I've just finished watching 'The Walking Dead' season 3 and I am very pleased with myself
that I have managed to sleep soundly. It would appear that Zombies
don't scare me the same, or at least as much as they used too. But in my
quest to face my fears in order to be able to delve deeper into the
world of horror, in the hope that I will become a better writer in that
genre, I find myself wondering what scares me the most, the gore or the
psychological factor? Don't get me wrong I still hide behind my pillow
at the really gross bits, but that's not so much out of fear its more to
keep my dinner down. Every time I go to eat something meaty the picture
of rotting zombie guts flying everywhere comes into my mind. Yes my
imagination works on me in vast and wonderful ways, but I wish it would
leave me be when I am eating.
That
aside, what I have realised while facing my fear of zombies, is that
it's not just the gore that gets me but the psychological factor, the
fear that you could become a flesh eating emotionless zombie. But when
you have a way out when hope is there sitting just over the horizon then
you don't fear it the same. When everyone bands together to help each
other then you feel that little bit more secure and the psychological
fear drains away enough to let you slumber without nightmares. But what
if the people you think you can count on leave you stranded in that dark
forest alone with no back up and a hundred of your worst fears are
running towards you in all directions? Then your security is taken away
from you. Then you feel the dark cold touch of hopelessness reach out
for your soul. So in this situation do you surrender? Do you give up and
let the horde take you down into the depths of despair? Well that all
depends on your character, whether you are a fighter or not. But then
again no matter how strong you are mentally you might not be strong
enough to fight off the horde baring down on you. So it all falls down
to the what if's. What if I can't make it alone, what if I'm not strong
enough to fight them off, what if I don't have the skill to fight them
off or to survive? You get the picture. So it's here that the gore stops
and the psychological scares begin.
The
character is all alone in the dark house and every sound is audible and
enhanced. They can't get any sleep because they have no one to watch
their back and as a result they start to live in their own head. They
are sleep deprived, alone, sacred and now they are starting to imagine
things. But are those things real or not. They don't know because they
have no one there to clarify it for them. My point is that the fear
factor is not just about gore, but the fear of the unknown, the fear
that what you are about to face may be faced alone and no one else will
understand or help you. It's the roller coaster ride of, what will
happen next....
But I wonder if
you could create a really scary story without the gore or at least the
minimal amount? Are we so used to seeing blood and guts in our movies
that without them it's just not horror? Or would the psychological
factor be enough to scare you?
I
guess it all depends on our level of fear and what we have become immune
too. But lets face it, it's not only the gore that stays with us when
the lights go out and we are trying to sleep. It's also the
psychological elements of the book or movie that force their way back up
to the surface and haunt your dreams. It's the cold touch of fear that
plays out over and over in your mind, the parts that your brain can't
process. It's the fear of the unknown, and the idea that those things
could be real or could really happen to you. You have been taken out of
your comfort zone and you can't find the way back in the dark recesses
of your mind. But what gets us out of our comfort zone is not only the
fear of the unknown or being left alone, its the thought of all those
horrible nasty things happening to us. And you need the gore to portray
those events. So it could be said that the gore is the door in, and from
then on it's the psychological roller coaster that determines the scare
factor of the movie or book.
So I
guess you could say that both gore and the psychological factor feed
off of each others darkness in order to bring out the horror. It would
appear that they need each other in order to produce the scares we look
for. So in the end it all comes down to a fine balance, in order to
unbalance our minds and bring out our fears.
I've just finished watching 'The Walking Dead' season 3 and I am very pleased with myself
that I have managed to sleep soundly. It would appear that Zombies
don't scare me the same, or at least as much as they used too. But in my
quest to face my fears in order to be able to delve deeper into the
world of horror, in the hope that I will become a better writer in that
genre, I find myself wondering what scares me the most, the gore or the
psychological factor? Don't get me wrong I still hide behind my pillow
at the really gross bits, but that's not so much out of fear its more to
keep my dinner down. Every time I go to eat something meaty the picture
of rotting zombie guts flying everywhere comes into my mind. Yes my
imagination works on me in vast and wonderful ways, but I wish it would
leave me be when I am eating.
That
aside, what I have realised while facing my fear of zombies, is that
it's not just the gore that gets me but the psychological factor, the
fear that you could become a flesh eating emotionless zombie. But when
you have a way out when hope is there sitting just over the horizon then
you don't fear it the same. When everyone bands together to help each
other then you feel that little bit more secure and the psychological
fear drains away enough to let you slumber without nightmares. But what
if the people you think you can count on leave you stranded in that dark
forest alone with no back up and a hundred of your worst fears are
running towards you in all directions? Then your security is taken away
from you. Then you feel the dark cold touch of hopelessness reach out
for your soul. So in this situation do you surrender? Do you give up and
let the horde take you down into the depths of despair? Well that all
depends on your character, whether you are a fighter or not. But then
again no matter how strong you are mentally you might not be strong
enough to fight off the horde baring down on you. So it all falls down
to the what if's. What if I can't make it alone, what if I'm not strong
enough to fight them off, what if I don't have the skill to fight them
off or to survive? You get the picture. So it's here that the gore stops
and the psychological scares begin.
The
character is all alone in the dark house and every sound is audible and
enhanced. They can't get any sleep because they have no one to watch
their back and as a result they start to live in their own head. They
are sleep deprived, alone, sacred and now they are starting to imagine
things. But are those things real or not. They don't know because they
have no one there to clarify it for them. My point is that the fear
factor is not just about gore, but the fear of the unknown, the fear
that what you are about to face may be faced alone and no one else will
understand or help you. It's the roller coaster ride of, what will
happen next....
But I wonder if
you could create a really scary story without the gore or at least the
minimal amount? Are we so used to seeing blood and guts in our movies
that without them it's just not horror? Or would the psychological
factor be enough to scare you?
I
guess it all depends on our level of fear and what we have become immune
too. But lets face it, it's not only the gore that stays with us when
the lights go out and we are trying to sleep. It's also the
psychological elements of the book or movie that force their way back up
to the surface and haunt your dreams. It's the cold touch of fear that
plays out over and over in your mind, the parts that your brain can't
process. It's the fear of the unknown, and the idea that those things
could be real or could really happen to you. You have been taken out of
your comfort zone and you can't find the way back in the dark recesses
of your mind. But what gets us out of our comfort zone is not only the
fear of the unknown or being left alone, its the thought of all those
horrible nasty things happening to us. And you need the gore to portray
those events. So it could be said that the gore is the door in, and from
then on it's the psychological roller coaster that determines the scare
factor of the movie or book.
So I
guess you could say that both gore and the psychological factor feed
off of each others darkness in order to bring out the horror. It would
appear that they need each other in order to produce the scares we look
for. So in the end it all comes down to a fine balance, in order to
unbalance our minds and bring out our fears.
