Defining a genre: Horror

When I began writing, I wrote what I loved to read: horror stories. My biggest inspiration, which probably sounds cliche, was Stephen King's work. I, like many people, read his books and came away from them feeling that "I can do that, too!" So, I began my writing career by spinning tales of horror. Needless to say, my writing is by no means on par with Stephen King's! He makes writing look easy, but it's not. And, I see I've already digressed.

I say that I wrote horror, but, in retrospect, I wouldn't really categorize many of those first stories as horror. Not in the truest since of the meaning, anyway. Now, I like to think of them as psychological thrillers or noir. You might be wondering why I would make that claim. That's what I want to discuss in this blog post and, hopefully, illustrate.

Stephen King is revered as the King of Horror [nice pun, too], but I wouldn't even classify much of his writing as truly horrific. Sure, his stories elicit an emotional response--typically a strong negative emotion--as all writing is wont to do, but I wouldn't say that they are mainly horror by nature. At least, not according to the definition of the genre. As Wikipedia describes it:

"Horror fiction, Horror Literature and also Horror fantasy is a genre of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, scare or startle viewers/readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror."

That last part, about feelings of horror and terror, to me at least, is a strong statement. Of course, others may disagree because we all have varying thresholds for fear. For instance, in my short story, Hush, Hush, My Love, the main character is talking to a woman he has just finished copulating with. Throughout the monologue, she never says a word. Later, I reveal that she is dead and the man has been engaging in necrophilia. While this is certainly a taboo, it (again, to me) is not horrific. Repulsive maybe, sure. I classified this story under horror, not because of the necrophilia, but because her lifeless corpse reanimates and kills him in the final chapter.

I have other stories that I assembled into an anthology that many readers may label as horror. While I agree that some of them border on horror (When the Dead Whisper and Jason's Last Wish, for example) because they center around ghosts and/or supernatural phenomena, I also claim that many of them are not. I don't feel that they "cause the reader to react with fear" as the definition states. As examples, I would refer you to The Show Must Go On, about a death row inmate's exercise in introspection before his impending execution; Footprints in the Snow, is about a young man who undergoes a strange and life-changing experience on a snowy rural road; and Sweet Charlotte, which is about a special little girl who is caught in a predator's web. I would argue that these are simply dark stories meant to stimulate the reader's mind as well as entertain.

Also, it seems to me that the horror genre has gone through quite a change in recent decades. Perhaps this is due to the influx of so many sub-genres. I will admit, I am not a fan of zombie books (although, I do love to watch The Walking Dead). I think vampire stories have appeared ad nauseum. And, the worst, are graphic stories (labeled horror) that do nothing more than gross out the reader.

Again, all of this may just be my opinion. However, I enjoy a horror tale with a slow build of events that ratchet up the creepy tension. I also enjoy hints as to what is lurking in the shadows or under the bed, instead of fully seeing the creature at the beginning. The lack of description up front allows the reader to conjure his/her own fearful being. To me, the scariest stories are those that can actually happen. I don't believe in ghosts, but a mentally unstable person with a sling blade sneaking into my house would scare the hell out of me!

If, on the other hand, a story is about a bunch of mutated hillbillies who eat unsuspecting campers, or sparkly vampires (*facepalm*), or just a lot of blood splatter to elicit shock, then I don't consider them horror. But, again, that's just me. I've worked as a firefighter and EMT, so gore-porn isn't for me. I've seen real life atrocities up close and personal. As a coping mechanism, I learned to desensitize myself to it like many others in that profession. I think Stephen King summed up the gross-out best:

"I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud."

The most enticing horror stories are those that successfully break new ground in an already well-mined field, with new creatures and situations. Not rehashing the same old tropes we've read time and again.

So, what do you consider horror? I'd like to hear your opinion about what makes a story horrific. You can sound of in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!

Just in time for Halloween!

Halloween is nearly hear, so I decided to publish some of the short stories from my anthology. I didn't want to publish all of them in the collection. If I did that, what would be the point of buying the anthology? Since there are eight shorts in the collection, I said I would publish four of them...well, kind of.

One of those short stories has been available for some time, long before the anthology. Anyone who has been following my track record knows that tale is Hush, Hush, My Love, which is one of my favorites for several reasons. The other three that I've selected are: Footprints in the Snow, Jason's Last Wish, and Sweet Charlotte.

The reason for this is simple. I wanted to offer readers, who hadn't heard of me, a chance to sample some of my work. What better than to offer up some of my strange and disturbing short stories in time for Halloween? Of course, chances are, if you're reading this blog, you've already heard of me and probably read some of my work. If that's the case, perhaps you'll do me a solid and introduce someone new to my work. Start with baby steps. Tell them they can purchase the short stories as a trial to see if they like my writing. I'd appreciate it. Below are links to the various distributors where my stories are for sale. Thanks for stopping by!

Footprints in the Snow at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Jason's Last Wish at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Sweet Charlotte at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Finally, falling into place

I know it's been a while since my last post and I apologize. As you may know, I wasn't up to blogging, much less, writing. I reported that I was floundering on my writing projects, unable to settle on a specific story and stick with it. Luckily, that's over. Not only have I settled into one story, but I am currently working on two! Yes, you read that correctly.

One of the stories I am currently working on is a young adult Halloween tale in the spirit of Ray Bradbury and Clive Barker. The other is a psychological horror story in the same vein as Hush, Hush, My Love. I'm very excited about both of these stories and work at them fervently.

In addition to this news, I have some more good news. Friday, I ordered a Schecter Hellraiser Special electric guitar, which should arrive on Tuesday. I have two bass guitars and have been tinkering with playing bass for several years. Honestly, I'd say I'm fair at playing the bass. I've owned two electric six-string guitars in the past, but never for very long before I got rid of them. The first (a cheap little Squire), was sold not long after I got it (thanks to my now-ex-wife), and the second (a pretty blue Ibanez) ended up going to my son after he expressed an interest in wanting to learn to play. Now that I can afford to, I've decided to buy myself a nice guitar so I can learn to play. Whenever I think about it, I get super excited about the prospect.

That about covers what's been going on with me since my last post; well, the interesting stuff anyway. I hope to deliver more good news later regarding my newest writing. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a couple of videos that demonstrate the sound of this sweet guitar I bought. Thanks for stopping by; I hope you enjoyed your visit.

How to handle a bad review: What, me worry?

Okay, so this topic is nothing new among writers. I mean, if you want to be an author, you're going to have develop a thick skin, suck it up and drive on, etc. I know there have been countless blog posts written that offer the same trite advice. I figured I would go ahead and throw my hat in the ring and tell you how I deal with readers who don't like what I write.

For those that know me, I'm probably perceived as incredibly laid back and don't ruffle easily. I strive not to dwell on the negative and choose to let shit roll off my back. Life is just easier that way.

I suppose this carefree attitude came from my years spent working as a firefighter/EMT. I saw a lot of tragic nonsense, a lot of death. That kind of stuff will definitely change you when you see it day in, day out. You've got to distance yourself from it emotionally or it'll ruin you. Now that I work a nine-to-five job in an office, there's nothing that really bothers me emotionally (aside from the stupidity I witness). There's nothing really life-or-death there.

Writing, for me, is the same as the office environment. There's nothing to worry over. Okay, you're probably waiting for me to get on with how this ties in to coping with bad reviews. Well, I self-published a short story, Hush, Hush, My Love, as a way to test the self-publishing waters. It was an experiment to learn the ropes and determine if this was an avenue I wanted to pursue. I chose this story because it was the first I had published professionally. In addition, I thought it was one of the best short stories I'd ever written. Many of my friends who'd read it agreed. To this day, it's still one of my favorites!

I tried publishing the story for free. I didn't want people to pay for something so short (it's only about 1,200 words long, barely more than flash fiction!) I released it out to the various distributors I typically use: B&N, Amazon, and Smashwords. On Smashwords, it received several 4-star reviews. I was extremely happy. Later, readers from B&N weighed in. The first was from some reader who obviously hated it. It received its first 1-star review with: "This is a short story right out of a sick man's nightmares." I was upset when I first read that comment. It was like having someone punch your child in the head after sending them out into the world. How could they berate something I created?

Easy. That's how. It's like the old saying, "You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time". I don't know who actually said that, but it's so very true. Despite my classifying it as a horror short story, I guess the person who left that (as well as the others who weighed in with one-stars and no comments) mistook it for a romance or erotica story by the cover. I won't speak disparagingly of any of those readers because I don't know them. For all I know, some of them might be geniuses. I just chalk it up to the fact that I couldn't please them. It happens. Perhaps, they'll enjoy one of my other stories.

James, a colleague of mine, said that the negative responses only showed that my books were doing what art is supposed to do: striking a chord with people. After all, isn't art supposed to illicit an emotional response? I couldn't agree more with my friend. I believe he's absolutely right.

The bottom line is that you can't please everyone. And, it hasn't stopped me from writing stories that I want to write. I don't write for the masses. Sure, I want as many people as possible to enjoy my work, but that doesn't mean everyone will like it. As long as there are some people out there who find it entertaining, then I guess I'm doing all right. So, my advice is this: Write what interests you and what you enjoy. Somewhere out there are like-minded individuals who will be glad you didn't let a bad review stop you from pursuing your goals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Self-publishing: status report. Part II

Happy Easter, everyone.

So, I have some good news to report in this status update. I was reviewed over at Red Adept Reviews. You can read the review here.

If I haven't already pointed this out, I will now just so there is no confusion. HUSH, HUSH, MY LOVE was an experiment in self-publishing. Sure, I wrote it and had it published in a professional magazine, but I also used it to venture into the world of self-publishing, familiarize myself with the process to put it up on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.

Well, one thing I learned was that you can give away stories (and books) on Smashwords. On B&N and Amazon, you can't. This is unfortunate because my short story is very short. I wouldn't charge anything for it if I was able to get away with that. Mainly, my intention was to put the story out there for free just so I could increase my audience, get my name out there to people who have never heard of me. Hopefully, my strategy has worked despite me having to charge for the damn story on Amazon and B&N. To any readers who purchased the story from either of those markets, I want to thank you and to apologize. I appreciate you parting with a buck to read my story. I apologize that is was so short. However, I hope you enjoyed it very much despite its brevity. I will be releasing an anthology soon with more short stories (all longer than HUSH, I promise). I hope you'll read it and enjoy some of my other work.

My downloads at Smashwords has slowed, but I think this is to be expected. The last time I looked (this afternoon), I had 169 downloads. I have no idea what other self-pubbed authors would expect, but for me, that is awesome! That's just in a month and the month isn't over yet. It surprises me because I am virtually unheard of, and like I said, this was an experiment, so I am very excited about that number. Also, I've sold two units on B&N and five on Amazon when I looked today.

I'm still researching marketing strategies, reading posts on the Kindle Board, as well as blog posts by Joe Konrath, Amanda Hocking, and other self-pubbed authors in addition to formatting and proofing my anthology. I'm eager to release the anthology because there's no feeling like seeing that people have taken an interest in something you've created.

I've traditionally published short stories in the past. As a matter of fact, I'm waiting for word on two short stories now. The thing I love most about self-publishing is the quick turnaround we writers have with our work. When I'm ready to give readers another story, I don't have to sit on my hands for months waiting for them to get it. All I have to do is design the cover and format it (all of which is under my control) and then upload it. It's as simple as that. There's none of this waiting and waiting and...

Lastly, I'd like to give a personal thank you to everyone who has downloaded a copy of HUSH. You guys rock! I appreciate it more than you know.

Self-publishing: status report. Part I

Okay, so my short story, Hush, Hush, My Love, has been available on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords now for nearly two weeks. Here's the lowdown on what's happened during that time.

B&N was the last one to make the story available. Despite the note on their site that says it takes anywhere from 24 to 48 hours, it took considerably longer. Almost a week! That's crazy slow, so just be forewarned.

Smashwords is my favorite of all the platforms so far. Why, you ask? Well, for starters, they are quick about making the work available to readers. As per my previous post, I had a lot of downloads quickly. Of course, that could be due to the story being free. To date, I've received four 4-star reviews. That really made my day to get those. The majority of the downloads came during the first two days and have since tapered off, but I am still seeing downloads each day.

On Amazon, I've only sold two copies. :( Not impressive, I know. I managed to sell one on B&N so far. If truth be told, I'm actually happy that I sold anything on Amazon or B&N. I mean, I haven't gone all out and tried to do any heavy marketing. Also, Hush is a short story. A very short story, at that, so asking someone to pay to read it is a long shot. (Although, I must admit, it's a damn good story and I think anyone who parts with a buck to read it won't be disappointed.)

So, there you have it. I've probably made $1.50 total from the story. But, that's not why I self-published the short story to begin with. The reason Hush is out there is two-fold. First, I wanted to make it available as a promotional tactic, in order to put my work out there and let readers see what I create. The other reason was for me to test the waters with self-publishing and experience the steps necessary to make my work available on the various platforms. So far, the experience has been very easy and pleasant.

For those who do not know, I am working on putting together a collection of my best short stories. The tentative title is An Adverse Anthology: strange & disturbing short stories. I'm nearly finished composing it and I hope you'll check it out when I publish it. Of course, you can bet I will make it known when it hits the various distribution channels. Also, I hope you'll come back to see what I have in the pipeline for future releases.

Thanks for reading.