I’m a bit late with this week’s BTT, but better late than never, eh?
What with yesterday being Halloween, and all . . . do you read horror? Stories of things that go bump in the night and keep you from sleeping?
I thought about asking you about whether you were participating in NaNoWriMo, but I asked that last year. Although . . . if you want to answer that one, too, please feel free to go ahead and do both, or either, your choice!
I love good horror, and started out writing horror 10-15 years ago (I had several stories published that people found genuinely chilling, which pleased me greatly). I prefer horror that’s more at the psychological end of things rather than randomly splatter-gory, although I don’t mind gore as long as it serves the story. In other words, gore doesn’t bother me, I just don’t see the point in it unless it serves an atmosphere that’s horrific as well. Gore by itself isn’t enough.
As for NaNoWriMo, I doubt I’ll ever do it. I’ve been tempted, but there are three things that stop me: a lack of free time that I want to dedicate strictly to that; the fact that I’ve largely switched to non-fiction and it’s national NOVEL-writing month; and the fact that I’d have to write at a rate for the event that might bring my tendonitis crashing back. That wouldn’t be worth it.
By the way, head on over to Estella’s Revenge today—they have a feature on Dewey’s recent readathon!
Also, check out free rice! Play a vocabulary-expanding game while donating rice to feed hungry people! Then come back and tell us how high a score you managed to get. So far I tend to vacillate from 43-46.
I still like to break out classics like Poe and Lovecraft around Halloween time!
rys: I do love the classics!
I’ve been off reading other bloggers’ replies to this meme and I think I’m going to have to stop, because it seems like 90% of them keep saying, “I hate horror because I can’t stand wallowing in gore,” and I just want to bang my head repeatedly on a table. Horror != gore. The current trend in horror movies is gore, but that is not the definition of the genre. You can have horror without a single drop of blood. One of the most famous old examples of the genre, “Rosemary’s Baby,” is incredibly psychological in nature. Horror is an emotion, not a measure of gore—some folks try to evoke it with gore, sure, but there’s suspense, thrillers, psychological horror, creepy horror… gory is just a fraction of what’s out there.
I wander between 42 and 45 on Free Rice. Strangely addicting…
I guess that is true for me as well. If the gore serves a purpose and the story isn’t all about the slashing and the blood and guts, I’m fine with it. I read a lot of crossover type books that fit into many genres. They might not be considered horror my hardcore horror readers, but they seem to be labeled as such by some. The definition seems really fuzzy sometimes.
Scott: Isn’t it?! I decide to go over for a few minutes, and next thing I know I’ve totaled over a thousand grains…
Feline: I hope you’ll read the post I made today. I was going to answer you here about the definition of horror, but my thoughts got too long to fit into a comment. 🙂
I find Gross horror stuff boring the. Psycho Thrillers I like to read. And an in NaNo. I am now stuck in there!
That’s horror!
I often find im more scared by audio horror then visual, for example every halloween and indeed occasionally throughout the year i love to listen to a reading of The Raven by the god that is Poe