What are you afraid of? http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150 Vespero. I want to start writing Horror pieces, but I'm not sure that I have a good grasp of what scares people. What kinds of things scare you? What do you look for in a horror story? Any good horror recommendations? Thanks for your help! Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:49:50 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1133915 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1133915 FariFax lol i'm actually just getting into horror movies now (at age 27), so i'm sort of new to the genre. But I have to admit the phycological stories usually get to me more. Also hauntings, i'm big into the supernatural and ghosts i just saw Woman in Black and it was great! Maybe because with hauntings, the ghosts are already dead and therefore harder to get ride of or escape from. It's harder to fight something you can't see or touch! Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:37:27 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1134235 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1134235 Vespero. See, I've gotten into Horror Survival games lately and I want to try and capture that in book-form... Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:12:29 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1134906 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1134906 alysdragon What scares me? In books - some dystopian visions, an insight into a truly messed up mindset, especially if combined with visceral but understated descriptions (Neil Gaiman's 'Other People' stopped me sleeping well for about a week, as did Iain M. Bank's hell visions in 'Surface detail) and a well told ghost stories. Spatterfests and zombies, not so much. I love monster and vampire stories, but I've never encountered one that scared me. Violence makes me uncomfortable, but it is more the will behind the violence - eg, torture - than the grisly details, the latter just make me laugh and maybe say, 'yuck'. In films, much the same, but it's more about atmosphere. I have also just seen 'Woman in Black' and it terrified me, but, while I watch a fair bit of horror, I'd not been scared by a film since I saw 'The Ring'. Most horror reveals too much - the unknown, the building of atmosphere and the sense of implacable menace, those are what scares me. Or it's monsters, zombies and vampires, which are great but not scary. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:42:38 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1136711 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1136711 Jake Roman My favorite horrid, I would have to say, are psychopath killers, ghosts, and things like the Grim Reaper. Those really catch my attention and scare the living daylights out of me! Lol Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:38:35 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137691 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137691 Webgoji RUNNING OUT OF OREO COOKIES!!! No, really though, stuff I can't see. The ghost thumping around in the ceiling and walls really scares the bageezits out of me. If I can see it, I can deal with it. If I can't see it, I wanna run away. Werewolves scare me due to their primal rage. They aren't like a vampire who you can talk out of it and who just wants to give you a hickey anyway. Nope, they chew and chew and chew and chew which leads to the last thing that scares me . . . Extreme brutality. Honestly, nothing unnerves me more than someone enjoying torturing another person. Now it can be overdone, like the movie "Hostel". That was so over the top I fell asleep at the theater. On the other hand, I couldn't actually watch "The Passion of the Christ" due to the brutality. "A Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was the same way for me. Carving someone up while they're still alive just really freaks me out. Now here's something to chew on though (no pun intended), if you want something that scares me that doesn't fall into the "normal scarey stuff" category it would be being homeless with a family. I've been there and it's utterly terrifying. All of the above stuff you can fight, it's external, but the hopelessness of not knowing how to feed your kids that night or even how to keep them warm when they lay down, it's the most horrible inner terror I can even begin to think of. You have a can of beans and that's it so you have to dole it out in small portions to your children while you don't eat anything. Bring on every werewolf in the world, they've got nothing on being homeless. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:34:48 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1139232 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1139232 Vespero. I'm not afraid of Vampires, either (though, I love them as a literary mechanic and Dracula is one of my favourite books). Vampires are unholy and blasphemous and they make great villains, but they have so many weaknesses. Even going by the (ORIGINAL) lore that they aren't light sensitive, but simply lose their vampiric powers during daylight hours, they still need your permission to come into your house, can't attack you if you hold up a cross, et cetera. I've never really been entertained by Werewolves, I must say. On the spectrum of Intellectual and Suave to Base and Violent (talking about monsters/ villains here), I don't feel like they land far enough on either end to really get my imagination going. Perhaps I just find them too "knowable," as far as violent entities go. Now, that's not to say that I dislike Werewolves, it's just that I feel no inclination towards reading a story simply because it contains them, but Lycanthropy as a plotpoint can open a lot of interesting things (such as with Sonata Arctica's song, "Full Moon") Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:44:26 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1144729 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1144729 awesomeo My only real fear is that reality as we know it is but the fevered dream of some mad god who shall one day awaken and cast us back into oblivion... No for me the most frightening thing is what webgoji touched upon. If a vampire wants to chow down on me, okay that's terrible. If they chain me up and make me watch while they drain my family bit by bit, that is beyond horrifying. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:53:18 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1148992 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1148992 thrilleraddict I love psychological horror, even supernatural horror. I love the whole serial killer thing. Demons flitting about the house, scaring the living crap out of its human inhabitants. Like knocking things over, making floorboards creak, and eventually throwing books and stuff at them. Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:28:47 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1164572 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1164572 booksntea I am 100% with you on this. Violence and gore, they don't really scare me, but it does make me feel uncomfortable. I watched this movie once where the "monster" shoved a girls ringing cell phone down her throat to asphyxiate her. It made me gag. Literally. But, it didn't send shivers up my spine like a good horror story should (in my opinion). Sun, 26 Feb 2012 09:56:09 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1171734 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1171734 BlueFeatherMuse While blood and gore definitely make me want to vomit, it doesn't scare me. What scares me most are psychological movies. I could sit through Saw (as long as I have a bucket) but I could never, ever watch the Exorcist or anything dealing with insanity. It just scares me s***less! Also, ghosts and that "little bump in the night" scare me, too. If I can't see it, it scares me. And if I can see it and it has a disturbing face--such as the Exorcist or Freddy Kruger--I won't watch it. Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:13:19 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1207900 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1207900 Obscurite_Asile I'm not really scared of them but I love the freaky children. Like, when I was watching Orphan I was really into it until I found out she was like, 30 something -,- Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:17:05 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1213835 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1213835 Telsanasee I personally like the psychological thrillers and yes, I'm thirteen but I'm a fan of that kind of thing. I also like the ones that you think something is real, but it really is not. Also clues, puzzles... not really sure if that counts as Horror but I'm fond of the ones that make you stop and think for a second. I don't know what I'm scared of, and I think that's what scares me... Sure, things make me jump and startle me... but I think things that seem simple and innocent ant first are the real things that scare me. Like dolls, jack in the boxes, music boxes, teddy bears... parents. Things you think you can trust at first but then you slowly retract with fear. As for horror recommendations, I don't have many since I'm not exactly aloud to watch the super scary type. So Women in Black for films... And for TV show I'd try either the third or forth episode of Pandora Hearts. For book recommendations, I don't have any.... sorry Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:30:47 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1216328 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1216328 Shady Spiral Well... I'm scared of mundane things like car crashes, diseases, people breaking into my house in the middle of the night, social interaction (really, though....) The thought of slow torture scares me, too. I'm not really afraid to die, but the thought of being tortured myself or watching someone I love be tortured and killed... yeah, that's scary. I don't really believe in ghosts, because I've never had any reason to think they exist, but sometimes I get scared by them in movies. Woman in Black was scary to me... Don't know why, but it was terrifying. I guess... the isolation. Being trapped in a house with no one but the ghost and absolutely no way of escape. I was also terrified of The Ring when I watched it at thirteen. Sun, 08 Apr 2012 20:55:29 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1274533 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1274533 GoneLookingForMyself Complete sociopaths. The idea of a human without humanity is terrifying to me. I had a story once where there were four villains; one was part demon, one was a clone/android type thing, and two were human. The two human ones were the worse, but one of them was a sociopath and... I can't think about him in depth for long. I also scare at some urban legends, Slenderman and stuff like that - also, I have this sensation when I'm starting up stairs that something's going to jump out of the shadows and pursue me up the stairs, snarling mindlessly. Ohmigod - the Scrunts from Lady In The Water? Absolutely terrifying. I can scarcely watch the scene with the one guy trapped in the corridor with one... Being separated from my family's also a big deal, because when I was younger I got lost during a museum trip and couldn't locate them anywhere. It's scary! Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:29:27 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1284933 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1284933 RionaDaidouji As others have stated, psychological horror is really the scariest out there. For some good examples, look up the Doctor Who episodes Midnight and Blink. Both are super terrifying, although in different ways. As someone else mentioned, Slenderman. *hides* There's not much out there scarier than Slenderman. Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:44:15 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1300389 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1300389 JayElleBee Caves and deep water. Really deep water. The thought of what might be in the oceans, or the idea of being stuck inside a cave system and never seeing sunlight again freaks the hell out of me. ;_; I think both of those essentially boil down to a fear of the unknown though. Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:58:06 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1304771 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1304771 thrilleraddict The Others was a really freaking scary movie. Not exactly horror, but I don't want to spoil it for other people.... Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:32:04 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1328862 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1328862 chibi_bunni What scares me most is the unknown. It's actually quite similar to being afraid of the dark, or, more precisely, being afraid of what is in it. Not knowing creates a lot of suspense, I think ^^. Another thing that is scary as hell is sleep paralysis *nods*. Sat, 05 May 2012 06:37:15 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1344347 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1344347 CupboardOfWonders This is the opposite for most people, but psycological horror doesn't bother me at all. I don't believe in ghosts, so when I watch things to do with the supernatural, I just laugh. I saw the Woman in Black, and I literally laughed all the way through. Sure, certain things made me jump, but I flinch a lot anyway. The only part that actually 'scared me', was when I was waiting for the dead body to reach up and grab Daniel Radcliffe, which didn't actually happen. And I was disappointed that it didn't. But yeah, noises and ghosts and possessions and stuff like that... they don't bother me, because I think they're unbelievable and silly (just my personal opinion, I'm not mocking anyone who is afraid of them). What actually scares me is what a human can actually do to another. Dismemberment, burning someone alive... they terrify me and I physically cannot watch it if it's on TV. I remember watching an episode of Midsomer Murders, or something similar, where a woman was buried alive for something that she didn't actually do. She was screaming and the guy above her was just tossing soil onto her without even blinking. I couldn't sleep that night, even though she was rescued pretty quickly. For me, it's violence and disregard towards human life and suffering that really scares me. I guess I think: What if someone decides to do something like that to me? Wed, 09 May 2012 13:55:59 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1356155 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1356155 esama I'm kind of lame, because what I'm most afraid of, the sort of afraid that keeps me awake at night, is dying. Not the dying bit itself, though, everyone does that and in itself it's not big deal, but what happens afterwards - not to me, but to the things I worked on. Because no one in the near vicinity knows much about what I've been working on, the stories I've written, things like that; they wouldn't value then. Best case scenario, someone in my family would just wipe all my hard drives and then take my computer for themselves, and that would be it. All those hundreds of stories I've written, wiped away, and no one would ever read them. Everything I've worked on, gone. Seriously, that scares me so much that my hands are actually shaking right now. I probably should do something about that, like, set a thumb drive aside with a note "DO NOT DELETE, THIS IS MY WHOLE LIFE'S WORK HERE" in it, or something. Thu, 10 May 2012 01:48:29 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1358112 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1358112 Lord Fhalkyn What we do not know is what scares us. When we cannot find an explanation, we are driven to pin it upon someone- anyone- who is different, and we tear them apart. It is not because of an inherent evil- it is an instinct that must be obeyed. Because we, as human beings, have a fragile grip upon reality, and in all honesty, it doesn't take that much to shake our minds loose from its moorings and cast us adrift in a sea of paranoid chaos. Those who instigate the aforementioned chaos and take delight in it frighten me to no end. Sun, 13 May 2012 17:38:58 -0500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1366480 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/horror-supernatural/threads/50150?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1366480