SUB Gottingen 220 041 636
A Handbook by The Horror Writers Association
EDITED BY MORT CASTLE
WRITER'S DIGEST BOOKS www.writersdigest .com Cincinnati, Ohio i
Foreword: The Horror Writers Association: A Shockingly Brief and Informal History of the HWA by Stanley Wiater ix Editor's Introduction by Mort Castle 1
Horror, Literature, and Horror Literature The Madness of Art by Joyce Carol Oates 4 Acceptance Speech: The 2003 National Book Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters by Stephen King 7 Why We Write Horror by Michael McCarty : 13
.: An Education in Horror What You Are Meant to Know: Twenty-One Horror Classics by Robert Weinberg 17 Avoiding What's Been Done to Death by Ramsey Campbell 23 Workshops of Horror (and Seminars and Conferences) by Tom Monteleone 26 Degrees of Dread: Horror in Higher Education by Michael A. Arnzen 32
/j7/6C« Developing Horror Concepts A World of Dark and Disturbing Ideas byJ.N. Williamson 40 Mirror, Mirror by Wayne Allen Sallee 48
Tahlft nf Contents
V Going There: Strategies for Writing the Things That Scare You by Michael Marano 53 Honest Lies and Darker Truths: History and Horror Fiction by Richard Gilliam 58
.'. Horror Crafting Such Horrible People by Tina Jens 65 A Hand on the Shoulder by Joe R. Lansdale 73 Eerie Events and Horrible Happenings: Plotting Short Horror Fiction by Nicholas Kaufmann 77 Reality and the Waking Nightmare: Setting and Character in Horror Fiction by Mort Castle 82 "He Said?" She Asked: Some Thoughts About Dialogue by David Morrell 88 Keep It Moving, Maniacs: Writing Action Scenes in Horror Fiction by Jay R. Bonansinga 95 The Dark Enchantment of Style by Bruce Holland Rogers 102
fe.: Horror, Art, Innovation, Excellence Innovation in Horror by Jeanne Cavelos 108 Depth of Field: Horror and Literary Fiction by Nick Mamatas 113 Splat Goes the Hero: Visceral Horror by Jack Ketchum 118 Darkness Absolute: The Standards of Excellence in Horror Fiction by Douglas E. Winter 124 On Horror: A Conversation With Harlan Ellison by Richard Gilliam 132
Qn Writing Hnrrnr vi ' Tradition and Modern Times
No More Silver Mirrors: The Monster in Our Times by Karen E. Taylor 137 Fresh Blood From Old Wounds: The Alchemist Meets the Biochemist by Joseph Curtin 141 More Simply Human by Tracy Knight 146 The Possibility of the Impossible by Tom Piccirilli 152 Take a Scalpel to Those Tropes byW.D. Gagliani 156 That Spectred Isle: Tradition, Sensibility, and Delivery Or Ghosts? What Ghosts? by Steven Savile 159 New Horrors: A Roundtable Discussion of Horror Today and Tomorrow by Joe Nassise (moderator) 163
: Genre and Subgenre Archetypes and Fearful Allure: Writing Erotic Horror by Nancy Kilpatrick 171 Writing for the New Pulps: Horror-Themed Anthologies by John Maclay 176 Freaks and Fiddles, Banjos and Beasts: Writing Redneck Horror by Weston Ochse 179 Youth Gone Wild by Lee Thomas (aka Thomas Pendleton) 184 Writing Horror Comic Books—And Graphic Novels by David Campiti 188 Acts of Madness: Writing Horror for the Stage by Lisa Morton 194 Fear Spins Off: The Tie-In Novel Comes Into Its Own by Yvonne Navarro 199 The Play's the Thing on the Doorstep: Writing Video and Role-Playing Games by Richard E. Dansky 203
ft of vii Now Fear This: Writing Horror for Audio Theater by Scott Hickey and Robert Madia 209 Good Characters and Cool Kills: Writing the Horror Screenplay by Brendan Deneen 213
~-'ynf* Horror Business: Selling, Marketing, Promoting
Dark Fluidity: Online Research and Marketing Resources by Judi Rohrig 219 The Small Press: Filling Shelves With Rare Books by John Everson 223 Sharing the Creeps: Marketing Short Horror Fiction, Version 2.0 by Edo van Belkom 231 For Love or Money: Six Marketing Myths by Bev Vincent 235 One Reader at a Time: Promoting Your Horror Novel by Scott Nicholson 238
Afterword Afterword: Quiet Lies the Locust Tells by Harlan Ellison 243 The HWA Members Who Contributed to This Book 248 Index 255
On Writing / viii