“There is no fear in a bang, only in the anticipation of it.” Alfred Hitchcock.
Scaring people is one of the satisfying aspects of my
writing life!!
Sorry about that uncivil statement but it is true… I get a
real kick when people tell me they were scared reading my stories. It is such a
difficult thing to get right, I think. After all you want definitely want
readers to be scared a little - but not so much that it overcomes their
inclination to read on.
Raising the hairs on the back of my neck or causing me to
break out in goosebumps is scary enough for me. Blood and guts kind of scary is
not my cup of tea – although I know it does it for plenty of other readers… So
how scary is scary for readers of paranormal thrillers?
For me, it is setting the imagination in play. A few well
placed suggestions can get readers wondering and if they wonder then all things
are possible. Witness a group of people quietly playing cards late at night.
One says, “shush - did you hear that?” Everyone stops and listens carefully.
Then another person hears a noise and someone else says it sounds like the
creak a coffin lid opening might make…. Suddenly everyone’s heart beats a
little faster. Then the lights go out… Now one of the players screams as he
imagines something touched him…
But what has actually happened here? A fuse has blown and a
door creaked slightly as it moved in a draught. But what has really happened is
the imagination has exerted its full force and - as perceptive as we humans are
– such things as atmosphere and sensing fear from another person is as
infectious as laughing and yawning. We are all victims of our own imaginations
in the right circumstances. It is this fact that all paranormal thriller
writers trade in and has given rise to some of the scariest stories ever
without spilling a single drop of blood!
I must apologise for the clichéd scenario but I’m sure you
get my drift…
Do you use fear subliminally? Without being as clichéd as
this, of course…
Can you be scared by the use of suggestions and atmosphere?
I think the 'what's going to happen?' kind of fear works better on paper than the 'oh look, something horrible is happening' kind and agree that's because our imaginations get involved.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to scare readers. And to shock them. I love to throw something at them (in the plot) that they won't expect. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think thrillers tend to mess with your head and make you feel fear on a whole other level than a horror does. It definitely makes for great reading. The fear a thriller conjures up tends to stick around in my subconscious a lot longer. Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, I think suggestion can really heighten tension and ramp up the fear factor!
ReplyDeleteYes, anticipation is the key, I think. I love books that make me keep turning the pages, almost reluctant to know what happens next because I'm enjoying the suspense, but desperate to keep going. It is fun to feel frightened by fiction!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments folks!
ReplyDelete