Heavy on the Scary, Light on the Gore

By Linda Lovely

I walked out on this "classic" due
to its graphic violence.

I love mysteries and thrillers—books and movies.  However, I try to avoid any entertainment medium that dishes up excessive violence and gore. While many people consider Clockwork Orange a movie classic, I walked out on that film when it premiered. I don’t need horrific, violent images polluting my mind and invading my nightmares. I’m not a fan of horror movies—even on Halloween.

I’m delighted when mystery/suspense/thrillers give me chills and goosebumps. I read/watch because, at least in my favorite books/films, the hero/heroine ultimately wins out over evil. For those of us who love these genres, the promise that right/justice can prevail (at least occasionally) is both comforting and inspiring.

I love books that make me eager to turn the page to find out what will happen next, to discover how the protagonists will escape what seems like inevitable doom. Dire situations are just dandy. But severed body parts, gallons of blood, and extended torture scenes are unnecessary and unwelcome for this reader/viewer. Spare me the chainsaw and slasher flicks. My imagination is quite adequate to feel the intense cruelty of a serial killer or psychopath without pages of gory description. 

Marathon Man is one of my favorite films
even though the torture scene made me squirm.

However, I have to admit one of my favorite movies, Marathon Man, includes an extended torture scene—though the instruments of torture can be found in most dentists’ offices. That seems to suggest my tolerance for violence extends well beyond PG.

The the people who die in my mystery/suspense/thrillers don’t exactly pass away in their sleep either. Since my killers tend to be smart, I figure they’re entitled to come up with ingenious methods to engineer their victims’ deaths. Their weapons have included everything from fire ants and dog collars to eye drops. If you haven’t read my novels, I don’t want to give details that could be spoilers.

So how do you feel about scary books/movies? Do you choose to pass on the gore? Where do you draw the line on violence? 

My Scary Trigger

By Courtney Pierce

Chills. Thrills. Tension. Danger. It’s not what I see, but what I don’t see that defines a scary novel or movie for me. I’m easily suckered into a good ghost story. Graphic images of severed body parts and gushing blood do nothing for me, but I love the suspense of an unseen force. Suspense makes my heart race. My imagination is so much bigger than what any special effects team could show.

For example, take The Haunting or The Legend of Hell House, both movies based on books. These classics ooze with the dire stakes of “Don’t go into the nursery” and “Do you feel that? A cold spot”. The only thing one sees is a door slam shut or the steam of a character’s breath. Yeah, the premise is predictable―characters gather in a presumably haunted house for a week with a can't-miss offer―but it’s such a great hook. Time for a potty break when a shadow of an erotic statue comes alive on the ceiling!

Skepticism morphs to fear; shock clarifies to belief. Finally, there is understanding and strength. All the emotions I want, and need, to feel take us to a satisfying conclusion.

One of the best romantic ghost stories is Rebecca by Daphne De Maurier (and the rare triumph of book-turned-movie version by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940). The implied ghost of Maxim de Winter’s dead wife, Rebecca, is everywhere, even in her embroidered monogram on a linen napkin and on her embossed custom stationary. Rebecca’s luxurious bedroom―off limits to all but the creepy maid―swirls with sheer curtains that billow with a breeze from the sea. The camera pans from the soft touch of furs and lingerie in the closet to a framed photo of Maxim on the dressing table. The maid even mimes the "hair drill" brushing of Rebecca's hair. The unseen ghost of Rebecca wedges herself right between Maxim and his naive young wife. The poor thing is so diminished by this ghost that the reader (or viewer) is never even told the new wife’s name. She’s only referred to as “Maxim’s wife” or “Darling”, much to the disdain of the mansion’s housekeeper. Rebecca's not a real ghost, but she's certainly an overwhelming emotional presence that drives the suspense.

Brilliant!

I was so taken by De Maurier’s crafty technique that I used the scaffolding of the story (sans the creepy housekeeper) to end my Dushane Sisters Trilogy series, only in reverse. In the upcoming final installment, Indigo Legacy, it is the ghost of my heroine’s dead husband that torments her male love interest. The presence lives in the wedding ring that my character can’t get off her finger. To overcome the challenges of a death bond is not only painful but suspenseful. A hacksaw finally severs the gold band in a hospital Emergency Room, but it’s not quite over. Invisible baggage makes my characters stumble and fall. I had fun infusing my own humorous take on the road map of De Maurier’s story. It’s due out in 2017.

I watch and read scary stories to vicariously experience the emotions of what the characters feel. It’s a break from the mundane work-a-day world, an escape when characters want so desperately for life to be normal while invisible forces get in the way. The characters must conquer their fear of something that is totally out of control. And when they do, their lives will forever be changed.

Like watching the news. That’s a scary story these days. We writers are better positioned to change lives by crafting a good book.

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her bossy cat. She writes for baby boomers. By day, Courtney is an executive in the entertainment industry and uses her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor and mystery. She has studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, she is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers, Pacific Northwest Writers Association, She Writes, and Sisters in Crime. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal. 

Check out all of Courtney's books at:

courtney-pierce.com and windtreepress.com. Both print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com

The Dushane Sisters are back in Indigo Lake. More laughs, more tears...and more trouble. Protecting Mom's reputation might get the sisters killed―or give one of them the story she's been dying to live.

New York Times best-selling author Karen Karbo says, "Courtney Pierce spins a madcap tale of family grudges, sisterly love, unexpected romance, mysterious mobsters and dog love. Reading Indigo Lake is like drinking champagne with a chaser of Mountain Dew. Pure Delight." 

Colorful characters come alive in Courtney's trilogy about the Dushane sisters. Beginning with The Executrix, three middle-age sisters find a manuscript for a murder mystery in their mother's safe after her death. Mom’s book gives them a whole new view of their mother and their future. Is it fiction . . . or truth? 

Get out the popcorn as the Dushane Sisters Trilogy comes to a scrumptious conclusion with Indigo Legacy. Due out in early 2017.

Scary Books, Scary Movies, Scary True History

 

by Kristin Holt

I freely admit I'm not a huge fan of horror, though I Am Legend (2007) rates in my top [out-of-my-typical-favorite-genres] movies of all time. Scared the living daylights out of me. I saw it at least eight years ago, yet I still find myself thinking about powerful scenes, nuances, and the premise.

Poster Design by Crew Creative Advertising. [Source]

Another movie that scared me--and I loved it!--was The Sixth Sense (1999). I don't know that I've ever been so spooked. What a thrill! Remember how YOU reacted upon discovering the shocking twist?

The Sixth Sense, Theatrical Release Poster [Source]

  

Don't we read to experience everything?...all from the safety of an armchair (or commuter train seat or hammock)? Powerful fiction transports the reader to another place, another life, another set of circumstances. I think people read scary stories and watch scary movies to safely experience the thrill-ride of spine-tingling fear.

I can't say I read horror (or scary stories) on a regular basis, though I have read some. Far more often, I come across horrific (and probably true) incidents in my constant research of Victorian-American history.

 

True (at least as far as the viewpoint of the then-current news reporter) history can be every bit as scary, disturbing, nightmare-inducing...and heartbreaking.

The following newspaper clipping, published in Shelby County Herald of Shelbyville, Missouri on October 1, 1890. Yes, some newspaper 'articles' in the late nineteenth century were fictionalized, but this one doesn't seem to be anything but the sad truth--mental illness likely brought on by grief and heartache.

Horrible and sad all at the same time. I think every parent everywhere can imagine the agony experienced by this mother, can identify with her loss...and realize the slip into insanity could happen to any one of us. Isn't that what makes some stories (whether factual or fictional) so scary?

Why do you read scary stories?

Hi! I'm Kristin Holt.

I write frequent articles (or view recent posts easily on my Home Page, scroll down) about the nineteenth century American west–every subject of possible interest to readers, amateur historians, authors…as all of these tidbits surfaced while researching for my books. I also blog monthly at Sweet Americana Sweethearts (first Friday of each month) and Romancing the Genres (third Tuesday of each Month).

I love to hear from readers! Please drop me a note. Or find me on Facebook.

Sweet Romance Appropriate for All Audiences

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Copyright © 2016 Kristin Holt LC

Things that go Bump in the Night!

 By: Marcia King-Gamble

www.lovemarcia.com

Here I am celebrating Florida Romance Writers 30th Birthday  with fellow, Generista, Kristin Wallace and author, Carol  Stephenson !

  

I digress. This month’s topic is supposed to be why we read scary stories,  and watch movies making you want to cover your eyes and check under your bed.   

Honestly, I’m hardly a fan of scary movies or books. Ghosts, goblins and things that go bump in the night do nothing for me.  Give me a good comedy, drama or sweet romance.  Anything associated with the supernatural just makes me want to retch. Yes I am a scaredy cat. Living in today’s world is scary enough.

Scary to me is the absence of good manners. People who don’t have the decency to RSVP to a wedding,  or thank you for a gift. I abhor those with a sense of entitlement.

Upsetting and scary to me are millennials attitude toward marriage.  Beta marriage was not something promoted in my day. Marriage isn't something you try on for size,  and if  after two years it doesn’t fit, you dissolve minus paperwork. This Real Estate approach to marriage, with option to renegotiate terms every five years, is for the birds.

Equally scary is casual sex with multiple partners; not that that's anything new, except the stakes are much higher these  days. Today, getting under the covers with a stranger may result in the gift that keeps giving. The diseases making the rounds need more than penicillin to cure. 

Troubling and scary are innocent lives being taken by rogue cops who let power go to their heads. Rather than choosing the option to use a Taser, they simply shoot and then cover it up.

Scary are the number of mentally challenged walking the streets, abandoned by family,  and released by overcrowded institutions. These people harass  drivers at every stoplight, badgering you into giving them money rather than food. They need our help. 

What about the young men and women who are caught up in the illegal business of human trafficking? These are usually runaways used to perform domestic duties and the basest of sexual acts.

Scary are today's role models - barely articulate and tabloid fodder.  And not because they are do-gooders, but because the latest sex tape has been uncovered, and the size of their butts make enthusiastic cocktail party chatter.

Race relations are at their very worse. For me a child of the seventies, I find this very sad.

Addiction issues run rampant and rehab centers have huge waiting lists. Not all on that waiting list fit the sixteen to twenty-one age bracket. 

But scariest of all is the upcoming election, and where this country may be heading.  As citizens of the United States, it's up to us to vote responsibly, or there may be even scarier times ahead!

Every vote counts!

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 Marcia King-Gamble is a National Bestselling author. She has penned 34 books and 6 novellas. Her free time is spent at the gym, traveling, and with her animal family.