Sorry to report but my dear friend Andra, renowned for being the recipient of my Valentine's Day prize package, died yesterday of cancer (age 45). That's why I wanted to make the past year as celebratory as possible for her, and Chuck played a beautiful, whimsical and amusing part of it. Her son will eventually read Beautiful You.
Thanks again. I believe there is more of my humourous material out there on previous pages, seems to have gone unnoticed ;) And probably more to follow eventually.
You make an excellent point. My writing usually includes long descriptions of gore, later deleted and I find myself trying to let the reader scare themselves with just what the character is capable of describing.
In my horror book I decided to go active horror and it’s definitely gotten mixed feedback. Some think it’s too much, others have no problem. I enjoyed writing it immensely so I figure I’ll try it again if I write another horror.
Thinking of a tableau horror movie example -- the scene in ‘Aliens’ where the marines discover the abandoned colony and then later the xenomorth nest. I love the mise-en-scene of such environments -- the clues to a story in their own right.
Other than King, I don’t read a lot of horror. Which is weird, considering my horror FILM collection might rival the best and biggest. About the Siddons book: didn’t you say not to further plot with dialogue? Seems like the patio gossip is just that.
I’ve been meaning to read the book ‘Horrorstor’ by Grady Hendrix. From what I’ve seen and heard about it, I believe it’s formatted like an Ikea catalogue. On that basis alone -- I’m in.
Unrelated to the post, but Chuck if you see this, or if anyone with the knowledge sees this, could you confirm the date for the July Hindsight Story Night? Much Appreciated!
Great post re: tableau horror vs. active horror. I hesitated to read your summary because The House Next Door was on my tbr list, maybe even because you or Grady Hendrix or Stephen King mentioned it... but I’m glad I read your post anyway and had the plot spoiled... I think I can safely remove it from my tbr list. (Keeping Rosemary’s Baby, however, no matter how much of the plot you’ve previously revealed or confessed Levin insists it’s not a metaphor for deformed babies).
Active Horror is much more difficult to for me to write well than Tableau Horror. However, when I do get it right, I find Active Horror much more impactful than describing a single, horrific snapshot.
Would "Alias Grace" by Atwood count? While the story takes place in the present tense, all of the so called "crimes" are related by stories... The main character describes her role in various murders, but much of it she doesn't remember, or says she doesn't remember...
I know it's kind of silly to dislike a literary genre but horror has never been my cup of tea. Neither has crime. I think it's because they always follow the perfect formula, mostly just shuffling tiny bits around trying to make it original. Unconventional and new. But the overall structure rarely deviates – that's why they fit into the genre.
Then you read Shirley Jackson's "The haunting of hill house" and a hundred pages in, you hold a little longer to switch off the light. The guy in the flat upstairs gets up for a trip to the loo at night, all wonky gait and squeaky floorboards, and you stare at your bedroom door waiting for it to creek and a shadow to walk in.
Masterpiece.
When I expressed my disappointment for those genres a friend of mine said, "That's horsehit." She said, "Read 'Quite Ugly One Morning' by Christopher Brookmyre and tell me what you think." She was right, I loved it. And looking back now, I think that's a Tableau Horror/Crime. In the first few pages you see the body of a man rotting in his living room. The smell of a barn in your nostrils, with a big cow dump plopped on the fireplace mantel. You know who murdered him already, which I think it's unusual for the genre. Then the plot unfolds.
And now the question: The Tableau style, might be counterproductive or flat in clumsy hands in horror fiction, but isn't that the main drive in crime fiction? Like, man found dead in a parking lot with four fingers chopped off and stuck in the his ears and nose. Flash. Woman found in a nightclub bathroom with snapped spine, broken neck, rolled all the way back and tied to her ankles like a big giant donut around the loo in a pool of spew and urine. Flash. Something like that?
When it comes to horror the kinda that truly disturbs me is cosmic horror. Humanity's insignificant exisitance in the cosmic scale. I remember seeing John Carpenter's The Thing and being blown away by the presentation and practical special effects. I also loved the ending.
Personally I don't care much for Lovecraft. He puts me to sleep as I struggle through his stories. Which is how I feel about Tableau Horror. Being a medical professional for 25 years has deaden me to the sterile disection of having the horror cleanly laid out for me. I prefer the horror to build the tension to overwhelming levels and to shock me.
The only thing in recent memory to disturb me was Uzumaki by Junji Ito. The manga takes every chapter to create an individual story of horror around a central theme and combines them into and overall unfolding storyline. It seems like every chapter gets worse and worse. The volume slowly being turned up with every tale. I really enjoy the ending.
I think I will put Tableau Horror in my work so that I don't overwhelm the reader.
I feel like in college I learned that the offstage violence is where the term 'obscene' comes from and the example cited was Antigone. IDK. Maybe that's tableau horror?
Hi Chuck and plot spoiler gang,
Sorry to report but my dear friend Andra, renowned for being the recipient of my Valentine's Day prize package, died yesterday of cancer (age 45). That's why I wanted to make the past year as celebratory as possible for her, and Chuck played a beautiful, whimsical and amusing part of it. Her son will eventually read Beautiful You.
Thanks again. I believe there is more of my humourous material out there on previous pages, seems to have gone unnoticed ;) And probably more to follow eventually.
You make an excellent point. My writing usually includes long descriptions of gore, later deleted and I find myself trying to let the reader scare themselves with just what the character is capable of describing.
In my horror book I decided to go active horror and it’s definitely gotten mixed feedback. Some think it’s too much, others have no problem. I enjoyed writing it immensely so I figure I’ll try it again if I write another horror.
Thinking of a tableau horror movie example -- the scene in ‘Aliens’ where the marines discover the abandoned colony and then later the xenomorth nest. I love the mise-en-scene of such environments -- the clues to a story in their own right.
As if I needed an excuse to use less adjectives.
Other than King, I don’t read a lot of horror. Which is weird, considering my horror FILM collection might rival the best and biggest. About the Siddons book: didn’t you say not to further plot with dialogue? Seems like the patio gossip is just that.
I’ve been meaning to read the book ‘Horrorstor’ by Grady Hendrix. From what I’ve seen and heard about it, I believe it’s formatted like an Ikea catalogue. On that basis alone -- I’m in.
Unrelated to the post, but Chuck if you see this, or if anyone with the knowledge sees this, could you confirm the date for the July Hindsight Story Night? Much Appreciated!
Great post re: tableau horror vs. active horror. I hesitated to read your summary because The House Next Door was on my tbr list, maybe even because you or Grady Hendrix or Stephen King mentioned it... but I’m glad I read your post anyway and had the plot spoiled... I think I can safely remove it from my tbr list. (Keeping Rosemary’s Baby, however, no matter how much of the plot you’ve previously revealed or confessed Levin insists it’s not a metaphor for deformed babies).
So what I’m hearing is we could all still get published.
Active Horror is much more difficult to for me to write well than Tableau Horror. However, when I do get it right, I find Active Horror much more impactful than describing a single, horrific snapshot.
But when I don’t get it right...yeesh.
Would "Alias Grace" by Atwood count? While the story takes place in the present tense, all of the so called "crimes" are related by stories... The main character describes her role in various murders, but much of it she doesn't remember, or says she doesn't remember...
I know it's kind of silly to dislike a literary genre but horror has never been my cup of tea. Neither has crime. I think it's because they always follow the perfect formula, mostly just shuffling tiny bits around trying to make it original. Unconventional and new. But the overall structure rarely deviates – that's why they fit into the genre.
Then you read Shirley Jackson's "The haunting of hill house" and a hundred pages in, you hold a little longer to switch off the light. The guy in the flat upstairs gets up for a trip to the loo at night, all wonky gait and squeaky floorboards, and you stare at your bedroom door waiting for it to creek and a shadow to walk in.
Masterpiece.
When I expressed my disappointment for those genres a friend of mine said, "That's horsehit." She said, "Read 'Quite Ugly One Morning' by Christopher Brookmyre and tell me what you think." She was right, I loved it. And looking back now, I think that's a Tableau Horror/Crime. In the first few pages you see the body of a man rotting in his living room. The smell of a barn in your nostrils, with a big cow dump plopped on the fireplace mantel. You know who murdered him already, which I think it's unusual for the genre. Then the plot unfolds.
And now the question: The Tableau style, might be counterproductive or flat in clumsy hands in horror fiction, but isn't that the main drive in crime fiction? Like, man found dead in a parking lot with four fingers chopped off and stuck in the his ears and nose. Flash. Woman found in a nightclub bathroom with snapped spine, broken neck, rolled all the way back and tied to her ankles like a big giant donut around the loo in a pool of spew and urine. Flash. Something like that?
When it comes to horror the kinda that truly disturbs me is cosmic horror. Humanity's insignificant exisitance in the cosmic scale. I remember seeing John Carpenter's The Thing and being blown away by the presentation and practical special effects. I also loved the ending.
Personally I don't care much for Lovecraft. He puts me to sleep as I struggle through his stories. Which is how I feel about Tableau Horror. Being a medical professional for 25 years has deaden me to the sterile disection of having the horror cleanly laid out for me. I prefer the horror to build the tension to overwhelming levels and to shock me.
The only thing in recent memory to disturb me was Uzumaki by Junji Ito. The manga takes every chapter to create an individual story of horror around a central theme and combines them into and overall unfolding storyline. It seems like every chapter gets worse and worse. The volume slowly being turned up with every tale. I really enjoy the ending.
I think I will put Tableau Horror in my work so that I don't overwhelm the reader.
I feel like in college I learned that the offstage violence is where the term 'obscene' comes from and the example cited was Antigone. IDK. Maybe that's tableau horror?