Head over to Eclectic Flash for "A Little Bit for Braz" in their September 2010 issue. As for WIPing...I'm hammering away at the end of a longish piece, "Down There", and putting the icing on a flash story for NPR's Three-Minute Fiction contest. Sorry, the NPR contest is only open to U.S. residents. And sorry again, if you're going to write a story better than mine (which is likely), you aren't allowed to enter.
Kidding, of course.
So, in interest of the end of "Down There", which is more frightening:
1. finding a mutilated body
2. a missing person but signs they may have been mutilated
I don't usually do gore, but the story calls...
9 comments:
Like gore but don't write it very well. Good luck with your gore.
I'd go with the second option; the "unknown" is often more horrifying than the "known".
Thanks Andrea, I don't really use much "gore" even when a story is "gory".
Milo - There's always room to keep something behind the "curtain". Thanks for the input.
I love that story--was that a reprint, or did you post it here once? I know I remember it, it'd be impossible to forget!
As to the question, for long term issues, it's scarier for the person to be missing. The mind would start eating itself, thinking up scenarios. Short term, finding the body. Yeah, that has lasting impact, but at least it's, you know, final.
Katey - I shipped it out to a few newsletter subscribers only. The body is officially missing, btw.
I would have to see the overall tone of the story. Full blown mutilation can be scary or off putting, depending on how it blends.
That said, I'm all for mutilation. There are some excellent scenes in "In the Miso Soup." You almost forget that you're supposed to be repulsed : )
I'd go for option #2. It's got more psychological impact than flat-out gore.
psychological horror is always more scary for me. i think it depends on if your going for a Hostel or a Blair Witch Project Effect. do you want to gross out the reader or do you want them to ask questions?
...though maybe you could at least leave just a few parts lying around.
THAT's how I know it! Thanks, that was bugging me.
And sweeeeet, long term brain-eating horror :D
Post a Comment