They're Not as Scared, Josh

I talked a bit more about the On Dark Rhoads blog over at Inchoate with "Gearing Up for the Rhoad" and got into some technical and non-writing aspects like commenting and general blog shoptalk.

Last time here we talked about pace and tension. What does it really mean in regard to the scare factor of the tale though? For that matter what does the format do to the scare? Certainly as much as horror is known for it scares, for leaving the audience creeped out if only for a little while, it is about the horrific too, obviously, but as a kind of milieu it is about the situations, beings, and the like that are horrific or monstrous. As such it doesn't always have to scare or horrify at least on the small scale--nor constantly either.

A story about a haunting is a horror story even if you are not scared by it. Stories with monsters are likewise horror as well by virtue of the monsters, though this might require it not additionally being say a medieval fantasy story. It is a matter of degrees and a question of intensity. It is the outlook that matters. Monster heroes in a city will be urban fantasy for instance rather than horror if it lacks horror. It's all shades of grey as far as the presentation goes. Often what distinguishes horror from the other similar genres in this no man's land is how the unnatural elements affect the characters. This is especially true of horror role-playing games. The game need not scare or horrify the players per se, but the setting, the conflict, and the scenarios had certainly better present the characters with fear and horror or a sense of dread.

I see the same delineation in horror fiction even as others insist the product, whatever it is, book, movie, or game, must frighten them or affect them personally to be successful and therefore count. As an example consider the movie Paranormal Activity. I don't mean to compare my haunting tale to it for either its admirers or detractors, but it is a good example from an illustrative viewpoint. Some who live with an actual haunting were dismissive of the bulk of the phenomena as not being scary enough to carry the horror. Others cannot fathom staying anywhere haunted and are floored by these kinds of movies. To bring it back to the original questions I would like the scare factor to be there. I would like nothing more that to have people, well, haunted, by the events, and suspicious of their own surroundings. Was that book where they left it? Wasn't that water glass on the right a moment ago where now it's on the left? At the same time it's okay if they don't do that, as long as the experience through reading the entries was enjoyable.

Come back next week for a special post (instead of my usual day off) regarding a forthcoming role-playing game called Amaranthine from David A. Hill Jr. of Machine Age Productions makers of Maschine Zeit. David is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the print run of Amaranthine right now.

Mood: relaxed.
Music: Hotel California by the Eagles and Someone Else? by Queensryche.

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Arches Better than Stereos

Stereotypes may be overused, misused, and maligned. However when there is enough about them that is true why wouldn't they still be of use? The answer is that they would. However, they may do their work under the auspices of the different closely related word, archetype. What is the difference between the two? Well it is a matter of degree in the amount of thinking put into using the qualities being ascribed to the group/person who is a stereotypical or archetypal representation of others. A stereotype is shallow, possibly inaccurate, often negative or deprecating, and at the worst clichéd. The last of these really makes a mess of stereotypes, and into which archetypes are much less prone to fall. In other words shallow clichés are bad, deeply thought out archetypes are good.

The use of archetypes falls into two different camps as far as this discussion. The first is obviously archetypal characters. In horror these can be archetypal monsters. There are vampires, werewolves, zombies, constructs (like Frankenstein's monster), devils, and ghosts. These are in addition to normal people archetypes such as the gentle giant, the strong silent type, the loveable rogue, star crossed lovers, traitors, manipulators, abusers, and such. There is some crossover with types like the reluctant monster who, human or inhuman, is driven, or more likely provoked, to do evil and wreak havoc by others who figure him or her for the stereotypical monster. The part to remember of course is to maintain the character as an archetype and not stereotype it.

The other camp of archetypes are the archetypal conflicts, or plots. There are considered to be four of them with variations possible, but not held separate. These plots can even be combined in the same story line--perhaps even best used in pairs. They are defined as man versus himself, man versus man, man versus nature--the fourth is sometimes questioned whether it counts--and man versus society. Society doesn’t actually act on its own but via proxies, hence the debate. A lot of variations come from man versus man with the opposition being inhuman, such as supernatural beings and technological human approximations ranging from artificial intelligences to robots of myriad kinds. Of course the supernatural may take the place of nature, and technology of society.

Mood: relaxed.

Music: Chains Of Misery by Iron Maiden and Molly's Chambers by Kings of Leon.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #4-1: Dark Phantasy

There is one more enormous genre that hasn’t been corrupted by horror in this series, fantasy. The broadest category of fantasy generally refers to medieval high-magic settings. There are magical creatures of every stripe, races that interact and conflict with humans, and magic that is a powerful force wielded to far-reaching affect on the world and everything in it. Most of the stories take place in medieval Europe though often details like how feudal life worked, peasants lived, and their ability to do things within the hierarchical caste system sometimes falls to the wayside. To a large extent taking the time period forward to modern eras--anything 1900s or later--has already been covered. There are some settings in the industrial age but that will come later.

It is a common belief that it is nearly impossible to bring about real horror in the traditional fantasy setting, much like it is claimed to be in the super-hero genre seen in comics. The main point of contention is that which makes it fantasy in the first place, the in your face, capable of anything, game-changing, world-defining magic. Deities have influence and power in these settings if only through their priests and followers. There are rarely infernal beings without celestial counterparts. Then there are the heroic aspects aside from the magic. Knights and Paladins wander the lands performing monster-slaying deeds and facing off against impossible odds like battling fire breathing, arcane infused, dragons. These brave souls often face and defeat the masters of magic as well.

The answer as usual to tackling this problem is all about the setting. It starts with asking the right questions and choosing the answers that will aid the horror at all levels. Working within the constraints of the genre as it stands on its own is only one of two options. Changes can be made to the fantasy genre assumptions since the type of fantasy discussed thus far is the largest chunk, not the only chunk. Magic in a horror fantasy requires a different approach if not an alteration in power level. Scale is another important factor to consider and can make great differences in the quantity and quality of horror in the setting. Perspective is going to be another factor that is important in imparting horror to the settings and plots. These are the starting points upon which to proceed.

Music: Objects in the Rear View Mirror by Meatloaf and Watching Over Me by Iced Earth.

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13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #13 Silent Hill

Here it is finally, Hallowe’en! What better choice for a
movie can there be than one that is a horror among horrors? This one is amazing. Tonight I present to you “Silent Hill”. The film stars Radha Mitchell who was in “Pitch Black” and most recently seen by horror fans in “Rogue”? In a smaller part is Sean Bean who was in “The Dark” and here’s a connection to a previous night, “The Hitcher”. I’d also like to point out Kim Coates who I always remember from my favourite Amityville sequel, “The Amityville Curse”. Then we can’t forget to mention Alice Krige who the sci-fi fans know as the Borg Queen from several different parts of “Star Trek”, and us horror-philes know from the likes of Stephen King’s “Sleepwalkers” and Peter Straub’s “Ghost Story”.

“Silent Hill” is directed by Christophe Gans who directed “Brotherhood of the Wolf”. “Silent Hill” is a movie based on a video game series. Usually this isn’t such a good thing but Gans and all of the film staff prove that a good movie can come from a game. Silent Hill’s setting was inspired by an actual real world location called Centralia in Pennsylvania where coal in the ground caught fire and has burned for over forty-five years. This turned the place into a ghost town. What better place for the supernatural run wild as seen in “Silent Hill”? The movie borrows parts from the first two video games and is chock full of gruesome monsters that can be as bizarre as they are frightening. This is the real deal in horror and I can only imagine how hair raising it is to the casual horror fan.

Mood: festive.
Music: This is Halloween by Danny Elfman off of The Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack.

Anatomy of a Horror Setting #2-15: In All Things Balance, Or Not

The presupposition has been put forward that in a horrific magical setting there will be a moderate to great discrepancy in the quantity of evil versus that of good. This is especially true as it pertains to non-human beings. What has not been discussed yet is a matter of balance in the quality of power between good and evil, and to a lesser degree human and non-human. In the psychic horror setting there was frequent discussion about the balance of power. The power between the two moral sides was equal for the most part--there were no non-humans, negating that issue. Balance was something considered at practically every stage due to the great flexibility of the powers. This begs the following question. Why is there no talk of balance in the magical horror setting?

Magic is essentially an unbalancing thing. This is especially true of a world where the rules of science and physics hold sway. Since magic is an external force its limitations are not all that limited in terms of what it can accomplish. The actual limitations it has tend to be in knowledge, rather than power--though need not always be. For the sake of drama and conflict there are times of greater power upon which great miracles of light or darkness can be enacted, even when power is normally an issue. These high times of magic are used more often for evil. Good and beneficial acts mostly have low power requirements, or they are geared toward undoing evil magic. The horror nature of the setting also predicates that greater amounts of good energy are required to undo evil things.

The inclusion of non-human beings in a magic horror setting also needs to be inherently unbalanced overall. For them to be less powerful than humans, in the realms of magic specifically, puts them in a role as minion. This has its place, and numbers can make up for a lack of ability. When they are more powerful, such as when they are full-fledged devils, it puts them in the role of lead threat if not actually lead villain. These powerful positions call for them to be powerful, obviously, but beyond that can even require them to be a named individual. This means they are a renowned and specific creature, at least beyond the Earth. This renown on the surface may be as little as the being’s name appearing in an earthly magical tome, or that its name is whispered among those of power.

Mood: relaxed.
Music: Trouble by Material Issue and Lightning Strikes Twice by Iron Maiden.

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