: Re: Can monster/beasts be in a psychological horror I am working on a psychological horror with an extra element. Monsters, and I donâ€™t mean ghosts. My characters will face suspicions, distrust,

I wrote a very long answer for a similar question: Monsters of psychological horror
writing.stackexchange.com/a/42750/23253
"Psychology" in horror works to foil the possibility of "monsters" with a rational, non-paranormal explanation. It's a competing theory used to prolong the story, and to keep characters wandering around an obviously haunted house long after they should have gotten the heck out of there.

When characters and reader have different information, it gives the story tension. The character clings to a psychological explanation long after we know they are doomed, or a character keeps screaming about monsters but we haven't actually seen convincing evidence so we allow that the character may be unreliable.

Once you show the monster as a literal corporeal being with claws and fangs, psychology isn't an alternate possibility anymore.

As Liquid said, literal monsters that leave nothing to the imagination stop being horror genre and become something else, typically bullet fodder for action movies, and boyfriend material for dark fantasy.

Load Full (0)

: Many sexual situations, but no actual sex scenes? My guile heroine's character arc is almost entirely sex and manipulation. I tell (not show) she was a sex worker in the past, it's left ambiguous

@Annie587

Load Full 2 Comments

: I keep going back to the story in Breaking Bad. The purpose of the story, novel or TV series, is to establish characters in an environment and then show how they react or accommodate to

@Annie587

Load Full 0 Comments

: How do I subvert the tropes of a train heist? What are the recognizable tropes to a "train heist", or more broadly the action sequences where a protagonist boards a moving train in order to

@Annie587

Load Full 16 Comments

: In a stage play, how should the script refer to minor characters whose names are irrelevant? Problem I'm writing a play that includes a number of minor characters who only exist for a scene

: Re: Can monster/beasts be in a psychological horror I am working on a psychological horror with an extra element. Monsters, and I donâ€™t mean ghosts. My characters will face suspicions, distrust,

More posts by @Annie587

: Many sexual situations, but no actual sex scenes? My guile heroine's character arc is almost entirely sex and manipulation. I tell (not show) she was a sex worker in the past, it's left ambiguous

: I keep going back to the story in Breaking Bad. The purpose of the story, novel or TV series, is to establish characters in an environment and then show how they react or accommodate to

: How do I subvert the tropes of a train heist? What are the recognizable tropes to a "train heist", or more broadly the action sequences where a protagonist boards a moving train in order to

: In a stage play, how should the script refer to minor characters whose names are irrelevant? Problem I'm writing a play that includes a number of minor characters who only exist for a scene

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top