Look At The Little Guy

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How To Scare Your Readers (Mature Horror)

tw: mentions of murder and other horror media, its not specific or gorey but I just wanted to mention it

Today is one my hardest asks as it is a highly individual process to freaking out your audience with @differentnighttale asking: "How do you write horror, and how do you write it good nail biting and very unsettling type of horror."

Specifically, we are focusing on supernatural horror and dark fantasy. Due to the fact that there are numerous ways of scaring an audience, I'm going to focus on more diverse and interesting ways to freak out the readers. There are obvious tricks like "focus on the tactile senses" and stuff like that but let's cover something not as cliche!

Again, there are many ways to instill horror.

One: Combine Beauty And The Macabre

While this is a common trick seen in visual horror such as the works of Junji Ito or Midsommar, it's also an important and useful element in other beloved horror media.

This can be useful for a myriad of reasons.

The ability to combine the fantastical beauty of the scenery with death or the lovingly detailed imagery of a victimized body might be just the thing to elevate the scenery and visuals.

It also works to surprise your readers. If you are reading horror, you expect the murder and terror to appear in dark hospitals and obviously disgusting places. But what if the horror was in a cherry blossom field? In the church? In the character's childhood bedroom during the sunset?

It follows the perversion of the familiar. Most people internalize certain environments are seperated from society which might assist you if you are going for that specific type of horror. BUT! If you have horror in the supermarket, in the coziest little cottage, in the beauty.

TWO: Focus On A Specific Brand Of Horror

This is especially important for horror that is based off of pop culture spooks such as ghosts, ghouls, witches, zombies, and werewolfs.

Doing some research into why these monsters have survived in the public mind and what exactly is frightening abou them can influence your settings, characters, and horror.

There is horror about isolation.

There is horror about losing yourself.

There is horror about the female body.

There is horror about puberty.

There is horror about gender dysphoria.

There is horror about everything.

Decide what is the core fear you are proding at.

THREE: Be Ambiguous

Readers are comforted by linear stories with a beginning, clearly laid out morality, and a clear cut ending which provides either a happy ending or a sad ending.

Messing up any one of these things can lead to your story haunting the minds of your audience for a long time.

Midsommar is constantly debated about over if the ending is happy or sad.

Joker(2019), a thriller but not a horror, is infamous for it's amazing usage of hallucination and delusion to tell a non-linear story with a confusing ending.

Leaving the ending, villain, characters, or plot ambiguous and not clearly detailed might elevate your horror :)

FOUR: Use Your Own Fears

When you write about what scares you, that natural fear tends to radiate into your writing more naturally :)

This fear can be a lot of things from the specific phobia of bugs to the fear of being mistreated by a loved one.

Conclusion:

I hope I gave you some interesting advice that you haven't heard before @differentnighttale

p.s: at what point does something become "Mature"? I did mention "murder" throughout my post somewhat frequently but I never went into specific detail so I can't tell if it's "Mature" or not?

If it is mature and I mislabeled it then I can edit it to be "Mature"

Masterlist! also linked in my desc

Organized by fandom and character

- in progress, will be polished when more are added to the library

- Once I finish or develop the series I'm working on, I will make separate masterlists cause I know how irritating it is to only have one, but for right now this is what you get xox

Miguel O'hara:

Mi Luz - fluff, slow burn 

T minus 10 (pt 1) - series, ongoing, enemies to lovers 

T Minus 10 pt 2

T Minus 10 pt 3

Nathan Bateman:

Deal With It - fluff, sass (gn reader)

Patient - blurb

here, kitty kitty - fluff, cuddles

One fish, Two fish - fluff, coworkers to lovers (genderless)

So soft - fluff, blurb (fem)

Poe Dameron:

Snack - fluff, funny (gn reader)

Playing Favorites (1) - hurt/comfort, enemies to lovers (fem reader)

Playing Favorites (2) - feels, enemies to lovers 

Playing Favorites (3) (coming soon)

Moon Knight (all three)

Clever Boy - fluff, mostly Steven but a bit of Marc, no Jake :( sorry (gn reader)

Duke Leto

Strategy - smut (fem)

Blue Jones:

Skincare - fluff (gn but reader has long hair so idk)

Taglist:

@my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @ridiculous-hibiscus @neeshsoodroppedout

@krakenkitty

@twwcs

@iolaussharpe-24

(dm me if you want to be added/removed!) (series taglists need to be specified if you only want updates from one series/character, if you just say 'add me' I'll add you to everything.)

xox

LEAVE ME ALONE

i don't know why but there are so many ads for taking shots of olive oil like wtf just eat a multivitamin stop drinking olive syrup out of the bottle like orange juice at 3 am are you okay do you need help blink 3 times i'm scared

SICK GROSS EW GO AWAY: aka how not to act like a manchild when ur sick

Different kinds of sick need different kinds of care. don't be fucking useless. lemme help.

Head cold:

Take a decongestant. wait ten minutes. take a hot shower and blow your nose a thousand times. Bro i swear it helps so much i fucking love itttt

Claritin D also works a lot

fresh air. open a window and turn on a fan. it helps your room not feel stuffy and gross.

blow your nose, don't just sniff it up. ew.

salty spicy food. the salt breaks down the enzymes of the mucus in the back of your throat (which is why it hurts) and the spice helps clear your sinuses. I like spicy pho or ramen, cause I can save the broth for later and sip on it.

drink a fuckton of water, but also eat too. "feed a cold starve a fever" or whatever is BULLSHIT. eat. drink. shut up.

avoid caffeine if possible. your body needs to go slowly to help feel better, don't jam it full of Monster or Red Bull or coffee. diluted green tea would be the most caffeine.

Chamomile tea with ginger. honey too if you don't like the bitterness.

hot water. warm things. help the throat and loosen the phlegm in your lungs.

Tummy bug/nausea:

light foods. nothing high in sugar, carbs, or sodium. plain bread, chicken or vegetable broth, limit the fruit juice.

nothing really acidic. Coffee especially. dairy is also eep maybe no.

water is good. always drink lots of water.

don't starve it. a lack of food will also make you nauseous. small, easy snacks throughout the day.

avoid heavy amounts of medicine. if you need to take it, obviously take it, but dumping paracetamol/advil/tylenol/ that stuff will only make it worse.

sleeeepp so much sleep

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ADVIL AND TYLENOL AND WHEN TO USE THEM:

stop mixing them up, they do different things.

Tylenol: acetaminophen. Pain relief. easier on the stomach than ibuprofen/advil.

Advil: ibuprofen. pain relief, anti-inflammatory. better for fevers and any swelling pain. harder on the stomach, take with food and lots of water.

take care of yourself please, always sleep and water love you xox

GUYS CHILL ABOUT AO3 IT WILL BE OKAY I SWEAR THERE IS PLENTY OF TASTY FIC ON TUMBLR DW DW