Poll: Horror Books?!?!?! Can a horror book compair to a horror movie or game?...

[sam42ification]

Recently i've been thinking about writing somthing. A book, a movie script or even a game idea. I've just had all these creative thoughts running through my head and after watching and playing a few horror movies/games i'm thinking of a horror genre. So could the same kind of fear be summoned by a book? I thought to myself that i would have no chance trying to get the big leages look at my movie or game idea but it would be easier to express it in a book. I have no intention of becoming famous or anything like that i would just like me ideas by heard by at least a few people. A lot people have told me that a book can't create the sort of atmoshere that a movie or game can. It doesn't have the slow suspencful music or the dark cloudy atmosphere or the gorey disgusting images that a movie or game has but i believe that you don't need to see a big scary monster to be scared by it infact i think it's more scarier if we have to imagine the monster ourselves because it gives a real insight into a who we really are. I think that if the book is written well i should be able to provoke fear in people. I won't be able to have the pop-up shock fear that the movies love to spam but i can have a real complexe fear that makes the reader think about there own fears and things they lock away.

Any ways enough of me blabbling what do guys think? Do you think a a true element of horror can be expressed in text? Also can i have a bit of advice? I have a strong idea of what i want and i know how to do it but i think that some other appinions can't hurt. So if you have experience with writing or just know a thing or two about it give me your knowledge.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Definitely, if a horror book is written well enough you can become completely immersed in the fantasy world and it is just as terrifying, if not moreso.
Having said that though, it's difficult to write well enough to actually create that kind of atmosphere.
Good luck!

 

[Clumpcy]

I couldnt finnish 'The hound of the Baskervilles' the first time I read it, it left me with chills down my back. The writing created an amazing atmosphere.

Horror can be expressed in any medium as long as its relevant for your audience. Books, Films even music. Anything can be scary if it stimulates your imagination.

 

[Dwarfman]

Edgar Allen Poe, Howard Phillip Lovecraft, Stephen King. These names are Gods among horror buffs. They got that way from writing books. Not developing games or making movies. In fact a lot of people have considered movie adaptations of their work as pale and lacking.

 

[u4527646]

Stephen King's IT is probably the most scared I have ever been, because a book has the power to get inside your head and to put you in the head of a character undergoing a horrific experience a book is capable of being much more frightening.

Also check out Stephen King's Misery if you want something that shows the horror of being powerless... It's just... Amazing.

 

[Lieju]

For me, horror in writing has always been more scary than in film, but that might be because I read a lot.

Having your imagination do the work can be very effective, and something like most of Lovecraft's works take great advantage of this.

A story must be told differently in books than movies or games, of course, for example you can't use music at all, but have other ways to convey ideas on your disposal not accessible for a movie. For example, you can have the scene take place in complete darkness and describe what the character hears, feels, smells etc.

 

[AGrey]

Read anything from Stephen King's earlier years. 'Salem's Lot, for example. Christine and Pet Cemetery are two other good options. For a good comparison, read The Shining and then watch the Stanley Kubric film of the same name. While less horror and more epic, The Stand is also a good pick. It's my favorite book ever, but it has some scenes in it that are more suspenseful, frightening and atmospheric than any movie I have ever seen. Also, Misery. Just read it and you'll never doubt about horror again.

As an author, you get complete, utter, and absolute control of absolutely everything that the audience experiences to a degree that is impossible to reach when filming. The ability to get into your character's heads and hear their toughts, especially when you mix a stream-of-consciousness style with usual narration, can be extremely powerful.

I don't write at all, but there's a podcast I like to listen to- it's three authors (one fantasy, well published; one sci-fi webcomic with a large audience; one horror who I have not yet read) called 'Writing Excuses' ( http://www.writingexcuses.com/ ) that every aspiring author will want to listen to.

There are few horror movies (and not gorn, but true horror) that achieve the emotional impact of a good horror book.

 

[Dr. Awesome Face]

From personal experience I can suggest some stephen king books, specifically The Shining and Duma Key, definitely go check those out if you want good examples

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Horror is best expressed in books. With a movie or a game you have the directors/developers interpretation of 'horror' presented to you - with books it's your own imagination that must come into play, instantly making the horror elements personal to yourself and therefore that much more chilling. Take for example King's IT. In the book IT (in it's true form) is described as being the summation of every horror and terror in the beholder's mind and that to each character he looked different because of their own personal boogie men. In the film it was a big spiderey thing that was about as horrifying as Tuesday. Watching a film/game requires little or no imagination on the part of the viewer/player, whereas books rely on their readers' imagination to manifest the experience in a much more personal way.

 

[sam42ification]

That link you posted was very well put together. I love the amounts of subliminal messages put into it. Reading it made realise somthing very important. At first when i started reading i thought it wasn't very scary then i realised that i wasn't paying attention and then i started to notice things inside the text and pictures that creeped me out. Realise this made think that a horror book is only going to be interesting to certain people. People who closed minded won't see the message behind the message and won't be scared. So realise i writing to a very small audience.

 

[The Salty Vulcan]

Oh yes. Truth is, its probably more effective than film. The golden rule to horror is never to reveal too much. The human imagination is a powerful thing, and anything you could think up is going to be far more frieghtening than what a director will put on the screen. With film, your constantly playing a game of hide and seek in order to create suspense and to get the imagination going. As soon as the climax is done, that's it. The monster is free for all to see, and it loses its edge. Movies like The Cat People avoid this.
Now in books, its different. You could write a description (preferably nothing too detailed) and people will always imagine it differently.

 

[JaffaFrost]

You're kidding right? Of course books instil fear, for me anyway. I've read a load of books which do this, and in some cases, better than any film, or game, I've watched/played.

It's created through tension and suspense... I would think, I'm not a writer, I just read a lot. Like, when your character, the one you have imagined in your head, the one you have created by the writer's descriptions, and your own thoughts and feelings, is in real danger which seems to be impossible to get out of. And you see yourself in this character, because, after all, you created him, and he is a part of you.

THAT'S real fear.

I suppose it's all about description, and describing these descriptions well it's best to get the idea you have in your head to the reader's, as clearly as possible.

 

[linwolf]

For me books are the best way to make a good horror story. A good book uses your imagination to create fear, and that is far more potent than anything a movie or game can show.

 

[Rockchimp69]

Go on the Scary Thread and read some of the better stories on it and you'll get your answer

 

[fates_puppet13]

it depends on the reader mostly
yes you do need to have a well written book but it means nothing if the reader doesn't let the book in
i personally am very drawn into things whereas others reading the same thing are not

 

[mParadox]

Agatha Cristie's "And then there were None" was damn scary. I made me scared of my shadow! In broad daylight no less. T_T

 

[elvor0]

If its written well enough, it'll likely be better than the visual medium, as the best horrors are the ones where your imagination does all the work for you ie "Hand you a piece of sandpaper and watch you massage your own undercarrage with it". Something in a movie or game may not be frightening to most people, but if you're reading a book and really let your imagination run away with you, you can reall freak yourself out.

 

[xDarc]

I've said it half a dozen times in off topic before and apparently no one ever has taken me up on it or I'd have received thanks by now.

Read Richard Motherfucking Laymon.

Put the harry potter and the twilight down younglings.

 

[Ross Gilligan]

Reading a horror book can be far, far more terrifying than watching a movie or playing a game. If the writer is skilled, you became so immersed that it plunges you into the story.

Try watching the film adaptation of The Shining and comparing it with the book.