Horror Aficionados discussion

Hi all.

Now that overly dramatic caps lock title has got your attention, I must ask you all - how do you feel about trigger/content warnings at the start of your horror novel? I'm absolutely fascinated by the debate.

My new novel Fairhaven Falls has a long list of trigger warnings, although given some of the content (racism especially) I felt my book needed it.

As a reader/writer, what do you think? There are no wrong answers in my opinion.

Yeah...I do agree trigger/content warnings are needed to some extent,I feel some extreme horror books need them,especially if you are new to the subject,I myself personally never really read them or take much notice of them as I'm used to gore,torture and disturbing books!!(the more the better) But an author needs to cover themselves by putting them there to stop the shock horror effect for the reader😱

I am adding them to my collection and feel that they don't detract from the way that people approach a book. They prepare someone for what they may encounter and empower a reader.

If I see trigger warnings, I close the book and move on to something else.

I think that trigger warnings are only really necessary for books that are not intended to shock or terrify the readers. For example, a book that is categorized as horror should not need to contain trigger warnings for violence, death, abuse, etc. Now, however, if I am reading a feel good contemporary novel, and suddenly the book takes a sharp left turn into graphic descriptions of child or animal abuse, then I would love a heads-up. Not having one would piss me off, because it would sour my mood for the reading.

I ignore trigger warnings and decide for myself if the book is one I want to read based on the author and storyline.

I don't need trigger warnings, especially if I'm reading horror. If I encounter the one thing that really bothers me I just skip ahead a few paragraphs until it's over.

I'm the same way as Alan. If I'm reading horror, I know there should be some things that shock or terrify me. But to dedicate a page while first reading the novel to trigger warnings can potentially ruin the novel for me since it's kind of a list of spoilers that await. Then, as I read, I have an idea of what's coming based on certain situations.

Even if it's splatterpunk or extreme horror, readers will immediately know that yeah, this is going to push the envelope due to the genre if that's what you enjoy reading. I just think if a novel has trigger warnings right from the start, it's not going to hit the same. I know every reader is different but I love jumping into a new novel blind to get that new experience.

I don’t pay much attention to them. If I think there may be something in the book, I’ll ask a friend that has read it.

Content warnings serve an important function, they're necessary IMO. Just because someone wants to enjoy an extreme book with let's say murder/rape-- it doesn't necessarily mean they'd be okay with miscarriage/abortion/ED content/child abuse.

That withstanding, I don't need CWs and I prefer not to be spoiled. So if you're like me, it's easy enough to skip the warning page and continue on.

I don't need content warnings, but I absolutely agree they serve an important function. It's not just to avoid upsetting people; some people can literally have panic attacks if they have survived violent sexual attacks, abuse etc. I don't think people should be deprived of horror books because of that; we all know horror can be comforting or even empowering.

I believe voluntary content warnings that are labeled and set away from the main text so that people who don't want to read them can easily avoid them is a good solution, then no one misses out.

Excellent points by Mary/Whitney as yeah, I think ultimately putting trigger warnings at the beginning of a novel does serve a purpose to readers that just want a heads up and if they don't want to know, they can just turn the page.

I think there is more good than harm in having it, especially if it deals with any trigger warnings that could definitely ruin a reader's experience.

LTJ wrote: "Excellent points by Mary/Whitney as yeah, I think ultimately putting trigger warnings..."

Whitney wrote: "I don't need content warnings, but I absolutely agree they serve an important function..."

Yess, exactly! It's sooo easy to skip it if you deem them unnecessary... and let's be real, it's part of what we're skipping anyway: publication, table of contents, music playlists, author's note/dedication (no offense to authors 😬). But if you need it, it's there!

@Mary: I completely agree, LOL exactly! I also skip the TOC almost all the time but do enjoy the author's notes/dedication. Especially if it's by Stephen King :-)

LTJ wrote: "@Mary: I completely agree, LOL exactly! I also skip the TOC almost all the time but do enjoy the author's notes/dedication. Especially if it's by Stephen King :-)"

Really?! Okay, LTJ. You're better than me, I count it as filler. I think I get a rush from skipping them. 🤭 But... the one time I didn't skip an author's note was from a writer that I love and she apologized for the book coming out so late because she suffered two miscarriages. You know me and how sensitive I can get, I started crying. 😅😅😅

@Mary: LoL pfffffffffft, we're equals, my friend! All readers are different and have the little things that make them special so yeah, I know what you mean! LOL the rush from skipping them I bet is from adding a few pages read or maybe, if you're lucky, a whole percentage :-)

Oh wow, that's wild and hope that author is okay after suffering two miscarriages <3

LoL oh yes, I know you well and that's understandable! I have never actually cried due to a novel but that's hard to achieve in horror but a FEW times I felt emotional involving pets. I have a dog (he's a cockapoo and is known across the galaxy as Ozzy Skywalker) so sometimes that can hit me but I always remember it's just words on paper!

Mary ♥ wrote: "it's part of what we're skipping anyway: publication, table of contents, music playlists, author's note/dedication."

You skip the dedication page?! That's outrageous! Disgusting! Shame on you! Why, how else will people know that I dedicated my book to my cat?

In all seriousness I completely agree, @Mary. That's why I put a separate page at the start of the book with a huge header - so you can't miss it. If you don't care about warnings, then turn the page. If there is something which may upset you so much that it may emotionally harm you, then you can have a quick scan of the page to make sure it's not there. Sure, there might be some minor spoilers in terms of content or themes, but at least the reader is in control.

TW don't bother me in horror as I know that horror and extreme horror is going to have something that is unsettling. Even if the book has warnings on the book that there are triggers inside the reading of the book doesn't deter me. If there is something that I don't want to read I will skip it in the pages though when I come across it.

As I seldom read reviews before starting a book, I sometimes miss trigger warnings by readers that are not mentioned at the start of the book. No problem, I just skip over them OR I decide not to want to finish the book.
However, in all my reading years I've never come to a book that made me want to vomit.
But this one did: In the shadows of obsession
I'm not going to tell here why it made me feel so awful because it all comes back even writing this.

my oddball take here is that I love them for horror and extreme horror especially cause it feels like a preview LOL I find myself going "oh HELL yeah this is gonna be WILD!!" when I see a nice big list.
I feel like generally it does more good then harm, but I wonder though if it would work to have them at the back of the book? like if we agreed or authors notes that they should go in the back, people who need them can zoom right there, but people who don't need them could not worry about spoilers because it's in the end??

Abigail wrote: "my oddball take here is that I love them for horror and extreme horror especially cause it feels like a preview LOL I find myself going "oh HELL yeah this is gonna be WILD!!" when I see a nice big ..."

That's hilarious!

Back of the book would be a good way to do it as well. Some of the fiction podcasts I listen to will put warnings in the online show notes, so people can go there if the want to see them. I 100% don't think trigger warnings should be mandatory for anything, people have pointed out how that can easily become another form of discrimination against marginalized content.

The website "Does the Dog Die" is great for popular media, it has every conceivable warning that people may be concerned about.

I hate the warnings myself as I don't like spoilers, and if it's horror I expect disturbing things and I'll skim the things that really bother me.

That being said, I do think they're important for some people so I am not against their inclusion. I do think the amount needed depend on the genre, though, and how much the blurb does or doesn't imply.

Nope. It's a horror novel. Have to expect bad things to happen. No trigger warnings for me.

I agree no trigger warnings; isn’t that why we read horror to be frightened and intrigued about something unknown …if I’m reading something and it’s too much for me I simply stop reading! If it’s a deal breaker though I’m good with putting them in the back of the book along with any blurbs that give away the plot, which is another pet peeve of mine lol.

Although I don't mind them, I don't get why people get to sensitive about other people wanting them. It's not like what other people do will affect how you read.

I don't need, nor do I care for trigger warnings. I don't like to have anything about the story spoiled ahead of time. I think it takes away from the tale being told as the author intended.

However, I recognize that some people do need them and I am not disrespecting that need. I skip over them quickly, trying not to see anything and move on.

I personally don't care for trigger warnings and try to avoid them, as I really dislike spoilers and feel that trigger warnings spoil events that occur within the story. I understand why others may want them though and don't discredit that; they're easy enough to skip over, so I don't know why some people get so up in arms over them.

I like having trigger warnings. I would like a heads up for some things, not all disturbing things mind, but some things that, to me, would soil the reading experience. Hell, sometimes it helps knowing that a book won't fit my mood that day or week and I can save it for another time.

I read and write mostly horror and kind of got blindsided by a couple of reviews on my first book because it didn’t come with trigger warnings. It’s horror. I go into those kinds of books expecting to be horrified. Being criticized for something horrible happening in a horror novel was a hard pill…(you know the cliche).

But I get it to some degree. People have limits. People have traumas. I’ve since added general content warnings with as little nitty gritty detail as possible for those who prefer a bit of a heads up.

Diane wrote: "I read and write mostly horror and kind of got blindsided by a couple of reviews on my first book because it didn’t come with trigger warnings. It’s horror. I go into those kinds of books expecting..."

Oof, I'm sorry that happened to you. Like everything else, I think trigger warnings are a thoughtful idea that got taken to extremes. Like labeling the food at a potluck, it's a thoughtful idea, but if some ingredient is going to give you hives, it's up to you to ask rather than chow down and than complain to the cook.

I hate animal torture in books. If I suspect that a book may have that, I check the site "Does the Dog Die". If it's not there, I may ask a question on that book's page and ask someone to spoiler tag the answer.

I usually skip over trigger warnings. I get that some people need to be forewarned but I prefer being surprised as I read!

I don't mind if the warning isn't specific but just a message that says "this is extreme horror" is welcome as far as I'm concerned. I've got a lot of friends who read extreme but I don't and it's a way to filter what to add to my TBR or not straightaway.

I love when a book has a trigger warning. Usually means it's right up my alley.

Whitney wrote: "Diane wrote: "I read and write mostly horror and kind of got blindsided by a couple of reviews on my first book because it didn’t come with trigger warnings. It’s horror. I go into those kinds of b..."

Thanks for mentioning this site. I probably need to bookmark it, because that particular event -- or anything like it -- in a book will put me off of it immediately. And it's awful when it happens so late in a book that you feel as though you don't want to waste the time you've already invested in it. But . . . dogs . . . . . )-:

Trigger warnings aren’t needed… Just skip over something if you don’t like it, like Alan said. It’s like blocking people, if you don’t like something, just remove it lol don’t whine and complain. We’ve become so mentally soft, and all the catering to softies won’t help. How ironic that this response could probably use a trigger warning😂

If they are on a sperate page that is easy to just turn and not see much then that's what I'd prefer, so when authors do that I appreciate it, or else my brain goes straight to spoilers lol.

The worst is when they are all over the cover lol, or those murder mystery suspense book with "the worlds biggest twist you never saw coming" right above the title, that drives me nuts personally! Talk about softening that punch to the gut the story should deliver before I even read one page.

Trigger warnings will usually make me WANT to read a book. I think they are placed to entice people to read the book. Anybody who is disuaded from reading because of a TW is probably not the target audience anyway.

I really appreciate them. There a a few topics that will affect me for month when I read them unprepared. Bodyhorror or extreme violence. Triggerwarnings help me immensely when choosing what to read.

Cal wrote: "Trigger warnings aren’t needed… Just skip over something if you don’t like it, like Alan said. It’s like blocking people, if you don’t like something, just remove it lol don’t whine and complain. W..."


But you can skip the trigger warnings same way you're advising people to skip the book sections you don't like, works both ways. If it helps someone then that's a good thing, if you don't need them then lucky you. I don't either, luckily, but being annoyed that they exist is like complaining that you have the option to have close captioning while watching a movie or Youtube since you can hear well and it's not needed, for you.

I do read trigger warnings if present but honestly I read extreme horror enough of the time that it is redundant. The only subject that will cause me not to read a book is animal cruelty. I had one book recently that handled it off set so to speak only mentioning that it happened. The book I just finished a supernatural entity dispatched the pet.I am not a zealot. I mean an actual scene of despicable cruelty that plays in your head. I hear readers all the time say it was just a short part of the book I just flipped past it.The troop was a treasure trove of animal torture in present tense and in past tense plus torturing animals in scientific trials. I blame myself for not checking DoesTheDogDie.com. I AGREE that authors or more accurately readers of Extreme Horror should not expect Trigger Warnings.

For those who enjoy psychology research there's a lot of research going on about this topic: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl....

I appreciate a warning very occasionally for a specific heavy thing that is important to me. However, in my opinion there are some reviewers and influencers who "over-list" triggers, which could undermine the concept of the *serious* trigger warnings that have actual weight. By excessively listing so much within one book, upwards of ~25+ "triggers", beyond the serious things you'd expect such as "rape, or child sex abuse", dwindling into things like "vomiting, fire, pregnancy, religion", it can create "trigger-fatigue". In hospitals, we have something called "alarm fatigue" which is a very real issue. You become numbed out by too many alarms that aren't "really serious" to put it very simply.

This is happening with books (and many forms of entertainment) that aren't even in the extreme horror genre. I have always found it a bit over the top, and interestingly enough(from the research): Opponents argue that trigger warnings coddle and infantilize adults, and that they facilitate avoidance and/or inflate morbid and prurient curiosities, thus increasing rather than decreasing emotional turmoil and anxiety

But anyway, I'm empathetic to others and open minded, so I can respect that there will remain a certain niche of people who really desire and appreciate the efforts of all of this being written out for them for (almost) any book they read.

Erika wrote: "For those who enjoy psychology research there's a lot of research going on about this topic: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl......"

amen well said

Kasia wrote: "Cal wrote: "Trigger warnings aren’t needed… Just skip over something if you don’t like it, like Alan said. It’s like blocking people, if you don’t like something, just remove it lol don’t whine and..."

indeed

Pisces51 wrote: "I do read trigger warnings if present but honestly I read extreme horror enough of the time that it is redundant. The only subject that will cause me not to read a book is animal cruelty. I had one..."

Oh the moment any horror story mentions a dog, forget it, I already dread reading about it lol. Family moves into a haunted house with their kid and a dog, yep already know what's going to happen... I mean not with every author but there are artists who write about pain and there are artists that exploit pain. Using agony as leverage for the thing they all want, respect.

I definitely think that trigger warnings are necessary because not everyone can stomach every kind of content in a book. The goal of writing book is to entertain and/or inform your reader, not traumatize them. So that's why I think a lot of people appreciate trigger warnings.

I think some skipable trigger warnings for really tough stuff like child abuse, animal cruelty, rape and so on are absolutely ok, but one shouldn't overdo it. It's impossible to cover every trigger anyone might be sensible to and at some point, trying to do so might become a bit ridiculous.

Also, I believe trigger warnings should really only cover things that might actually hurt people. "Bad language" in a novel aimed at an adult audience is not something that warrants a trigger warning in my opinion.

I feel conflicted by this in a way that won’t provide a sufficient answer. On one hand I am all for the mystery of what is between the pages. Not knowing what one is getting into as they get deeper into a story, going around blind corners that end in surprise. On the other hand, blindsiding someone with content that could potentially ruin their day and outlook on life, or completely off-put them from reading all together is not what I, or probably any other author is setting out to do. In short, some trigger warnings are appropriate. (Ex. Pedophilia, rape etc.) but for ones that go into the genre, like murder or inappropriate language. They should be left out, It’s like spoiling a movie.

Gatorman wrote: "Nope. It's a horror novel. Have to expect bad things to happen. No trigger warnings for me."

same

I have heard many valid arguments on this subject, so I am going to throw in my opinion on this:

Everything needs context.

I personally have not seen MARLEY & ME because I know what happens from word of mouth. So yes, feel-good or family stories needs to have the warning. If you read/watch something to feel good, it is fair to say you didn't sign up for things that you fond upsetting.

As a writer of comedy-horror, I don't believe that TW/CW has any place in horror at all. It is a genre that is meant to evoke an emotion, and fans want to be surprised. The twists in my stories usually involves something that might be considered as a trigger, so taking that away devalues what is intended. If you want to be scared, allow the author to scare you. What else are you doing here?
However, if it is something that you feel strongly about, most of the time the blurb will give you clues, and if it is really important to you, read a review or two before making up your mind.

Finally, if the word "extreme" or "splatterpunk" is there, all bets are off. That is your TW - if you venture inside you are taking it on yourself. In the same way that someone would send you a link to a video of a murder, if you open it up and watch it, it is on you. You can't decide what will offend you and expect the rest of the world to cater to your needs. If someone is shot from a distance and you can't see any blood, only the person falling over, is that more acceptable than watching a decapitation?

You still get to choose whether you read a book or not, and sorry to say it bluntly but evoking negative emotion is part of the package. So if you can provide video proof of someone holding a gun to your head and forcing you to read a certain type of story against your will, I would still blame it more on the person holding the gun than the author who wrote the story.

Do you really need someone to tell you to make good choices and to take some responsibility for yourself?

Mort wrote: "I have heard many valid arguments on this subject, so I am going to throw in my opinion on this:

Everything needs context.

I personally have not seen MARLEY & ME because I know what happens from ..."

AMEN!!!