Poll: Horror Books?!?!?! Can a horror book compair to a horror movie or game?...
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Ehhhh, it really depends on what you mean. Movies and games will get you crapping your pants a lot quicker. But they all can get you generally terrified. The medium of a novel can work especially well because it's YOU that pushes things forward by continuing to read. I've had my worst nightmares after reading scary parts of novels.
I have never been frightened by a book, but then again, I have not read a horror book, there was one french book I read that kindof looked like a horror book but didn't scare me at all.
I found the horror writer H.P Lovecraft very influential especially his horror is very much the psychological fear of the unknown rather than ghosts, monster etc. As movies go i really liked 'the thing' (john carpenter) and act 1 of the Halloween remake. As for games Frictional games Penumbra series and Amnesia are easily the best and loosely based on lovecraft.
Pet Cemetery
Good god, I hate/love that book. It is by far in my humble opinion Stephen King's best piece of horror fiction. Not actually his best book overall, but beyond a doubt the one which I found myself most unnerved by.
There's just something about a well written horror novel that creeps up on you. It's a gradual thing, not the shock pulp horror of your typical horror movie, but a more silent feeling of dread that seeps into your thoughts as you slowly progress through the story. Either because the specific scenario is just so unspeakably horrible that it's difficult for you to even conceive of such a thing, as is the case with Pet Cemetery, or because the book portrays a grander sense of terror which extends beyond the pages of the book and end up haunting you deep into the night as you ponder the implications of what you just read, Poe and Lovecrafts specialty.
Which isn't to say there aren't 'shock' horror writers too. Clive Barker is easily the best of those, I've actually found it difficult to read some of his stuff because it's just so damned perverse. But that's rarely done well in books!
Personally some of my favourites are actually books which blend horror elements with a not-strictly horror premise. Neil Gaiman is fantastic at that, and his book Neverwhere remains one of my all time favourites.
And then there are the horror books which weren't even meant to be horror. George R. R. Martin is a great example of that. Not even horror, but just so damned depressing and gloomy it'll leave me in a funk for days if I even try to ponders the sorts of torture he heaps on his fictional character in some of his books. I know they're fictional, but still man, geez, give em a break!
Good god, I hate/love that book. It is by far in my humble opinion Stephen King's best piece of horror fiction. Not actually his best book overall, but beyond a doubt the one which I found myself most unnerved by.
There's just something about a well written horror novel that creeps up on you. It's a gradual thing, not the shock pulp horror of your typical horror movie, but a more silent feeling of dread that seeps into your thoughts as you slowly progress through the story. Either because the specific scenario is just so unspeakably horrible that it's difficult for you to even conceive of such a thing, as is the case with Pet Cemetery, or because the book portrays a grander sense of terror which extends beyond the pages of the book and end up haunting you deep into the night as you ponder the implications of what you just read, Poe and Lovecrafts specialty.
Which isn't to say there aren't 'shock' horror writers too. Clive Barker is easily the best of those, I've actually found it difficult to read some of his stuff because it's just so damned perverse. But that's rarely done well in books!
Personally some of my favourites are actually books which blend horror elements with a not-strictly horror premise. Neil Gaiman is fantastic at that, and his book Neverwhere remains one of my all time favourites.
And then there are the horror books which weren't even meant to be horror. George R. R. Martin is a great example of that. Not even horror, but just so damned depressing and gloomy it'll leave me in a funk for days if I even try to ponders the sorts of torture he heaps on his fictional character in some of his books. I know they're fictional, but still man, geez, give em a break!
These people have never read a good book.sam42ification said:
I got Star Wars: Death Troopers for Christmas, and made the mistake of starting it at 2 in the morning. I finished it at 6, because at 4:30 I took a short break to make a peanut-butter bagel, and nearly pissed myself in fear when I shut off the only light in the house. Zombies on a Star Destroyer was a really cool idea I had never thought would make it into Star Wars literature, so I HAD to have it, and it was probably one of the most unique things I had ever read in Star Wars. I finished it in one night because I knew I would never sleep if I didn't.
Back when I was 13, I had a friend who was into ICP, and one of their songs on The Great Malenko was a really dark horror song. He would purposely put that song on when he and his brother were going to bed because he shared the room with his brother, and he knew that one song scared him. He was a total jerk, and a great friend.Clumpcy said:
Absolutely, but I don't get scared by most horror; the most horrifying book I've ever read was 1984, what horrifies me is the loss of self, censorship, ignorance, lack of thought, and acceptance of blatant lies. These can be expressed clearly through a book.
I mentioned at work that I was "reading 'the greatest novel ever written.'"Dwarfman said:
The response?
"Is that the name of the book?"
No one at the place I work knows that "The Greatest Novel Ever Written" is what critics often call War and Peace. I was proud that I will get to read it, and no one even five years younger than me appreciates great literature. Tell People you want to be an actor or director, they will ask you who you want to be famous like, or who your inspiration was. I tell people I want to be an author, they just ask me what I am writing about, most likely because even if I told them somebody mainstream like Tom Clancy, they probably have never read any of his work, but then I mention that the Honor Harrington series is my favorite of all time, and they stare at me blankly when I say "By David Weber." Authors get no recognition or respect in today's culture.
More so. Horror movies that are actually scary are few and far between, and even more so with games. Horror books rely on your imagination as you claw at every single possibility that could happen to the protagonist as they walk through any door.
In horror films, you know the people in it are fucked by the time they start the film, and you know the last person to die is the first to get their tits out or randomly naked. If at the same time, it's the girl that's had the most screen time.
Horror games flicker from being scary and not, like Amnesia Dark Descent is scary, Resident Evil is not. If anything, Horror Games need to work even harder to compare to even movies, while movies need to work hard to be books.
Calumon: And I need to work hard to be me!
In horror films, you know the people in it are fucked by the time they start the film, and you know the last person to die is the first to get their tits out or randomly naked. If at the same time, it's the girl that's had the most screen time.
Horror games flicker from being scary and not, like Amnesia Dark Descent is scary, Resident Evil is not. If anything, Horror Games need to work even harder to compare to even movies, while movies need to work hard to be books.
Calumon: And I need to work hard to be me!
It... isnt?
Personally, I think books do far better at Horror then a movie or game ever will. A book gives you the vague discription and leaves your mind to fill in the blanks. When you have to fill int he fear, its a far more personal thing.
Games and movies through... they give you an image. its not about making the fear personalized, it shows you waht there is to be afraid of. I mean, Stephen King in his book form will always be more scary then whats on the screen. I'll give youa good example. Children of the Corn, a book by him, is about kids who kill because a creature in the corn demands it. In the book, you odnt know what the creature of the corn is. You just know that its an omnipotent being capable of twisting the fragile minds of children to kill individuals when they grow to a certain age, and then have hte kids willingly sacrificed to the corn.
But when you have the movie, the creature of the corn is this blob like thing that has a special effect. Thats why they dont show it. its just not scary if you see a blob as the major enemy.
I'll give you another example. Silent Hill 2 Now, arguably Pyramid head is one of the scariest bastards to defile gaming and haunt the nightmares of those that played before desensitization. But what is scary about pyramid head? That you see him? The guy's a tall dude with a unearthly cloud proportion like sword that is really just a sheet of rusty metal and a pyramid on his head. That in itself isnt scary. The guy's wearing a giant metal pyramid thing on his head. He looks like a fool. But its not seeing pyramid head too often, coupled with when you do see him, he's doing insanely fucked up actions. Thats what makes Pyramid head scary. And if you want to argue that, think about the most recent Silent Hill game that he was in. Was he really that scary, sinc eyou saw him CONSTANTLY? And he wasnt RAPING something?
And to further emphasize, I DARE you to get this image out of your head:
<spoiler=Look at your discretion>http://i54.tinypic.com/2qn1d3o.png
Yeah... You're all very welcome. But thats my point. Horror works better in a book, just do it right. Leave your reader fill in the blanks, but give a vague description of horror. Its like when you're scared of the dark. its not the dark, its whats int he dark. You make yourself fear.
Personally, I think books do far better at Horror then a movie or game ever will. A book gives you the vague discription and leaves your mind to fill in the blanks. When you have to fill int he fear, its a far more personal thing.
Games and movies through... they give you an image. its not about making the fear personalized, it shows you waht there is to be afraid of. I mean, Stephen King in his book form will always be more scary then whats on the screen. I'll give youa good example. Children of the Corn, a book by him, is about kids who kill because a creature in the corn demands it. In the book, you odnt know what the creature of the corn is. You just know that its an omnipotent being capable of twisting the fragile minds of children to kill individuals when they grow to a certain age, and then have hte kids willingly sacrificed to the corn.
But when you have the movie, the creature of the corn is this blob like thing that has a special effect. Thats why they dont show it. its just not scary if you see a blob as the major enemy.
I'll give you another example. Silent Hill 2 Now, arguably Pyramid head is one of the scariest bastards to defile gaming and haunt the nightmares of those that played before desensitization. But what is scary about pyramid head? That you see him? The guy's a tall dude with a unearthly cloud proportion like sword that is really just a sheet of rusty metal and a pyramid on his head. That in itself isnt scary. The guy's wearing a giant metal pyramid thing on his head. He looks like a fool. But its not seeing pyramid head too often, coupled with when you do see him, he's doing insanely fucked up actions. Thats what makes Pyramid head scary. And if you want to argue that, think about the most recent Silent Hill game that he was in. Was he really that scary, sinc eyou saw him CONSTANTLY? And he wasnt RAPING something?
And to further emphasize, I DARE you to get this image out of your head:
<spoiler=Look at your discretion>http://i54.tinypic.com/2qn1d3o.png
Yeah... You're all very welcome. But thats my point. Horror works better in a book, just do it right. Leave your reader fill in the blanks, but give a vague description of horror. Its like when you're scared of the dark. its not the dark, its whats int he dark. You make yourself fear.
I must confess I didn't know that either, but I would think I would be wise enough to say "What's the name of the book rather then is that the name".Spade Lead said:
My brother has a copy of Tolstoy's War and Peace. I'll have to read it some day. In the mean time I'll have to finish reading his copy of the History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russel before doing so.
People pass on chain emails of do it or die. So yeah. If you haven't.
Can a horror movie compare to a horror game?
games give a whole new of immersion. I believe all books,movies & games can do just as good a job as the others. They just need to do it in different ways.
Can a horror movie compare to a horror game?
games give a whole new of immersion. I believe all books,movies & games can do just as good a job as the others. They just need to do it in different ways.
I have read to a little over 200 pages, but it was a library copy, so I had to return it only 1/7th finished. I got this copy for Christmas so I could read it at my own leisure, and restarted it last year. I have never read a book that was so engrossing with such little actually occurring in the novel. The first four chapters are all about a party, and yet it was entirely interesting the whole time. The War scenes, by contrast, are just insanely interesting. Tolstoy is a pure genius, if I am only half as good as he is, I will be a New York Times Number One Bestseller in no time flat...Dwarfman said:
Good luck to you. I'll be waiting for Spade Lead's epic masterpiece with eagerness!Spade Lead said:
Alas I find I can't write long epics. I've always wanted to be an author but whenever I write, my muse has a habit of becoming unwieldy - or it gets mangled with other imaginings. One thing that I like about Wells, Lovecraft, Howard, Poe, Wyndham and others is there ability to create much shorter stories yet still punch at the same level as an epic volume of King, Jordan or even Tolstoy.
Reading Lovcraft, Howard and Stoker, I like the idea of creating a series of short stories that when laid out, create an epic rather than be the epic themselves.
Yes, but it only works if the person is good at reading novels and is able to immerse him/herself in to it.
In my case, no books don't offer me nothing, I have hard time reading them so I rather watch movie, play games and compose/arrange and play music.
In my case, no books don't offer me nothing, I have hard time reading them so I rather watch movie, play games and compose/arrange and play music.
Well, I have a couple of short stories I am submitting for publication to Playboy for their College Fiction Contest. I could PM them to you if you want, for they area 4 and 15 pages respectively...Dwarfman said:
Also, rather than one long Epic, I am planning a trilogy.