: he makes us believe that he does. How? By convincing the reader of the authenticity of the character/horror in question.

This is what we want to do with our own stories. We want to make our creatures/the evil our characters are facing: plausible according to the rules of the story world we write in. The cast around them has to be both drawn to/and repelled by the monster. So we make them something we could see ourselves encountering: death of a beloved pet, our favorite writer, or an isolated hotel in winter. The normal meets the unnatural and things are never the same again. In horror, these possibilities overlap forever. Sometimes, it’s wanting to see a dead body to get a look at the thing that took your older brother away or discovering someone you thought you knew, you didn’t at all.

So take something real that you know (relationships, grief, high school) and send it on a tailspin with zombies, skin-walkers, etc. All it takes is a new twist on the old, telling your story your way. Happy writing.

Mixing 3 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Traditional versus New

 

The Traditional Versus the New

Traci Kenworth

 

Which do you prefer: traditional monsters or something brand new? I like both. Traditional are often easier to work with because the rules of their world have already been established. However, what we’ve never seen before is eye-popping. When it comes to traditional, adding your own spin helps: every zombie movie or book is different from one another in some small way, likewise for every monster/creature under the sun. Oh, and let’s not forget those that only come out a dark. Creating something new often takes many brainstorming sessions. I imagine it like a scientist in his/her lab determined to push the boundaries on the species. The results could be deadly.

So, what gets your heart pumping? The flash of fangs from the shadows? A gnarled hand snaking out to grab you as you open the front door to see why all the neighbors have gathered on your lawn and insist on joining you for dinner or perhaps you are the food? That old, haunted house? The green slime slithering across your basement? Reports that a disease developed for warfare has escaped its confines? Let’s open the comments to all.

 

 

 

Monsters! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Building on What’s Come Before

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Building on What’s Come Before

 

Traci Kenworth

 

 

 

As a writer, I always want to build on what’s come before. I want to pull something new out of the hat when it comes to Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and Dracula. Otherwise, it’ll bore the reader. No two vampires are alike in the book world. Take for example: Stephanie Meyer’s sparkly/vegetarian Cullens versus Stephen King’s predatory lot. Love them or hate them, each author took the myth and made it unique to their stories. That’s what we need to do in our own. Create some aspect/twist to the monster that will thrill/awe/or send chills down reader’s backs.

 

To do so, we have to know the history of the creature we’ve decided on. There are so many tales about the three creatures above. Read wide and deep so you know what’s been done then compare that to where you want to take your audience. Do you want to focus on the vampire’s point-of-view or your human’s? We’ve seen vampire/human offspring (Blade) and we’ve witnessed Buffy’s (the Vampire Slayer) life. Each character brings something unique to the mix. It’s those differences that make them more compelling to the reader.

 

So whether we follow a whole town’s/country’s story or just one individual, the trick is to make the tale something new. Even if it’s just the mechanics of how the creature came about, what they eat, how they produce new ones, it’s up to us to dig deep into myth and scramble it about until we have the guts of our story. If we don’t know what’s come before, we risk producing something similar. Happy writing.

 

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Scary…to me

Combat Gear (Photo credit: John Starfire)

Scary…to Me

Traci Kenworth

 

I considered many ways to write this blog but I couldn’t quite pinpoint what I wanted to say. We can define horror in many ways: evil, savage, beastly, to name a few. The fact of the matter is, the types are endless. When I write scary stories, it’s not to invite anyone over to the dark side, or gross someone out so that they lose their lunch. I’m interested in what scares you and me and finding a way to combat those fears. I can think of a lot in this world that terrifies me: the loss of freedom, safety, and loved ones. I’m horrified at some of the real life events that happen. In my stories, I want the reader to find hope, a reason to go on when everything is numb, and quite simply, when there are no words.

My heroes and heroines aren’t perfect. They have flaws just like you and me. They love, hate, and sometimes struggle to forgive. Life is difficult for us and fictional characters. I wish that weren’t true in our case but I’m glad it is in theirs because it forces our story people to come up higher. They find the strength, hope, and courage. With everything in them, they fight to save those they love. Sometimes they have to learn to let go too. Bitterness, anger, hatred, these can crush a person. It’s only when they overcome this darkness the light shines into the cave for them and all the bats rush outside. So, I suppose you could say, I like to bring my characters back from the brink of death, just to show them, it’s possible.

Over and over, we hear that those that do something horrible showed few signs of what they were capable of here on this Earth. In fiction, I sometimes smudge those gray areas as well. Villains love their wives, pets, even their dolls. They seem like us and yet, there is a pocket of pure evil within them that we can’t begin to understand. It forces us to confront them, ourselves, in an attempt to blot them from existence. We don’t want to see the cannibal living among us, the abuser, or the monster in the shadows. Somehow, we think if we don’t look, they aren’t there. Horror fiction to me, exposes that under seam of life, that certain nasty we want to ignore. It drives the protagonist to stab that vampire through the heart with a stake. Perhaps this same protagonist is attempting to atone for what he is himself: a bystander who takes no action against a savage act, until someone he cares about is harmed.

I don’t want to get all morally superior here and determine what is and isn’t good horror. There is certainly material out there that I find as objectionable as the next. But this is about what I write and why. Sometimes it’s because I’ve been the one in hiding, running for my life. Others, it’s because I want to show to that young girl or boy or even older reader, there is a future, a bright one, and you can triumph over evil. It’s not easy. But someday, someone will take your hand and lead you into the daylight. That’s why I write scary. So that, by doing so, I can shatter the demons around us.

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Beginnings…

English: Cain and Abel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Beginnings

 

Traci Kenworth

 

 

 

From a Biblical standpoint, horror entered existence with the story of Cain and Abel. Two brothers. No inherent conflict hinted at until—both made offerings to God. Abel’s was accepted and found good, Cain’s lacking. Why? Because Cain didn’t put his best effort into it. He held back. I imagine he did this with a lot of things in his life. Being secretive doesn’t just happen one day, it’s part of a person’s character. Can’t you just see Cain skulking around, upset that his parent’s paid more attention to his younger brother than him? Jealousy can run rampant and well, violence erupts. No one envisioned that one day Cain would slay his brother but the roots had to have been there since Day One of Abel’s birth. Perhaps Eve noticed this when the two siblings played some game, or Adam when he taught them each the job they would undertake (Abel—farming the land, Cain—taking care of the livestock).

 

You can be sure that tempting Eve in the garden with the fruit from The Tree of Life wasn’t the last time Lucifer entered the family’s lives. Can’t you just see him there, hiding, playing on Cain’s fears that Abel would take everything that he loved away? Pushing him, prodding him, planting the seed that would cause him to one day murder his brother? Evil lies in wait for good. It always has. That I think sums up why the genre is both appealing to its readers and repulsive to others. Those who are drawn to it want to confront this darkness in whatever form it comes in (clowns, terminators, corpses, etc.) and destroy it. We want to see The Mummy blown back into the tomb it came from, the silver bullet take down the fearsome werewolf, and the little girl freed from the devil’s possession. It’s a sense of closure for us, to know that the good guy/girl does win in the end which doesn’t always happen in real life.

 

Since the dawn of time, many people have sat around campfires telling stories. About ghosts. Monsters. Hitchhikers. We listen with bated breath because we’re all looking for a way to protect ourselves, to shine a light down into the pit to expose the evil that lies in wait. It’s about survival. Some of us are looking for a way to beat back the zombie apocalypse. Every country, every group of persons, every religion has its beliefs. To me, horror isn’t about fanning the flames and showcasing the grotesque. It’s about standing together when things go south, having a goal in common, and when everything’s said and done, killing the virus before it becomes airborne.

 

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The Future of Book Reviews on This Blog

The Vault of Horror (book) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

The Future of Book Reviews on This Blog

 

Traci Kenworth

 

 

 

For some time I’ve been thinking about these book reviews and whether they take the blog in the direction I want it to go. I’ve decided that they don’t. This doesn’t mean I’m giving up on reading books or the vast genres out there. It simply means, I won’t be reviewing them on here any longer. When I cut my blog down to two posts every other week, I struggled with what to post about. I love books, but I’m not so sure I’m personally a good book reviewer. Usually, what I end up doing is giving an outline of a book, my impressions/opinion, and then leave the rest up to the reader as to whether to look into that particular book or not. I know there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just, I feel that a review should be something more perhaps. And honestly, I have a hard time doing one for a less-than-stellar book. I feel bad for the author, as a writer I’ve been there, made those mistakes. I always look for the good in books, just like I do people. I don’t want someone to pick up a book I’ve reviewed and think, “Wow. She was way off,” or worse, that I lied.

 

So, deciding all this left me in a quandary. Until last night when I figured out just what I want to do. Attract future readers to my site. I know, every writer’s goal. I had to step back and think, what do I write, who is my audience, how can I invite others to take a peek (and hopefully, stay). As you can see from my “About” page, I write Young Adult Supernatural Horror. In there, I also said that I wanted to shine “a light in the darkness” for my readers. Now, I don’t want you to think I’m going to post preachy sermons or anything. What I am going to do is explore horror. Where it came from, how it started, different stories including classics and biblical history, all the spectrums of what it is, how it affects us, why we’re drawn to it.

 

Thus, I’m hoping to open up conversations with all of you on how you feel about it and the topics at hand. I’ll probably even visit movie-land’s depictions of it. I’m excited about this adventure. After all, my stories are about “more than a good scare.” They’re about hope, friendship, love, and beating “the devil.” I hope you’ll come along for the new posts starting in two weeks. Until then, take care.

 

 

 

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Sprung Cover Reveal

 

 

Book Synopsis:

 

Since she discovered magic, seventeen-year-old Skye Jackson’s life is almost perfect. Almost. Even perfect has its glitches. 

What happens when the one with all the power makes the biggest mistakes? Welcome to my life.

Four months ago, I couldn’t have been happier. When my parents got divorced, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Especially when Mom married a guy half her age. But then I found out I wasn’t the average Joana. Discovering magic existed and, best of all, I could use it, made everything easier to deal with. That is until I got a little too spell happy. But what girl wouldn’t defend her best friend against a world-class creep? Now I’m stuck in a nightmare, forced to make life and death decisions I never dreamed I’d face.

 

Love the magic, hate the responsibility

 

*************

 

Book Trailer Embed Code:

 

 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16171498-sprung

Website: http://www.kelbian.com

Twitter: @KELBIAN_NOEL

 

 

About the author:

Kelbian is the author of Elemental and a blogger at Diverse Pages. She lives in Toronto, Ontario with her two children.

 

Cover Design by Parajunkee Design: parajunkee.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Craft Book

How to Understand & Negotiate a Book Contract or Magazine Agreement by Richard Balkin

Traci Kenworth

 

Writer’s Basic Bookshelf        Writer’s Digest Books                        1985

I happened across this find at a library book sale (yes, MANY good books turn up there. Lol.). Although I had to contend with notes handwritten by the previous book’s owner, I still found this craft book valuable particularly in the query waters I’ll soon be entering. Richard Balkin discusses all the fine points of a book and magazine contract and what to watch for and when to compromise. There’s even a section on agents versus lawyers as representation.

I’m sure today’s contracts may vary from this but I think it’s a good basis as to what to expect when it comes to legalities. He also covers both trade book and specialty publishers. For someone who doesn’t know the first thing about contracts, I feel better informed now that I’ve read this book. I will feel more comfortable as well when I take his advice and tell the publisher, “I want to think that point over and get back to you on that.” Better to wait until you’re sure on a point than making a deal that’s not in your best interest.

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