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.
MORE RESOURCES:
 Pasta Padre (blog) | 'Underworld 4' on the Way With 'Shield' Scribe Writing Moviefone According to the Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog, the task of writing the fourth film falls upon John Hlavin, best known as a writer and story editor ... Underworld 4 being scripted by John Hlavin |
Parting Shot: Writing In Alexander for Biletnikoff Award Kansas City Star By Mike dearmond - Posted on 20 November 2009 Danario Alexander is not a finalist for the award given annual to college football's best receiver. ... |
 Film School Rejects (blog) | Mike White Writing New Christmas Comedy Called Santa Wars Fused Film Paramount and Scott Rudin are teaming together for a new Christmas comedy that will feature battling Santas. ... School of Rock's Mike White Writing Holiday Comedy Santa Wars |
Darwin vs. Genesis, a literary smackdown Toronto Star Genesis, it has to be said, is tough to beat as a piece of writing. It contains both the best of the wilderness, emerging over several generations from the ... |
Late mail on writing The Age He credits his mother for his love of reading and writing. She bore three sons in three years, and as her belly grew so did a line of Russian novels on her ... |
Mpls. Teams Needs Help Writing Cinderella Story KSTP.com An inner-city youth football team that helped revitalize a Minneapolis park now needs the help of the community to write the ending to a true Cinderella ... |
 New York Daily News | Martha Stewart pans Rachael Ray's cooking - and cooking writing New York Daily News Stewart told ABC News' Cynthia McFadden that Ray's approach to cooking - and cookbook writing - is "not good enough for me." In her first TV interview since ... |
 MTV.com | Lauren Conrad Is Writing A Book On Style MTV.com And when Conrad isn't busy writing books or working on the "LA Candy" movie, she is spending her time designing her clothing line, LC Lauren Conrad, ... Ex-'Hills' star Lauren Conrad is writing a style tips book. Chapter 1: Hire a ... Lauren Conrad is writing a style book Morning Round Up: Lauren Conrad to write a style book PLUS Leighton's latest ... |
Writing project gives Rainier students some new perspectives Longview Daily News Kirkpatrick's class, along with the other classes at Hudson Park Elementary School, have been working on a special writing project, learning to see stories ... |
Cassidy: Former Silicon Valley CEO settles into the writing life San Jose Mercury News Writing is not Raffel's first career. Way back in the 1990s, he started Upshot, a No surprise then that Ian Michaels, the startup executive protagonist of ... |
How to Publish a Book: Key Differences Between Publishing and Self Publishing
For many authors just starting out, it can be a confusing and overwhelming decision whether to self publish a book or to seek out a traditional publishing house. It is important to know that the decision you make can have a huge impact on the success, or the failure, of your book.
The Power of Punctuation
Punctuation, when used creatively, is powerful. Note, however, that when I say 'when used creatively', I don't mean that you can make up the rules.
Critique Groups - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
What do people expect when they join a writing group?The list of anticipated benefits includes friendship, constructive criticism, support, encouragement, help with editing, inspiration, and advice on everything from plotting to possible markets. These expectations may or may not be met.
Top Ten Writing Mistakes Made By New Childrens Writers
Okay. So I'm not David Letterman.
Do I Have To Be A Good Writer to Market My Own Business?
Many of the most effective low-cost marketing strategies require writing. What can a small business owner do if they're not much of a writer? Can they still market their business themselves on a shoestring budget?Marketing is a form of communication.
The Struggle
Sometime one must coax the words out.Each day is a struggle to sit before the computer and produce-produce words that are appropriate, produce sentences that are logical, produce paragraphs that are focused, and produce a page that is relevant to the project-whether it is a poem, a short story, an article, an essay, or part of a novel.
Become the Writer You Always Dreamed of Being
So you want to be a writer, except you don't know where to begin. Heck you can't even think of something to write about let alone how you're going to get paid for writing.
Writing for Local Veterinary Hospitals
Freelance writer STANLEY BURKHARDT has a passion for animals. He loves animals so much, he crafted himself a new career.
How to Multiply Your Freelance Writing Work
You can turn your $200 fee to write a press release into $2,000 to carry out an entire PR campaign simply by convincing clients to invest in campaigns, instead of individual assignments. Campaigns achieve better results and cost less in the long-term for clients, compared to individual assignments.
Getting Past The Shoulds To Write
During the past few months I have received many questions asto how I have gone from an unknown writer to over comingsociety's adversarial thoughts on what writing should be andbecome a well known writer. So, today, I was inspired towrite on this.
To Outline Or Not To Outline
Ah, the age-old writer's debate--to outline or not to outline?Outlines have proven quite effective for a lot of writers, and many of the famous stories we know and love--such as Star Wars--were outlined before they were fleshed out into a living, breathing story. (Well, metaphorically living and breathing, anyway.
Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 4 of 6
LATER, LATTERLater means afterwards; latter is the second of two things."Later that day we went for a walk.
Technical Writing for the Terrified
IntroductionSometimes it may be beyond a companies or individuals budget to hire a professional writer to address their technical documentation. Although in an ideal world all technical documentation should be produced by a highly trained expert, unfortunately we do not live in an ideal.
The Work Flow Cycle of the Editorial Industry
As an editorial professional, I'm sure you're aware of the market slump right now. What you may not be aware of is that this is due to more than just the economy.
Building a Character Wall
For any great novelist, defining your cast of intriguing characters is the key to the success of your story. So how do you maintain the image of your characters―both their physical attributes and their personality? It's easy! Build a Character Wall?paper by paper.
Idea Mining for Writers 101
Want to write an article or book, but are stuck for ideas? Here are a few practical ways to awaken that muse.- Keep a writer's journal.
Write For Yourself First
It would be very selfless or noble of me to tell you that I have created my web site only to help you and the rest of humanity. The reason for me spending so much time and energy into my writing and this site is selfish.
The Run-on Sentence: From Here To Eternity
If you find your sentences filled with commas, and they wend from one topic to another, then you, like many people, may be guilty of writing run-on sentences.The run-on sentence is annoying.
Documenting Everything: Your Journal is Your Logbook
Sailors had it for years. Great explorers had it as well.
Nonfiction Idea Generators
The hardest part of nonfiction writing is finding a subject to write about. Unless you're a student or a professional writer no one is going to select a topic for you.
