Horror Writers - by Kainja on 23:53 18 Mar 2005
I suppose all genres of literature are troubled by myths. You know, those pesky facts that everyone knows are true but which...aren’t. Let’s see: literary writers are pretentious wannabes, SF/fantasy writers are adolescents in adult bodies, poets are just plain insane, and romance writers...well they just aren’t getting enough! But some of the worst myths are told-—and believed—-about horror writers. Since I write horror, and I know a few dozen other horror writers, let me address some of the myths about my chosen field. Just ignore that nagging voice in your head that suggests that I might be biased. Nothing could be further from the truth. I assure you.
MYTH 1: People who write horror were abused as children. As I said, I know lots of horror writers. I don’t personally know one who was abused as a child. In fact, most of them had happy childhoods, or at least childhoods that were no different from those of many others around them. My father died when I was 13 and that was hard on me. But I always knew that I was loved by my parents and my upbringing was basically happy.
I do know that a very famous writer, Dean Koontz, who is generally known for his horror fiction even though much of what he writes isn’t horror, has talked freely of the trauma of growing up with an alcoholic and sociopathic father. But even he wasn’t sexually or physically abused. He was a victim of psychological abuse, which I certainly don’t mean to minimize. But most horror writers don’t have such backgrounds. They are, strange as it may seem, normal.
MYTH 2: People who write horror are weird. Now I’ll admit, most of the horror writers I know have somewhat twisted senses of humor, and they may keep things around their workspaces that most people wouldn’t tolerate, such as the skulls (fake for the most part) that I keep in my office at home. But I’ve always found that horror writers are the friendliest and most approachable people you can meet at a writer’s conference. Every horror writer I know except for one is married. Most have children who are well adjusted. Most also have other jobs and they do well in those jobs. They have friends. They’re not any weirder than anyone else. (After all, we all know that it’s the “quiet” ones you have to watch, and horror writers aren’t usually quiet.)
MYTH 3: Horror writers write their own fears out on paper. Now this is only a partially a myth really, but it’s certainly not completely true. One time after I’d finished telling some family members about a story I’d written, my mother-in-law asked me how I could stand to write about such things. She said she’d be so scared to write about ghosts, or demons, or evil aliens, or monsters. She’d be scared they’d come after her. And I told her, ”well I can write about them because I don’t believe in them. If I believed in them I might be too scared to write about them myself.” She was extremely shocked.
I don’t think that most people who write horror fiction actually believe in the vampires and werewolves and ghosts that they write about. They are having fun with the concept. Those monsters don’t scare them.
But, I said the myth was only partially false. Let me clarify something. When I say I don’t believe in monsters and ghosts, that doesn’t mean I couldn’t be scared by the thought of such things under certain circumstances. I mean, I’m probably as scared as anyone else in a haunted house, because I can imagine the ghosts even if I don’t, in my rational moments, believe in them.
And, at least for me, when I’m writing a horror story, while I’m caught up in telling the tale, I do believe. Right now I’ll sit here and tell you that I don’t believe in ghosts. But if I’m writing a ghost story and I’m alone, and it’s storming outside, and I hear a strange noise that I’ve never heard in the house before, I am scared. Because I’ve worked myself into that state just through the exercise of imagination.
Now, there is one last “myth” about horror writers that is true, and I’ll let you in on the secret. But keep it just between us. You know the saying, that horror writers make better lovers. Believe me, that one is fact. I swear on the Necronomicon.
I suppose all genres of literature are troubled by myths. You know, those pesky facts that everyone knows are true but which...aren’t. Let’s see: literary writers are pretentious wannabes, SF/fantasy writers are adolescents in adult bodies, poets are just plain insane, and romance writers...well they just aren’t getting enough! But some of the worst myths are told-—and believed—-about horror writers. Since I write horror, and I know a few dozen other horror writers, let me address some of the myths about my chosen field. Just ignore that nagging voice in your head that suggests that I might be biased. Nothing could be further from the truth. I assure you.
MYTH 1: People who write horror were abused as children. As I said, I know lots of horror writers. I don’t personally know one who was abused as a child. In fact, most of them had happy childhoods, or at least childhoods that were no different from those of many others around them. My father died when I was 13 and that was hard on me. But I always knew that I was loved by my parents and my upbringing was basically happy.
I do know that a very famous writer, Dean Koontz, who is generally known for his horror fiction even though much of what he writes isn’t horror, has talked freely of the trauma of growing up with an alcoholic and sociopathic father. But even he wasn’t sexually or physically abused. He was a victim of psychological abuse, which I certainly don’t mean to minimize. But most horror writers don’t have such backgrounds. They are, strange as it may seem, normal.
MYTH 2: People who write horror are weird. Now I’ll admit, most of the horror writers I know have somewhat twisted senses of humor, and they may keep things around their workspaces that most people wouldn’t tolerate, such as the skulls (fake for the most part) that I keep in my office at home. But I’ve always found that horror writers are the friendliest and most approachable people you can meet at a writer’s conference. Every horror writer I know except for one is married. Most have children who are well adjusted. Most also have other jobs and they do well in those jobs. They have friends. They’re not any weirder than anyone else. (After all, we all know that it’s the “quiet” ones you have to watch, and horror writers aren’t usually quiet.)
MYTH 3: Horror writers write their own fears out on paper. Now this is only a partially a myth really, but it’s certainly not completely true. One time after I’d finished telling some family members about a story I’d written, my mother-in-law asked me how I could stand to write about such things. She said she’d be so scared to write about ghosts, or demons, or evil aliens, or monsters. She’d be scared they’d come after her. And I told her, ”well I can write about them because I don’t believe in them. If I believed in them I might be too scared to write about them myself.” She was extremely shocked.
I don’t think that most people who write horror fiction actually believe in the vampires and werewolves and ghosts that they write about. They are having fun with the concept. Those monsters don’t scare them.
But, I said the myth was only partially false. Let me clarify something. When I say I don’t believe in monsters and ghosts, that doesn’t mean I couldn’t be scared by the thought of such things under certain circumstances. I mean, I’m probably as scared as anyone else in a haunted house, because I can imagine the ghosts even if I don’t, in my rational moments, believe in them.
And, at least for me, when I’m writing a horror story, while I’m caught up in telling the tale, I do believe. Right now I’ll sit here and tell you that I don’t believe in ghosts. But if I’m writing a ghost story and I’m alone, and it’s storming outside, and I hear a strange noise that I’ve never heard in the house before, I am scared. Because I’ve worked myself into that state just through the exercise of imagination.
Now, there is one last “myth” about horror writers that is true, and I’ll let you in on the secret. But keep it just between us. You know the saying, that horror writers make better lovers. Believe me, that one is fact. I swear on the Necronomicon.
Horror Writers - by Brad on 15:52 19 Mar 2005
LOL! Very good Kainja. Yeah I don't think the horror writers are any weirder than any other writer. If it is weird, it's a good kind of weirdness that comes from creativity.
LOL! Very good Kainja. Yeah I don't think the horror writers are any weirder than any other writer. If it is weird, it's a good kind of weirdness that comes from creativity.