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Horror Writing: Approaches to Heighten the Senses

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Horror books are mainly focused on the experience they generate, not just the usual writing considerations. While most writing styles will concentrate on character development and the process of the plot flow, horror books shall take all that and push it into the next dimension by shifting attention to the mood and tone of the writing. Such writing aims to use all resources to create a gripping emotional reaction to what is written. Horror book writing ideas are therefore more focused on the emotional aspects of the story than the usual rules governing structure.

A good horror book will manage to place the reader right in the middle of the plot. It shall pull you away from a free view of the plot to being a part of the experience. This shall be achieved when the reader becomes keenly aware of every sound, every footstep, when the shadows move, and all the horrible figures lurking in the fog. A horror writer needs to have powerful visualization skills if they are to hit the reader with a surge of frightening scenes.

There has to be a balance to it so that the reader does not lose interest. While there needs to be attention to detail, the storyline has to keep flowing. There is more focus on the auditory aspects; this is why all horror writing ideas need to have that sense considered. The projection of sound is a critical factor in all horror writing ideas. It is what drives up the feeling of fear and terror. The dear of what they cannot see yet hear has been known to go a long way.

The mood of any scene is critical to the flow of any horror presentation. There is always the apprehension and anticipation before something scary happens. That in itself adds to the amount of fear induced. There may be a pause before someone knocks on the door, yet you are in a log cabin miles away from civilization. It may also be the sudden power outage at a party where everything goes quiet and eerie before a bleeding member of the group stumbles into the room.

When writing any material in a horror book, you need always to set that tone that leads to something profound happening. This is what gives the scare more force and adds to the feeling of anxiety. Horror writing can be referred to as a more sophisticated approach to storytelling. The words chosen manage to induce fear out of the sense of what the reader imagines they can hear. It is far easier to paint a picture for a reader. It is, however, harder to make them listen to footsteps in that picture. Click here for more on horror writing: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendy-webb/a-dark-and-stormy-night-1_b_3159422.html.