THE ICE PICK

Writing Horror, edited by Mort Castle. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1997. 224 p. ISBN 0-89879-798-5. $17.99.

As this book says, "A monster’s purpose in life shouldn’t be just to annoy people." Authors should have rules for his/her/its behavior, powers, motivations, love life, beliefs, etc.; just as they should know a human antagonist’s strengths, weaknesses, drives, and quirks.

Although you can obtain books which address the problems writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror all have in common, such books often treat horror as a poor cousin. Books of advice dedicated to writing horror alone are difficult to find, so this collection of thirty-nine articles and essays by members of the Horror Writers Association is a real treasure for horror writers.

Authors as diverse as Joyce Carol Oates, Harlan Ellison, Gary Brandner, J. N. Williamson, David Morrell, and Robert Weinberg are represented, plus an interview with Stephen King.

Covering all aspects of the genre from developing your ideas and avoiding what’s already been done to marketing and promoting your finished work, these different authors discuss crafting your plot, characters, mood, dialogue, style, setting, etc.

In addition to advice on short story and novel writing, juvenile and young adult horror, comics, erotic horror, and interactive horror are included, as well as an article by John Maclay on writing for horror theme anthologies.

The advice ranges from the philosophical to the practical. As a very small sampling:

"The biggest problem faced by new writers," says Robert Weinberg, "is not lack of skill," but lack of originality because too many read only Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or Anne Rice and then proceed to imitate their work. He gives a list of twenty-one books that every horror writer should read lest they end up using old dead plots and ideas.

Tracy Knight has an essay to help you get manias, phobias, and psychoses straight and tells you to remember in creating characters that "everyone is doing his or her best . . . people in general make the best choices they can at any moment."

"True action," says Jay R. Bonansinga, "can only be generated through character. . . . Don’t merely describe the blood and guts; describe the mind, what the pain and the fear feels like, the colors and textures. . . ."

Joyce Carol Oates advises that "the standards for horror fiction should be no less than those for ‘serious, literary’ fiction in which originality of concept, depth of characters and attentiveness to language are vitally important."

"Breaking into the horror field isn’t easy," says Robert Weinberg. "Even if you use every tip, every suggestion in this book, there is no guarantee you’ll make it." But you knew that.

If you are serious about writing horror, particularly if you are a beginner, this book is an excellent place to start. I recommend it highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Aug. 2002.}