SciFi
Weekender Discussion Panel -
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Last
weekend I attended the SciFi Weekender in Pwllheli in Wales to try and
promote and sell some of my Beyond Series books.
So, I was thrilled to be asked by Author Sam Stone to sit on a couple of
discussion panels. As this is quite a long blog (for me), I decided to break
it into two parts.
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Graham
Guy, Me, Sam Stone and Austin Chambers on first panel.
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Horror
Writing
Visceral
Versus Psychological
Horror to me is
defined as stepping into a fantasy world that you normally wouldn’t entertain
in everyday life. For instance you wouldn’t court a mad psychopath who is so
unpredictable that you could potentially become their next victim, whether
rape, murder or cannibalised! Nor would you really meet a person or a
mythological creature that frightens the life out of you and disturbs or
disgusts you. To me, this is horror.
When I was asked to
sit on two writer’s discussion panels for the Sci Fi Weekender, it actually
made me think properly for the first time about the genre I regularly write in.
I never normally analyse or label my work until I have to publish the book. So
I lay awake most of the night before thinking about what horror writing meant
to me and which did I prefer. Needless to say I was tired the next day, but
with the adrenalin pumping and microphone in hand, an eager audience waiting
for something profound to be blurted from my lips, this is what I wanted to say
– even if I didn’t articulate it very well at the time.
Visceral Horror is
the blood, guts and gore of the genre, the things that we watch or read that
makes us go ooh! Psychological Horror is suggestive, giving the audience the
opportunity to use their own intelligence and imagination to make the spine
shiver and the heeby jeebies get jiggy in your tummy.
As I am
predominantly known as a novelist, I wanted my audience to be clear that
‘writing horror’ isn’t just restricted to writing books and short stories for
anthologies or magazines. Graphic Novels, TV Scripts, Film Screen Plays and
Theatre all come under the writing banner too. At the end of the day a person thought
it, wrote the script and then let others produce the creative media the story
is being told in.
So, we discussed
novel writers such as Dean Koontz, Stephen King. Horror Films which crossed
over into the Sci-fi genre too, such as Cloverfield and Skyline (I found
terrifyingly disturbing films). Supernatural Horror like Nightmare on Elm
Street, Carrie and Paranormal Activity – Serial Killer Horror like Halloween
and Friday the 13th. Granted there is some blood and gore in them,
but only right at the end when the psychological tension has been built to a
crescendo. I pointed out horror in the theatre, psychological plays like A
Woman in Black, The Haunting and Ghost Stories (my personal favourite). I did
see a visceral play in the form of a Jacobean Play called The Changeling (I
have reviewed this play in my Blog before). Quite shocked when there was a lot
of stabbing and blood at the end.
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The
Weeping Angels on Doctor Who. The thought of something horrible happening to
you when you close your eyes for just a second is terrifying!
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I concluded that
psychological horror worked much better for me because I like to think about
what’s going on in the story, being kept on the edge of my seat or compelled to
turn the next page of the book, but a certain amount of visceral horror is
needed to push the story along. For instance, my Beyond Books do have a certain
amount of violence or blood based wounds and deaths because the supernatural
creature themselves are visceral and need to drink blood or kill with their
bare hands or decapitate the odd immortal Lycan, because it is necessary for
their survival.
One cannot help but
feel sympathy for a vampire who is made against their will and then must feed
on human blood to continue to survive – or a were-wolf pack ripping the heads
of the feral wolves that attack them in their homes when all they wish to do is
live peaceful lives and hunt in the forests.
It seemed unanimous
amongst the group that it was easier to accept this fictitious world because we
all know it’s not real, but an escapism of the drudgery of real life. However,
psychological horrors involving humans inflicting the visceral blood lust and
gore on fellow humans is deeply disturbing for me. For instance, serial killer
TV programmes that I have watched like Dexter, The Following, or Patrick Jane
tirelessly hunting for Red John in The Mentalist is far more frightening
because we are all too aware that these sort of people really do exist. In
fact, as you read this and look around, (if in a public place, of course)
notice the people and ask yourself – Who are they? Why are they there? Are they
inherently good people or could they be the next Yorkshire Ripper or Myra
Hindley?
How many times have
friends and neighbours said in the news about killers. “Well, I’ve watched them
grow up on our street. I’ve known them all their lives – He was such a lovely
person – I can’t believe he could do such a thing!” And the shock quotes could
go on and on. I’ve never heard anyone being interviewed after a revelation of a
captured serial killer saying – “I knew all along the guy was a complete
wacka-doodle… or - I thought about telling the cops when I saw him cooking his
pet guinea pig on a campfire when he was a kid… He gave me the creeps!!” To me this
kind of horror is truly disturbing and which is why I am exploring the mind of
a serial killer in my crime thriller series Mancunian Tales. I have two books written so far, but I
want the one I’ve been currently researching to write to be released first as
part of a trilogy.
My new book idea is very different from The
Beyond Series of books as it whisks the reader away to a whole new world and
dimension of fun and magic, with some scary intrigue and thrills along the
journey. I felt it very fitting that I was transported to this beautiful wonderland
for just an hour or so, making me feel like a kid again, which was fantastic.
