Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

NaNoWriMo 2019: Week One Progress Report

Posted: November 7, 2019 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Hello, Followers of Fear! It’s been an entire week since I last posted. Did you miss me?

As many of you know, this year I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, this year. For those of you who are unaware, the goal of NaNoWriMo is to write a fifty thousand word novel in thirty days, or about 1,667 words a day. There’s no prize for actually making the goal (and it’s doubtful the resulting novel will be any good, as it’s a first draft), but it’s a good way to see what you’re capable of and push yourself. At least, that’s how I look at it.

So this year’s project is called Toyland, and as you may remember, it’s a Gothic horror novel about a boarding school terrorized by a ghost obsessed with a children’s book. This is my first Gothic horror story, as well as my second time participating in NaNoWriMo. How’s it going so far? Well, as of last night, I’m a little over eleven-thousand words in over three-and-a-half chapters. Over a fifth of the way there!

That’s my update. See you later.

Just kidding. I have more I want to discuss.

I have to say, it was a good idea to take some time off from the office to work on this novel. I’ve had a lot more time to write, which means I was able to get through three chapters in just under a week. It might’ve taken a month to get the same amount of progress if I didn’t take time off work and just wrote in the evenings. If I do NaNoWriMo again next year, I may take time off again to get a good head start.

As for writing in the Gothic sub-genre, that’s been a learning experience. As I mentioned in my post on Gothic horror (click here to read the full article), the genre has a very particular set of tropes that sets it apart from other genres of horror. However, there is more to the genre than I had room to include in that article. For example, you have to devote a lot of space to describing your main location. After all, Gothic horror is very place-centric. Hill House, The Overlook Hotel, the house at Kill Creek, your mother’s house (yes, I went there, and in more ways than one). All those locations are described in detail. Lots of detail. Gothic tries to make you aware of the place the story is in at all times, especially the darker aspects of it.

In that vein, I’ve spent a good chunk of Chapter Two just describing Auckland Academy, the main setting of the book. And I’ll be further emphasizing the location as the book goes on, as well as in subsequent drafts.

Of course, I’m still early in the novel. Including the chapter I”m in now, I have twenty-six more to go, and plenty more to learn about Gothic literature. I’ll let you know how things go when we reach November 14th. Hopefully I’ll have made plenty more progress by then. Even if I have to go back to work on Tuesday.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ve got some errands to take care of, so I’m going to get on that. I promise though, you won’t have to wait a week before I post again. Until next time, my Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares!

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo? How’s it going for you?

A Word About NaNoWriMo, Toyland, and Other Stuff in the Works

Posted: October 29, 2019 in Progress Report, Writing
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So it’s about three days till National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. For those of you who are unaware, NaNoWriMo (which at this point is an international event) is a yearly challenge held every November (though some writers do it when they actually have time for it), where writers will attempt to write a fifty-thousand word novel within thirty days, or just under seventeen hundred words per day. Anyone who actually manages to get that amount wins bragging rights and a sense of accomplishment.

Anyway, I’ll be participating this year, my first time since college. And with all that writing, there’s a good chance I’ll be blogging less during that time. I do plan to post regular updates on the progress of my NaNoWriMo project, as well as any reviews of movies/shows/books I feel I need to post. And if anything pertaining to my career pops up (like something getting published or released, God willing), I’ll post about that. But in case even that’s not happening much, I’d like to leave this post so people know what’s up with me and my work while I’m neck-deep in storytelling.

It’s possibly an exercise in narcissism, to think you all are interested in that, but hell, it’s my blog. I’ll do what I want here. Onward ho!

Toyland

The one-sentence pitch for my NaNoWriMo project is, “A boarding school is haunted by a ghost obsessed with a children’s book.” It’s a Gothic horror novel with hints of the weird, and I’m very excited to be working on it. The first chapter is already half-written in my head, as well as several other scenes. I’ve gone through the outline at least seven times, so I think it’ll be free of plot holes and other issues. Whether or not it’ll be any good, we’ll see. But I’m hopeful. After all, there were plenty of times I thought Rose was terrible. And it’s doing relatively well for my first book with a publisher.

NaNoWriMo

As I’ve stated in a few previous posts, I’m taking time off from work for the first third of November to work on Toyland. The plan is to get up around seven or eight each morning, eat breakfast, write, eat lunch and read, write some more, and then knock off for the evening. Maybe see a movie if anything good is playing. Of course, I’ll adjust these plans as situations evolve. You never know when I might need a run an errand or something along those lines. Or write a blog post. Or get drawn into anime or a horror television series and binge several episodes in a row (ah, the fun of ADHD and procrastination).

After I return to work, I’ll be spending a lot of time doing catch-up and whatnot, so I may have to work late some days and not get to write some evenings while I recover my equilibrium. However, the point of participating in NaNoWriMo this year isn’t to finish the book in thirty days, but just to give me one hell of a head start. So even if during the last twenty days of November I don’t get as much as I want done, if I get plenty done during the first ten, I’ll be satisfied.

River of Wrath

Unfortunately, my beta reader has not had much of a chance lately to finish this book. And unfortunately, I need their feedback on certain subjects before I can edit this story. So it’s going to be a while till I get to edit this novel (which, coincidentally, I finished almost a year ago. October 30th, 2018 at about one in the morning. That was a fun night).

On the bright side, by the time I get to it, I’ll have plenty of energy and desire to get it done. And maybe another book or two out. I can hope, anyway.

The Short Story Collection

I’ve been busy on that, believe me. These past couple of months, I’ve spent writing and editing short stories for the collection. I just haven’t been posting every time I finish one because I wanted some of them to be a surprise! As it stands, this collection is about ten stories long. I’d like three more, two short stories and maybe a novelette or novella. With NaNoWriMo and Toyland only a few days away though, I’ll have to put it off till I’m either done with the latter or ready for a break (hopefully done with it). Fingers crossed when that time comes, I’ll be done faster than you can say, “It was a dark and stormy night.”

Rose

Yes, I have some news on Rose. As I said above, the Kafkaesque horror story of a young woman turning into a plant creature is doing very well. In fact, I got my first sales report a couple weeks ago, and it was very encouraging. With Rose getting so many new reviews in October, hopefully this’ll continue into the next quarter.

And in the meantime, the audio book is coming along swimmingly! As I said, I’ve heard the first fifteen minutes, and it sent chills up my spine! And last week, my publisher shared with me the cover art for the audio book. The way things are going, it could be out early or mid-November. And when it is, not only will I be the first to download a copy, but I’ll be making sure everyone else knows to check it out too.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in checking out Rose, I’ll leave the links for it down below. And if you do end up reading Rose, please let me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and reviews help me out in the long run.

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

 

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. If I don’t catch you around Halloween, I’ll catch you at some point during the first week of November. Until next time, pleasant nightmares and Happy Halloween!

Rose: An Avalanche of Reviews!!!

Posted: October 13, 2019 in Novel, Review, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Hello, my name is Rami Ungar, and I’m pretty much in the best mood ever. Not even that sacrifice getting loose and running to the police station can’t bring me down. Why? Well, the sacrifice’s warrants are going to prove problematic and I’m merciful with my cultists. But the real reason I’m so happy is because I’ve been receiving so many new reviews of Rose!

Now if you’re unfamiliar with Rose, first off, hi, welcome to the blog. Second, Rose is my first novel with a publisher, a fantasy-horror novel about a young woman turning into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). I wrote it as my college thesis originally, edited it on and off over five years, and then somehow got it published about four months ago with Castrum Press.

And as I said, a lot of new reviews have been popping up lately. Many of them have come from book bloggers, some of whom have left their reviews on Amazon and Goodreads as well. In fact, on Amazon Rose has over twenty reviews. Which, is a huge deal. Not only is that more reviews than any of my other works, but once you get past twenty, Amazon includes your books in that little space that says, “Customers Who Bought This Book Also Bought.” So thanks to everyone’s reviews, Rose will have slightly more visibility on Amazon in the future.

And what reviews they’ve been, too! Most of them have been extremely positive.* One blogger said, “Ungar has created a new horror monster that isn’t quite like the rest.” Another said, “Don’t let the beautiful, delicate cover fool you–this is out-and-out horror.” My job here is done.

Anyway, I’m just really thankful for all the reviews. I’m still trying to establish myself and carve out an audience. And with all these reviews, I’m hopeful Rose will be read by more people, and help me build my audience for the next book I put out there, whatever that is.

If you want to read any of these reviews, I’ll post the links below and update as more bloggers post reviews. After all, they deserve just as much exposure for giving Rose some much-needed exposure. I’ll also include links for those who want to read Rose themselves. And if you do end up checking it out, let me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love feedback, and it helps me out in the long run.

Also, thanks to Blackthorn Book Tours for putting Rose in the hands of so many reviewers. You’ve been such a big help for me lately. I hope we can do this again someday with whatever I publish next.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

Review Sites: Goodreads, Isobel Blackthorn, Alison’s Catty Book Corner, Power Librarian, The Book Review Hub, Whispers and Wonder (great interview), The Bookwormery, #CupidIsWatchingMe, Alex J Book Reviews, Unwrapping Words, Book, Blog & Candle, Bookshine and Readbows, A Little Fool Reads, Book Reviews & More, Tattooed Bibliophile, Iseult Murphy, Literary Retreat, Megan’s Haunted House of Books (interview and review).

*Actually, I’ve been really lucky in the review department. I’ve only had one lower than three stars, and the person who left that on Goodreads said she wouldn’t leave a full review because she only gave it two stars. Which honestly only makes me curious. What did she dislike about the novel? It’s going to bug me for a while.

Doll in the Hall: A Spooky Story with Pictures

Posted: October 9, 2019 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Something weird has been happening this week. Weirder than usual, anyway. On Monday, I came home and found my Alice du Maurin Pullip doll in the hallway of my building. As if it were waiting for me. As far as I could tell, no one had been in my apartment, so nobody could have moved her.

This is the photograph I took of the incident.

Then on Tuesday, I found her in the stairwell. Again, there was no sign my apartment had been entered without my knowledge.

And then today, she was waiting for me again! This time with her little arm up, as if welcoming me home.

By this time, I was getting a little annoyed and a little freaked, and resolved to hide a security camera in my room, where I keep my doll collection. I was going to catch whoever was moving my Alice du Maurin around.

But first I was going to take a nap. I replaced the doll in the cabinet and went to sleep.

When I woke up though, I found this staring at me from the foot of my bed, with the cabinet door wide open behind her.

And I swear, I heard a voice whisper, “Why aren’t you writing a new story?!”

Happy Halloween.

Evil at the Overlook Lodge

Posted: October 8, 2019 in Living and Life, Writing
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Two days ago, I made the drive down to Cincinnati, Ohio–a city I have not been to in over ten years, I might add–to attend Evil at the Overlook Lodge, an event put on my by the Ohio Chapter of the Horror Writers Association, and one of two events open to the public in the month of October.

And can I just say, this event was a ton of fun? For one thing, the bar is simply beautiful. It looks exactly like the bar in the movie The Shining, and has a lot of memorabilia around the space meant to evoke the movie (which, for all I know, are actual props from the movie. I really should’ve asked). Even if I’m not a fan of Kubrick’s film, I can appreciate the love for the movie and the attention to detail like any fan can.

Not to mention the staff are so much nicer and less murderous than the staff of the Overlook Hotel.

And we had a decent sized crowd, made up of friends of the various authors (I had a cousin of mine who came to hear the readings), as well as some of the bar’s regular patrons. And of course, there were the authors. Now, originally we were going to have four authors, including myself, but one had to cancel due to circumstances outside her control. Still we three–H.R. Boldwood, Anton Cancre, and I–managed to make do. And we did have a lot of fun.

And let me just say a few things about my colleagues there: they are both talented writers. H.R. Boldwood read to us a couple of short pieces, including one where she had a volunteer do sound effects to accompany her story. With or without sound effects though, both stories were great. And Anton Cancre, I have found, knows how to put on a performance. He read to us a couple of poems, and even performed a piece with a friend of his where two wendigoes discussed their particular dietary needs, all to the tune of a guitarist. To say the least, it was an experience.

HR Boldwood

Anton Cancre

And as for me, I read from Rose, specifically the opening. And yes, I was wearing my cloak. I find the dramatic effect helps with the storytelling. Or it makes me look pretentious, but I like to think positive.

And the winner for most affable vampire is…me!

Afterwards there was some talk, some drinking (though since I was driving home right afterwards, I couldn’t drink), and even a few sales here and there. Overall, a good evening. And if we were to do it again, I would gladly come by again.

In the meantime, we have another reading coming up, this time in my own backyard. HWA Ohio will be teaming up with the Bexley Public Library for A Night of Horror with the Horror Writers Association (click here for the event page on Facebook). There will be readings from some of Ohio’s best writers of the macabre (plus me), as well as discussion of horror and possibly a few Halloween decorations. And I’ll be coming by in a new costume, so you’ll want to show up for that.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m diving back into my stories, so it might be a while until you see me again. Or it might be tomorrow. Who knows what the future holds? Whenever I next post, I wish you all pleasant nightmares in the meantime. See ya!

A Little More About “Toyland”

Posted: October 4, 2019 in Novel, Writing
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I made a little design for this year. It’s how you can tell I’m serious.

Recently I announced the subject of my next novel/my NaNoWriMo project, Toyland. And with November 1st fast approaching, I thought I’d go into the novel a bit more before I start posting once a week about my progress. Plus, I’ve had two reviews in the past week and possibly two tomorrow, depending on how close to my territory Joker lands. Gotta break things up with some variety or I just don’t feel right.

First, let’s go a bit more into what Toyland is actually about. As I said before, Toyland is a Gothic horror novel taking place in a boarding school in southern Ohio. The protagonist’s name is Mason Prather, a teenager who enjoys anime, wants to be a lawyer someday, and is the stepson of the boarding school’s headmistress. However, the autumn semester of his sophomore year proves challenging in many ways, and not just academically. Odd occurrences keep popping up at school, and people are either getting hurt or in danger of getting hurt. All this seems to emanate from a strange girl with dark hair seen around campus by Mason and his friends, as well as from a children’s book Mason finds in the school library.

I’ll give you three guesses what the name of that book is, and the first two don’t count.

Next, let’s talk about researching this novel, because that was a lot of fun. Looking back, I’m not sue when I first settled on doing this book, let alone for NaNoWriMo (curse you, slippery memory!), but I’ve definitely been becoming more familiar with Gothic fiction and its trappings for at least a year. Some of you may remember my post from last summer on what Gothic fiction is, and I’ve continued reading Gothic stories since then, including The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Hell House by Richard Matheson, and rereading The Shining by Stephen King this past winter.

Yeah, lots of fun research that felt more like play at times. But once I decided to work on Toyland next, I started taking in a different kind of media: anime. To be specific, I watched the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Princess Tutu, and Ringing Bell (I also tried to get Made in Abyss, but it’s not streaming anywhere, and I didn’t want to shell out for the Blu-Ray). There are two reasons why I chose to watch these anime as research, but I can only go into one without giving away spoilers. Now these anime, especially the first two, are known for their dark and surreal imagery (especially Madoka). Imagery that’s supposed to be pleasant to the eye but instead comes off as dark, strange and surreal are going to be big parts of Toyland, so I felt watching these shows would be good research.

That, and you can’t go wrong with watching these anime. They’re popular and have even won awards.

They’ll probably show up in an anime recommendation post at some point.

And now that I’ve watched all those series, as well as researched different styles of architecture for the school (I’m going with Queen Anne revival) and have watched a film I will never watch again or let my kids watch, I think I’m ready for November.

Well, almost ready. The other night after reviewing the outline and posting on Facebook and Twitter that I hadn’t “found any plot holes,” I may have found a plot hole. And I’m not sure how to fix it. I hate plot holes in my stories. I spend hours making sure my stories don’t have any (or many). So I’m at the drawing board, looking for fixes or work-arounds. Hopefully before November, something pops up.

Well, if you need me, I’ll be sleeping off my exhaustion from the past few days. Until next time, Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares.

“Rose:” A Video Review on YouTube

Posted: September 30, 2019 in Novel, Review, Scary Stuff, Writing
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So yesterday evening, a video was uploaded onto YouTube. But not just any YouTube video: this video was a review of my novel Rose by DeathGroundReviews, a YouTuber whom I’m met through Twitter, where he uses the handle Death Ground Writer. He reads and reviews a lot of speculative fiction, especially horror, and he decided to read and review Rose. The result is this video, which I highly recommend you check out.

Pretty awesome, huh? First off, I love Death Ground Writer’s voice. He’s got a scratchy quality that I think is great for podcasts and narrating scary stories. Which makes his reading of a short passage from Chapter One of Rose all the more creepy (and that music in the background is nice icing on the cake).

Second, after he does his reading and before he does his review, he talks about the novel and how he came across it. We actually talked quite a bit over Twitter before he posted the video, and as you heard, he includes a lot from those conversations in the video. Though to answer your question, DWG, I’m not a pantser,* but a plotter. I plot out 95% of the stories I write, sometimes with several pages worth of notes, names, and plot points. It’s just with Rose, I had to adjust the outline as I discovered issues with the story and had to find new ways to fix themm. Thus we have a story where, at one point, over two-thirds of the novel were rewritten to fix one or two major flaws with the stories.

And obviously, I liked his review. While stating that he likes it and would recommend it, he also goes into what he didn’t care for in the novel. I’m happy to hear that there were things that could be improved. And no, your preferences aren’t weird. I can understand, though if, in the future, a novel requires that kind of storytelling, I probably will use it.

Yes, I know I should state what exactly his criticism was, but I figure by not telling you all the specifics, you’re more likely to watch the video.

Speaking of which, if you haven’t yet, I highly recommend you check out DeathGroundWriter’s video and give it a watch/listen. And if you like what you see/hear, give the video a like and consider subscribing. Doing so supports his channel and allows him to continue doing what he’s doing, so I recommend you at least think about supporting the channel.

At the same time, if you would like to check out Rose, I’ll include the links below. Please consider checking the book out and, if you read it, please consider leaving a review. Positive or negative, I love receiving feedback from readers, and your thoughts help me out in the long run. Believe me on that!

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got exercising to do and stories to write up. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

*Pantser, for those who don’t know, is a writer who discovers the story as they write. Basically they make it up as they go along, only they do it much better than someone who needs to come up with a quick cover story for why something they did is really suspicious.

Announcing My National Novel Writing Month Project for 2019

Posted: September 26, 2019 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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I did say I would announce this when we got a bit closer to November. And my intuition, which is right about eighty percent of the time when it comes to this sort of thing, says now is the time to make the announcement.

As many of you know, I’ve been planning to take part in National Novel Writing Month for the first time since college, or about seven years. For those of you who are unaware, National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is a yearly challenge where authors try to write a novel of fifty-thousand words or more, just under seventeen-hundred words a day. This challenge is usually held in November, though sometimes authors will attempt to do it in another month when it’s more convenient for them (in which case, it’s known as Camp NaNoWriMo). I’ve been wanting to take a crack at it again for years, but college got busy, and things never quite added up in the years 2015-2018 for me to do it.

But since last November, just a few days after finishing a novel called River of Wrath at three in the morning on October 30th, I’ve been considering it. I even picked a novel out to write about. Since around early summer, I’ve been doing light research for this story. And in a little over a month, I’l be taking a bit of time off from work so I can devote as much time as possible to writing (and maybe de-stressing a bit while I’m at home). So without further ado, let me announce my next novel, a story I like to call Toyland.

Don’t let the name fool you, Toyland isn’t whimsical or cute at all. It’s a Gothic horror novel following students at a boarding school in southern Ohio. They start noticing some weird going-ons during their fall semester. A girl with dark hair, as well as strange creatures, are seen around the school. Several odd injuries, some close to fatal, fall upon students and even faculty. There even seems to be a world within the school, one in which the laws of reality have no say whatsoever. All of it seems to trace back to a children’s book discovered in the school’s library. A children’s book called Toyland.

How’s that for a setup? Granted, there’s a good chance it’ll veer away from Gothic fiction and straight into weird territory (trust me, I outlined the whole thing back at the beginning of the summer and have done subsequent drafts since). But I tend to enjoy writing stories that stray into weird territory, so it works for me.

Anyway, I’ve just about finished up the research for the book. I’ve even watched the 1961 Disney film Babes in Toyland just so I could make a comparison between that film and the kid’s book in the story.* All that’s left is to write it. And while I doubt I’ll get anywhere near the fifty-thousand word mark (I’m many things, but not a miracle worker), I do think when the first draft done, it’ll at least be a decent first draft. Maybe something worth publishing one day.

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. There’s a bed calling me in the next room, and I so desperately want to sink into it for a few hours. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Why or why not? Whatever you’re doing, what sort of story are you writing?

*By the way, that was my first time watching that film, and I didn’t like it at all. Yeah, the setting looked spectacular and the villains and side characters were enjoyable, but the plot was really unfocused and the main characters were really boring. Hell, you can see the boredom on Annette Funicello’s face as she plays the female lead! She’s like “Oh my God, someone get me out of here so I can go make beach party movies. Anything would be better than this shiny lack-of-substance.”

Also, one or two of the songs feel kind of sexist nearly fifty years after the movie’s release. Especially the one where Annette complains about being unable to do her finances. Yeah, there’s a song like that. It’s kind of cringey.

And no, I won’t watch any of the other movie or television adaptations of the Babes in Toyland operetta. I won’t even watch the operetta! I suffered enough watching the most famous adaptation, thank you very much!

Rose: Three Months Since Publication

Posted: September 20, 2019 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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A lot of people have commented to me that they can’t believe we’re already in September. They just can’t wrap their heads around the idea that we only have a third of 2019 left. And honestly, I can sympathize. This year has gone by rather fast. Though in my case, that might be because so much has happened in the past eight months. Including back in June, the publication of Rose and all that has ensued since then.

Yeah, Rose has been out three months. And what a three months it’s been!

But I’ll get into all that in a bit. For those who don’t know, Rose is a novel I wrote in college, and is the first book I published with a publisher. The novel is a Kafkaesque horror story revolving around a young woman who becomes a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). Yeah, I wrote a novel around that weird concept, got it published, and as of today, it has twenty-two reviews, the majority of which are four and five stars, across Amazon’s English-speaking websites, as well as some positive reviews from folks like Angela Yuriko Smith, editor of Space & Time Magazine, and Dead Head Reviews.

Honestly, I’ve been very happy with the responses I’ve gotten from the book. For one thing, not everyone who’s reading it and leaving reviews is a relative of mine or being blackmailed, which is always a nice change of pace. In fact, quite a few readers are people I’ve never met before. They heard about the book through my many different marketing strategies (including one sponsored YouTube video), picked it up, and have enjoyed it. Or been freaked out by it. That’s also been a reaction. Someone recently notified me through Facebook that she’s been having weird dreams whenever she’s read Rose before bed. To which I say, “Mission accomplished.”

With any luck, this will all lead to more people reading and maybe leaving feedback on the book, which might make things easier for the next time I publish something.

In the meantime though, the fun doesn’t stop! I mentioned in a previous post that an audio book of Rose was in the works. Today, my publisher sent me the first fifteen minutes of the audio book. Oh God, the shivers that went up my spine! I listened to it twice, and couldn’t move for either listen. I cannot wait for the full book to be available. Once it is, I plan to advertise from here to Timbuktu, and make sure as many people who want to check out the audio book can.

For now though, I’m leaving below the links for Rose below. If you’re interested, check it out, read the reviews, and maybe pick up a copy. And if you do read it, leave me a review with your thoughts. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run. And if you’re reading Rose right now, I hope you’re enjoying it! Can’t wait to hear what you think.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

Short Horror Stories: A Sense of Disquiet

Posted: September 13, 2019 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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For the past two weeks, I’ve been reading The Best Horror of the Year, Volume VIII, an anthology of horror short stories and novelettes compiled by one of horror’s premier editors, Ellen Datlow (I’ll be taking a break from it to read The Institute by Stephen King, though). As you’d expect from any anthology, some you like, some you don’t, and some you just don’t get. But of those that I like, I’ve been noticing a trend that I’m not sure I’ve noticed before.

These stories are not outright terrifying in a way that’ll leave you screaming or having nightmares for a week or so. But they do make you feel uneasy. Like a voice in the back of your mind is whispering, “Imagine if this scenario were real,” or “Imagine if this happened to you.” And then you shiver at the thought of what is occurring in the story occurring in real life. In your life.

That feeling upsets the zen in your soul, and can put you off your day. It can make you afraid to think of certain places or names because you associate them with something evil and horrible. It leaves you afraid to be in dark places, or alone, or with people, or even in well-lit areas. Because who knows what’s hidden in your blind spot? Who knows what evil is bubbling in your coworker’s heart?

What you are feeling is disquiet. And that feeling drives a lot of shorter horror stories. Understandable: short stories and novelettes don’t have the word-counts to build epic worlds or have intricate plots involving five or six mind-blowing revelations. They’re short for a reason, and meant to be digestible as a way to save time and money. Or to quote Stephen King, “A short story is like a quick kiss in the dark from a stranger.”

I actually know what that’s like (don’t ask), and I’m not really surprised that King does, either. So I kind of get it: what the story does to you should be unexpected, but leave a powerful impression. The kind of impression where you look back years later and you’re like, “Wait, did that actually happen?” And in short stories, with horror, you do it with fear. You do it with disquiet.

So how does one create disquiet in their story? Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can answer that. It’s like how do you put horror in a story? You already know a monster is necessary, but what more is there? Not an easy question to answer. In fact, I’ve been writing horror since I was a tween, or trying to, and I’m still trying to figure it out. It doesn’t help that I’m better at novels and short stories are still something I’m figuring out how to do well (ironic, considering how many short story ideas I have lying around).

junji Ito will shake you every time.

In the end, all I can recommend is the old writer adage: read a lot and write a lot. In this case, read a ton of shorter works by a variety of different horror authors. Note how they make the story memorable, punchy, disturbing. Is it a specific twist? Is it in the scenario they set up? How do they set it up? Is it in a particular sentence or a paragraph? An element they included? The ending? Then try writing your own works and incorporating what you learned.

It seems obvious, but I guess we reiterate it for a reason.

Anyway, if you’re looking for recommendations, any of the volumes in the Best Horror of the Year series should work, as well as collections by most horror writers. I also recommend story collections from manga artist Junji Ito, if you want a more visual medium. And while it’s not literary, The Twilight Zone is usually pretty good at telling disquieting stories (or so I’ve heard. I really have to get on watching that show).

But tell me, how do you make your short stories memorable and disquieting? What are your thoughts on the subject? Let’s discuss.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Happy Friday the 13th, and if you see  guy wearing an old-fashioned goalie mask, RUN THE OTHER FUCKING WAY!!!

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