Ask the Bard #35: Why Horror?
This special AtB features a conversation about horror's emotional impact between Haly and steampunk author D.W. Dixon. Also: Summer Camp updates and Project Franklin is accepting HALLOWEEN stories!
Ahead, Behind, and On Track: I’m Whipping my WIPs.
In case you missed it, Substack’s favorite (read: only) experiment in open-world flash fiction is just weeks away from publishing its first collection. Mark your calendars for August 19th, and make sure that you’re following
for all the latest information.Annnnd speaking of latest information… Franklin is accepting Halloween-flavored flash fiction for their second collection to be released in late October. You can find all of the details—including deadlines and submission guidelines—on this Project Franklin post.
In other news, I’m not where I’d like to be in my Summer Camp goals. With half of this year’s 40 prompts already released, I’ve only completed six with another two in progress.
On the other hand, I’ve made a bunch of new friends and churned out some of the most incredible fiction in my life. And it’s just stuff I’ve thrown together; it’s not even the stuff I’m working on!
You see, a few weeks ago, it occurred to me that I’d reached a plateau in my writing. It was clear that I was only going to progress if someone shoved my face in the mistakes I was making. So…I started working with an editor.
Two, as a matter of fact; one for each project.
The investment in myself is showing.
I’m launching a new serial in November. For really real this time; I’m putting big money where my big mouth is. Neener.
Q: Hey, Haly…why horror?
A: TL;DR—I’ve been thinking a lot today about my foundations in different arts (music, authors, poetry, art, movies), and it culminated with me sharing my fondness for drive-in movies and horror.
—who’s been a part of this community so long he’s a damn crater on its surface now—came along with one of his interesting-shaped sticks…one of the most interesting-shaped sticks he’s poked me with in a while.Naturally, all sorts of goodness came spewing out all over the place. Don’t feel sorry for him. I promise, he knew what he was doing when he did it.
I’ve also amended some further thoughts…just to keep you all stirring those brain-pots.
DW: As someone with zero interest in horror (not knocking it, just not my thing) what is it that fascinates you about it? I have a suspicion that it has to do with the wider array of emotions than other genres but I could be wrong.
Haly: Some umbrella terms are broader than others, and Horror is one of the broadest of all. Like “Comedy” or “Sci-fi.” It is broadly encompassing, and incorporates a lot of sub-genres such a slashers (Freddie, Jason), paranormal (Poltergeist, Twilight, Interview with the Vampire), spiritual (Carrie), monsters (the Blob, the Thing, Frankenstein), and true crime (dramatizations of stories like Lizzie Borden or Jack the Ripper).
So…do you really have NO interest in horror? No ghost stories? No vampires or werewolves? Cool if not, but I remember when I learned that ghost stories were a sort of ‘horror’ and it blew my mind wide open.
I am…particular…about my horror. Very, very particular. It’s about the story, and yes, about the emotional depth. It’s about the need for art to reflect the wholeness of the human experience, not just the happy or dramatic.
The best horror plays on folklore, whether ancient or urban. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare is a Freddy Movie where Freddy has been drawn into the real world by peoples’ belief and fear. Wes makes him a literal fucking tulpa! When I saw it (at the drive-in) it blew my mind straight out of my ass. I couldn’t believe that such a story could be told.
Death and fear are a part of nature, they are as much a part of the human experience as life and joy. We spend so much time and energy hiding from them, pretending they don’t exist, and then we are traumatized when nature takes its course within our circle of family and friends.
If you’re reading this Note, you’re dying.
Your encyclopedic knowledge of such things is exactly why I asked. Stupid umbrella terms, I wouldn't have thought monster stories are part of it, but I see your point. I have in fact seen and enjoyed the Blob and assorted other movies of that type. I kinda consider Jaws to be similar as well.
Also, I wrote a pseudo ghost story in the Return of the Ghost ship and surprised myself by the extreme emotional range i was able to hit, goosebumps and all.
Would it be fair to say that anything that focuses on the other, less seen half of the human experience is horror? At least to some extent since it's a really wide umbrella?
I mean, in the right mind, anything can be horror. You and I deal with snakes and spiders and bugs out in the field, right?
Nightmare fuel for lots and lots of folks
Horror is entirely crafted in the emotional response, not the subject matter. It's about presenting your theme in a way that touches the primal inside of us.
Everybody is afraid of the dark, DW. Even the wide skies of a starlit rural night don't do dick to help you see if there's no moon. And in the trees? Even a full moon won't save you.
Blind, but with the KNOWLEDGE of your sight, groping, stumbling on your own uncertainty.
Was that a coyote snapped that twig, or just a doe?
I included the above link to the original conversation for all y’all to enjoy! And yes, I did go back and answer
’s original post.Further Thoughts
Humans have two primal fears, fears that we share regardless of culture or spirituality: death and the unseen. Any time that you incorporate one or both of these into your storytelling, you’re worldbuilding horror.
So yes, DW, you’re right. Jaws is absolutely horror, monster horror (of the nature subgenre like Anaconda or Arachnaphobia). So is the Alien franchise (sci-fi horror, same as Young Frankenstein is a comedy-horror).
Have you ever read the unpopular memoir of a WWII or Vietnam war vet? One of the honest, unedited ones where it’s all about the gruesome ways each of their buddies died?
There is a reason that we speak of the horrors of war. Death. The unseen.
Hope this helps!
Sweet dreams, moonbeams, and beware of the things that go bump in the night; some noises are better left…unexplored.
Great stuff, Haly. Ahhh, the era of VHS horror! My sister and I had a copy of Nightmare on Elm Street that we must have played at least a million times. We wore that thing out!