Is Horror Dead?

I've noticed a big shift away from traditional horror recently, in books, shorts and in subs to E2M.

What's happened to the werewolves, devils, demons, ghosts, vamps and other nasties?

Some claim that the above has been done to death. Do you think so? Can anything really be "done to death"?

I don't think so. Sure there are thousands of traditional horror in the written field these days as there were 20, 50, 100 years ago. But, the way I see it is that every book is written by 'a person' whose experiences and culture is different to others. People have not lived my life and have not had the exact same experiences as me and sure as hell don't see everything the same way I do.

There's always something that can be added, changed, twisted.

Vampires: Man gets bit, becomes vampire, bites others. Hmmm. That's an idea of an outline. It isn't a story. The story is what happens before and after the mentioned incident. If it wasn't, Ann Rice would be working in McDonalds.

Zombies: Done to Death? Resident Evil (Biohazard), 28 days later and others.

Werewolves: Night of the Werewolf, Blood of the Wolf, American werewolf in London, American werewolf in Paris.

If the writer can think 'outside of the box', a new reason for the story involving one or the other can be found in the real life around us, and even better, our dark imagination of what if...

Zombie story: A Middle-East country drops a chemical bomb on the US, England or little ole New Zealand. Creates a world of Zombies, especially when retaliation occurs. Now we just need a few subplots and perhaps a way to clean the world. Just don't use a government experiment to create the zombies.

Werewolves: A camper is digging a toilet in the forest. While digging, something scratches him, he checks it out and sees a pointed tooth, digging further he finds the skull, a medallion and a silver bullet lying in the ribcage. Now it's up to the writer to add new elements from his/her imagination of "what if...?"

Ain't nothing dead in my opinion. Spielberg found a cool way to make a dinosaur movie.

Richard Lee is the author of the acclaimed novel, 'Blood of the Wolf'. His latest book, Re-Entry of Evil has just been released. Details of his books and his thoughts on writing can be found at this website http://www.writer113.com along with many other resources, links, book and DVD reviews, articles on the writing life.

He is a column writer for Camp Horror, and has edited 6 anthologies to date and is the editor at Sinisteria Horror Magazine.

---

Memoir Writing Help, Memoir Writing Ideas

You might not need any memoir writing help, per se,... Read More

How to Use Textpad to Write Articles Faster

It's a good idea to use TextPad because all opt-in... Read More

Making Money from Freelance Writing

Making Money from Freelance WritingIt's the question that every aspiring... Read More

Personal Journaling - Strategies To Make It Easy

Recently I was watching the Oprah show and it was... Read More

Writing Help

Whether you are working for a small business, large corporation,... Read More

6 Ways to Leverage Technical Articles

Technology vendors often contribute bylined articles to trade journals. The... Read More

Are Writing Exercises Effective?

It was reported that the great American author Sinclair Lewis... Read More

Tips for First Time Authors : 2 Easy Steps to Make Your First Book a Success

Congratulations on writing your first book. That is quite an... Read More

7 Reference Books for Your Desk

I hate to admit this, but I rarely get an... Read More

Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 3 of 6

ELICIT, ILLICITElicit means to extract or draw out; illicit means... Read More

Keys to Characterisation

Far too many inexperienced writers create flat, stereotypical characters: the... Read More

The Blank Mind

Many writers stare at the blank page or clean computer... Read More

Gut Check: Quitting Your Full-time Job for Your Freelance Career

It's 6:00 p.m. You're dead tired, but instead of an... Read More

Six Tips for Submitting Fiction - if you want it to get published

You can learn a lot about what it takes to... Read More

An Introduction to Self Publishing Material

Any article, report or book which is bought or sold... Read More

Taming The Book Proposal

Taming the Book Proposal: The BasicsOh, that most maddening of... Read More

Vary Your Writing Style and Win Readers

First drafts are for getting down the ideas. Anna Jacobs... Read More

How to Create Stories that Sizzle

How to Start Your Story with a BangThe purpose of... Read More

How You Can Become a Certified and Profitable Proofreader

A certified proofreader is one that has taken a few... Read More

Does Your Fight Scene Pack a Punch?

Long ago, movie directors mastered the technique of creating a... Read More

Dialogue Tags - A Study in Common Errors

Verb and SubjectIncorrect:"I bet you two had a fine time,"... Read More

How Long is a Chapter?

How long should your chapters be?I can't resist... I have... Read More

How to Write Articles, Reports, and Books Quickly

Do you have trouble getting your thoughts and ideas down... Read More

Imagine The Imagination

Imagine a three hundred page book was in the author's... Read More

7 Weapons to Conquer the Giant Procrastination Keeping You from Your Book Dream

Have you been guilty of procrastinating on your book project,... Read More

Uncommon Advice for Beginning Novelists

1) Convince yourself you want to do something else. If... Read More

For Beginners: Ten Ways To Prepare To Get Published

(Skip directly to ten for the fastest shortcut!)Like any field,... Read More

8 Advantages to Writing a Book as an Entrepreneur

As an aspiring or an established entrepreneur, you are an... Read More

Writing Is Not Life-threatening

Some writers complain that writing is arduous work requiring long... Read More

A Series of Articles on Autobiography

ESSAYS ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY: NUMBER 1Preamble:Nearly seven years ago I wrote... Read More

Technical Writing for the Terrified

IntroductionSometimes it may be beyond a companies or individuals budget... Read More

How To Identify Your Own Style Of Writing

This article is to help identify which style, technique or... Read More

Break in with Fillers: The Best Market for New Writers

Interested in breaking into writing or breaking into a new... Read More