In a recent conversation with an old friend, for whom I used to work, he suggested that I focus my writing on horror. This came as a surprise. This fellow is not one of my writing friends and has not read any of my fiction. We haven’t discussed horror or anything of the kind, so I started to wonder, what made him think I would be better at writing horror.
In the past, I have tried writing some horror. I had an idea for what I thought would be a good horror story, but I don’t usually read horror. The plan was to read horror stories, do some research, and then figure out how to tell my tale. That involved some practice prose with dark settings and general unpleasantness. Still, most of my writing did not go that way.
The main reason I don’t usually read horror is that I don’t get it. Horror writing said to unsettle others has no effect on me. It always seems hokey or forced. The characters do horribly stupid things and walk blindly into danger. In many cases, I just hope for the bad thing to take out the victims quickly to end the tale and let me go onto something else.
The things that would frighten me are tales where stupid people in large numbers overwhelm someone who cannot fight back sufficiently. Stories like that can leave me more unsettled than a story of monsters or serial killers. None of this explains why my friend recommended a focus on horror.
Obviously, he thinks there is something about my personality or worldview that could frighten others. We have differences of opinion on many matters; we once discussed that I have an easier time firing someone than he does, once it has been deemed necessary. He has laughed at plenty of my jokes over the years, though he hasn’t really told the same kind.
It is also notable that, though plenty of people seem to like me, many more like him. He is a very popular manager whereas few people want to follow me for long. I’m more of the problem solver that needs to meander on to the next problem when it’s done. He has an active social life, a wife, and kids. I have friends that I see occasionally. That may be a clue.
He may be thinking that I am odd enough to think strange things that unsettle others. My ability to solve problems by seeing both sides would mean that I could probably see the monster’s point of view and articulate it. A history of somewhat pragmatic, and sometimes harsh, solutions may provide a story that others are less comfortable with.
Back when I did experiment with horror, my writing friends seem to approve of the outcomes. For one piece, I was slapped by a couple of them because they read it just before bed. Those kinds of feedback suggest that my friend may be correct.
I guess it’s time to start putting more darkness to paper.