Hello!
I'm back from vacation, my SO has a new job, Lent has started, so now life is ready to get back to normal.
I'll write a post on writing progress later, but first, I want to write about....video games.
I know. I'm a librarian, writer, and reader, what the heck am I doing writing about video games?
Well, I am all about the scary experience. What draws me (and many others) to the genre is how it makes us feel. Not like "the feels" but physically how we feel. We may sweat, or get the chills, or goosebumps. Our heart may race. We may see things out of the corners of our eyes.
And horror enthusiasts LOVE that. That's what horror writers strive for. That's what horror readers crave. But there is one outlet that seems to be doing it the best.
Video Games.
Video games are interesting because they give the player the first person experience. When books are first person, you are reading from the perspective of someone else. When you play a first person video game, you ARE that character. Sure, your name may be different, you may be a different gender, but you are seeing and experiencing the world through the eyes of the character you are playing as. And with the advancement of VR (Virtual Reality), it's an even greater experience.
I am not a very good gamer. BUT I LOVE horror video games. I've watched many people play them and just played through my first ever horror game (albeit poorly) just recently. I'm going to write this in parts. Today's entry will be a quick intro to scary atmosphere. The next will be a post on how Resident Evil 7 (the first and only horror game I've played) did it right. Following that, I think I want to delve into Southern Gothic Horror and also why so many horror movies/games/books take place in the south.
There are many ways to tell a scary story, and I won't say that any of them are wrong. Some rely on suspense, some rely on gore, some rely on the "BOO!". However, the scariest stories, to me, are the ones that keep you in suspense. The ones that make you think there is something lurking around every corner. The ones that keep you on high alert.
Think back to your childhood. What were you more scared of: Someone yelling boo, or the prospect of monsters being under your bed and/or in your closet? Probably the latter. The first thing will startle you for sure. You'll scream, your heart will race and jump, and your hair will stand on end. These are all signs of fear for sure, but they will subside.
The "Boo" will make your flight or fight senses kick in. And its fun. But like with a lot of things, the more exposed you are to them, the less frightening they become. This is why haunted houses are fun, but not necessarily scary. It feels more thrilling, like riding a roller coaster. Chances are, you'll want to do it again.
However, the monsters in your closet are a different matter. Sure, your mom or dad has opened the closet and shown you that there is nothing there. But that was with the light on! Now the light is off an the closet door is closed, but not all the way closed, could something be peering at you through the crack? What was that bump? Oh, it was probably Fluffy, your cat. But you remember your parents letting Fluffy out BEFORE you went to bed. So what was that bump? Is something breathing? You distinctively heard something breathe. Or was that the wind? Is it windy out? The floor creaked. Was that the monster? Or was that coming out from the hallway? You can't tell. You're tired. But if you fall asleep it will get you. Better keep your eyes open and stay awake all night.
What you can't see is always scarier than what you can, and what you think you might see is always scarier than what will really happen.
The human mind is a scary beautiful place. We can imagine such horrors, that often times what we are expecting to happen is far worse than the story or game or scene in a movie we are experiencing.
And this is where I think movies and video games have a very slight lead on books. They do such a good job of building that tension, of building that suspense. In writing, we are told to show, not tell. How do we show something that may or may not be there? How do we show the dread of going into a dark hallway? How do we imply that something terrible is lurking around every corner, without actually saying that there is (or not having anything there at all)?
What I'm going to do, is go through some scenes (and hopefully avoid any spoilers) in the Resident Evil 7 game that I think do a fantastic job of doing this, and then from there, explain how as a writer, we may be able to achieve the same feeling. Think of this as a Horror Writing Lite series.
Memento Mori.
I'm back from vacation, my SO has a new job, Lent has started, so now life is ready to get back to normal.
I'll write a post on writing progress later, but first, I want to write about....video games.
I know. I'm a librarian, writer, and reader, what the heck am I doing writing about video games?
Well, I am all about the scary experience. What draws me (and many others) to the genre is how it makes us feel. Not like "the feels" but physically how we feel. We may sweat, or get the chills, or goosebumps. Our heart may race. We may see things out of the corners of our eyes.
And horror enthusiasts LOVE that. That's what horror writers strive for. That's what horror readers crave. But there is one outlet that seems to be doing it the best.
Video Games.
Video games are interesting because they give the player the first person experience. When books are first person, you are reading from the perspective of someone else. When you play a first person video game, you ARE that character. Sure, your name may be different, you may be a different gender, but you are seeing and experiencing the world through the eyes of the character you are playing as. And with the advancement of VR (Virtual Reality), it's an even greater experience.
I am not a very good gamer. BUT I LOVE horror video games. I've watched many people play them and just played through my first ever horror game (albeit poorly) just recently. I'm going to write this in parts. Today's entry will be a quick intro to scary atmosphere. The next will be a post on how Resident Evil 7 (the first and only horror game I've played) did it right. Following that, I think I want to delve into Southern Gothic Horror and also why so many horror movies/games/books take place in the south.
There are many ways to tell a scary story, and I won't say that any of them are wrong. Some rely on suspense, some rely on gore, some rely on the "BOO!". However, the scariest stories, to me, are the ones that keep you in suspense. The ones that make you think there is something lurking around every corner. The ones that keep you on high alert.
Think back to your childhood. What were you more scared of: Someone yelling boo, or the prospect of monsters being under your bed and/or in your closet? Probably the latter. The first thing will startle you for sure. You'll scream, your heart will race and jump, and your hair will stand on end. These are all signs of fear for sure, but they will subside.
The "Boo" will make your flight or fight senses kick in. And its fun. But like with a lot of things, the more exposed you are to them, the less frightening they become. This is why haunted houses are fun, but not necessarily scary. It feels more thrilling, like riding a roller coaster. Chances are, you'll want to do it again.
However, the monsters in your closet are a different matter. Sure, your mom or dad has opened the closet and shown you that there is nothing there. But that was with the light on! Now the light is off an the closet door is closed, but not all the way closed, could something be peering at you through the crack? What was that bump? Oh, it was probably Fluffy, your cat. But you remember your parents letting Fluffy out BEFORE you went to bed. So what was that bump? Is something breathing? You distinctively heard something breathe. Or was that the wind? Is it windy out? The floor creaked. Was that the monster? Or was that coming out from the hallway? You can't tell. You're tired. But if you fall asleep it will get you. Better keep your eyes open and stay awake all night.
What you can't see is always scarier than what you can, and what you think you might see is always scarier than what will really happen.
The human mind is a scary beautiful place. We can imagine such horrors, that often times what we are expecting to happen is far worse than the story or game or scene in a movie we are experiencing.
And this is where I think movies and video games have a very slight lead on books. They do such a good job of building that tension, of building that suspense. In writing, we are told to show, not tell. How do we show something that may or may not be there? How do we show the dread of going into a dark hallway? How do we imply that something terrible is lurking around every corner, without actually saying that there is (or not having anything there at all)?
What I'm going to do, is go through some scenes (and hopefully avoid any spoilers) in the Resident Evil 7 game that I think do a fantastic job of doing this, and then from there, explain how as a writer, we may be able to achieve the same feeling. Think of this as a Horror Writing Lite series.
Memento Mori.
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