Shadows are still on my mind. Nights are long, and it has been cold here, for Las Cruces. I tried my hand at writing a 55 word story, and discovered I’d written horror. The leaves are falling, a reminder of mortality. I’m still thinking about things out of sight, by choice or by chance, and what it means to look away from darkness.
I make ongoing efforts to focus on the bright. I practice gratitude, and make plans and goals. I shun marketers who try to make me afraid, and limit my exposure to pessimists and wallowers.
Yet sometimes I enjoy a good scare. Fear is vivid. I have a nightmare from childhood that gave the headless horseman a bloody half-skeletal horse that is stronger than the memory of any of my pleasant dreams. I occasionally crave a frightening movie, and I like a dark edge in fantasy novels. I feel alive when giving my heartrate a bump at a safe distance from actual danger.
There’s a persistent discussion around science fiction conventions that horror writers are nicer. I found Edward Bryant - whose book Fetish nearly made me leap off my chair - cordial and courteous. Actually, Neil Gaiman’s legendary kindness to fans by itself raises the niceness quotient of horror authors considerably.
So, why do horror authors seem to be so nice? I’ve been formulating theories about this for years.
The first theory is that it was simply contrast. Expecting a ghoul, to have created such dripping phantasms, readers were surprised to discover a simple human. However, the judgment persisted, when familiarity would have reduced the surprise. So my next theory was that, having imagined the worst humans could do to each other, horror authors became very, very cautious around people. That is, they were polite for self-protection.
But, if that were the case, why would they come into public at all? So now I have a third theory. It is a theory that has been offered by many other people throughout recorded history: Looking at what we fear is good for us. So horror writers are nice because they have done the work of looking into their own dark places.
The most famous and well-developed version of this theory descends from Carl Jung. He proposed that what we push away from consciousness without resolving becomes baggage - a ‘Shadow’ from which our repressed personal flaws can jump out and ambush us. According to his theory, we essentially create our own bogeymen. And the way to remove their power is to look at them and come to terms with them.
So I think I will look into the dark while I have the yearning. Perhaps I’ll find a story from the tradition of Christmas ghost tales. (Charles Dickens’ frequently adapted A Christmas Carol is the most well-known.) (Yes, I am afraid I’ll die without a legacy.) Maybe I’ll gather my courage and watch 28 Days Later (yes, I am afraid of disease, of becoming mindless and violent). Or I can sample the growing ranks of vampire and werewolf novels, or seek a story of an insane murderer. (Yes, I am afraid of being predator or prey.) I’ll look at what I’m afraid of.
It could be fun.
Don’t want to look into the dark alone? I can help! I have great tools for bringing light to fears. Please call me at 575-640-0979 or reply to this email.
Great review!
Prolific writer Alexandra Erin reviewed From Wishing to Writing on
her blog. Check out what she has to say here:
http://www.alexandraerin.com/?p=92
Caution: some of her other sites, including the very popular Tales
of MU, are not safe for work.